Our 2nd story shutters won't fit w/ our porch brackets. Help!
I just don't know what to do. I've tried working through this myself but am out of ideas. I'm just so tired of thinking.
OK...on the plans of our New Orleans home, there were 4 brackets placed to fit under the 2nd story porch overhang to be above the four lower porch columns. It's very "New Orleans". A little less than two weeks ago, I went to an architectural antiques place and selected four brackets. I paid for them and they were going to fix them up and add molding to the sides, etc and get them ready.
A day or so later, our architect and builder and I were onsite looking at the length of them with the ceiling, etc. The builder measures between the windows and says there is only two inches between each shutter for brackets! Two inches! Most large brackets...these are five feet in depth and two feet in height...are 3-4" wide. Ours are 3 1/2. I asked if they can be shaved down. Nope...did you know wooden brackets have metal inside? Me either...until now!
So now we have a huge dilemma. There were working shutters on the architectural plans. There were also four brackets shown on the plans...with the notation of the style being "verified by owner":
Since that was the case, the assumption was that things would work in the end. Here is a fuzzy pic of where we are now. We are doing squared porch railings upper and lower with fatter railings on the second story above where the columns are.
Since the windows we used are pretty flush with the Hardie Plank, it seems that our only options for hinges are offset hinges. IF we had more of a recessed window (like brick houses do), then we could mount a hinge on the brick perpendicular to the window and butt the shutters right up against the window and gain two more inches between.
The only other options are to have them LOOK like operable shutters but not really operate and then have them moved inward toward the window. No one would know but us that they didn't operate. Of course, the one or two times a year when we evacuate, we couldn't close the shutters. DH HATED this idea and said absolutely NOT. He said if we're paying for the hardware then we're going to use the hardware and it's part of the look of our house and that's why we put it on the plans, etc.
Another option was two put only two brackets on the ends of the porch. This isn't a good idea to me either. It compromises the whole look of the house and makes the brackets seem like afterthoughts.
Another option is to do 17" shutters instead of 18" for the 36" windows to where you can't tell from the street that they're narrower. BUT those few times when we WILL close them, there will be a 2" gap. So we would have to come up with some kind of a rigged solution to that gap when closed. *sigh*
This just sucks all the way around and there is NO FIX that I can think of. We need shutters that will sit flush to the window glass and not be offset so that we can have four inches between the two windows. But since our windows are so flat to the house, I don't see how to achieve that and have it look good. And we need all four brackets to keep with the architectural feel of the house. I don't see how to do both. Yet I don't see how to give up one without losing part of the house. And the exterior of the house is kind of a big deal. Can anyone please help me think of something? Anything?
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bevangel_i_h8_h0uzz
athensmomof3
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babs711Original Author
sombreuil_mongrel
babs711Original Author
sombreuil_mongrel
babs711Original Author
sombreuil_mongrel