Denver's Frequently Asked Questions About Shutters

For more than 27 years, we’ve received every question about shutters you can think of from our customers in Denver. And we’ve put together the top ten of them here. Perhaps in these questions and answers you’ll find answers to questions of your own. If not, please don’t hesitate to contact Sunburst Shutters Denver directly. We’re here to help you and happy to do so.

That depends on how you want the shutters to mesh with your home’s décor. Do you want a shutter that contrasts your wall paint color and has clean lines? Polywood® plantation shutters are right for you. Or are you looking to match the wood in your home as closely as possible? Ovation® wood shutters are a better fit for you.

Plantation shutters are recognized for being energy efficient. And to get the greatest energy savings, our Polywood Shutter Insulation System is the only choice.

For the budget-conscious, blinds can be temporary window treatments to cover your windows. Chances are, store-bought blinds will deteriorate over time, with its strings breaking and the loops that hold the slats in place falling apart. Not to mention, they’re not easy to clean. Even if you're budget-conscious, Sunburst Shutters blinds have the durability and craftsmanship lacking in off-the-rack, store-bought, or online blinds.

Shades offer an array of colors, materials, and unique patterns, turning your window into artwork. By effortlessly pulling up the fabric of the shade, your whole window is exposed and you can see out onto your Denver neighborhood.

Draperies also offer a wide collection of color, fabric, and patterns. They are a traditional choice for a window treatment. Installing thick panels between the drapes and the window allows for light and temperature block-out capabilities. And unlike other window treatments, it’s not necessary to clean draperies for five years.

If you want a window treatment that lasts over 10 years, saves you money on your energy bills, and looks beautiful on your windows, shutters are the choice for your home. Not only are shutters durable, but they’re also magnificent and energy efficient. In fact, Polywood shutters insulate up to 70% better than a comparable wood shutter. That's energy savings you will miss out on with any other window treatment.

No other window treatment gives you control over privacy and light as plantation shutters do. And with their large louvers, Polywood plantation shutters give your house a clean contemporary feel whether they’re closed or open.

A poorly installed window treatment can be difficult to open and can get damaged easily. We have a professional installation crew that comes to your home and installs your window treatment precisely, ensuring that each one operates seamlessly – and doesn’t get damaged in the process.

But before we get to installing your shutters, we bring shutter samples to your home so we can custom build your window treatment together. Learn more about our free in-home consultation.

Your plantation shutter slats – or louvers – can be moved simply by adjusting them up or down. Most commonly, a tilt rod mounted on the front of the shutters lets you adjust the louvers. If you would like to move the louvers with your hand, we propose buying shutters with hidden tilt-rods or rear-mounted tilt rods. This gives your shutters a clean, contemporary feel.

Our Polywood shutters last 50+ years – more than any other shutter around. That’s why these plantation shutters are a permanent fixture that boosts your home’s resale value. Learn more about the durability of our shutters.

Plantation shutters are easy to clean because they have large louvers and their tilt bars are either hidden or mounted on the rear. Merely tilt them open and dust them like furniture – or wipe smudges with a damp cloth.

Plantation shutters are custom designed to fit your windows exactly. They become a permanent fixture of your home, boosting its resale value. It’s not possible to move these shutters from one house to another.

Plantation shutters are an investment that provides you with temperature control, energy efficiency, and privacy. They are custom made and installed on your windows to become permanent fixtures. Not only are they charming and energy saving, but plantation shutters also increase the value of your residence. We’ve seen it first hand in Denver!

A half shutter gives you privacy on the bottom and leaves the top open for light and view. It’s called a café style shutter. But is it the appropriate look for a plantation shutter?

Cafe Shutters Cafe Style Shutters With Divider

In the end, it’s a style choice – whether you like the look of a half shutter or that of a plantation shutter with a divider rail.

A full length shutter with a divider rail “completes” your window, giving it a fully finished look – and allowing you to close the bottom louvers for privacy while leaving the top louvers open for light. At night, you have the option of closing the top louvers as well for privacy and security. It’s also convenient during the day when the sun is hindering you from watching TV. And don’t worry about forgoing any of your view. A 3.5" or 4.5" louver will almost disappear when opened flat and gives you plenty of room to look through.

Easy! Call us at 720-538-0182 or fill out the form below to schedule your free in-home consultation, and we’ll guide you from there. We come out to your home to measure the windows you want to shutter and bring samples of all of our shutter products and their available options. This way we can provide you with the best shutter quote for your project. Schedule your in-home consultation today!

Absolutely! There’s rarely a reason to take out or do work on your existing window trim when putting in new plantation shutters. Natural Ovation wood shutters and deluxe Polywood shutters are available in a variety of frame styles to fit naturally into your current window trim. If your windows are trimless, you can choose a specific frame style to install right onto the drywall around your window to secure your stunning new shutters to your window opening.

Your installer will measure each of your house’s windows during your complimentary in-home consultation to ensure that your window trim is beautifully complemented by the frame of your new shutters.

Sunburst Shutters Denver is proud to offer a range of window coverings made right here in America. Our popular Polywood plantation shutters are 100% made in America, from the creation of our exclusive Polywood material to the construction of the shutters themselves. Not only does that mean a lower final price without unnecessary shipping and handling costs, it also gives you the bonus of knowing you’ve chosen an all-American product for your Denver house.

And Polywood isn’t the only shutter that’s from the U.S.A. Our naturally beautiful Reclaimed Wood shutters are constructed using lumber repurposed from places across the country, from rustic Midwest barn doors to sturdy Texas ranch fences and more.

The main difference between a shutter that’s stained or painted is how the color interacts with the material of the shutter. Paint sits on the top layer of the shutter, just coating the surface. Stains on the other hand permeate the shutter, bonding to the natural wood or faux wood material.

