HOW TO RESIZE PLANTATION SHUTTERS! RECYCLE SHUTTERS TO FIT - CHEAP DIY HOME PROJECT - RECLAIMED

We love the Dewalt compound miter used in this project. Looking for one of your own? You can find out more about it here: amzn.to/46RDkZx We bought a trailer load of plantation shutters and will resize them all to fit in a different home. Want that beautiful look of plantation shutters without spending thousands. Here we provide a thorough overview of how to resize the shutters to fit a different window opening. SUBSCRIBE for more great DIY projects for your home. Have a question or comment? Drop it below. #diy #homeimprovement #house

[@patm6806]

Thank you. Great instructions and just what I needed to re-size my salvaged plantation shutters! Much simpler than what I had imagined.

[@travelbuildcreate]

Glad it helped! We also have another video that discusses how to adjust the width of sets to fit different width openings- in case that helps. Good luck with the project.

[@pjmacbook]

I’m in Australia and this is exactly what I needed to see. Always looking to reuse/ recycle Cheers.

[@travelbuildcreate]

Glad this helped. We ended up recycling the whole trailer load to complete one house and part of another. Saved a ton of money and kept the shutters from the landfill- and they look great! Thanks for watching. Good luck with the projects.

[@scottcouture362]

That was amazing!

[@travelbuildcreate]

Thanks so much for watching and for your support!

[@travelbuildcreate]

Check out our automotive channel as well: www.youtube.com/@fireitupgarage

[@travelbuildcreate]

We love the Dewalt compound miter used in this project. Looking for one of your own? You can find out more about it here: amzn.to/46RDkZx

[@JohnAnderson-kt4mb]

Invest in the stand! I have this same dws780 you have linked here, and went out and found someone locally selling the matching stand.. (DWX723) both the stand and saw together will not only make anyone feel confident they can create precise, accurate cuts, but it also will save your back and knees from kneeling and standing many many times thruout the day…

[@jeremydad]

Can I trim just two inches from the bottom of a plantation shutter?

[@travelbuildcreate]

For a 2 inch height adjustment I would consider cutting 1 inch off the top rail and 1 inch off the bottom rail- that way they still look symmetrical. If not you may end up with a top rail that is 4 inches and a bottom that is 2 inches- which will look strange. The goal in a quality resizing job it to make it difficult to observe that they have been altered.

[@ArizonaLifestyles1]

🎉I am doing the same in my home - I have about 20 reclaimed shutters and needs to see the guts of the shutters :)

[@travelbuildcreate]

We finished up this entire house. Ended up resizing over 40 shutters and it looked incredible. Total cost.... Lots of hours and a few hundred dollars in shutters. The most helpful tips are probably - use the frames and shutter widths in tandem as your opportunity to adjust widths for the opening. Also, when cutting for length- it is more important to have a complete bottom louver than to be exact on your window opening height. You can always add a piece of trim at the top if you end up a little short. Any other questions or tips needed? Let us know.

[@JohnAnderson-kt4mb]

It looks like you do quite a bit of work around the house seeing as how you’ve decided to undertake this project.. have you ever thought of Investing in a stand for your miter saw?? It makes cutting stuff like these shutters and their frames/any molding/casings as well.. definitely worth the investment, pays for itself by saving you time from having to crouch down/keeps material level and straight so you don’t have to mess with trying to level the piece as you cut it. Looks good, I’m doin this same thing, it’s inspired me to document and film the steps I’ll take to modify existing shutter panels!

[@travelbuildcreate]

Thanks for the reply. Yes- we finished up this house full of shutters. Ended up doing every window in the house - 30 shutters resized and looking great. We have stands for the saws, but usually prefer the space savings of the compact. Thanks for watching. Enjoy the project.

[@SerinColes]

Is it possible to trim the width?

[@travelbuildcreate]

We have another video that talks about how to adjust the total width of sets. We prefer to do that by working with the frames instead of the shutters (on sets). The only time we would consider cutting the width of a shutter would be on a single shutter that is too wide for the opening. Other than that we prefer to adjust sizes by adding to or reducing the frame setup. You can find that video here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/oX3dppZriNB-adk

[@SerinColes]

@travelbuildcreate thanks very much for the quick reply! I hadn't come across your other video. I agree that adjusting the frames is preferable but unfortunately theres not enough frame to take away on the second hand set I'm looking at. Its a bay window set, the middle two just need a height trim but the side shutters are a good two inches wider than the window surround so it seems that the louvers need to be trimmed, is this possible or is ot really just too much work to be worth considering? Many thanks for your help, it's very much appreciated!

[@travelbuildcreate]

@@SerinColes Can you share a few of the measurements you are working with. What are the widths of the shutters you are working with? It sounds like you have 4 shutters total- how many mullions are there in the set? (the upright bars in between shutters) What is the width of the opening?

[@SerinColes]

@travelbuildcreate Frame Size: BAY: W620mm (sides) & W930mm (centre) H1820mm Two side opening panels & one central folding panel. Side openings are 560mm Middle is 930mm

[@travelbuildcreate]

@@SerinColes 22in (560mm) is a pretty common size. If it were me I would probably use the center ones that are correct and then not use the outer ones- but try to find a few smaller ones for the outers. I don't know how easy they are to find in your area, but in our area it is very easy to find singles and pairs on facebook marketplace for cheap prices. That would be a lot easier than trying to cut down two shutters. Another option is that you could surface mount the shutters instead of mounting them inside the openings. This allows you to overrun the wall slightly with the frames, but you will not see the wall through the shutter because the side rail of the shutter would cover the difference. On most shutter sites you will find the option of flush mount or surface mount frames. You can also cut them down- but that would be my least preference personally. Better to find a few smaller ones or surface mount in my opinion.

[@nicolle34601]

Are you located in Tampa by any chance? We have 4 plantation shutter frames from another house. The frames are 70 1/2 by 60. We need 73 by 60. Any suggestions on how we can get ours to fit?

[@travelbuildcreate]

70 1/2 is the height?

[@nicolle34601]

70 1/2 is the width of the frame. Our window opening is 73 inches wide

[@travelbuildcreate]

If the frame has no side trim on it (like the ones in this video have) I would add the width with side trim. To do that you need to add some support inside the window opening so that you have something to screw the frame to without bending it out of shape. So you would add blocking in each side of the window opening of 1.25 in. attach the frame in the opening and then add the outer trim to cover the gap. (the trim on the ones featured in this video is over 2 in on each side- so no problem. On the otherhand, if the width of the frame is 70.5 including an outer trim piece then you have a different problem. (Because you cannot just add more trim without it looking wierd). What I do in that case is add width in the center mullion (the upright bar between shutter pairs) You probably have either 2 or 4 shutters going into this size opening, so you can either add a mullion in between the 2 (if there is not one already) , or if this is 4 shutters there will already be a center mullion. In that case I usually split the center mullion and add some width there. you can also consider adding a mullion in between each door of the 4 doors. That is not the way they are usually designed but that will give you more width in a way people will not notice. I did this on some of the sets in this house. I will try to post another video that shows the variety of ways I added widths in the different sets of this house.

[@travelbuildcreate]

And no.... we are not in Tampa. Sorry!

[@nicolle34601]

Thank you so much!!