There are many wood options that you can use to make shutters, but some are better than others. Let’s take a look at some of the woods you probably shouldn’t use before looking at the ones that are recommended.
Although oak is a very good hardwood and makes great furniture, it can present a problem when used for shutters. Oak is very heavy to begin with, so interior oak shutters will add a lot of weight to window jambs. They will also have to be pre-drilled, they are not really suitable for painting and the grids are prone to warping. As you can override, these are not a good option for shutters.
Like oak, maple is a very heavy wood and is often used for furniture such as dining room and bedroom furniture. Because it is so heavy, it also requires pre-drilling of the window jambs and the blinds are difficult to tension properly.
The next area we’ll move to is the shuttered woods. Poplar is a moderately heavy wood and is good to use if the finished product is to be painted, but the green color and mineral streaks inherent in the wood do not allow for staining. Easy to obtain and inexpensive, it results in a lower quality wood shutter.
Cedar is a good choice in some cases, as it grinds and finishes well, but it is a very soft wood and easily dents or scratches. If you are considering using wood for exterior window treatments, it is excellent with its resistance to insects and decay, will last a long time, and requires little maintenance.
Pine is a wood that is used for many different products, from the construction of houses to the furniture they contain. It is very soft and there are many types of pine to choose from. Still, this is not at the top of my list to use for shutters.
The best wood in the opinion of many is linden. The tree is found primarily on the east coast of North America, from Quebec in Canada to Delaware and then as far west as eastern Kentucky. Trees grow to an average height of over sixty-five feet. Linden is a managed renewable resource and the way the trees are harvested balances the growth of new trees with the removal of others for wood. The resulting shutters are extremely straight and have an indistinct grain and uniform texture.
Linden wood results in very straight shutters with an indistinct fine grain, they are easy to assemble and can be stained to a beautiful finish.