What wears out first
Not the panels. In a shutter that fails early, the failure is almost always at a moving part or a fixing.
Louvre tension is the most common. Louvres are held at a set friction so they stay where you put them, and after years of daily adjustment that friction can slacken. On a good shutter it is adjustable, which is a five minute job.
Hinges are next. Heavy panels pull on hinges, and a panel that begins catching on the frame is usually telling you a hinge needs adjusting rather than that the panel has warped.
Finish comes third. A painted hardwood panel in a south facing bay will show more sun exposure at twenty years than the same panel in a north facing bedroom. It repaints.
Typical lifespans
| Product | Realistic life |
|---|---|
| Hardwood shutters, well fitted | 15 to 20 years and often longer |
| Waterproof PVC shutters in a bathroom | 15 years plus, and unaffected by humidity |
| Fauxwood or budget composite shutters | 10 to 15 years |
| MDF shutters | Highly variable, and prone to sagging over wide spans |
| Made to measure blinds | 5 to 8 years before fabric or mechanism replacement |
What the guarantee covers, and what it does not
Our shutters are guaranteed for ten years against structural defects in manufacture: the frame, the panels, the joints and the louvres.
Parts and labour are both covered in the first two years. From year three to year ten, parts are covered but labour and call out charges are not. That is the honest shape of it, and it is worth checking against any other guarantee you are offered, because a headline ten year figure with no detail behind it usually excludes considerably more.
Not covered, by anyone: accidental damage, misuse, alterations by someone else, and normal wear such as fading of a finish over many years in direct sun.
Maintenance that actually matters
- Dust with a dry or barely damp cloth every few weeks. Nothing else is required for a painted panel.
- Do not soak a timber shutter or use solvent cleaners on it. Waterproof PVC will take a mild detergent.
- Open and close the panels fully now and then rather than living with them permanently shut. Hinges last better when they are used.
- If a louvre starts to drop under its own weight, say so early. Tension is adjustable and a slack louvre is not a failure.
- If a panel begins catching on the frame, it is nearly always a hinge, not the panel. It is a quick fix and it stops the finish being worn away at the contact point.
