Shutter BoysUpdated
The short answer: “faux wood” isn’t a material. It’s a label for shutters that look like painted wood but aren’t. Faux wood wins in a window that gets wet and when the lowest price matters most. Real wood wins everywhere you want to choose the colour, see the grain, or repaint later. Before comparing prices, find out what’s inside each one.
What sellers mean by faux wood
The same words cover very different products. A few examples, in the sellers’ own words:
- Blinds.com describes its economy faux wood shutter as “made of a hollow PVC”, with a “polyresin composition”[1].
- Bloomin’ Blinds describes composite shutters as made from “engineered wood, PVC, or polymer materials rather than solid hardwood”, and says most are “hollow or foam-filled”[2].
- Sunburst describes its Polywood shutters as a “durable and recyclable solid wood substitute”[3].
- The Shutter Store’s vinyl range is “100% solid polyvinyl with aluminum core”[4].
Hollow plastic, foam-filled composite, solid substitute, and solid vinyl around a metal core will hang, wear and age differently. Two quotes for “faux wood shutters” can be for completely different products, which is why comparing their prices alone tells you very little.
| Feature | Real wood (poplar) | Hollow PVC | Foam-filled composite | Solid vinyl, metal core |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Inside | Solid hardwood | Air | Foam or fibre | Vinyl and aluminum |
| Sand to fit | Yes | No | No | No |
| Repaint later | Yes | Ask the maker | Depends on the skin | Not recommended |
| Colours | Any paint or stain | Factory colours | Factory colours | Factory colours |
| Grain | Real, under paint or stain | A surface finish, if any | A surface finish, if any | A surface finish, if any |
| Shower spray | No | Check the warranty | Check the warranty | Check the warranty |
| Repair a scuff | Sand and touch up | Replace the part | Replace the part | Replace the part |
How to tell what you’re buying
- Ask what’s inside the louvers and stiles. “Composite” and “poly” don’t answer that. Hollow, foam, fibreboard and solid are the real answers.
- Ask for the weight of one panel and the widest panel they’ll make. Both tell you how the panel is built and how it will hang.
- Ask how many colours there are. Sunburst lists Polywood “in three paint colors”[3]. Real wood takes any paint or stain.
- Read the warranty’s exclusions. Moisture, sun and heat exclusions say more about a material than the brochure does.
- Pick one up, or ask for a sample. Tap a louver: hollow plastic sounds hollow. Look at a cut end if you can; a coating over a different core shows at the edge.
Faux wood shutters or faux wood blinds?
The two get mixed up, and the price gap between them is large. A faux wood blind is a stack of slats on ladder strings that you raise and lower. A faux wood shutter is a framed panel of louvers on hinges. Same family of materials, very different products. On October 22, 2026, The Home Depot listed a white cordless faux wood blind, 37 in wide by 48 in long, at $39.07[11]. That’s a stock blind, not a made-to-measure shutter, so it isn’t a fair price comparison with any shutter; it’s a reminder to check which one a quote is for.
If what you want is the look of painted louvers for the least money, a faux wood blind is the cheapest way to get it. If you want panels that swing clear of the window and no cords, you’re shopping for shutters, and the material question below is the one that matters. Shutters vs blinds
Water and humidity: where faux wood wins
This is faux wood’s strongest case, and it’s real. Wood is always trading moisture with the air. In heated Canadian buildings, the National Research Council puts the moisture of wood at about “6% in winter to 12% in summer”[6], and the US Forest Products Laboratory explains that the moisture wood holds depends on the humidity and temperature of the air around it[7]. Paint slows that exchange; it doesn’t stop it. A plastic louver doesn’t take on water at all.
The blind industry draws the same line. Blinds.com says wood “is not recommended for high humidity areas like bathrooms or kitchens”, while the “PVC coating” on faux wood makes it suited to them[9]. SelectBlinds calls faux wood “ideal for areas like bathrooms, kitchens, or laundry rooms, where real wooden blinds might warp or crack”[10]. Those are blinds, not shutters, but the material behaves the same way.
Our rule for poplar is simple: fine in a bathroom or laundry room with the fan running, so steam doesn’t sit behind closed louvers; never in shower spray. For a window inside the shower, buy vinyl today. Wood vs vinyl Our aluminum interior shutters, coming in 2027, are made for bathrooms and humid rooms. An aluminum frame and louvers in place of solid wood. Aluminum shutters
Weight and wide windows
Plastic isn’t light. Both blind sellers we checked say faux wood is the heavier material. SelectBlinds: “Faux wood tends to be heavier than wood blinds, which could be a factor if you have large windows”[10]. Blinds.com suggests splitting wide windows “into multiple blinds on one headrail”[9]. Whether a given faux wood shutter is heavier than a wood one depends on its core (a hollow louver may not be), which is why we suggest asking for the panel weight. A heavy panel works its hinges harder every time it swings.
Colour, stain and repainting: where real wood wins
Faux wood usually comes in a short list of factory colours. Real wood takes any paint, and it can be stained so the grain shows. Purdue University’s guide to yellow-poplar notes that it “is easily painted and tends to hold paint well”[5]. Wood can also be sanded and repainted when you redecorate[4], which most faux wood can’t.
