However, it was also discovered that many of the shutters, including all of the surviving wing shutters, had been cut down or altered in some way.  Additionally, many of the shutters were missing louvers or had broken joints and frames.  Because the shutters had been exposed to the weather for approximately 89 years before the duPonts removed them, the condition of the shutters was not unexpected, but it did complicate the next step in the restoration process; deciding whether or not to reuse them.