How to restore external tilting shutters?

We purchased 6 external shutters from Marketplace. One side of each shutter is in reasonable condition. The other side - which has presumably been weather-facing - is badly weathered.

We are using them to provide shelter in a corner of a patio. What’s the best way to approach tidying these up? Strip and stain/varnish. Paint?

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JacobZ

Hi @sunburst001,

Thank you for your question and welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community, it is fantastic to have you with us.

Regardless of how you choose to finish the shutters, the first step will be to sand them. I'd suggest starting with an aggressive sandpaper, such as 40-grit to remove the bulk of the old finish before working up to 80-120 to smooth and finish the sanding. You can use Timber Sandpaper Rolls and hand-sand the shutters or use a random orbital sander or detail sander to speed up the process.

Once the timber is prepared, your choice of finish is entirely up to you, but some options include external stain and varnish, external paint or external furniture oils such as Feast Watson Clear Outdoor Furniture Oil.

Have a look at Weathered outdoor furniture revived, Hamptons-inspired bedside drawers and Upcycled dining table and chairs for some examples of similar timber restoration projects.

A simple white-painted look is often nice and not too eye catching so it can blend in, but you might want them to be a feature that draws the eye, and a natural timber look enhanced by oil is often a great choice for this. The choice is entirely yours, but ensuring the timber is fully coated with any of these products will give you good protection for years to come.

Allow me to tag some of our helpful members to see if they have suggestions or inspiration to offer, @Herrenovacation, @diy_hausdesigns, @EleventhCoastal.

Let me know what you think and if you have any further questions, please don't hesitate to ask.

Jacob

Herrenovacation

Hi @sunburst001

Welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community, and @JacobZ thank you for tagging me and some great advice.

These shutters look like a great find!!

Only thing I would add is understanding if they are solid timber or a veneer? If they are veneer or depending on the timber I would be careful using an aggressive sandpaper, as sometimes it can damage it further but you can still lightly sand. Its a much smaller project but I recently restored a timber light shade you could take a look at how I did it if you wanted to keep the timber look.

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