Blinds sitting in box for last 5 YEARS waiting for my husband to fit them, just did them myself, with your help!! Not the best job but 2nd one better than first. Thanks so much 😅
I can’t tell you how helpful this video was for the blind I just put up. The sheer amount of fuck ups id have made following the pictorial instructions is unbelievable, particularly the measuring element. Thank you.
This will be my first DIY job unsupervised. Have been involved in putting them up with someone else but not drilled holes before. I am determined to become independent at this! Cutting to size is the easy bit, it's drilling the holes that will be the challenge. However, you have give some helpful tips so here goes!
Great video, I’ve fitted these exact blinds before too. I always adjust mine so that the little plastic connector on the pull cord is hard up against the top, that way you can never accidentally keep pulling on the cord, causing the blind to just roll over and over at the top. I also usually reverse the blind so that it drops on the back side of the roller, making it even closer to the window.
Is it me but no measuring was shown of the blind as a whole as that is what fits in the recess ? You cut the blind cloth to the aperture size and you won't have allowed for the end fittings
one of the better guides out there, there are some trash roller fitting guides out there. If you're trimming the blind 'on site' then you can as easily fit the brackets then cut the tube to suit and finally trim the fabric to suit the tube. I fit made to measure blinds but occasionally fit readymade rollers for friends and family. As for the child safety 'p' clip, leave some slack so it runs through easier and you can pull it away so you don't 'scrape' your knuckles, the idea is to leave it loose enough to make it easy to use but not enough for a child to get there head through. But the best advice is to buy a made to measure blind, everything about them is of much higher quality than ready made blinds, better brackets, thicker tube, stronger, smoother clutch set. higher standard of finish.
Great Video! Protecting the wall with cardboard before drilling was a great tip. Also Subtracting the the width of the window from the width of the shade was another great idea! Thanks!
Just as an added bonus I always move the connector for the draw string so that it acts as a stopper when the roller is dropped to the correct length, saves you over rolling and getting the blind hitting and collecting on the sill. Good video, cheers
Stu thank you thank you thank you for mentioning the child safety clip and it's importance, so many people just take it off & don't realise that it is then not compliant and a hazard (& it doesn't matter if you don't have kids in your home or visiting you could sell the property to someone who does). Obviously you don't need it fully blackout in the utility there but if people want it to be more blackout having it roll down the back will help and mounting outside the recess with a reasonable overlap will also help
On the blinds I’ve fitted over the years I’ve never been happy with the finish on the cut edge of the material - although I didn’t do it with a Stanley knife but scissors…..one lesson learnt there from your video. However, on my last blind I thought I’d give it a go at ordering a made to measure one off the internet. Was probably a little more expensive but not by much. It was a perfect fit and quicker to install, and no faffing about cutting material and roller. I’ve just ordered another one I was so impressed. Great video.
Many thanks for the video. Got in knots thinking how I was going to cut them. Literally subtracted one number from the other and away i went cutting and they fit perfectly! Many thanks.
Very clear instructional video Stuart, well done! It's the fixings into the lintel can be problematic! Sometimes I've had to coat the plugs into an adhesive like no nails and let it go off before fixing the screws. Good tip about measuring the waste. Regards Keith
Nicely explained. There are companies that make made-to-measure blinds to order (including aluminium and wooden slatted Venetian blinds). Have always obtained blinds this way to get the perfect fit, especially when fitted in the window recess. Also beware hidden steel lintels immediately above the plasterboard in the recess. These can be difficult to drill through cleanly and it may be worth using a pipe detector to check if one is concealed, and if so where it protrudes to within the recess, before drilling.
Yes, I agree, sometimes the Lintel will only allow a 5mmx20mm (or 5m x 25mm) rawl plug/screw, etc if drilling into the top of the recess, whereas if you use newer brackets they are multipurpose and will all top or side mounting, so where there is a Lintel you can opt for side mounting. Also worth noting the brackets are made flat on one side and angled on another so when you insert the blind into the back the bracket works under tension now to hold the blind tighter in position.
Very nice blind. Easy installation. Glad to see they have been refined and updated so I can finally address our entirely too sunny kitchen sink window and a few others in the house where the max. width of shades available for our budget at the time were a bit too short.
