Making a Superior Plantation Shutter is in the Details

Did you know that Austin Window Fashions has a price match guarantee?

It’s called our Right Price Promise:

“We work diligently to insure that our prices are very competitive with other companies who provide a similar level of quality and service. Our 33 years of success as Texas’ largest Hunter Douglas distributor and largest factory direct supplier of quality wood plantation shutters indicates that we continually provide the best value available. In the unlikely event you find a better price we will match competitors quotes. We do not want dollars to get in the way of you receiving the absolute best quality, service, and fastest delivery available.”

People often ask us to enact our Right Price Promise because they would rather buy from us- but you must be comparing apples to apples if you want the price match. Many times, people don’t understand that the reason they might find a cheaper price somewhere else is also because they are getting a cheaper product.

These examples below expound upon several of the seemingly small but important difference in our shutters and the competition. We feel that the differences in our product versus theirs more than justifies the slightly higher price.  Following are some of the differences:

1.  Our product is a 1 1/8″ uniform thickness throughout where they utilize 1 1/8″ sides but only a 3/4″ to 7/8″ top and bottom rails.  This extra thickness of our shutters contributes to our added structural stability and our ability to build wider and taller shutters that they cannot build.  They use a common butt joint at their corners where we utilize a mortise and tenon joint (like fine furniture) which allows for maximum wet to wet glue application. Plus we add a special draw tight assembly screw. Our handling of the corners is a key component of our superior structural stability.

2. They utilize common, inexpensive oil based paint which will yellow, where we utilize quality water based Sherwin Williams product.

3. They utilize common staple on staple construction to attach their tilt rod to the louver.  While a common method, it is a method that insures failure at some point meaning repairs are inevitable in the future.  We utilize a method that virtually eliminates this issue.

4. The pivot point for their louver is a plastic pin.  The drilling of a hole in the end of the louver creates a weak point that is subject to failure.  Plastic also becomes brittle over time when subject to our Texas heat.  Again, a place where failure will likely occur at some point in time.  The tenon that our louver turns on is actually a milled portion of the louver (i.e. we cut the louver slightly longer than necessary and then mill the ends down to where the tenon is a part of the louver. The resulting monolithic grain structure provides the strongest pivot design in the industry.

5. Lastly, the competitor buys pre-milled components from various suppliers and then assembles the shutter. We control our process from the green wood to the window. We do more in preparing our material than most do in their entire process. Not only do we control the drying of the material to insure stress free, stable lumber, we also employee an edge-grain, edge glued process. By ripping our materials into strips, then rotating and gluing, homogenous strength and stability (akin to a laminated beam) is achieved.  This process virtually eliminates warping which is common and in most cases expected in other wood shutters.

6. Plus we offer a lifetime, transferable warranty- and we’ll be here to back it up!

There are a lot of details that go into making a very good shutter, but we want consumers to understand why our product is generally a bit more expensive than others. We are the only people in the industry that do the things described above. We go to market every day with a more expensive product than others, but have still been able to become one of the largest factory direct sources for shutters in the nation. We hope this means that consumers overwhelming value the extra things we do to make our shutter superior to others. We hope you do as well.

So if you’re shopping for plantation shutters, visit the showroom today to see our beautiful shutters in person. And if you get a quote from the competition, bring it to us and we’ll price match it or show you why our shutters are better. See you soon!