The brand warranty documents, compared
Hunter Douglas vs. Graber vs. Norman: what each shutter warranty covers.
All three brands advertise a "limited lifetime warranty," but the documents differ in ways that matter here. On wood, UV fading is excluded or barely covered by all three; on composite and poly, Norman and Hunter Douglas cover it far better; and none of the three coverage programs survives a home sale outright.
Below is the side-by-side, with links to the actual documents.
For how to read any warranty - and why it shaped our Everything's Covered Guarantee - see the parent guide linked at the end.
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Read the actual warranties.
- Hunter Douglas — Lifetime Limited Warranty
- Norman — Product Warranties
- Graber — Warranty Coverage
How does the coverage compare?
| Coverage question | Hunter Douglas | Graber | Norman |
|---|---|---|---|
| Structure / workmanship | Lifetime (limited) | Lifetime (original purchaser) | Lifetime (original purchaser) |
| Survives selling your home? | Warranty transfer not stated - but later owners can still qualify for free replacement parts | No - original purchaser only | No - original purchaser only |
| UV fading (wood) | Excluded (sun exposure and fading excluded) | Excluded (discoloration and fading from sunlight named) | 3 years on paint/stain finishes |
| UV fading (composite/poly) | Palm Beach Promise separately guarantees no fading | Not specified | Lifetime colorfastness on Woodlore |
| Warping | Sun/moisture exposure excluded; Palm Beach Promise separately guarantees no warping | Slight warpage covered; excessive high-humidity warpage excluded, claims deferrable up to 12 months | Woodlore carries lifetime coverage; wood subject to standard exclusions |
| Operating cords | 7 years | 3 years | 7 years (fraying) |
| Motorization | 5 years | 5 years (batteries excluded) | 5 years (batteries excluded) |
| Remove / reinstall labor | Excluded | Excluded | Excluded |
Terms summarized from the linked documents as of July 2026; the documents govern.
What's covered and excluded by material?
Real wood - the desert's worst case. Fading and sun deterioration are excluded by Hunter Douglas and Graber; Norman covers wood-finish colorfastness only 3 years. What is covered is genuine defects and workmanship - not the fade and movement that usually show up here. (The wood head-to-head covers how each brand's construction resists that movement.)
Composite. The picture flips: Norman's Woodlore carries lifetime colorfastness, and standard composite handles moisture far better than wood. For a genuinely wet room, a waterproof spec (Woodlore Plus) is the honest answer. (The composite head-to-head.)
Poly (Palm Beach). The strongest desert coverage: the Palm Beach Promise guarantees against warp, crack, fade, chip, and peel - the exact failure modes wood isn't covered for. (The poly page.)
Does the warranty survive selling your home?
For most buyers this is the surprise. Graber and Norman cover the original purchaser only - coverage doesn't survive a home sale. Hunter Douglas doesn't state that its warranty transfers either, but it's the only one of the three that offers a later owner anything: non-original owners can still qualify for free replacement parts through its program. If warranty-backed durability is part of your resale story, that difference is real - and it's smaller than the marketing suggests.
What "lifetime" never includes.
None of the three pays the labor to take a shutter down and rehang it - even on a covered defect, you can face a service charge. That gap is exactly why Southwest Blinds built the Everything's Covered Guarantee - $0 service and labor, so a covered issue doesn't come with a surprise bill.
The replacement-cost math.
A house of shutters is a $20,000-$25,000 decision, and the number that matters isn't the $2,000-$5,000 spread between quotes - it's whether you buy once or twice. If shutters fade or tire in years 8-10 (uncovered on wood) right as you're selling, you're buying them again to show the house well. A shutter that costs slightly more but is actually protected against Arizona sun can be the difference between a one-time purchase and a five-figure do-over. (The full brand ratings weigh this across all three manufacturers.)
Brand warranty questions, answered straight.
What the three documents actually say - and don't.
Does a lifetime shutter warranty cover fading?
Usually not on wood - Hunter Douglas and Graber exclude sun-driven fading outright, and Norman covers wood-finish colorfastness only 3 years. Composite and poly lines are the exception: Norman's Woodlore carries lifetime colorfastness and Hunter Douglas's Palm Beach Promise guarantees against fading.
Does my shutter warranty transfer if I sell my house?
Graber and Norman cover the original purchaser only, so coverage doesn't survive a home sale. Hunter Douglas doesn't state that its warranty transfers either - but it's the only one of the three that offers a later owner anything: non-original owners can still qualify for free replacement parts.
Does the warranty pay to reinstall a repaired shutter?
No - removal and reinstall labor is excluded by all three. (Southwest's Everything's Covered Guarantee - $0 service and labor - is our answer to that gap.)
How to read any shutter warranty →Want the warranty conversation in plain English?
A free in-home consultation covers what's actually protected on your windows - including the Everything's Covered Guarantee that closes the labor gap every manufacturer leaves open.
Start with the parent guide: The truth about "lifetime" shutter warranties →