HERE ARE SOME OF THE ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS THAT ARE OFTEN ASKED BY CUSTOMERS SELECTING SHUTTERS.
What are Plantation Shutters?
Plantation shutters
are louvred panels fixed either inside or outside windows
and doors. They originated in America and the West Indies
and date back to before the American Civil War. The term "Ante
Bellum" means pre-war and is used to describe a style
of plantation shutters. The louvre shutters offered by Keywest
Shutters are "Ante Bellum". What are solid shutters?
These are panels that have no louvers. They were originally
installed in reveal boxes in pre-Edwardian houses and were
only used a couple of times a year, when the owners de-camped
for the season. They were not designed to be opened and shut
daily like our present designs and that is why so few remain
today.
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What louver size should I choose?
When making your louvre choice, consider the size of the window and the desired effect. Generally larger windows command a larger louvre size.
The larger the louvre, the more light you will have but less privacy.
In the USA most shutters are made with 3.5 (89mm) louvres or larger but here in Europe we tend to generally choose smaller louvres such as 47mm or 64mm. 32mm (available in cedar Hemingway only) is used a lot in bathrooms but also looks very good when painted white and used on café style installations in living room windows where the street maybe very close by.
If you have Georgian style windows with small windowpanes then we would definitely advise using the largest louver possible or the windows can look very busy. See louvre styles.
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How many shutter panels do I need in
my window opening?
Our smallest panel width is 200mm and widest is 750mm, although
with larger louver panels we do sometimes go wider but void warp
warranty with your permission. Generally a window looks best with
4 panels, two opening as pairs either way. A 3 window bay, however,
will usually have 2 panels on the smaller side windows and 4 in
the centre. All panels will open away from the middle.
There are as many exceptions as there are norms. For instance,
a long window with 3 panes of glass, i.e.; 1800mm wide and 1000mm
high, would have 6 panels; three folding either way or if you are
only going to open them to clean the windows you could easily have
just 3 panels. The Americans never open the shutters, only the
louvers so design with large panels.
A lot of the time you will have to consider where the panels
are going to fold back to and if there is enough room for this
to happen. This is also true where you are fitting inside the reveal
next to the window and you will not want the shutters, when open,
to protrude into the room too much.
We would not recommend hanging more than 3 panels from a
single batten hinged together unless they were not going to be
opened apart from window cleaning and were resting on the sill
or door step. As the maximum recommended width of our panels is
750mm you may say that this equates to 4500mm maximum width but
it would be asking a lot of the batten to hold panels of this width
and weight without sagging at a later date. So quite a lot of common
sense is needed to achieve a good installation. Openings over 2200mm
generally need a top track, even if not using a top track at this
width try to use a light panel such as Hemingway or Truman.
For partitioning or for large windows where tracking is needed
at the top to suspend the panels you will really need an even number
of panels or they will look odd and not hang from the track properly.
Ideally 8 panels or 12 panels for very large openings is best although
quite often it is wise to hang even 6 panels from tracking if they
are quite large. With the heavier Fleming shutter this is clearly
an option to be considered. We do not charge for tracking, it comes
in the square metre price for the opening.
In summary, the window will normally dictate the number of
panels. If the window is split into two halves you would either
have 2 or 4 panels and it follows that if it is three panes then
three or six panels will suffice. The vertical dividers of the
windows are where the vertical stiles of the shutters should be
ideally.
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What wood do you use and is it Eco friendly?
"The Hemingway Range" is made from Western Red Cedar.
The timber is very durable and has a most interesting grain. It is very expensive
timber but does not need to be laminated to retain stability.
We buy our cedar from The Western Red Cedar Association in
Canada. It is either replanted cedar or taken from designated forest
areas where it is a managed forest. Cedar is one of the most used
timbers in the world, in the USA a lot of houses are built entirely
of cedar and it is used extensively for roofing shingles and decking
because although a softwood, it is amazingly long lasting a resistant
to wet and rot. As a result it is farmed in very well managed forests.
"The Truman" is made from a laminated constructed
Truman wood, sometimes called Parasol. It grows in sub tropical areas of the
southern states of the USA, China and Japan. It is a very fast growing tree
reaching full height in about 15 years. Ideal for farming.
It is a hardwood but very light. We treat it with a special
secret process to make it that light but it still has a very hard
skin. It weighs in at almost the same as Cedar, making it ideal
for shutters where the lighter the better generally applies.
It has an interesting story in that it is written in ancient
Chinese history, that the most famous musician of the time, lost
his beautiful house in a terrible fire. In the ashes though was
his harp like instrument that had survived although it lost it
horns and now the national instrument of China is the Zither, designed
by fire 3000 years ago. It is said that the Truman bird only will
nest in a Truman tree and eat the berries from it. This is because
it is the slowest burning wood on the planet, it needs a secondary
heat source to burn. In Japan it is believed that it has mystical
properties.
After the Hiroshima Atom Bomb blast in 1945 the truman trees
that were only 1.3km away from the epicentre survived and the following
year flowered and brought forth seeds. The Japanese saw this as
a sign of re-birth and sent the seeds to world leaders as a gift
and signal of their intentions to bring in new life from old.
I hope this isn't too much information but we really like
this timber and hope you will too.
"The Fleming Range" is our most eco friendly product
because no trees at all have been cut down to make this product at all. Made
from a laminated veneered lumber core (Basswood or other strong frame materials
strips that are off cuts not usable elsewhere, laminated together with epoxy
making a light, strong core), LDF laid bulk and polymer sealed outer coating.