Both methods come with their individual benefits. There are usually a larger number of color options for painted shutters. With stained shutters, the color won’t interfere with the natural wood grain, so you can see the natural grooves and ridges of the material without a layer of paint masking it.

When it comes time for your in-home window design consultation, we’ll bring paint and stain samples directly to your home so you can perfectly match and complement colors with your existing interior design.

The entire plantation shutter process, from your initial consultation to installing the shutters, usually takes about four to six weeks. The reason it takes this long is because we strive to build shutters that are completely customized to your windows. Doing that requires us to take precise measurements, make use of advanced software to design your shutters, assemble your custom shutters manually, and ship them to you prior to installation. Real wood shutters typically take longer than Polywood because of the staining and finishing process.

It does take a little time, but it’s absolutely worth the wait.

Yes, we do have a showroom. We’d be delighted to walk you through our showroom to see our entire collection of shutters and window treatments. Our office is at 3545 S Platte River Dr Unit B, so feel free to visit anytime during our normal business hours to talk about what you need.

Sunburst Shutters Denver offers a start to finish in-home shopping experience. So we send shutter expert to your door to measure all your windows, show you your options, and provide an accurate quote. The shutter consultation is totally free. That’s the best way to start a window treatment project. If you’re just looking for a rough estimate, you can send us the measurements of your windows through our contact form, or by calling us at 720-538-0182.

Whether or not to remove the trim depends on your personal style. If you want to keep your trim in place, we can build your shutters to complement your current trim. If you prefer our shutter frames, then you can take out the existing trim—but it’s not a necessity. If you’re trying to go trimless or replace your trim, we’ll help you choose the best shutter to fit what you have in mind for your space.

If you’re a seasoned handyperson, you’re probably familiar with some of the process involved in a shutter installation. However, DIY shutters might be a tad complicated for most Denver residents. We would suggest leaving the installation to our certified and insured professionals, so you won’t be at risk of damaging your shutters, windows, or anything else in your home.

By far our most in-demand shutter offerings are our classic white Polywood® plantation shutters, and Ovation® wood shutters.

More specifically, the most common shutter configuration features includes a 3 ½” louver, smooth finish, and an interior-mount Z-frame. If none of that makes any sense, that’s ok. We’d be delighted to demonstrate what all those things mean in person. Set up a free in-home consultation and we’ll show you what will work best on your windows.

Smooth finish shutters have a more modern look, while shutters with a textured finish look a little more natural. However the benefits to both types of plantation shutter finish are a little deeper, and in the end come down to your own personal preference.

Benefits of a smooth finish for shutters – A smooth finish to your shutters offer a clean, sleek, modern look. If your home doesn’t have many other wood surfaces like hardwood floors or furniture, you might not want a smooth finish. A smooth finish makes dust easier to see, in comparison with a wood grain finish. We usually recommend a smooth finish for faux wood shutters like Polywood.

Benefits of shutters with a textured or wood grain finish – Shutters with a textured finish offer a more natural look to your windows. That’s perfect if you want to bring the look of nature inside, especially if you want to match the look of your hardwood furniture. A wood grain on your shutters will also make dust harder to see, which means you don’t need to dust them as frequently as you would if they were smooth. A wood-grain finish looks especially great on real wood shutters in Denver.

For the most part, the larger the window, the more shutter panels you’ll want on it. Our recommendation is to use one panel for windows up to 26 in. wide, two panels for windows up to 50 in. wide, and four for windows up to 98 in. wide.

Single wide panels are not as room-friendly as multiple panels. Often, wide panel shutters won’t fit flush against the wall because of their size. Multiple small panels solve that problem.

For windows that you might want to open or shut regularly, you’ll be better off with multiple panels, since they’re easier to open and have additional support from the frame when you do open and close them.

With Sunburst Shutters Denver, all of your window measurements will be done by one of our installers for free as part of your in-home consultation. If you happen to have windows in a hard to reach place in your house or you have windows with a unique shape, our installers can get you a precise measurement so that the shutters you get will line up just right with the windows.

During your complimentary shutter consultation, your Sunburst Shutters rep will help you choose from our extensive variety of Denver plantation shutters, featuring choices for panel width, stain colors, and custom framing options.

So set up your in-home consultation today by calling 720-538-0182 today.

Sunburst can help you pick the best shutter for your home, no matter how small your frame. We will work with an outside mount installation that attaches to the trim or wall outside the window cavity . Your window treatments will still have equivalent capabilities and energy efficiency, and will blend perfectly into your design scheme.

If the louver is separated and jutting from the frame, you likely have a damaged louver pin. To fix this you need to extract the pin from both the louver and the stile with some needle-nose pliers or a utility knife. Once the damaged pin is taken out, put the replacement pin base into the old hole in the shutter stile, then slide the louver onto the pin. To receive extra louver pins at no cost, just call us at 720-538-0182.

Actual prices of plantation shutters hinges on the chosen product line and window area. While we can present you a projection over the phone, complete costs are determined after our free in-person consultation. Call 720-538-0182 to ask for an appointment today.

To start, remove the damaged staple from the louver with a tool like of needle-nose pliers. Then dab on some adhesive (like wood glue or epoxy) to coat the legs of a replacement staple. Thread the staple into the loop on the louver and slide its legs into the existing staple holes on the tilt rod. For extra shutter staples, call us at 720-538-0182.

Polywood shutters are seen as some of the safest window treatments in Denver. The cord-free, durable craftsmanship is safe for children and pets. The non-toxic and hypoallergenic materials and paint will never chip, splinter, or peel. And because Polywood is pest and moisture resistant, you won’t have to wonder about bugs, mold, or wood rot.