Tips for attaching to aluminum sided house?

[MatBirch]

Our house has aluminum siding, which I hate, but can't afford to change for a while. Due to the way they install it with all the trim pieces around the windows, there is now no "trim" to paint... aesthetically speaking. We have a really boring, plain, dull looking house. White... endless white.
We were thinking of adding decorative shutters to add a little color and contrast. Stylistically, they would go well on our house. My issue is installing them. I've had small sections of aluminum siding opened up before, and everything seemed kind of hollow. My studfinder accomplishes nothing. How can I predict where I can attach? Is it fair to assume that other than crushing the hollow sections, I can kind of go anywhere, because the old shiplap is still behind it?

 

[jack stand]

Yes.
You'll get either painted screws or these vinyl "shutter locks" that matches the shutter color. You can easily paint the corners and soffit/fascia/gutter with your shutter color for a little splash. Then there's the front door.
Aluminum siding beats the hell out of vinyl, and imho hardy. I'd estimate that your siding is around 15-20 years old. We have about 10-12 years to see what the "cement" looks like @ 20 years.

 

[The Cobbler]

I would screw thru the siding, into the shiplap . don't overtighten so not to distort the siding

 

[CraigStu]

Run your screws just below the thick part of each 'board' and, as cobbler says, don't tighten them much. I'd probably buy the lightest weight shutter I could find and, since you can tighten the screws much, I'd use 6 per shutter.

 

[K'ledgeBldr]

If you really want to go all out to gussy-up that dull dwelling...
Vinyl shutters on metal frames that attach to hinges. and I'll assume there is brickmold or some other trim around the windows that the hinges can be secured too. Then you only have one siding penetration for the shutter dog.