What Homeowners Should Know Before Getting Custom Shutters For Their Residence | Dallas, TX
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Window coverings and treatments are decorative elements that homeowners in Dallas, TX, and beyond can use to cover their home windows. They can help enhance your home’s aesthetic appeal and functionality. Essentially, window coverings or treatments can help you better regulate the amount of light entering your indoors, prevent outdoor noise infiltration, and keep intruders outside.
Besides that, they can also make your residence more energy-efficient, which makes investing in window treatments a great idea. The US Department of Energy claims that approximately 30 percent of a household’s heat energy is lost through the windows. It also claims that an estimated 76 percent of the sunlight rays that come into contact with standard double-pane windows enter indoors, creating some heat.
Fortunately, window coverings can reduce the rate of energy loss, consequently lowering your household’s energy expenditure. Suppose you’re looking to make a window covering addition. In that case, you can choose between interior shades and drapes, plastic films applied directly on the glass, exterior shades, awnings, storm windows, and shutters. Read on to learn more about what homeowners should know before getting custom shutters for their home windows.
Window Shutters Explained
Window shutters are essentially window treatments that can be used in the place of curtains or blinds. Just like any other type of window covering or treatment, custom shutters primarily help homeowners control the amount of light entering their indoors and spice up the style and design of their homes. They can also enhance privacy and improve your home’s energy efficiency.
The Difference Between Interior and Exterior Shutters
As homeowners in Dallas, TX, and beyond continue to discover the aesthetic and practical benefits of having window shutters, only a few have a working idea on which options to pursue their installation project.
You can choose to install interior and exterior shutters. If you’re having trouble reaching a conclusive decision, below are some distinguishing characteristics between the two.
Interior Shutters
Interior window shutters are typically installed inside the house, giving you maximum control of the shutters, allowing you to regulate airflow, lighting, and privacy easily. You can also install interior custom shutters for energy-saving purposes.
Closed interior shutters can trap warm air indoors during cold weather, which can reduce your heating costs. During hot weather, the shutters can keep sunlight rays at bay to prevent the rooms of your home from overheating.
Exterior Shutters
As the terminology implies, exterior shutters often occur outside the house. Decorative custom shutters are ideal for virtually any type of home style or design. They’re usually available in wide-ranging styles, colors, and designs.
If you live in an area that experiences extreme weather conditions such as hurricanes, tornadoes, and earthquakes, exterior window shutters can protect your home windows from damage by debris. Additionally, you can install exterior shutters as a deterrent for burglars.
Materials Used to Make Shutters
When choosing window shutters for your residence, you should ensure that your selection matches your house’s architectural style and color scheme. Here’s a look at some of the options you can choose from.
Wood Shutters
If your home has a classic look, then wood shutters may be your best option. Wood is the preferred material for plantation shutters, and it can be stained, painted, or shaped in various ways to match your preferences. However, wooden shutters may not be the best option for bathrooms and kitchens since they have a low tolerance for prolonged exposure to water or moisture.
Plastic Shutters
If you need a shutter material that can withstand harsh weather conditions and exposure to moisture, plastic may be the ideal option. Additionally, plastic shutters are relatively inexpensive and quite easy to install and maintain.
Wood Composite Shutters
Otherwise called medium-density fiberboards, custom shutters are often used as a common alternative to wooden shutters. They’re made of compacted hardwoods and softwoods, making them a durable and economic investment.
Hurricane Shutters
Constructed using aluminum or steel, hurricane shutters are an excellent option for almost any home. Their lightweight nature makes them easy to install both indoors and outdoors.
Unlike wood or plastic shutters, hurricane shutters are less susceptible to warping, cracking, or rotting. However, they’re vulnerable to rust and corrosion, especially when left untreated for a significant amount of time.
The Benefits of Installing Custom Shutters in Your Home
Although some homeowners often decry the cost of shutters to be higher than that of other interior window treatments, you should know that this investment can last significantly longer than any other type of window covering. What’s more, it can also pay for itself over time. Below are some of the benefits you may accrue from requesting the installation of custom shutters in your residence.
They Can Elevate the Value of Your Residential Property
A home with customized shutters can sell much faster and at a higher price than one without. This is because it can boost its aesthetic appeal to future buyers. Most homeowners can appreciate the value of shutters in their potential to reduce energy bills and last longer than other types of window coverings or treatments.
Ideally, the design of custom plantation shutters can comfortably outlast most blinds, drapes, or prefabricated shutters. Therefore, custom shutters may be a worthwhile investment if you’re looking to boost the resale value of your residence.
They Can Reduce Your Household’s Energy Expenditure
Unlike other types of window treatments, custom window shutters are designed to be the best fit possible based on the size of your home windows. Consequently, this allows them to effectively block out glare and direct sunlight better than any covering.
By regulating the amount of sunlight reaching your indoors, custom-fit shutters can go a long way in reducing your home’s energy consumption. Past that, they also help retain treated air coming from your residential HVAC unit, and you can open or close the shutters for seamless air conditioner control.
Reach Out to the Premier Window Service Provider Near Dallas, TX
If you’re looking for professional window services, look no further. At Energy Window Solutions, we’ve been serving the needs of residential customers from new window installation projects as well as window repair and replacement for more than 30 years.
We have a manufacturing plant that allows us to provide customized products based on the customer’s preferences. You can reach out to our experienced technicians if you would like assistance finding custom shutters for your residence.