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SUPER CEDAR SHUTTERS By Matt Weber Anyone can make shabby board-and-batten shutters. Go grab three long boards off a shelf, nail a couple short boards across them, and voilà! You’ve got rustic shutters … right? Maybe even squirt some caulk between the boards, because, why not?! You shouldn’t do that because wood swells and contracts with changes in temperature, causing separation between the joints and resulting in that melted cheese look from the caulk failing between your shutter boards. It ain’t pretty. And now it’s on the front of your house. The truth is that you get what you pay for, and the guys at Rustic Shelves & Shutters of Gardendale, Alabama, build theirs to look great and last long. Their decorative shutters are made from genuine cedar, and the vertical boards are all edge-joined with wood biscuits and strengthened with Titebond III wood glue, then clamped into a solid unit. They offer router detailing, sanding and/or planing for the texture of your preference, plus a wide array of finish options. Once stained and fully assembled, a UV protective clear-coat is applied and a water-seal coating is added to the backs. WHY CEDAR? The shutters from Rustic Shelves & Shutters are all made of genuine cedar lumber. Cedar is versatile, sustainable and beautiful with rich color tones in the grain, which is also free of pitch and resin, making it ideal for accepting a wide range of finishes. Compared to other coniferous woods, cedar is dimensionally stable with a very low shrinkage factor, so
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Home Improvement and Repairs | The Late Spring Issue
