Vinyl shutters are thin, hollow, and sized to look like wood, so hail that would barely mark a shingle can split a louver or crack a shutter at a screw hole. Hail season in the St. Louis area runs mostly from spring into early summer, and the damage often goes unnoticed until the first cold snap. On a St. Louis house the damage tends to show up on the side that took the storm, and it often shows up at the edges rather than in the middle of the panel. If your house has shutters on the front or on the side facing the weather, they belong on the walk-around after a hailstorm, right alongside the gutters, the window screens, and the roof.
Why the louvers and fastening points get hit first
A shutter's louvers are the slanted slats that let air through and give the panel its look. Each slat is a thin piece of plastic held between two rails. A hailstone that lands on the slats can bend one, pop it out of its groove, or crack it where it meets the rail. The fastening points take a different kind of hit. Most vinyl shutters are fastened with screws or clips through the top and bottom, and a hard impact can loosen the fastener, strip the hole, or pull the shutter a little away from the wall. That gap is easy to miss from the sidewalk and easy to notice when you stand at the window.
Walk the windward side first
Hail in St. Louis usually arrives on a storm front, and the wind that pushes it tends to come from the west or southwest in the warm months. Start your walk on the side of the house that faced that wind, then work around the rest of the house. Stand about six feet from each shutter and look for dents, white stress lines, or a shutter that sits at a different angle than its neighbor. Then move in close. Hail damage on vinyl is often easiest to see in the shade, with the sun behind you, because a dent catches a shadow that a flat panel does not.
What to check on each shutter
- Cracks or star patterns, especially at the top and bottom corners and around the screw holes.
- Louvers that are bent, cracked, or no longer seated in the rails. Run a finger along the slats to feel for any that sit proud of the others.
- Screws or clips that have pulled out, spun in place, or left a hole that no longer holds the fastener.
- A gap between the shutter and the wall that was not there before, or a shutter that rattles when you push on it.
- Faded or chalky patches on the side that took the storm, which can mean the surface was scuffed and is aging faster than the rest.
- Whether each shutter is still attached at both ends, or hanging from one point only.
Cold weather makes the damage harder to judge
Vinyl gets stiff in a St. Louis winter, and a shutter that was dented in July can crack in January when you try to open or close it. If you find a dent and the shutter still looks sound, do not force it into position to test the fastener. Flex it gently, and photograph it before anyone touches it. Cold also makes shutters rattle more in the wind, which can look like a loose fastener when the fastener is fine. Check each one by hand when the weather is mild, and write down the date you checked it so you have a record of the condition before the next freeze.
Repair or replace
A single cracked louver can sometimes be replaced if the vinyl is still made in the same profile, and a pulled screw hole can be re-anchored with a larger fastener or a backer. Repairs get harder when the shutter has faded in the sun, because a replacement louver may not take the same color as the rest of the house. A shutter with a cracked rail, several broken louvers, or a torn mounting point is usually a replacement. Ask for each shutter to be priced on its own line, not as one number for the whole set, so you can see which ones need new panels and which only need the hardware reset. Ask whether the price includes removing the old shutter, setting the new one, and fitting the fastener type to the wall material.
What to ask for in writing
- A line for each shutter, with its size and the side of the house it is on.
- Whether the new fasteners are listed, and what they are made of.
- Whether the crew will remove and reset the shutters that are not being replaced, or leave them on the wall.
- Photos of every shutter before and after the work, attached to the written scope.
- Who is responsible if a shutter cracks during removal, and whether that answer is written into the proposal.
Keep the photos for your insurer
Missouri law bars a roofing contractor from representing or negotiating your homeowner's insurance claim. What a contractor can do is document the damage and put a written scope with photos and measurements in your hands. Keys Roofing handles shutters the same way it handles the roof: each panel photographed, each measurement written down, and the file given to you. If you open a claim, you deal with your own insurer directly, and the file is yours to send or keep. Keys attends as the contractor while you talk to your insurer, so the work on the house and the claim stay in separate conversations.
If you want the shutters walked with the rest of the house, call the Keys office at (314) 220-2333.