Oh Stuart Stuart! You make it look soooo easy! Me and my ex wife have spent many a evening back in the day fitting these god dam things. She was the brains cutting and measuring (all fine) . Made dresses and own clothes and so on. God how many times have I drilled in to the UPVC does not work. How many times have I drilled in the upper part and hit concrete RSJ or metal one! Render blown And plucked the hole with match sticks. We have spent many a night back to back in a huff with one another in bed. Thank you for this but I’m telling you now theses things are not the best invention!!😂😂😂
I have this exact problem. We installed a metal insulated lintel over the a window. I would like to fit a blind like this and I was planning to fix to the UPVC window. Any tips?
Thanks for the tips. I nearly came a cropper when I followed your suggestion to measure the cloth to be removed ... I checked the amount to be used and it wasn't correct due to the cloth sides not being parallel. I had to measure the cloth used and, fortunately, that worked. Suggestion .. measure at least twice. 😁
Good to see that you used a blind with metal tube. The cheap ones with cardboard tubes tend to deform after a while and then slip. IKEA also do metal tube types. One thought you did not explore was fitting the blind on the window side of the roller - gives better blackout than with blind on inside. Not always possible with all blinds. BTW I also subtracted the excess.
The beaded cord can be adjusted in the mechanism at the top prior to fitting to stop the plastic clip part being ran through the safety loop hook at the bottom too.
Video Idea: While listening to the news today, and the amazingly high energy prices likely to occur this winter in the UK, maybe a video on how to check that your house preeevrs as much heat as possible… and maybe some economical mods that will pay off when the cold snap comes.
I had a form of these that were spring loaded so you just pull on the bottom to get it to raise and then pull again to stop it. They would break after awhile. I like your pulley system. Must simpler and less likely to break. I recently bought cellular blinds that are cordless and they go up and down by just lifting the bottom bar or pull the top bar down to look skyward. They are also insulating and save a lot of money in heating and air conditioning. Over the course of a couple of years, they will pay for themselves. I've my energy costs drop. Azon has them at a reasonable price roughly $30/window US. You can order them to size so no cutting required. Installation is similar to your roller except the brackets go in the middle of blind. Much easier because you don't have to protect the sides.
Best to measure the window aperture in several places as the width can vary quite a lot, especially if you live in an older house. Consider window fittings like opening trickle vents and whether you need to allow space for these (the blind can drop on either side of the metal tube - which can be steel and nasty to cut). Also, it can be worth considering made to measure blinds as they are not that expensive, have neat edges, and are quick to fit.
Not normally an issue with roller blinds as the fabric is generally around 30mm less than the recess, don't even usually need to make an allowance for partial tiling in kitchens and bathrooms for standard 1/4" tiles (only the increasingly popular thicker tiles can be an issue)
@@bantcliff That's certainly not my experience and I fitted a lot of roller blinds. Granted, my window apertures tend to vary quite a bit in width but that is not uncommon in an older property. If I took just one width measurement, then, depending on where I took it, I run the risk of having a large gap (clearly subjective but I would have thought the point of the blind is to fill the space as much as possible) or the blind binding in the recess. By taking several measurements it is possible to find a neat compromise.
For 'Blind sized' products its an issue, venetians, Romans etc. Any roller based product only needs the fixing point measuring (unless you can clearly see a huge out of square edge) I been fitting blinds for over 25 years so learnt where and what to measure depending on thebl8nd type.
@@bantcliff We are clearly going around in circles, so this will be my last comment. If the window recess is out of square, as they often are in old houses, then I would strongly advise measuring at three places, top, middle, and bottom (last particularly important where there are tiles only at the bottom), before cutting the tube and then trimming the material to fit. I have fitted enough blinds to know. Also, a quick Google on the subject gives this same advice: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-9g8SYZnAJJ8.html
Great video... I wish the manufacturers could have spent a few pence more to retain the metal end brackets as was the way 10 years ago for a better firmer fitting. Keep up the good work!
Another great video. Moving into a new build house I fitted a number of different blinds around the place and had so many issues with different materials in the recess. Drill through one and find steel very close above. Other a large gap suitable for plasterboard fixings. Some just solid with only a tiny gap behind plasterboard requiring some very slim fixings I made a bit of a mess with trial and error and which fixings to use
Hi Stuart, I have been through this exercise already with our kitchen blind, and not being a confident handyperson at times I took it nice and easy, and all worked out OK, I used scissors and the trick was just to push them along the length of the material, enjoy watching all your videos, best regards to you and your family from a Kiwi living in Australia.
i know this is late, but this is a great watch for anyone fitting blinds, but how on earth do you deal with lintels and not end up with drill hole's the size of a 10 p piece - !
