I am ordering some custom shutters. They offer them in elm, poplar, and basswood. The shutters are going to be in windows without panes, exposed to the sun and rain. I live in the tropics. We have shutters on the outside that close to prevent rain, but the windows otherwise are just open in the downstairs. Upstairs there are glass windows and they stay open all the time, so these will still get wet from time to time with unexpected showers or showers too light to bother closing the outside shutters.
I know poplar is not at all rot resistant. What about basswood and elm? These are not woods I ever deal with so I do not know which is better.
Also so interested in feedback on Rockler's shutter-making parts. I would consider making my own, but good grief that is a lot of work for not much less money.
Interesting fact: my house, built in 1836, was the second house on the island with glass windows (upstairs only). The first house was my neighbor's, hence the street is named "Crystal Gade." ("Gade is Danish for "Street.") The downstairs would have housed the servants and held the coal-fired oven, so I guess they wanted the airflow of fully open windows, as I am sure it got pretty hot down there.
Image shows downstairs versus up. I am preparing for a storm, so the upstairs shutters are closed. Downstairs has the same outer shutters. I want inside shutters (which the house also had originally but they are beyond repair) for privacy but to still have the airflow. I also want them as a third line of defense when it rains and the windows are open. They will get a little splashing now and then. That side of the house faces away from the tradewinds, so even when it rains and the windows are open it rarely blows in.
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