Video Highlights:
00:27 – Louvres or blades come in different sizes
00:48 – Clear view controls are connected by a hidden metal tilt rod
01:18 – Side pieces are called styles
01:27 – Side styles come with a flat finish or a decorative beading
01:39 – Top and bottom rails can vary in size
02:06 – Optional mid rail to help hide window winders
02:54 – Mid rails allow separate control of top and bottom louvres
03:18 – Tensioning screws for louvre tension adjustment
03:51 – Corner posts allow for spacing and hinging
04:15 – Architraves come in many shapes and sizes
Hi, today we’re going to talk about the different parts that make up plantation shutters. You probably don’t need to know all these parts but it can’t hurt. Can it? So here we have a plantation shutter and of course the first thing we have is the louvres. They come in different sizes as discussed in other videos. As you can see here, we have two different sizes under one shutter for display purposes.
Hidden and Visible Tilt-Rod
When we have the clear view option here, the louvres are controlled and connected with a metal hidden tilt-rod or if we’re having the option where using the tilt-rod, the top louvres are connected with a visible tilt-rod.
Styles
On the side here, the two pieces running down the side are called styles. As you can see, this style here has a beading, just giving it a little bit of a decorative finish. You can also have the style without the beading which is just a flat finish. Some people think that flat finish is just a little bit more modern if your home is more towards the modern side.
Top, Middle and Bottom Rail
Across the top, we have the top rail and on the bottom, we have the bottom rail. Now these top and bottom rail will change inside depending on how many louvres you have. Also they will change in size depending on the overall size of your shutter. In the middle here, we have what we call a middle rail. You don’t have to have this mid rail but once shutters get to 1.8 meters in height, you do have to have a middle rail purely to increase the strength of the frame. If it’s less than 1.8 meters in height, you don’t have to have it. However, you may want to put it in. Because what this can do is sometimes you might have windows where you have to winder in the middle of the window and this will cover it up so you no longer see the winder that makes it look nicer.
Also what it does is it creates a divide so it means that the bottom louvres control separately to the top louvres. So for instance, if you happen to have a shutter in your front room which is the bedroom, you may have the bottom louvres shut for privacy so people can’t see directly in. You may have the top louvres angled down slightly so you are still getting light coming into the room.
Tensioning Screw and Hinge
We also have the tensioning screw which we’ve discussed before to tension the louvres. What we also have is of course a hinge. This is very similar to your everyday door hinge and you generally have three of them on your shutter to shut and open. There are different type of hinges for different purposes.
Quarter post
What we also have is a quarter post. This would generally be a long piece of the same length as the shutter and this is designed to go into corners where you have such a 90degree corner or maybe a bay window. It gives the shutters a bit of space and somewhere to hinge.
Architrave
What we also have is also what we call an architrave and they come in many different styles and shapes and there’s many different reasons why we may use them. We don’t necessarily have to use them. It can be used to make the shutter more decorative. They can also be used to help keep more light out.
So there you have it, that’s generally all the parts of a plantation shutter so now you know what the parts are. What they do and why you would need some over others. Happy to help, thanks!
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