Home Repair Do you have faded shutters?

Hi Everyone,
I had the outside of my home painted and when I was getting estimates for the work, I was told that our shutters are not paintable. I thought this was strange and didn't want to have to buy new shutters to replace my faded ones. So I did a little research, I called Van Metre to see who installed our shutters and after several more calls to the installer and distributor, I finally got the manufacturer's name. Our shutters are made by Mid America Components (www.midamericacomponents.com) 1-800-521-8486. After talking to the customer service representative, I found out that our shutters are in fact not paintable and if you do it voids the 40 year warranty.

Here is what you need to do to have your shutters replaced free of charge: you call Mid America- tell them you have the raised panel shutters that are colored all the way thru and that they are very faded. The representative will take your information and in a couple of days you will receive a warranty package in the mail. You need to take a picture of your house from the street and 3-4 pictures of the shutters up close to show the fading. Then you will need to cut one of the shutter locks (holds the shutter on to your house) and get a code off the back of the shutter which tells them when your shutter was made. This code is on the back of the shutter on the middle panel. So you can cut off the middle shutter lock and put a mirror behind the shutter to see the code. After you fill out the one page sheet telling them how many shutters you have, size, color, etc. You send this in and in 2-3 weeks, they will ship you new shutters. The warranty includes replacing the shutters but you have to install them yourself. It is pretty easy to do but if you aren't comfortable you can hire someone to install them.
I hope this information helps you and maybe your neighbor make their home even more beautiful. Please spread the information because I know a lot of our shutters in Broadlands have faded.
Thanks,
Belinda

 

This type of great information should be stored somewhere where future residents can easily find it.

I wonder if the HOA would consider a small wiki for this type of persistant information from all the builders in our area?

 

Unfortunately, we have very little information from the original builders in Broadlands, some have left the area and some have gone out of business. Calling Customer Care at Van Metre 703-723-2800 is the most reliable way to get information on Van Metre homes.

I will ask the Tech committee if this type of information can be put on the HOA website. If anyone wants to "donate" original builder information, for example, siding, shutter or window manufacturers, paint colors, etc. they can email mburns@broadlandshoa.com the information to me and I will compile it for the Tech committee.

Please only send information that you KNOW is correct! Also, please email it. The forums are not a reliable way to communicate with HOA management.

Thanks

 

Thanks for that info, I was going to have my painters paint them...then i touched tham and found out they wereplastic or fiberglass...what a rip off!

 

is this just for Van Metre homes? i think our is Washington or Washingtonian or something like that...

 

My house is a Van Metre but Mid America sells to many builders. If you look on their web site you can probably tell by the style or call and ask the HOA what color your shutters are and then if it is one of Mid America's colors you will know. You can look to see if your shutters are secured with the shutter lock too.

 

I just spoke with Mid America and they are sending me a warranty kit for the shutters to fill out. They have changed their warranty to a limited lifetime warranty and they will only replace them one time (my question would be if the replacement shutters fade I would expect they would be covered by a warranty, but I doubt it). The customer service rep did state however that they will require I obtain a receipt or proof of purchase from Van Metre, but I will tackle that hurdle once I get the package to see if they accept the method listed above (label on back of shutter). I will keep everyone posted.

 

Chance3 or others, did the warranty process of getting replacement shutters work for you?? I have the same issue and wondered if it was worth trying to work through the warranty process.

 

The warranty process did work for us and our new shutters were just installed yesterday!

 

Well, this kills my hopes and dreams of painting them. I'm not sure ours are faded, but was hoping to change the color (with HOA modifications sub-committee approval, of course). This is so frustrating and disappointing.

 

sharse - how did you do it? I talked to the warranty department and received the form. I have no issues with pictures, etc, but they said that they absolutely REQUIRE a receipt for the shutters in order to process the warranty claim?

 

I don't think we had the receipt. We explained that they were installed by the builder and we had no way to get the receipt. We filed our claim in June of this year.

 

other than the claim form and pictures, do you remember what you sent them?

 

I just called Mid-Atlantic again and spoke to an absolutely wonderful woman in Customer Service and she said not to worry about the receipt - the reason they ask for it if you have it is because a lot of times they have the exact measurements on it. She stated just to write in the comments section who the builder was and approximately when the home was built and I should be all set! The most important part is the pictures of the fading and to measure ALL of the shutters.

 

Update - MidAtlantic emailed me yesterday and said my warranty request was approved and I should receive my new shutters, via UPS, in about 1 week.

 

Installing our shutters today and they look amazing! A big thanks to the HOA for allowing us to pick a new color, too!

 

We've just received our new shutters (through warranty replacement process described above) and are wondering if anyone has a recommendation for someone to install the new shutters? We also have a problem with birds nesting between the stone on the front of our house and the shutters and want that taken care of at the same time.

 

I heard that the company will NOT replace shutters for the affected homes unless the residents are ORIGINAL homeowners. Any truth to that?

 

@Capricorn1964, I don't know the answer to that question, but I do have 2 neighbors needing to replace their shutters that are not the original owners, so I know they'd like to know too - one has received a letter from the HOA giving them 60 days to replace them. (I have as well, but am an original owner.) I can say that in the online warranty process (which has changed since the earlier posts in this thread), practically the first question they ask is if you are the original owner. Also, contrary to an earlier post, where they waive the requirement for a receipt for the shutters, they now require a receipt or other documentation dated on or before the manufacture date found on the back of the shutters. We took delivery of our house in May of 2003, but our shutters were manufactured in December of 2002, so I had to send them a copy of my original Van Metre sales contract, which was from October of 2002. Based on all of this, I would guess that a second homeowner would have an uphill battle to get the warranty replacement approved, if they were able to at all.