SHUTTERCRAFT
The company Shuttercraft was born in 1986, when Colleen Murdock’s father, Dwight Carlson, wanted true, movable-louver shutters for his house and couldn’t find them anywhere. Murdock worked with her father, eventually buying the business outright about 17 years ago.
Shuttercraft makes both exterior and interior shutters in dozens of historic styles, to order, using mortise-and-tenon construction. Their go-to wood for exterior shutters is clear Western red cedar. “It’s the most decay-resistant wood now available,” Murdock says. “It can last a lifetime if it’s sealed properly.” In addition to making movableand fixed-louver, raisedpanel, batten, and panel-andlouver combinations, Shuttercraft repairs and replicates historic shutters. They’re known for certain historical details, such as the side stiles, known as “horns,” that extend about ½“ below the bottom rail. “These are often called Boston shutters. When the shutter is closed, the extension allows water and ice to flow out from the sill.” Shutter designs and combinations are on display on the company website, along with instructions on how to measure a window for shutters. In addition, the company offers a full line of shutter hardware in cast iron and stainless steel. Most are historical replications and all are intended to be used functionally on shutters. In 2001, Shuttercraft came to the attention of First Lady Laura Bush, who ordered an entire roomful of interior shutters, then ordered more. “We ship all over the country, but my dad drove them down [to Washington],” Murdock says. Shuttercraft partners with a network of shutter-specific, family-owned mills that cut components such as stiles and rails to standard lengths, then send them to the Connecticut shop where they are further customized to exact specifications before sealing and painting. Customization includes a limitless number of cutout designs, a company specialty. Many are cut with a jigsaw by hand, “so they’re authentic, just like the cutouts on an old shutter.”
inside the casing when closed, even if you do not plan to close them. The shutters should rest on the window’s blind stop, not the window sash. (The blind stop is the rectangular moulding between the outside trim and the outside sashes; it serves as a stop for storm sashes and screens as well as shutters.)
Measure the width and height of the windows as though the shutters would actually swing inward like a door and completely cover the window. Since all windows are not created equal, expect variations in window heights and widths from window to window. Check measurements for both height and width at different points along the frame—in at least two places on each side plus top and bottom. Use the smallest height and width as your dimensions. Also account for the reveal: the thickness of the channel allowed for the shutter. Finally, shutters should be built ¼" smaller than the window opening on all sides, for proper clearance.
Positioning shutters correctly starts with attachment hardware, typically a pintle hinge that mounts on the outside of the window casing. The hinge allows the shutter to swing freely between open and closed positions. Because most shutters are left open all the time, add a tieback or shutter dog to keep the shutters from banging against the house. Additional hardware options include strap hinges that add strength to the hinge, slide bars and bolts that latch or lock the shutters when closed, and ring pulls to help pull the shutters closed from inside the house.
Need to match an existing shutter or effect repairs? Reputable manufacturers can replicate a new shutter from an original. Repairing shutters yourself requires some skill (see “Repairing Damage,” above) but much of the work is repetitive if labor intensive: stripping paint from both wood and hardware, making repairs with epoxies, and carefully repainting so that all the movable parts can operate freely.