DIY Deck Blind Roller Shades

[dans]

Just completed the installation of our DIY roller shade system.


The problem, such as it is, is that we have a western exposure so when the sun starts coming over to the back side of the house we get hit directly overhead but also indirectly off the water. We have a retractable awning to handle the overhead (at least when it's not too windy.


The goals were (1) create more shade and make it moveable - as the season progresses the sun starts setting more towards the south (2) don't bugger up the view by making the roller shades, brackets, etc. too visible (3) make the installation semi-permanent, i.e.; I don't want to carry them back and forth from the garage every time we want to use them and (4) Thou Shall Do No Permanent Damage to the Railings (the last was dictated by my wife - no holes drilled, no welding, no fun).

Here is a video of the system, pictures of the brackets are attached below...



Here are some pics of the bracket components (they weren't deburred):

 

[redwood]

That is really cool. I'm wondering where you got the shades themselves, or did you make them, as well.

[Deleted]

You had fun, you did use a power tool.

[dans]

Redwood-

The window shades are manufactured by Rollease - I bought the component parts from one of their distributors; Window Products in Holland, MI. (they were great to work with!)

The core is an aluminum tube, sold in 16ft lengths which I had cut into (3) equal pcs. for shipping and then cut to fit for each section. There are (4) sections, so I had to buy 32 ft.
Each section requires an Easy Spring Single Limiter, heavy duty Ultra Booster, Ultra Chainfree control and Ultra Standard Bracket set. The brackets are incredibly sturdy in the way they secure the roller in place.

I also bought the fabric from them cut to size, it was their "Chalk 5%" which blocks 95% of the sunlight and is rated for outdoor use.

I did seal up the seam between the end of the aluminum tubes and the roller parts with silicone since I intend to leave these out all season but even if a little water gets inside the tube and corrodes the spring, replacements are only about $12 each.

We attached the 2 pcs of fabric to the roller 180 degrees apart and facing the opposite direction. That's why it drops off the bottom as you pull up the top.

I'm in about $350 for all the Rollease components - about $90 per section which I thought was incredibly reasonable given the quality of their parts vs. what you'd get at a box store.

Dan