3 Simple Repair Tasks You Can Carry Out on Your Horizontal Blinds

Home & Garden Blog

Horizontal blinds have various advantages, one of them being that you can easily regulate the light that comes into your room. They are commonly used in most homes and offices. However, frequent use of these blinds can lead to small technical faults, which you can easily fix if you are handy with your toolkit.

Below are some of these faults, and how you can correct them. If you get stuck, don't hesitate to seek professional assistance to avoid any permanent damage.

1. Blind won't release after first installation

Sometimes horizontal blinds have their lift cords tightly pulled during manufacturing, causing the blinds to refuse to release even when the cord is pulled. After you have installed the blind on the window according to instructions, try to pull the cord at an angle while pressing the bottom rail upwards. This should release the tension in the lift cord enabling you to release your blinds easily in future.

2. Blinds won't tilt to open or close

This is another problem you can fix easily. To begin, pull the blind up completely so it is tight on its headrail. Carefully remove the valance from your blinds, and then unhinge the bracket on the box end to take down the blind from the window.

Examine the lengthwise-running cords from the top of the blind. You may notice that some strings are tangled, or the cords could be stuck between the headrail and hardware. Untangle or release the tangled/trapped cord carefully. Reinstall the blind, pull it down completely and test the tilt.

If the problem persists, contact a professional technician; your tilter mechanism, located on one end of the headrail, may require replacement. These are available online and with local retailers, who can also arrange to install the new one.

3. Blinds are too long

Maybe you moved to a new house or you just want to change the window on which your blind sits to a shorter window, which means that you also need to shorten the blind to fit the window length. It is possible to remove a few of the slats until you achieve your ideal length, and you can do this easily by following these instructions:

• Check the bottom railing of your blind and remove the small plugs you see; keep them someplace safe for replacement when you finish
• Pull out the lift cords from the bottom rail and undo the knots in the cord
• This allows you to pull out extra slats as needed until you have the right blind length for your window
• Take out the bottom railing from the removed slats and place it in the tilt ladder where your last slat now is
• Thread the lift cords through the holes on the blinds' bottom railing and retie the cord knots as they were before, ensuring that the rail is levelly rested in the knots
• Once you have confirmed that the lift cord is level and its height is okay, cut the extra cord below your knots and push the knots into the rail.
• Replace the plugs onto the rail

Whether you have Luxaflex blinds or another brand, keep these tips in mind when they start to misbehave.

21 April 2016