Shutter Hardware 101
Hardware for shutters comes in both Colonial Style and Bahama Style. Colonial hardware is hinged at the side of the shutter, while Bahama hardware is hinged at the top.
Colonial Style Shutter Hardware
h
Hinges and Pintles
The shutter is attached to the house using a hinge and pintle system. The pintle is the male piece that is screwed to the house, and the hinge is the female piece that is screwed to the shutter. The barrel of the hinge slides over the pintle pin to hang the shutter, which is held open with a shutter stay. The shutters can be closed by pulling on the ring pull, and locked closed by throwing the sliding shutter bolt.
Shutter hinge and pintles come in New York Style and Suffolk Style. New York hinges must be used with New York pintles, and Suffolk hinges must be used with Suffolk pintles.
The difference between the two styles are illustrated here:
To learn more about the hinges and pintles available in each style, please visit their respective pages here:
Suffolk Style Page and New York Style Page
h
Offset
Specifying shutter hardware requires selecting an installation type and the desired offset of the hinge and pintle. The offset is the distance measured from the centerline to the back of the piece:
h
Types of Installations
The Surface installation is the most common, followed by the Flush and the Reversed.
h
The Reversed installation keeps the hardware visible when the shutters are open. Note the position of the hinge in this Reversed installation and how it is visible in the open position:
h
h
Sets
Pintles and hinges can be ordered separately, but they are also sold together in sets. Each set contains all the shutter hardware for hanging two shutters. The four basic types of sets are Plate Mount, Lag Mount, Jamb Mount and Brick Mount. Note the different pintle design in each set type:
H
Bahama Style Shutter Hardware
Bahama Stays (Arms)
H
H
h
Bahama Hinges
Bahama Sliding Hinge. This 48″ aluminum extrusion it made of two pieces, the female piece mounts to the house and the male piece mounts to the shutter.
h
Bahama Pintle Hinge. These sets use steel pintles and hinges to hang a shutter from the top. The hardware can be mounted in front of, or behind, the shutter. Example:
H
To learn more, please visit the Bahama Kits page here:
h