Wood Shutters - What do I need to know?

Don't skimp on hardware. Quality hinges and latches make a big difference over time. You get what you pay for.

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You say pine-----regular or treated????

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non treated because treated pine warps like crazy

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Would a fix for this be to let them sit out in a bunch summer heat days (no rain) before sealing and painting?

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A fix would be use cedar or cypress.

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Would a fix for this be to let them sit out in a bunch summer heat days (no rain) before sealing and painting?

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I've done this before when building large trellises for heavy vines like wisterias. I bought the treated lumber and stick stacked it for air circulation between boards and let it dry for several weeks before even cutting it to dimension and also notching and drilling it for assembly. Even then, you're going to have some of it go wonky on you.

I never paint or stain treated unless it's been air dried for a while or the paint won't really last too long as moisture messes with the finish.

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Should I cut the boards and let them weather before putting them together?

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If using treated lumber, you don't want to cut it to size since if it is wet, it will shrink a bit.

Just stick stack your lumber so it gets good air circulation and out of the weather and let it air dry before making your cuts.

When I did a large trellis for a friend, complete with a 4 ft. swing under it, I bought the treated lumber and used 4 x 6 for the main posts, 2 x 6 for the top framing, lots of 2 x 4 and 2 x 2's for the framework so their large wisteria could climb on it without breaking it apart.

I stacked that lumber for over 2 months before cutting it and for the first week there was always a puddle under the lumber where it had dripped since it was freshly out the plant from being treated.

You start building with something that wet and when it dries all your joints will open up as the wood shrinks and look very unprofessional and like crap.

I have a back shed with a metal roof that gets well over 100 degrees in the summer and if doing a project around that time, I'll stick stack that lumber in the shed to dry out quicker.

For an outdoor project it doesn't have to be as dry as wood you'd use to build a piece of furniture for inside your house, but it needs to be dry enough so the finish will adhere well and last much longer.

If using cedar, it should be dry enough to start construction right away since it isn't chemically treated like most pine products would be.

KDAT (kiln dried after treatment) pine is what you should go with. Not cypress.

For hardware, this stuff is great:

https://www.hardwaresolutions-la.com/

They will warp and look like shite in no time I wouldn’t build a fire with pine to burn a witch it won’t work it will fail. Look around find a sawmill get cypress green or dry won’t matter I would do that before I built them out of pine unless it was reclaimed heart pine.

I'm about to build my own as well. I will be fabricating my own hardware and am thinking of using these cedar boards. I will be painting them. Thoughts?

Where are you getting 5/4 stock that isn't rough lumber? I'm in Houston and have more options than most to lumber suppliers and 5/4 isn't exactly common (although it is available). And if they have it, you'd have to pay more to have it milled down.

My input into this is really having wood that is acclimated to the climate....then milled partially to remove stress....then fully milled to final dimensions after a brief "re-acclimation". But most DIY'ers don't have the time and/or tools to do that. Additionally, I'd be using an appropriate wood (Cedar, White Oak, African Mahogany, etc.) for outdoor use, which pine really isn't. But that will drive up the price for sure.

I used pine for a Kamado Table about 4 years ago when I first started messing around with woodworking projects. Covered it with Thompson's water seal and it's been under a patio since. It's still holds the BBQ pit and works, but I'd definitely not want it as an aesthetic part of my house. I just think shutters would be a lot of work to have them look terrible in a few years due to using pine.

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am thinking of using these cedar boards. I will be painting them. Thoughts?

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Those are S3S, or surfaced on 3 sides. The backside of the boards are still rough lumber. All of the box store cedar seems to be like that. So you may need a planer to get it truly "finished" prior to use. So they'll end up ~1/8 thinner in the end.

5/4 cedar is most likely going to be rough, unless you pay the yard to surface it or do it yourself.

I will say that Riverside in NOLA East has both KDAT and Spanish cedar in 5/4x6 beaded T&G in a couple or 3 profiles that they specifically run for shutter stock. It’s for a board and batten shutter in the style below. Give Charles over there a call and he’ll help ya out if that’s something anyone is interested in.

Looking back, that would make life ultra easy. I beaded all the stock on my shutters myself on the shaper at my cousin’s shop and it was a lot of damn work.