Bakersfield's Frequently Asked Questions About Shutters

For more than 30 years, we’ve been asked every question about shutters thinkable from our customers in Bakersfield. And we’ve gathered the top ten of them here. Perhaps in these questions and answers you’ll find answers to questions of your own. If not, please don’t be reluctant to contact Sunburst Shutters Bakersfield directly. We’re here to assist you and happy to do so.

That hinges on how you desire the shutters to interact with your home’s décor. Do you want a shutter that contrasts your wall paint color and has clean lines? Polywood® plantation shutters are perfect for you. Or are you looking to copy the wood in your home as closely as possible? Ovation® wood shutters are an absolute fit for you.

Plantation shutters are celebrated for being energy efficient. And to get the most energy savings, our Polywood Shutter Insulation System is the only choice.

For the budget-conscious, blinds can be temporary window treatments to cover your windows. Store-bought blinds tend to deteriorate over time, with its strings snapping and the loops that hold the slats in place falling apart. Additionally, they might be troublesome to clean. Even if you're budget-conscious, Sunburst Shutters blinds have the durability and craftsmanship lacking in off-the-rack, store-bought, or online blinds.

Shades offer a variety of colors, materials, and unique patterns, changing your window into artwork. Just by pulling up the fabric of the shade, your entire window is exposed and you can see out onto your Bakersfield neighborhood.

Draperies also offer a wide assortment of color, fabric, and patterns. They are a traditional option for a window treatment. Adding thick panels between the drapes and the window gives you light and temperature block-out capabilities. And unlike other window treatments, there’s no need to clean draperies for five years.

If you’re looking for a window treatment that lasts over 10 years, saves you actual bucks on your energy bills, and looks charming on your windows, shutters are the choice for your home. Not only are shutters durable, but they’re also elegant and energy efficient. As a matter of fact, Polywood shutters insulate up to 70% better than a comparable wood shutter. That's energy savings you will miss out on with any other window treatment.

Plantation shutters are unparalleled when it comes to control over privacy and light. And with their large louvers, Polywood plantation shutters give your space a clean in vogue feel whether they’re closed or open.

An improperly installed window treatment can be difficult to open and can get damaged easily. We have a skilled installation crew that comes to your home and installs your window treatment precisely, ensuring that each one functions seamlessly – and doesn’t get damaged throughout.

But before we get to installing your shutters, we bring shutter samples to your home so we can custom craft your window treatment together. Learn more about our free in-home consultation.

Your plantation shutter slats – or louvers – can be moved effortlessly by adjusting them up or down. Usually, a tilt rod mounted on the front of the shutters allows you to adjust the louvers. If you want to move the louvers with your hand, we advise buying shutters with hidden tilt-rods or rear-mounted tilt rods. This gives your shutters a clean, contemporary look.

Our Polywood shutters last more than 50 years – more than any other shutter in the industry. That’s why these plantation shutters are a permanent fixture that boosts your home’s resale value. Learn more about the durability of our shutters.

Plantation shutters are simple to clean because they have large louvers and their tilt bars are either hidden or mounted on the rear. Just tilt them open and dust them like furniture – or wipe smudges with a damp cloth.

Plantation shutters are custom fashioned to fit your windows exactly. They become a permanent fixture of your home, boosting its resale value. These shutters cannot be moved from one house to another.

Plantation shutters are an investment that gives you temperature control, energy efficiency, and privacy. They are custom crafted and installed on your windows to become permanent fixtures. Not only are they beautiful and energy saving, but plantation shutters also add to the value of your house. We’ve seen it first hand in Bakersfield!

A half shutter gives you privacy on the bottom and leaves the top open for light and view. It’s called a café style shutter. But is it the right look for a plantation shutter?

Cafe Shutters Cafe Style Shutters With Divider

Ultimately, it’s a style choice – whether you like the look of a half shutter or that of a plantation shutter with a divider rail.

A full length shutter with a divider rail “completes” your window, giving it a polished look – and allowing you to close the bottom louvers for privacy while leaving the top louvers open for light. At night, you can close the top louvers as well for privacy and security. It’s also convenient during the day when the sun is preventing you from watching TV. And don’t worry about losing any of your view. A 3.5" or 4.5" louver will almost disappear when opened flat and gives you more than enough room to look through.

Simple! Call us at 661-449-1092 or fill out the form below to schedule your free in-home consultation, and we’ll take it from there. We come out to your home to measure the windows you want to add shutters to and bring samples of all of our shutter products and their available options. This allows us to provide you with the best shutter quote for your project. Schedule your in-home consultation today!

Yes! There’s seldom a need to get rid of or alter your current window trim when you buy new plantation shutters. Natural Ovation wood shutters and premier Polywood shutters can be customized with an array of frame styles to fit easily into your current window trim. If your windows don’t have trim, we offer frame styles to install directly onto the wall around your window to secure your gorgeous new shutters to your window opening.

Your shutter installer will measure each of your house’s windows during your free in-home consultation to make sure that your window trim is tastefully complemented by the frame of your new shutters.

Sunburst Shutters Bakersfield is proud to offer a range of window coverings made right here in the U.S. Not only are Polywood plantation shutters America’s #1-selling shutter, but they’re 100% made in America. Not only does that result in savings passed on to you from cutting unnecessary shipping and handling costs, it also gives you the bonus of knowing you’re choosing an all-American window treatment for your Bakersfield home.

And it’s not just Polywood that’s from America. Our historic Reclaimed Wood shutters are constructed using lumber repurposed from sources across the country, from homespun Southern barn doors to sturdy Texas ranch fences and more.

