The sun is out and we’re fitting roller blinds to lots of bi-fold door sets, patio doors and other large openings at the moment. We thought we would share some of the questions we are asked when customers are considering large roller blinds to cover windows or door openings. If you have bifold doors, French windows or sliding patio doors to cover then read on.
Can we cover this with one blind?
The widest roller blind we have made for a customer to date is 4200mm. There isn’t really a maximum width determined by manufacture but there are plenty of other considerations. :-
Fabric Joins
We rarely need to do a fabric join for a width less than 2000mm but for widths greater than 2000mm that also have a drop greater than 2m the roller blind fabric may require a join. The joint is a machine sewn horizontal fabric joint in the roller blind fabric which is typically located somewhere between 200mm and 500mm from the top of the blind when the fabric is lowered. The exact position depends on the drop measurement and the width of the roll that the fabric is supplied in. A fabric joint is always neat but we inform customers that the join will be noticeable so they’re prepared. If the customer is happy to have a join then most plain fabrics and some patterns can be turned and joined to accommodate larger openings. If the customer prefers not to have a join then we can offer some special fabrics which are available in wider widths. Happily manufacturers are starting to increase their range with these fabrics now due to demand for them.
Other considerations
Practicality- We encourage our customers to think about how they will use the blind and whether a large blind will be practical and usable in their situation. For example, on bi-fold doors it is often more practical to break the opening into a large and small blind with the small blind located where the single main door is, particularly if that door is subject to a lot of traffic.
Lifting weight- Larger blinds are heavier to pull up than smaller blinds and if not planned carefully can require some effort to open the blind. We use specially geared control components to counter this as well as motorisation.
We use larger diameter tubes on wider blinds due to the weight of the fabric, blackout or textured fabrics are usually much heavier than others. We would of course advise you of this.
Alternatives
Split the opening into smaller blinds- We can use special coupling brackets for this or fabric covered cassettes so that the top looks neat and like one single fixture.
Sometimes there’s a different solution which suits your requirements better so if you have a large window to cover don’t wait – it’s never too soon in the design process to get in touch and seek our advice.