I've got two 2.8m wide electric roller blinds to fit to our pair of bi-fold doors. They've been sat in their boxes for a month as I'm dreading doing it as going by every other window we've tried to fit blinds to, there'll be a steel lintel 5mm above the plasterboard and it'll all go pear shaped at that point.
The bit you left out was, which type of fixing used to secure the holding bracket to underside of window. I assume it is hollow wall plasterboard and there are various types of fixings suitable for this, depending on the weight of the blinds. In your case the blinds look quite light so ordinary rawlplug might work but in heavier blinds you might have needed a molly bolt or spring toggle bolt.
cheers, nice blinds. I have lots of them, but not the hardware to hang up or operate properly. have tried to buys some, never showed up after lots of backorders at the local big hardware store branch. frustrating. Love the flat ones with bottom fringe for bedrooms behind sheers & the matchstick ones that would all go so nicely with my many large houseplants...instead, 3 in garage, 6 in basement, 2 in entryway corner.
In the US, every home center or DIY store will trim the blinds for free as you buy them. Thy have specialized machines that do it in a few moments. Of course you need to bring accurate measurements.
Had an absolute nightmare trying to drill into the concrete lintels on a 1940s bungalow, doing a "small" favour for someone, hardest concrete I've ever come across. Bosch combi drill just couldn't cope.
Hi good sir!, Love the tips and tricks. In particular: how to cut the aluminium tube straight and, which side to position the pully. Your great video would be even better with a few subtitles for the hearing impaired.
Hi Stuart. Did you have to subtract anything from the 142 to account for the thickness of the brackets? Always find your videos very informative, thanks for posting. 👍🏻
I’m confused. 1.8m was the original length, yes? The outside of the bracket is the part that buts up against the reveal. The distance between reveals was 142. What was the distance between the inside surfaces of the brackets?
@@alexferguson9283 he is saying that on this blind the total width of the blind itself plus the brackets was 1.8m. So the physical width of the actual blind only was probably something like 177mm
Be aware some new properties run plastic radiator pipes up the side of windows, behind the plasterboard. Face fixing potentially can drill into these pipes.
Worth noting that the option of having the blinds inside the window opening can be problematic if your windows open in the way. We just removed blinds in our new house which were fitted like this because it blocked the windows from opening even when the blinds were fully rolled up.
I always seem to hit the concrete lintel when drilling the underside of the window opening... then the drill slides everywhere and makes a huge hole in the plasterboard
Yup, I was looking forward to a good tip for drilling through the lintel. Last time I put up blinds I drilled into the side walls of the recess rather than try to get trough the steel lintels.
I literally just asked about this. I used proper metal cutting drill bits to fit shutter blinds was a nightmare when one snapped in there. He seemed to have no troubles. I would of been a sweaty mess, 2 hours in with gaping holes everywhere
@@jameslewis4327 yeah, the problem with the steel bits is they blunt the first bit of grit they hit. Generally a masonry bit with a carbide tip works best with the hammer action turned off. If you ever get a really hard bit of steel you cant drill though with a steel bit use a carbide masonry bit. It will go though but it is a real pain.
Yes, exactly for that reason fitting roller blinds is never as easy as shown in the video. Plus, I bought a Dunelm blind 4 weeks sgo and I still don't see how the chain side works. It just locks up. A right PITA.
Thanks stuart, now thats something i really need in my bedroom, my neighbour has a bright security light that shines in my room which keeps me awake…..take care
I would always rotate the brackets 90 degrees and fix into the wall not the top as more than likely results in drilling into the lintel ! My opinion but measuring is more critical
If the top of the blind is central but the bottom of the blind hangs, say, too far left you can add washers or some cardboard to bring the left hand support down a tad.
Stuart, i never managed to drill properly either there is a concert girder or plaster that just crumbles every where, your suggestion for outside the window sounds better option, would i need to get some L brackets ?.
Another excellent video, thank you. I didn't realise the stated width includes the brackets, that makes sense now and will use your technique next time. I have struggled to fix to top of the recess in the past because the drill hits a lintel. You didn't seem to have that issue at all?
Thank you for all these clear instructions! I bought a automatic roller blind and was wondering if I could change to a roll-up device like the one you use in the video. Do you believe this is possible? (I think so) Last question: How do I remove the end caps from each side of the pole on my automatic roller blind?