What that costs with us, from the live price list: a 36 × 48 in window in white is $320 – $400 ($460 – $570 CAD in Canada). The same window with a stain match is $370 – $470 ($540 – $670 CAD). A small 24 × 36 in window in white is $160 – $200; a wide 72 × 60 in window is $810 – $990. All before tax and shipping. Every size
Room by room
| Feature | Our pick | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Living and dining rooms | Real wood | The rooms you look at most, where colour and stain choice matter. |
| Bedrooms and offices | Real wood | Dry rooms, so wood’s weak point doesn’t apply. |
| Kitchen | Real wood, away from the sink | A window right behind the sink takes splashes; consider faux there. |
| Bathroom with a fan | Real wood | Fine if steam clears. Keep the louvers open while it does. |
| Window inside a shower | Not wood | Vinyl today; our aluminum line in 2027. |
| Laundry room | Either | Wood with good ventilation; faux if the room stays damp. |
| Rental unit | Faux wood | The lowest durable price, and nobody needs a custom colour. |
Ten years on
The real difference between faux and real wood shows up later, not on the day they’re fitted. A wood shutter that gets a scuff is sanded and touched up; one that no longer suits the room is repainted. A faux wood shutter is usually what it was on day one: its factory colour, and a part to replace if it’s damaged. That isn’t a flaw if you’ll never want a change. It’s worth thinking about if you’ve repainted your trim before and expect to again.
Energy claims
Sunburst says Polywood is “Up to 70% more energy-efficient than traditional wood shutters”[3]. The page doesn’t say how that was measured or against which wood shutter, so we can’t check it. For context, when Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory modelled window coverings for the US Department of Energy, it left louvered shutters out, citing “the current lack of reliable simulation models”[8]. We don’t make an energy-saving claim for our shutters either: a louvered shutter is a light and privacy control, not insulation.
When faux wood makes sense
- A window that gets wet. Shower spray or a sink splash zone.
- A rental where the lowest durable price matters most.
- A room where you’re certain you’ll never want a different colour.
When real wood is worth the extra
- You want a colour that isn’t white, or a stain that shows the grain.
- The opening is out of square and the panels may need a light sanding to fit.
- You expect to redecorate. Repainting a wood shutter is a weekend job; replacing a faux one is a new order. How to paint shutters
- It’s a room you’ll look at every day, where the edges and the feel of the louvers show.
For the rest of the house, real wood costs more up front and gives you more: it can be sanded to fit, repainted when you redecorate, and stained if you want to see the grain. Our wood shutters
Common questions
What are faux wood shutters made of?
It varies by seller: hollow PVC, polyresin, foam-filled composites, or a solid wood substitute. The name tells you what it isn’t, not what it is, so ask what’s inside.
Is Polywood real wood?
No. Polywood is a Sunburst Shutters brand that the company describes as a “solid wood substitute”. Its wood-grain look is a surface finish.
Do faux wood shutters look fake?
Painted white from across a room, a good faux wood shutter is hard to tell from painted wood. Up close the difference is the edges, the weight in your hand, and that faux wood usually comes in a few factory colours rather than any paint or stain.
Are faux wood shutters better for humid rooms?
Plastic shutters don’t take on moisture the way wood does, which is why sellers recommend them for bathrooms. Hollow or composite cores vary, so check what the warranty says about moisture.
Can you paint or stain faux wood shutters?
Usually not in the way you can wood. A plastic or coated surface needs whatever primer the maker approves, if it approves any, and there’s no grain to stain. Ask before you buy if you think you’ll want a new colour later.
Is faux wood cheaper than real wood?
Usually, and that’s most of its appeal. We couldn’t find a faux wood shutter price with a stated size on the sellers’ pages we checked, so compare two quotes for the same window, and compare what’s inside, not only the total.
Sources
- Economy faux wood shutter, Blinds.com (retailer’s own claim)
- Composite shutters, Bloomin’ Blinds (retailer’s own claim)
- Polywood shutters, Sunburst Shutters (manufacturer’s own claim)
- Real vs vinyl shutters: which is best?, The Shutter Store (retailer’s own claim)
- Yellow-poplar (FNR-293-W), Purdue University Extension (university extension)
- Canadian Building Digest 244: Effects of wood shrinkage in buildings (A.T. Hansen, 1987), National Research Council Canada (copy hosted by MIT) (government)
- Wood handbook, chapter 4: Moisture relations and physical properties of wood (FPL-GTR-282, 2021), USDA Forest Service, Forest Products Laboratory (government)
- Energy savings from window attachments (October 2013), Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, for the US Department of Energy (government)
- Wood blinds vs. faux wood blinds (April 8, 2022), Blinds.com (retailer’s own claim)
- Pros and cons: faux wood vs. wood blinds (October 18, 2024), SelectBlinds (retailer’s own claim)
- Home Decorators Collection white cordless faux wood blinds, 2 in. slats, 37 in. W × 48 in. L (checked Oct. 22, 2026), The Home Depot (retailer’s own claim)