Shade, Shutters & Blinds

If you are planning on purchasing vertical blinds for your home to replace your drapes or curtains, you should know what you need and how to do it before you go and purchase these for your windows.

Before purchasing your vertical blinds it is always a smart thing to know what the exact measurement is of your window or door. Then you should be able to find out if they are standard or need to be special ordered

Once your vertical blinds are in and you have brought them home for installation make sure you have specific tools and hardware items in order to be able to successfully install your window blinds.

Important tools that will be needed to install your blinds are the following: measuring tape that can be metal or made of wood, a screw driver that has a flat head, some finishing nails and a hammer, a drill that has what is called a hex head bit that is one quarter inch in size, a level to make sure everything is straight and even, scissors for trimming of cord if needed, wall anchors for dry wall and two other drill bits one that is one sixteenth and the other being three sixteenth of a inch you also will need to have a pencil handy.

The hardware that you should have for the blinds would be some brackets, mounting clips and screws, the headrail, vanes or louvers to attach at the end, a chain and clip as well as a cord and cord weight.

The two different mounting styles differ somewhat in the way that they are installed. There is an inside mount that goes on the inside of the windowsill and the outside mount that goes over the window on the wall.

You will not need the mounting brackets if you are installing blinds that have inside mounts. Remove the brackets from your blinds, keeping the screws and throw the brackets away. You then need to keep the mounting clips for the window blinds and tighten the screws.

The next thing you will do is mark the valance and the frame of the window. You need to hold the valance up and measure out the width of the valance marking it on the wall. Measure an inch out from where the width mark is to get the depth. Center it by placing the mounting clip in the third groove which is four inches from the end.

Put valance up and line the back of it with the marks for the depth. After this drill holes where the mounting marks have been made. Remember to use wall anchors if you are hanging the blinds on dry wall. Now, screw the screws into the clips, valance and the windowsill.

Once this is all done you can then put the headrail into place. Make sure that you have put the cord on the side that you want it to be on before going any further.

Outside mounting blinds are done a little differently than the inside mounting. You will need to mark the height of the wall at the louver length and then add two inches. Then you will center the headrail where you have the height marked. Then you need to make a two-inch mark on the wall about four inches in from each end. Then make marks for each bracket and make sure they are evenly placed.

Now hold the bracket sup to the two-inch marks and mark where the mounting holes should go. Then drill the holes making sure to install wall anchors if you are drilling into dry wall. Now you will take the mounting brackets and screw them in securing using two screws for each.

Tighten all the screws and snap the headrail into place and do the same with the window blinds that is mentioned with the inside mount.

Now take the louvers that you have and gently attach them to the stem slot by pushing up on louver then slowly pulling it back down in place. If you have cloth louvers it is important that you make sure all the sides with hems are facing the same direction.

For safety reasons such as to avoid a small child or pet being strangled, it is advised that you attach a weight to the pull cord. Securing attach it to the wall or towards the back of the windowsill for an inside mount.

If the cord is too long you can adjust it and tie a knot where you want it to end and then cut off the excess cord and discard.

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