If you've purchased some exterior shutters for your home's windows, here are two reasons why you should get a contractor to install them, instead of fitting them yourself.
The Exterior Walls Won’t Be Damaged
One of the risks of hanging up exterior shutters by yourself is that you could damage the exterior walls to which you attach them. If, for example, you initially drill holes too close or too far away from the window frame and you cannot, therefore, use them to attach the shutters to the wall, you'll be left with these unsightly openings that you'll then have to spend time filling.
Similarly, if you're careless when drilling the holes, you might cause some of the brick or render around the hole to crumble and you'll have to patch this up before continuing with the hanging of the shutters. Worse still, if you make the holes too large, the screws you use to secure the shutters to these walls might not hold the shutters in place and they may move out of position or even fall off the wall at some point.
These are errors that a contractor won't make. They'll always recheck any measurements they take before drilling into the wall to ensure they drill in the correct spots. Additionally, having used drills to create holes in both exterior and interior walls many times before, they'll know exactly how deep and large they need to make the holes to ensure the screws they use to hang the shutters stay in place, without damaging any of the surrounding walls.
The Shutters Will Be Perfectly Positioned
The other reason to get a contractor to help you with hanging the shutters is that they will be able to hang the shutters in the perfect position. This is harder than you might think and if you do it incorrectly, the shutters won't be fully functional and may make your exterior look unsightly.
For example, if you attach each shutter to either side of the wall around the window in a way that creates a slight gap between the two shutters when they're closed, then they won't protect the windowpane from strong winds in the way that they're designed to. Additionally, they will not help to reduce the loss of cool or hot air from your home. Likewise, if you hang them so that they're not perfectly parallel to the vertical sections of the wall, they'll look terrible and won't enhance your home's appearance in the way you hoped they would.
A contractor will have a collection of tools at their disposal (including laser levels, angle finders, etc.) that they'll know how to use to ensure the shutters are perfectly positioned on either side of the window, in a manner that makes them look good and ensures that they are functional.
Contact a shutter company for more info.