Shutters

rayh78

This is about those plastic plugs that come with vinyl shutters instead of screws.
Anyone had trouble long term with these.
Tried them on my own home 12 years ago to mount 10 pair’s shutters to brick. 90% of the plugs have broken off over the years. Some right at the head others at brick level. And I did not install tight against shutters to leave room for expansion.
Have a rental prop of my own that I will be reinstalling a better .048 beaded vinyl on. It has the black fiberboard sheathing so no wood behind shutters. Thinking is it worth it to cut out and replace the fiberboard with plywood just behind the shutters. So would be able to use screws instead.

Any comments/suggestions?
Thanks

Patrick

We throw the plugs in the trash. If the shutters you are buying only come with plugs, then you need to stop shopping at home depot and lowes. The BEST shutters in my opinion are mid America. They supply you with plastic plugs, and colored screws. Remember throw away the plugs, use the screws. We also only use 3 screws to put up the shutters. in the center: Bottom, middle, and top. This keeps the vinyl siding from warping, and also leaves you with extra shutter screws which come in handy for all sorts of things.

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Originally Posted by Celtic
Like I said...I'm sure you are very good at what you do ~ whatever that is and where ever it happens.

rayh78

Do you still use the screws if you are only screwing into vinyl siding with no real backing to grap hold on?

We now get shutters from norandex which I think are made by mid america. They will replace if ever a problem with fading. Have had the ones we used to get from lowes fade bad after about 10 years. On our own homes we always have paint matched to shutters for doors. Also we use this same paint to paint heads of screws to match. Then use Truss head stainless screws to attach. No rusting and head allows a little more oversized hole for expansion. Like you said the screws that come with then are handy for other projects. But are either steel which will rust after some time or Aluminium which is to easy to break or strip the heads out.

Patrick

[QUOTE=rayh78;454220]Do you still use the screws if you are only screwing into vinyl siding with no real backing to grap hold on?

Unless we are in a trailer park, or on the other side of the tracks, (opposite side of the tracks from my town, but same side of the tracks as the trailer park) where houses don't have sheathing, we always use screws. Rarely do we go to a house where there isn't sheathing under the siding somewhere. The mid America screws are regular steel but the paint is really heavy duty, and we have never had a problem with screws rusting.

Actually, the only other time we will use the plugs, is in a masonry situation, either brick or concrete.

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Originally Posted by Celtic
Like I said...I'm sure you are very good at what you do ~ whatever that is and where ever it happens.