The primary divide between a shutter that’s stained or painted is the way the color interacts with the shutter material. Paint sits atop the shutter, covering the surface. Stains conversely, seep into the shutter, bonding to the natural wood or faux wood material.

Each method comes with its unique benefits. There are often more color choices for painted shutters. With stained shutters, the color won’t obscure the natural wood grain, so you can see the natural knots and bumps of the material without it being masked by a layer of paint.

For your in-home window design consultation, we’ll bring samples of all our color options directly to your home so you can perfectly match and complement colors with your current design.

The complete plantation shutter process, from your in-home consultation to finishing your shutter installation, usually takes approximately four to six weeks on average. The process takes this long because our goal is to build shutters that are completely customized to your windows. To do that, we need to take precise measurements, use sophisticated software to design your shutters, assemble your custom shutters manually, and deliver them to you prior to installation. Real wood shutters will usually take longer due to the staining and finishing process.

It does take a little time, but it’s absolutely worth the wait.

Sunburst Shutters Bakersfield offers a start to finish shop-at-home experience. We’ll send a representative to you to get window measurements, show you your options, and provide a quote. The shutter consultation is totally free. That’s the simplest way to start your shutter project. If you’re only looking for a rough estimate, you can give us your window measurements either by phone or through our contact form.

That’s up to your personal style. If you want to keep your trim in place, we can build your shutters to fit with your current trim. If you prefer our shutter frames, then removing trim is fine—but it’s not a necessity. If you want to go without trim or replace your trim, your Sunburst installer can help you pick the best option to fit the vision you have in mind for your windows.

If you’re a seasoned handyperson, you might be familiar with what goes into a shutter installation. However, taking on DIY shutters may be a tad tricky for most Bakersfield homeowners. Our suggestion is to leave the installation to professionals that are certified and insured, that way you won’t be at risk of damaging your shutters, your windows, or injuring yourself.

Far and away our most popular shutter options are our classic white Polywood® faux wood plantation shutters, and Ovation® hardwood shutters.

To get more specific, the most common shutter configuration features includes a 3.5” louver, non-textured finish, and an interior-mount Z-frame. If those words don’t mean anything to you, that’s ok. We’d be delighted to demonstrate what all that means in person. Schedule your complimentary in-home consultation and we’ll show you what will look best in your space.

Smooth finish shutters tend to look more modern and suave, whereas shutters with a textured finish look a bit more historic. However the benefits to both types of plantation shutter finish go a little bit farther, and ultimately come down to your own taste.

Perks of a smooth finish for shutters – A smooth finish to your shutters offer a clean, sleek, modern look. If your home doesn’t have many other wood accessories like hardwood floors or exposed beams, you might not want a smooth finish. A smooth finish makes dust easier to see, in comparison with a textured finish. We typically recommend a smooth finish for faux wood shutters like Polywood.

Perks of shutters with a wood grain finish – A textured finish on your shutters offers a more natural, wood-like look to your shutters. That’s awesome if your goal is to bring the look of nature indoors, particularly if you want to match the look of your hardwood furniture. A wood grain on your shutter louvers may also make it more difficult to see dust, meaning you can wait a little longer between regular cleanings. A textured finish looks especially great on real wood shutters in Bakersfield.

Usually, the larger the surface area of your window, the more shutter panels you’ll need. The most ideal layout is to use a single panel for windows up to 26 in. wide, two panels for windows up to 50 in. wide, and four for windows up to 98 in. wide.

Single wide panels are not as room-friendly as multiple separate panels. Often, wider panels can’t fit flush against the wall due to their size. Multiple smaller panels solve that issue.

For those windows that you’ll open or shut regularly, you’re usually better suited with multiple panels, since it’s easier to open them and they get additional support from the frame when you do operate them.

With Sunburst Shutters Bakersfield, all of your measurements for shutters will be done for free by our team as part of your in-home consultation. If you happen to have windows in a difficult to reach place in your home or you have windows with a unique shape, our shutter pros can get you a precise measurement so that your shutters will line up just right with the windows.

At your free in-home consultation, your Sunburst Shutters pro will help you choose from our extensive array of Bakersfield plantation shutters, including choices for panel width, stain colors, and custom framing options.

So schedule your in-home consultation today by calling 661-449-1092 today.

Sunburst can assist you in picking the perfect shutter for your home, despite how small your frame. We will utilize an outside mount installation that connects to the trim or wall outside the window pane . Your window treatments will still have identical functionality and energy efficiency, and will tie in seamlessly with other window treatments.

If the louver is disconnected and jutting from the frame, you probably have a broken louver pin. To repair this you should take out the pin from both the louver and the stile with a pair of needle-nose pliers or a utility knife. Once the pin is extracted, put the replacement pin base into the same hole in the shutter stile, then direct the louver onto the pin. To get extra complementary louver pins, just call us at 661-449-1092.

Pricing on plantation shutters hinges on the chosen product line and window measurements. While we can give you a basic quote over the phone, complete costs are computed after our free in-person consultation. Call 661-449-1092 to make an appointment today.

Locate and remove the damaged staple away from the louver with a tool like of needle-nose pliers. Then use some adhesive (like wood glue or epoxy) to coat the legs of a new staple. Thread the staple through the loop on the louver and guide its legs into the same staple holes on the tilt rod. For replacement shutter staples, call us at 661-449-1092.

Polywood shutters are known as some of the safest window coverings in Bakersfield. The cordless, durable design is great for pets and kids. The toxin-free and hypoallergenic materials and paint will never chip, splinter, or peel. And since Polywood is moisture and pest resistant, you will not have to wonder about mold, termites, or wood rot.