Will My Shutters Warp Or Crack In Las Vegas?

It is one of the most asked questions with regards to window coverings in Las Vegas. People have heard from neighbors and friends that they had expensive plantation shutters installed only to have them start warping or developing cracks after only a short time. Salesmen will use this phenomenon to sell their products no matter what type of shutters they are selling. The plastic shutter salesmen will say that theirs is the product that will not crack in the Las Vegas heat, and the real wood shutter salesmen will say that their products will not warp. It is important to understand what is happening that makes certain types of shutters crack and warp, so that you can make a good choice of the product to install. Shutters are an investment, they are a built in that will ultimately go with your home if you ever sell it, so you should think about the future of the shutters and the life span they might have. If your shutters only last a few years before needing to be repaired or replaced, then they were not a good deal no matter how inexpensive they were. So lets get into why this happens and how to avoid it.

Shutters trap the heat that is reflecting off the windows. In Las Vegas, the inside of your window during the summer can get so hot that it will burn your skin. This is trapping hot air in between itself and the shutters that are installed in the window frame, and ultimately building up extreme heat behind them. The louvers of the shutters are the area that is in the most contact with the hot air, and the louvers are only joined and supported by the frame by a small pin on each side. This is what gives them the ability to be rotated, but also gives the wood the ability to move around at the temperature changes. If the heat builds up too high and the shutters are made of plastic, then they will easily warp the way any melting plastic would. If the wood is not strong enough it will eventually dry out to the point of beginning to shrink, which is what causes the cracking.

The way to avoid these issues is simple, only buy shutters from a company that uses real basswood in the construction. Basswood is a very hard wood that resists the cracking that dry heat causes. In addition, the best quality shutters are made from basswood that is kiln dried previous to shaping, which literally dries out the wood long before it ever gets mounted in your windows. This process will cause any cracking to happen before the wood is formed into your shutters, and ultimately provide a wood product that is “pre-shrunk.” Onyx plantation shutters are constructed of top quality basswood that is kiln dried before shaping. They are also constructed using specialized screws and mounting hardware that strengthens them against the ravages of the Las Vegas heat. Contact Onyx Shutters today for a demonstration.