Are DIY Shutters Hard?
Doing home improvement projects on your own in Houston is a lot easier than it used to be. With resources easily available to walk you through every step, a lot of once-difficult projects are now very doable.
There are exceptions, though – jobs that may be cumbersome, time-consuming, or just too complex to do by yourself. One job that might fall into that category is installing DIY plantation shutters.
These are just a couple of the problems that can come up when trying to put in shutters as a DIY job.
DIY Window Measuring for Shutters
Though it can seem easy at a glance, getting the exact window measurements for plantation shutters can be very tricky. As one of our team members says, “There are a thousand ways to measure windows wrong, but only one right way54.” There’s a good amount of differences between individual windows that can impact how you need to measure.
For example, will your shutters be on an inside mount or an outside mount? How thick is the frame of the shutters you’re looking at and how far into the window opening should it need to sit? What style of frame is needed for tilt-in windows, swinging windows or sliders?
All these factors can have an impact which style of shutters and frame are appropriate. By extension, that changes how you should measure your windows.
DIY Shutter Buying
The next problem area for DIY shutters can spring up in the buying process. As with the variation in windows, there’s a lot of variation in shutters, and if you’re flying solo, it can be easy to buy the wrong thing. Here are a few easy to make mistakes if you’re a DIYer:
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Purchasing the wrong material for shutters. For example, purchasing real wood shutters to put in a room that needs to have a waterproof window treatment.
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Picking a shutter configuration that doesn’t let you open or close your window all the way.
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Getting a shutter with a frame that doesn’t work well with your specialty window like your French doors.
We’ve also seen some added confusion with shutter terminology. Talking to a shutter company helps avoid any confusion, so you get exactly what you need.
Installing Shutters Yourself
Where DIY shutters can become most difficult is trying to install them, as you might have guessed.
First off, shutter installation needs to be precise, and one small error in measuring at the beginning or in screwing in a bracket can ruin the whole thing. Shutters can also be physically difficult to install; depending on the material and your window’s position, lifting a shutter can be exhausting and sometimes dangerous.
Something some DIYers don’t know is that it’s fairly typical for shutters to not exactly fit your window frame. This is mainly due to the fact that most window frames aren’t perfectly square. Attaching the shutter flush to one side of the window opening could result in the shutter looking crooked and making gaps. It’s common for an installer to caulk a quarter or half-inch gap, and if you’re an inexperienced DIYer a caulking job could be outside your expertise.
Last, when you install DIY shutters, you don’t have anything to fall back on. If a professional installer puts in your shutters for you, they’ll almost always guarantee the job with a warranty. However if something goes wrong when you try to install yourself, you’re on your own if there’s any damage to the shutters or any other part of your house.
