With the wide variety of wood shutters in Toronto, you may be wondering how to choose the best shutter for your home. Wood shutters offer a stylish, earthy feel to homes and are great for temperature control. Wood matches any home décor so you don’t have to worry about them looking out of place. These shutters can be adjusted to control the amount of light that goes into a room. When completely closed, they offer a near-blackout effect.
Many different types of wood are used to make wood shutters in Toronto. Hardwoods are considered more suitable than softwoods due to better durability. Some of the wood used in making shutters include oak, poplar, maple, cedar, pine, and basswood. Although oak is great for furniture, it presents a unique challenge when used for shutters. Oak is a very heavy wood. Using it weighs down the window jambs and this may cause damage. Oak is not suitable for painting and it can easily warp. Maple is also very heavy and also exerts a lot of pressure on the jambs when used for shutters. For these reasons, oak and maple are not good for constructing shutters.
Poplar, on the other hand, offers excellent finishes and can be good for shutters. However, the mineral streaks of the wood do not allow for staining. It is inexpensive but does not offer the best shutters. Pines are softwoods with a range of grades to choose from. While they are great for use while building and furnishing homes they are not good for shutters. Cedar is a soft wood with excellent bug resistance. It requires low maintenance and does not decay quickly. However, it can be easily dented.
Basswood is considered the best for wood shutters in Toronto. It has a uniform texture and produces extremely straight shutters. They can be mounted easily and allow for straining for beautiful finishes.