Many "faux wood" shutters are made from a material called MDF. It is wrapped in a thin, glued-on, plastic laminate that is printed to look like wood.
MDF is made of trash wood that is ground up, pulverized, mixed with glue and moulded to a shape. It is highly susceptible to humidity and moisture, which causes the MDF to swell, forcing the laminate to come loose. With a number of manufacturers, this is not covered in the "lifetime" warranty. Beyond this, many imported MDF shutters emit toxic VOCs.
Another issue is that faux wood shutters use a plastic pin inserted into a hole that is drilled into the end of the louver. Because of this, the louvers must be thicker. As MDF has little tensile strength, all it takes to wreck a louver is a bump of the elbow and the pin can break right through.
O'Hair shutters are built from solid American hardwood that is bookmatched for superior strength and stability – no plywood or foam cores. Rather than using pins, our louvers have monolithic tenons that are milled from the louver itself. No only is this stronger, but it provides superior strength in a slim louver profile.
