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Original poster

Plantation Shutters - moving house?

33 replies

nonwonderwoman · 03/05/2017 13:43

I'm preparing to move house and have been filling in the fixtures and fittings form sent by the solicitor, and wondering what people do about plantation shutters? They are fitted to a bay window and are only a couple of years old - but as they were quite expensive my DH thinks we should either ask for payment towards them or take them with us - like you do for curtains. Is it a faff to remove them though?

I don't want to seem unreasonable, but it is likely we could get them installed in our new house. Thoughts?

OP posts:
Tiredemma · 03/05/2017 13:44

If you could get them installed at new house then I would take.

BlackAmericanoNoSugar · 03/05/2017 13:52

Will they definitely fit your new house? If so then it would be ok to take them with you or give the option to buy, not everyone likes plantation shutters anyway and your buyers might prefer blinds or curtains. If you are detaching them from the frame or from the wall I think you will need to 'make good' and not leave holes or filler that hasn't been repainted to match its surroundings.

If they won't fit in your new house then I wouldn't bother asking for money, I would just leave them. It's a tiny, tiny percentage of the total money changing hands and not worth having an argument over.

Crumbelina · 03/05/2017 13:52

We left ours but I don't think they would have been an accurate fit for the windows in our new house (they were made to measure).

MovingOnUpMovingOnOut · 03/05/2017 13:52

They are nothing like curtains. If you want money towards them then look at the sale price and then deduct off what you think they are worth and then mentally think of that new figure as the sale price.

I would think you were bonkers if you asked me to pay extra for fitted shutters the same
as if you asked me to pay extra for a fitted kitchen.

If you do decide to take them you will need to make the window good. It could end up being very expensive.

Kokusai · 03/05/2017 16:14

I would be seriously unimpressed if you tried to charge for plantation shutters - they are like fitted wardrobes!

BlackAmericanoNoSugar · 03/05/2017 16:23

Do you know if the buyers liked them? If I was buying a house with plantation shutters I would jump at the opportunity to have them removed and the window frames made good as it would save me from having to do it myself. I much prefer curtains.

bojorojo · 03/05/2017 16:35

I love shutters. No - you cannot charge or take them with you. You have to factor it in as a cost of moving. Mine are bespoke. Taking them out would ruin the wood frames so your buyers would be cross with you. Correctly. Leave them with good grace.

Original poster
nonwonderwoman · 03/05/2017 16:38

All those who would leave them behind at no additional cost than the purchase price - do you think that would that also apply to your curtains too?

OP posts:
MovingOnUpMovingOnOut · 03/05/2017 16:46

No because curtains are not fitted as previously explained.

LightYears · 03/05/2017 16:53

I'd take them if they fitted new place. I wouldn't ask for extra payment if I were to leave them though. I'll be doing the same but with my nice wooden venetian blinds, don't think they'll fit new place.
I have moved a few times and always take my nice light fittings with me, pain in the arse but still, I love them.

Original poster
nonwonderwoman · 03/05/2017 16:56

What's with the attitude MovingOnUp? Seems a perfectly reasonable question... glad you aren't buying my house!

OP posts:
Out2pasture · 03/05/2017 16:58

Rods are generally left or holes filled sanded and painted.
The plantation shutters I've seen are bespoke items that fold into a wall crease...part of the house.

SmurfPants · 03/05/2017 16:59

but they're a bespoke fitting?! You'd have to be extraordinarily lucky to have the exact same sized windows in your new gaff.

tight.

dilapidated · 03/05/2017 17:01

Curtains (excluding poles) are loose and a dressing such as rugs are.

Shutters are a fixture and part of the house like a engineered wooden floor would be.

JigglyTuff · 03/05/2017 17:01

Every time I've had someone try and charge me for something that is fixed into the house (built in cupboards, fitted carpets), I've refused to pay for it. And they've always left them because they don't actually want them, they just think the buyer should pay extra for them.

All it's made me do is play hardball on negotiation post-survey.

christinarossetti · 03/05/2017 17:06

If by some miracle they fit your new home, then I think it would be fine to take as long as your buyers know and don't think they're 'included'.

I think they're more like shelves that you've put up than a fitted kitchen. As long as you make good any holes, they're technically yours.

In terms of the fixtures and fittings form, I would put a price that I'd be happy with. If the buyers want them then great, you can leave them. If not, take them if they'll fit. If they don't offer to buy them they'll probably be planning on getting rid of them pretty soon anyway, which would be a shame.

Out2pasture · 03/05/2017 17:08

agree with jiggly.

upperlimit · 03/05/2017 17:12

I think the presumption would be that the plantation shutters would be included in the sale. As a buyer I would have double checked when I viewed the house but I think you risk pissing off your buyer if you spring it on them. It's up to you though.

MovingOnUpMovingOnOut · 03/05/2017 17:14

I have no attitude. Maybe you're projecting?

Abetes · 03/05/2017 17:17

I agree with jiggly too. It would seriously piss me off if you tried to charge me for fitted shutters. We were once in the process of buying a house and the buyers said that they were going to take the handles of the fitted wardrobes (!!!) with them....we pulled out straight away as if they were that petty abt something like that we couldn't see the buying/selling process being straight forward.

TheExuberant1 · 03/05/2017 17:20

In my last house I had expensive made to fit slated/venetian blinds and was prepared to take them, my neighbours had already asked to buy them therefore, I gave the new buyers the option to buy them and they did. I also had built in wardrobes they stayed! :)

In the house I live in now, I have four bay windows fitted with shutters and all the back of the house and they will be sold either to the new buyers and I will factor that into the price of the house. Otherwise I will be selling them to my carpenter who wants to reinstall them in his house.

GnatsChuff · 03/05/2017 17:20

Agree with jiggly. Had someone try to charge us for various things we didn't want because they were leaving them. They left them anyway.

Unless you can use them in the new house, just leave them. Otherwise they are going to be cluttering up the new place.

Curtains can more easily be adjusted to fit a different window and are easily removable. You can offer them but they may not want them. Again, previous owners tried to charge us for their hideous toile de jouy curtains. We declined. They left them anyway.

Original poster
nonwonderwoman · 03/05/2017 17:36

Ok, thanks all. Sounds like it is too much of a faff to remove them and then get them refitted, and no point if I'm going to look like a tight arse. Curtains will come with me, but presumably that's not a no no....

OP posts:
bilbodog · 03/05/2017 18:54

I would ask the buyers - if they dont want them take them - shouldnt be too difficult to fill in some holes where they are fitted. They are expensive so i would take them if i could use them again but leave them if they are no good in the new place.

bojorojo · 03/05/2017 22:00

Who wants filled holes where they used to be? It is part of the house so anyone with shutters should just accept that. Mine are on frames so it would be very difficult to remove them without damage to the shutter frame.