Shutter Terminology
To really make the best decisions on shutter style and installation, it helps to speak the language.
Applied Moulding: Moulding added to the front and or back of the shutter as an accent or to hide joints.
Arch Top: A curved top on a shutter.
Batten: The horizontal cross piece of a board and batten shutter.
Beading Detail: A half-round edge that parallels the stile; sometimes used in conjunction with rabbeting.
Bermuda / Bahama Shutter: A shutter providing shade and some storm protection. Bermuda shutters typically are hinged from the top and tilt out from the bottom.
Bifold: Two shutters that are connected, often using a butt hinge.
Bleed Through: When tannin acid leaks out of the wood onto the painted surface leaving an unsightly mark.
Brick Mould: Moulding used around the exterior of a window frame to add an extra decorative touch. A good location to mount the plate pintel portion of a shutter hinge.
Bullet Catch: Installed on the back of the shutter and used as a hold back.
Butt Hinge: A hinge secured to the butting surfaces rather than to the adjacent sides of a frame. Used in bifold shutters.
Cap: A formed strip of copper placed over the exposed top of the shutter to prevent moisture from entering joints and destroying paint.
Casement: The frame around a window sash.
Cottage Style: A two-paneled shutter in which the top is a bit smaller than the bottom. Usually a 40/60 split.
Cut-outs: Special shapes or patterns cut out of a panel of a raised panel shutter (most often the top panel) or the center boards of a board and batten shutter mainly for accent purposes.
Dowel: A rounded wooden piece fitting into adjacent pieces to secure a mortise and tenon joint; can also be called a peg.
Expansion Shield: Used for securing a screw or bolt in a hole in masonry, concrete or stone.
Fine Grain: High quality type of wood most often occurring in slow growth lumber. It's stronger and better resists twisting and other changes.
Fixed Louver: A louvered shutter whose louvers are not operable.
Galvanization: The application of zinc to steel to stave off rust and deterioration.
Hammered Bevel: Shutter hadware whose edges have been hammered to get a rough-hewn look.
Hand-Forged: Working metal by hand with heat and hammering tools. Primative way to make shutter hardware.
Hook Latch & Eye: One kind of shutter hold back.
Jamb Mount Hinge: Hinge secured to the interior edge of a window casement.
Louver Direction: The direction in which movable louvers pivot or fixed louvers are angled.
Louver Pitch: The angle of the louvers on a fixed louvered shutter.
Mortise: A notch, groove or hole in the stile to receive a tenon on the cross rail of the same size.
Mouse hole: A notched hole on the cross rail where the tilt rod of a movable louvered shutters rests.
Offset: The distance a working shutter will have to move between the mounting surface of a hinge and building's surface to close.
Overlap Rabbeting: A shutter with the wood removed on the edge of one stile and the opposite edge on the opposing stile so the closed shutters completely interlock.
Ship-lap: Same as Overlap Rabbeting.
Pair Width: The total width of the two shutters when together in the closed position.
Panel Configuration: The way in which shutter rails are situated.
Peg: Same as Dowel.
Pintel: The "male" part of the shutter hinge that the strap mounts on and can pivot.
Rail: The top, bottom and center horizontal portion of a shutter that seperates the panels or sections of slats.
Reveal: The window casement or moulding portion that can still be see once a shutter is installed.
Slide Bolt: Shutter hardware used on the exterior to secure the shutter when it is closed.
Shutter Dog: Piece of hardware that holds the shutter in the open position but also enables additional decorating options.
Shutter Field: The distance between rails in any shutter that contain either louvers or a panel.
Stile: The joinery pieces that make up the vertical side frame of a shutter.
Strap Hinge: A shutter hinge secured to a shutter where the female end is placed over a pintel resulting in the hinge's swivel movement.
Tannin: A resin found in many types of wood.
Tenon: A projection at the terminus of a rail designed to be inserted into a mortise, resulting in a joint.
Tilt-rod: The upright strip of wood used to operate working louvers.
Window Seat: The place where a shutter sits when closed.