Pro-Wood Shutters “No Gaps” Option

Prowood’s ‘No Gaps’ design for Plantation Shutter Installation – which minimises gaps

Attractive shutters like this you cannot find anywhere else – exclusive to ProWood Shutters and DIYShutters – patented mount.

Large Gaps in shutters made from PVC

This is what you will have in your windows if you buy PVC or imported shutters …

 Why Prowood’s ‘No Gaps’ is superior to PVC Shutters

The ‘No Gaps’ option offered by DIY/Pro-Wood Shutters minimises these gaps and provides a seamless appearance to the installation when the shutters are viewed from the front. No Gaps does not apply to Face Fitted panels but the reveal fit type.

Note that No Gaps mount is exclusive to Pro-Wood Plantation Shutters, is Patent Pending, and also largely hides the hinges.

Traditionally, shutter panels have been mounted using Pivot Hinges. The panels have about 3 mm clearance around the outside of the panel to ensure they fit inside. Window reveals are never uniform so these gaps are necessary. However, when the window opening is largely out of square, or irregular, the size of the gaps would also vary. On rare occasions some customers might complain about these gaps, but mostly customers accept them as part of the window furnishing type and reality of window reveals. See the first photo.

Nevertheless, the No Gaps option overcomes the appearance of gaps and adds elegance, which is how it should be for an expensive window furnishing like shutters. The option does not nor cannot completely eliminate gaps, but minimises them – see our Terms of Sale. Our design is an improvement on other mounting systems.

To further explain what the reveal is; it is the timber attached to the Aluminium window frame when it is installed. At the front of the reveal, an architrave is typically mounted to cover the gap between the reveal and the plaster. This architrave is usually set back 3 to 5 mm from the reveal forming a ‘shoulder’. Pro-Wood Shutters take advantage of this shoulder by, in effect, fitting the panels between architraves, so the shutter panel is more or less covering where there would normally be a gap.

The ‘No Gaps option is a way to make shutters look as if they were ‘designed in’, as part the window opening! Instead of the panels being installed inside the reveal, such as with our standard Pivot Hinge fit, they are made about 5 mm larger than the opening, and fit just slightly over the reveal. The back of the panel is rebated all around. This also means for DIY customers, they are usually easier to fit as clearance in a non-square opening is less of an issue. The panel does sit out about 7mm from the reveal, and generally is flush with the architrave for many profiles. See second photo.

PVC suppliers fit their panels in frames. This does not reduce gaps but in fact, increases them. Especially if the frame does not sit over the reveal or architrave, but forms a border. Frames also ‘bulk up’ the installation. The reason PVC suppliers design big gaps all around and use frames is this; PVC expands at ten times the rate of wood!  This can be 6-7 mm on an 1800mm drop on a hot day. Light still filters through these gaps because they are so large. The PVC has to have somewhere to expand into, otherwise it will jam. It is also why PVC suppliers put the panels inside a frame. This frame also has gaps around the outside, only visible from the back if it is a ‘Z frame’, but can be seen as an additional set of gaps from the front, if it is an ‘L’ frame! Light can pass directly through these ‘L’ frame gaps unless they are filled up with silicon. Then if ever the frame or shutter has to be removed, it is time consuming and costly, and damage to the reveal is inevitable when removing the frame and the silicon.  

Contrast this with Pro-Wood Shutters ‘No Gaps’ fit which creates a seamless appearance. It is unique to Pro-Wood Shutters and their customers. It cannot be replicated by PVC shutter suppliers because of the expansion problem.

In addition, PVC suppliers use large heavy hinges. These protrude out from the front of the panel, because the panels, being solid PVC and if they are of the quality type not the foamed type, are much heavier than timber, by about 50%.

So not only does the No Gaps fit look more professional, but the hinges are almost entirely hidden, so is less ‘industrial’ looking.

Pro-Wood Shutters “No Gaps” option provide the most elegant method of mounting shutters that you can find anywhere in the world. And it’s an Australian innovation!