Castleberry Shutters Boosts Productivity With SHER-WOOD® EA Hydroplus™ Waterborne Topcoat

Based in Woodstock, GA, the Castleberry Shutters team is committed to the highest product quality backed by decades of expertise. Originally founded by his father Jerry in 1984, Jeff Castleberry maintains a hands-on approach to custom shutters that set the company apart from its inception. With an expectation for high production standards, Castleberry Shutters began a tradition that has continued for years since.

At Castleberry Shutters, all decisions are made with the customer in mind, from the quality of materials used to build the shutters the coating chosen to color and protect them.

“I like to say, do everything like you're doing it for your Mama,” said Castleberry. “We give our customers an excellent product with good value and take care of them even after the sale is complete.”

A lot has changed within the 40 years Castleberry Shutters has been in operation. Solventborne coatings dominated the market for a long time, with the coatings industry offering waterborne alternatives that could not keep up with the spray and finish ability of solventborne.

Many developments in waterborne coatings have been made, making them faster drying and better for the environment – and ultimately increasing cost savings. A test spray with SHER-WOOD® EA Hydroplus™ Waterborne Topcoat was all it took for Jeff Castleberry to know Sherwin-Williams got it right and the time had come to switch to waterborne.

Castleberry worked with Sherwin-Williams to convert to SHER-WOOD EA Hydroplus to finish their high-quality, white-poplar shutters – delivering application efficiency and long-term performance, giving the company a topcoat they have come to rely on. The quality of the finish proved to be a selling point for Castleberry, who not only started as a painter but still sprays shutters to this day.

“The customers love the finish that the product gives,” said Castleberry. “Since we switched to SHER-WOOD EA Hydroplus, customers have commented on it. Even my installers will tell me the finish looks great, which most wouldn’t even notice.”

APPLICATION IN HUMIDITY HAS ITS CHALLENGES

Revolutionary SHER-WOOD EA Hydroplus can be applied across a wide spectrum of environmental conditions and has a self-sealing system, which comes in handy in an area of Georgia where humidity levels can sometimes reach 75%¹.

Shutter composition presents unique challenges for coatings too, as they must hold up to exposure to heat, moisture, humidity and cold. They also have grooves where moisture, dirt and other debris can collect, so the coating must be able to stand up to repeat cleaning.

“This topcoat doesn’t seem to mind that at all,” remarked Castleberry on the resilience of SHER-WOOD EA Hydroplus. “The pocket between the window and the window treatment is hard to maneuver and keep clean for many painters, but it holds up really well. Hydroplus makes it easy. My customers can clean it without any problems.”

In the shutter manufacturing business, vertical hang is critical to a quality paint job. SHER-WOOD EA Hydroplus is unmatched in this area.

“The product lays down nice, flat and slick,” said Castleberry. “It doesn’t sag or run, and I’ve been very impressed with the finish. With other products, I have never been able to just trust the spray. With Hydroplus, I just pull back the trigger, throw down a four to five mil paint job in a single coat, and it sits right where I want it to.”

SAVING TIME AND MONEY

Time is money - the time saved by spraying an easy-to-apply product like SHER-WOOD EA Hydroplus results in smooth operations that ultimately save money. With their trust in the product to not sag or run, painters have confidence that they can spray and not be fixing post-drying errors the next day.

“We've used products in the past where you paint and think it will look great – and you sit it down to dry, give it a few minutes and it's running like it's got a pair of sneakers on,” said Casteberry. “Then you're working on it the next day, taking more time to do the job. By the product doing what it should do, it makes the operation smooth.”

RELIABILITY WHEN YOU NEED IT

For a family-owned business, supplier consistency is paramount. For Castleberry Shutters, relying on Sherwin-Williams has been easy – knowing that representatives will have what they need when they need it and be willing to help.

“Sherwin-Williams provides all of that for us,” remarked Castleberry. “Some larger paint companies simply aren’t there when you need them, but Sherwin-Williams reps take my call and visit on-site. Any issues are handled swiftly, and the people I’ve worked with at Sherwin-Williams mean everything to me.”

Castleberry Shutters’ quality has long been its calling card, with no shortage of business, mostly garnered by word of mouth. Castleberry believes this comes from the company’s consistency in treating the customer right while keeping service and quality levels high.

When customers search for new shutters, they look for a quality product that offers good value, but with Castleberry Shutters, there’s the added bonus of a company that stands behind their product, takes care of the customer's needs and offers solutions if something goes wrong.

Castleberry Shutters is one of the longest-operating shutter manufacturers in the U.S., offering quality that cannot be found anywhere else. Keeping its personal touch backed by experienced employees and a custom-building process, the company continues to thrive with no plans of slowing down.