Board and Batten Shutter Tutorial Part 1

About 11 years ago, my father and I made the board and batten shutters for the front living room windows and the small window on the second floor.

 Since that time, we have replaced the non original windows in the library with restoration windows. So R and I decided to make shutters for the library windows on the west and south sides.

Determining height, width, and wood type.

Where do you start?  First measure the height of the window. Our intent is to make these shutters look like operating shutters without actually being operational.  To do this we measured from the top of the window to the bottom of the window.  We did not include the trim or the window sill in the measurement because our shutters will be attached to and lay on top of the window trim (the first photo).

  This was our choice but some people people like their shutters to be the same height as the window and the trim and to lay flat against the house and butted up against the trim.  You can do whichever method you want because it is your house.  There are some 'shutter experts' that feel anything less than operating shutters is a complete NO NO.  Unless you are doing an historical restoration and have a huge shutter budget (we do not) then consider shutters that aren't operational and a shutter design that is pleasing to YOUR eye. 

Now that you have the height figured out, what about the width?  Your shutter should ideally be half the width of the window because again if they were operational the two shutters would close over the window opening.  Example...if your window is 36 inches wide then your shutter on each side should ideally be 18 inches wide.  

Ideally?  Next you need to decide what lumber width you wish to use.  We chose to use 1X6 lumber because our exterior doors are tongue and groove, and have 6 inche wide boards.  We felt that it was important to repeat this detail so that the shutters looked original.  If you do not have an architectural detail to repeat then you can also use 1X4 lumber.  It is all dependent on what lumber is available to you, what looks pleasing to your eye, and what combination of lumber widths gives you the correct width of shutter.  Example 36 inch window needs an 18 inch shutter.  If you use 6 inch wide lumber then your shutter will be 3 boards wide.  If you use 4 inch wide lumber then you will need to decide what looks more pleasing to YOUR eye......4 boards (16 inches) or 5 boards (20 inches).  BTW Of course a 1 X 6 board is not exactly 6 inches wide but is 5 1/2 inches, but since 99% of shutters are decorative and not operational it is far easier to use whole numbers instead of fractions.

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Another detail that you need to think about before you make your width choice is whether you want a decorative cut out like a heart, diamond, tulip, or tree.  If you want one decorative cut out detail then you need it to be in the center of you shutter which will require you to use an even number of boards.  The cutout will fall half on one board and half on another board.  We didn't choose to use a cutout detail but if we had, then we would have needed to make our shutters 4 boards wide so that the detail fell on half of one board and half on another board.

OK......by now you know your height, width, cutout (yes or no), and the width of the board that you need.  Now you need to decide what type of wood you want to use.  The choices you have available will depend on where you live but most lumber yard/home improvement stores will have pine, clear pine, and poplar.  The wood you choose will be dependent on whether you want to paint or stain and of course your budget.  

Pine is your least expensive, then clear pine (no knots), and finally poplar.  Pine will shrink and cup and also have knots that will bleed sap and might fall out as the wood dries.  

You can get around the shrinking/cupping problem by buying your lumber a month prior to building your shutters.  Stack your lumber where it will lay flat and have air space between each board.  We use regular size bricks as spacers.  Make sure that you support the boards about every 2 feet so as they dry the board won't sag.  

Is this going over board?  We used to buy lumber and just stack it any old way and use it right away. Then several months later we had gaps between boards and needed to add more nails or screws to pull a cupped board back into place.  We once bought a 4X4 cedar post to replace a broken mailbox post.  When we arrived back from the lumber yard we laid it on the deck and went about our business.  The weather was very dry and hot that day.  The next morning we went outside to use that 4X4 post and it had dried and twisted 90 degrees (I am not exaggerating).  Since that time we try to pre dry our lumber so that we have the best possible outcome.  No one likes to redo a project.    

Pine.....CON...prone to shrinkage, splitting, and cupping, knots might bleed sap or fall out once the boards completely dries, and doesn't give a good painted result.  PRO...is the most rustic looking and the least expensive.

Clear Pine...CON...prone to shrinkage, splitting, and cupping.  PRO...no knots to bleed sap, gives a good paint result, and not as expensive as poplar.

Poplar...CON..most expensive of these three lumber types.  PRO..shrinkage and cupping is minimal especially if you allow it to dry before using and it gives a great painted result.

Salvaged painted lumber...CON...will need to be sanded or stripped before repainting.  PRO...lumber is already dried (shrunk), if you are looking for a rustic look then you can just scrape the loose paint and use, might be free if this came from your demo work.

My advice is to use the best lumber that you can afford, the type of lumber for the aesthetic that you wish to achieve, and pre dry before you use if you chose a wood that shrinks as it dries.

We chose to use poplar because we wanted a nice smooth painted finish with no knots.  The shutters that we hung 6 or 7 years ago still have a great looking paint finish.  I primed twice using an exterior grade latex primer and then 2 coats of exterior latex semi gloss.

Tomorrow I will cover the cutting, using a round over bit in a router, cutting slots with a biscuit joiner, and the assembly of the board and batten shutters.

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