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O’Hair Shutters, Ltd. is a family-owned, family-operated company that is the largest manufacturer of American made, American hardwood shutters. Based in Lubbock, Texas and with authorized dealers across the United States, O’Hair has been producing top quality window coverings for nearly three quarters of a century.

History
The company was founded in 1940 by Roy O'Hair, a west Texas farmer with a penchant for woodworking. Crediting his survival in the dustbowl of the Great Depression to the basic principles of hard work and integrity, he applied these values to his venetian blind business, which soon drew the attention of potential dealers across the southwest. Within ten years he had several hundred O'Hair dealers, making the business was the largest of its kind between Dallas and the west coast.

In an interview in June of 1952 Roy laid out the values upon which his business operated, which were as attractive as the product itself, the primary goal being that of customer satisfaction. As he stated in the interview, “Leave the customer happy, even if you haven’t made a dime on the job.” This is a principle that endures today.

Roy’s son R.J. started in the business by helping out in the afternoons after school, assuming the reigns after returning from service in the pacific in 1945. In the years that followed R.J. developed authoritative knowledge of the characteristics of a wide variety of wood species and the construction of sturdy, stable wooden venetian blinds. In 1964 he applied his expertise in wood venetians to building top quality American hardwood shutters, transforming the company into O'Hair Shutters, Ltd.

By the 1990's the growth of the business resulted in the construction of a massive 40-acre facility. By this time, O'Hair Shutters had revolutionized the industry by introducing a blend of high-tech manufacturing with traditional joinery and craftsmanship. By this time, the tradition of hands-on leadership had passed to the third generation of the family, which introduced computer-driven precision milling along with an advanced design and online ordering system for the creation of highly customized interior and exterior shutters.

The following decade expanded beyond build-to-order millwork to include a custom shop for factory-finished product, offering custom built shutters with precision matched paints and stains. This was followed by the a great deal of innovation in the area of venetian blinds and hardwood exterior shutters. Other advances during recent years have included the integration of state-of the-art design, manufacturing and finishing, along with tablet-based solutions for sales and ordering, and enhanced dealer services.

Poplar
The most common hardwood used in O'Hair products is poplar, a species that has a structure and grain that is ideal for shutter slats and venetian louvers. The challenge in using poplar is that the difficulty of the curing process. As a result, it is not used by other manufacturers. O'Hair uses a process that provides all the benefits of other popular hardwoods and adds the properties of resistance to splitting, warping or twisting, which is a common issue with wooden louvers and slats.

Innovations
O’Hair shutters, which include Millwork by O’Hair™, O’Hair Customs™ and O’Hair Exteriors™ , incorporate a number of advancements, including a pinless, monolithic tenon™ louver design, the Stabilouver™ position stabilizer, reinforced joinery, an architecturally integrated installation method, edge-grain / edge-glued solid wood bookmatched louvers, plus the combination of visual / [[spectrophotometer[]-matched paints and stains based on samples of the existing trim.

In 2011 O’Hair introduced O’Hair Venetians™, representing a new approach to the design and function of venetian blinds. This patented design uses a side-mounted approach rather than a traditional headbox. It also offers advanced light-tight features such as slats without rout holes and with side gaps of only 1/32". This results in a breeze-resistant design with light blocking characteristics that are not found in traditional venetian blinds. The product also features an integrated lift and tilt system with advanced child safety features. Shortly after its introduction, this product became the only venetian blind to be endorsed by the independent consumer advocacy organization, Parents for Window Blind Safety. In 2013 O’Hair introduced O’Hair Exteriors™, the only exterior heat-treated exterior hardwood shutter on the market, offering an extreme level of resistance to weather and insect damage.

Environment
O’Hair shutters and venetians are manufactured from timber that is grown and havested to Forest Stewardship Council standards. O’Hair does not produce any plastic or synthetic shutters and the pinless monolithic tenon louver design does not incorporate any synthetic materials.

The manufacturing process generates minimal waste and minimal use of electricity, with 99% of its components having a zero carbon footprint. All timber used in O’Hair products is harvested using principles of sustainable forestry. The timber undergoes an extended curing process that varies according to time of year. This begins with six to eight weeks of air drying, which takes advantage of the naturally semi-arid climate of the west Texas facility. If, after measuring internal humidity, the timber requires further curing, air-drying is followed by a kiln drying process that is takes only a few hours. The zero emissions curing process produces a minimal environmental impact. All O'Hair products are produced in compliance with federal environmental standards.

The exterior hardwood product line, O’Hair Exteriors™, derives its properties of durability through a patented thermal modification process that generates the least possible impact, with the only emission being steam. The system enjoys USDA Bio-Preferred status and is Green Spec listed. In addition to this, the extremely low moisture content reduces heat transmission, with a resulting decrease in home heating and cooling costs.

In addition to the benefit of using only renewably forested American hardwood, this avoids the potential hazards of deforestation and other environmental issues that are often involved in sourcing foreign timber. O’Hair does not produce any plastic or synthetic shutters.

Locations
O’Hair Shutters, Ltd. works directly with local dealers across the country, supplying millwork and finished product from its facility in Lubbock, Texas. Dealers who offer Millwork by O’Hair™ shutters complete the finishing in their own in-house custom shops. All other O’Hair products are factory finished. Hardwoods are sourced from a variety of privately owned forests in the United States.