Motorised Blinds Quotation query

Kainz

Kainz

Kainz

Soldato
Joined
15 Dec 2002
Posts
23,924
Location
In a cowfield, London, UK
Hi All,

I have a small London flat and wanted to replace my existing alu venitian blinds with motorised wooden versions.

I had a chap come over to measure up my two windows, which are 1.2m across by 1.5m. He stated they'll have Somfy motors, which I know of quite well. Long story short, he's quoted me £419 per room inc VAT, with each room consisting of:

[Wooden Venetian]
[Slat Size: Sunwood Essential 50mm ]
[Colour: Revera, Motor, No Tapes, Somfy Tellis 1 Modulis, Somfy Venetian Battery Motor]

Final price £939.92 which is horribly over the £600 tops I wanted to spend. Does anyone know if that is a reasonable kind of quote? Either way it is way more than I expected so I'll pop into his showroom next weekend and look at manual pull cord versions.
 
Cheers folks, I just wasn't sure of those prices. As said, I'll decide next week really but in this current climate I can't justify that much on motorised so I'll likely ask about normal manual blinds.
 
If you are just getting regular blinds then don't bother with a local ma' and pa shop - just go to Blinds2go like everyone else in the world.
 
We got quotes for an installer to fit motorised roller blinds in a rear room that gets a lot of sun (south facing, nearly all glass). Quotes were all around £1500 for 3 blinds (1700W, 1200W and 1900W). Went on blinds 2 go, got all 3 for £8/900. I had to fit them but I took that for the saving.
 
thezappa said:
We got quotes for an installer to fit motorised roller blinds in a rear room that gets a lot of sun (south facing, nearly all glass). Quotes were all around £1500 for 3 blinds (1700W, 1200W and 1900W). Went on blinds 2 go, got all 3 for £8/900. I had to fit them but I took that for the saving.
Click to expand...

Any chance you could upload a photo? I’m considering putting one in the bedroom.
 
R.O.S.S.I said:
I'd probably just buy the kits myself and fit rather than paying a shop to do it. I doubt it is too difficult to do.
Click to expand...
Yeah, I'd normally do that however my place is a new build and I have sod all experience with fixing stuff to drywall/plasterboard.

Part of the reasoning behind going with a motor was I don't like the idea of applying downwards force to raise/lower a blind. It isn't good for these types of walls (imo) and has already resulted in our bedroom one coming off on one bracket. Rather than getting it fixed, I thought I'd just get them replaced. That didn't work out as planned obviously :D
 
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If your previous blind pulled out of the top "beam" them it wasn't fixed right... You need to use long screws to reach into the wooden beam.and not just the plaster
 
Kainz said:
Yeah, I'd normally do that however my place is a new build and I have sod all experience with fixing stuff to drywall/plasterboard.

Part of the reasoning behind going with a motor was I don't like the idea of applying downwards force to raise/lower a blind. It isn't good for these types of walls (imo) and has already resulted in our bedroom one coming off on one bracket. Rather than getting it fixed, I thought I'd just get them replaced. That didn't work out as planned obviously :D
Click to expand...
I still think if you self-fit some manual blinds they would be fine. With proper fixings they should be pretty solid as the poster above has said it may be you used incorrect fixings.
Most blinds operate by a cyclical cord that you pull which pulls the blind up/down or side to side so downward force on the actual blind itself should be negligble.
 
I’ll get a pic of the issue later today as I’m heading into work.

My flat came with these stock blinds and it is the bracket that has essentially come off the recess. I assume the fitters used a crappy rawlplug. I couldn’t see a way to remove the blinds from the bracket so I could further investigate but the chap who came in to do the measurements showed me how.

Since I’ve no expertise dealing with plasterboard I wasn’t sure how to deal with such a ‘simple’ issue.

Edit: Update with a pic. The blinds salesman showed me how I can uncouple the blind from that bracket so I'll likely look at this after I visit his showroom this weekend. I'm in two minds here really.
Cheers Richie, I'll certain look at the bracket (it looks like a single screw in the middle of the bracket) this weekend providing I can get the blinds off as he showed me.


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You won't need rawlplugs as the screws are not fixing to the plasterboard. The screws should be a good 4-6 inch long and this then screws through the plasterboard and into the wooden frame above.

It sounds like the existing screws were too short and didn't reach the wooden frame (or didn't go very far in) and so was just the plasterboard taking the load.
 
As above, longer screws to get into the steels. You could hang your body weight off them if screwed in properly.

Regarding the smart blinds, it's still quite a niche market, so current players charge quite a bit. I decided to make my own (although tilt only) for about £10 each.
 
Forgot to update this:
Went to salesman to ask for a quote on normal alu blinds to be fitted to my two windows back in early Nov as mentioned. Quote came to £420 or so. Thought sod that and spent more time with my blinds and managed to get it off in order to look at the bracket.
You guys were correct, a larger screw shoved onto the rawlplug did the trick and the bracket hasn't budged since. Cheers all.
 
When I put our blinds up I ended up by chance hitting the metal lintel.

Bought some metal drill bits and burrowed through it.

Used a few of the fischer duo (that's all I use now) that blind isn't going anywhere!


Couldn't believe the cost to install them by a trades person!
 
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