From time to time I am asked about loose or dropping louvre blades on louvered shutters, ie: when the position of the louvre blade is altered it fails to remain in the position selected within the shutter. While not a common problem, it can happen over time with repeated use and tends to occur more in wooden panels as they are ‘softer’, but the solutions to resolve this are very simple.

The first thing to do is to check the tension screw, located in a small hole in the edge of the shutter door. Just open the door and you will see the hole in the edge of the door where it meets the other door. The tension screw can be carefully tightened, which in most cases will resolve the issue. Conversely, if your louvre movement on your louvered shutters is too stiff, you can also loosen the tension screw to resolve this.

If the tension screw cannot be tightened or appears to be spinning in it’s hole and not ‘biting’, this may mean that the screw thread is not catching and the screw needs to be replaced. This is a simple operation, but the screw will need to be replaced by a slightly larger screw. Simply unscrew the existing screw, insert the replacement screw and gently screw into position. It is important that this replacement is made carefully in order not split the louvre blade.

Either of these solutions will resolve dropping or lose louvres so that your shutter panel is restored to full operational order with minimum disruption.