Some shutter companies websites whine on about MDF and the
dangers of formaldehyde poisoning. However, these shutters are
sealed with a polymer coating. The dust from MDF maybe dangerous
if you work with the stuff all day long and don't wear a mask however
MDF is used very expensively all over the world and is an extremely
versatile material. However we don't recommend you eating your
shutters, making sawdust of them and then breathing in large quantities
over weeks, so please don't as we won't be held responsible!
"The Thermalite Range" is made of ABS and stiffened
with Cedar strips left from our Hemingway program and then spray painted so
it doesn't look like plastic, which is what it is basically. We don't know
how eco friendly it is so sorry, can't answer that one however:
KEYWEST SHUTTERS ECO STATEMENT
Our supplier uses their most efficient methods to make the
shutters that are known to us. They re-use whatever wood is from
a process somewhere else because they are in the timber business
and know our future depends on responsible management of the earth's
natural resources.
They even use the sawdust to power generators that power
our plant and provide hot water. The 3 large turbines they use
to do this cost more than the average shutter companies entire
production equipment. This is what they call investing in conservation.
Our competitors invest mainly in conversation.
Their packaging is made biodegradable cardboard, they even
make the packing inserts from cardboard. All recycling waste facilities
in the UK will accept our cardboard. They do not use bubblewrap,
they do not use polystyrene and they spend extra money in our processes
that they could turn in to more profits to avoid mucking up the
planet.
Where are Keywest Shutters made? They are made in Southern China,
which is a 2 hour drive from Hong Kong by car.
Many of our competitors go on about the fact that our supplier's
products are made in China, as though this is a bad thing.
They are amongst the first to make custom products in China
it is true, but they have had to employ the most modern methods
to do this. They actually make shutters in less than a day from
order. They use very sophisticated and expensive computers and
machinery to do this. They have to make a very good product as
they don't want to have to alter it here or maintain it. The owners
of our facility have invested tens of millions of US dollars to
make our products as good as they are.
Their workers do work reasonable hours for above average
pay. They have careers and housing and kids at schools with mobile
phones and so on, just like here. China is not a third world country;
they make some of the highest quality products on offer here, including
our shutters.
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Does wood warp, shrink, change colour
or age in any way?
Yes it does, all of those and so it should. If it doesn't
it is not natural.
Cedar can warp in very rare occurrences like any wood but
is less prone to do so than virtually any other timber we know
of. We do give you a guarantee though against significant warping.
See our terms and conditions. To date though we have had less than
one in 2000 panels do this. Similarly Cedar can shrink and does
but also very little and we always advise fitting tight in the
first instance. Shutters can quite easily be adjusted should this
occur as it is never that much but it is probably better to leave
them as they can just as easily swell again should the humidity
increase.
Wood is a natural material and with its inconsistencies delivers
pleasure. We do make perfect shutters because the market today
expects perfect manufacture. Rustic looks are so because they are
products made in rustic environments with basic tools and little
technology, or badly/cheaply made or specifically finished to look
that way. We think buying old Levis is OK if you don't want to
wear them for long. If you want an aged look then you can add it
later, order it specially or just wait until it happens naturally.
In fact within a week or two they develop a more lived in look
and your decor adds character by proxy too.
And finally on this subject: Valuable antique furniture looked
new 100 years ago and our shutters will be valuable antiques too,
in a 100 years. Your curtains won't be. The Fleming range is a
different animal altogether. Although from 3 feet (2.7M) away you
almost cannot tell the difference from white painted wood shutters.
If you have young children still in their destructive period you
should definitely consider this range. If you do break louvers
or damage a panel seriously we can usually remake one exactly from
our records or replace louvers in situ. We use ISO 9002 recorded
process manufacture.
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What colours and stains are available?
View the colours section of this site
for a full list of colours and stains that are available for each
shutter range.
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Can shutters be installed on any window?
Shutters can be installed on virtually any window, French
doors or patio sliding doors. They can also be used effectively
as room dividers fitted on tracks. If the window/door opens inwards
they can always be mounted outside of the reveal. Bypass tracking
allows for the shutter to slide pass each other and is used where
there are overhangs preventing the panels from swinging out.
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How do I measure my windows and doors?
For a quick quote just measure the width
and height of the opening. For DIY self measure and install, we
offer a 20% discount. Please contact our office for further details.
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What about maintenance?
Shutters are easily cleaned using a feather duster, damp
sponge/soft cloth or run a vacuum cleaner over them. The finish
product should not need repainting for many years. Indeed, the
Fleming shutters are totally maintenance free and cannot be re-painted
in any event.
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How long from order will it take to
get my shutters?
Shutters are custom manufactured to fit individual openings
and are ready for installation in 6 to 8 weeks from the date of
the order and receipt of the deposit.
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Can I fit the shutters myself?
Of course you can. Some of our customers have fitted even
very complex tracked installations beautifully. If you know how
to scribe, use a planer and possess a level plus a level of practical
common sense then go for it. We issue comprehensive fitting instructions
and are available on the phone should you get stuck to help you
out. But, if you are anything like me, a person who has to cut
a piece of wood several times to get the right length, then definitely
not.
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Do you offer onsite measuring and
installation services?
Yes, please contact our office whereby a surveyor will arrange
an appointment for you. Alternatively, forward your details on
our "survey request" form on the website and we shall
contact you.
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What if my windows are not square?
There is virtually no such thing as a window that is perfectly
square. If using battens the side battens are 25mm thick and can
be scribed to square off the window. You have really about 20mm
of play with these. If the window slants the shutters will emphasise
this as they are square and we do not advise trimming them lengthwise
as when opened will look very odd.
Frames are used a lot now and for reveal edge fixes and outside
fixes, this is really the way to go. Inside reveal fixes are possible
as long as the window is reasonably square. The new L frames we
use are great and are scribal should that be necessary.
You will always find an optimum position however for the
shutters that looks right.
If they look right, then they are right!
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