How To Make Board and Batten Shutters

Even though I was having the best Saturday morning sleep-in ever, Alex woke me up early so that we could head to the hardware store. He did, after all, promise to help me make some board and batten shutters for the front exterior of the house. It's been on my curb-appeal project wish list forever.

Here's what we picked up at the hardware store:

• Ten 12-foot 1x4 white pine boards (about 120 linear feet)
• Construction adhesive
• A handful of 1 1/4" deck screws

Here's the tools we used from home:

• Measuring tape & pencil
• Compound mitre saw
• Caulking gun
• Drill
• Impact driver
• Electric sander
• 100 grit sandpaper

Here's what we borrowed from the neighbour:

• Big clamps (2 of 'em)

First we poured two big mugs of coffee and went outside to take some measurements. To determine the length of our shutters we measured the length of the exterior windows including the aluminum window frames. When determining the width of the shutters we measured the distance between the three matching windows to see how much space would be left after the shutters were installed. 

{Even though most shutter sites recommend making the width of your shutters 1/2 the width of the window, I actually prefer the look of narrower shutters. Sooooo, I didn't pay attention to that rule at all and just chose a width that I thought looked good.}

When we got to the hardware store we played around with a few different options and narrowed it down to using either three 1x4 boards or four 1x3 boards. We finally settled on using three of the wider 1x4's since they seemed sturdier and less likely to warp than the 1x3's. 

We figured out that we would need about 120 linear feet of wood to create six shutters. We figured out that buying 12' boards would work best for making 5' long shutters.  

Alex used his mitre saw to cut each board to length. He also used the same wood to cut the cross pieces. Ours cross pieces were about 10" long.

Before we started assembling the shutters we made sure that the boards on each one were all curved the same way. We also made sure to choose the choose the sides with the least amounts of knots and imperfections for the fronts of the shutters.

We didn't want any screws showing on the front of the shutters so we decided to screw the boards to the cross pieces from the back. So we placed each cross piece under the three boards, and decided to place them 8" from the top and bottom of the shutter.

We used construction adhesive first to secure the three long boards to the cross pieces as well as to secure each board together.

{I didn't want big gaps in between each board, I just wanted really subtle ones.}

Once the three boards were glued to the cross pieces, we clamped each end to eliminate the spaces/warping between each board.

Once the boards were glued and clamped securely, we double checked that everything was lined up and straight, before screwing them together. We pre-drilled each hole and then used a bunch of 1 1/4" wood screws.

Once all the boards were screwed together with the cross pieces, I took out the electric sander and some 100 grit sandpaper and sanded all of the cut ends until they were nice and smooth.

Even though by this time I was ready to quit, Alex convinced me to power through and get them all primed while the sun was still out. We used some shellac-based primer to coat the fronts and backs of each one. This step is important so that those pesky knotholes don't bleed though the paint.

And that's how we made our own board and batten shutters. Stay tuned because tomorrow I'll be painting them and (fingers crossed) installing them. (I still haven't decided if I'm going to use any decorative hardware on them yet.)

I'll be posting some fun before and after photos when we're done..... hopefully tomorrow!

Update: To see the shutters installed on the house, click here.

 

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