Perfect Fit blinds

[Mrs Pingu]

Those ones that have a frame that fits in the bead of the window. (Similar to conservatory blinds)
Anyone got them?

I know it's not summer at the moment but my brain has been thinking about a suitable blackout blind for our bedroom. Unfortunately because they are tilt & turn blinds with no reveal to speak of, and the window frame starts at the ceiling there is no way to use roller blinds while still being able open the windows.

They look like the ideal solution but with 6 panes in our window they are going to be £££!

[Jaded]

My BiL has ones that go on Velux windows. Not sure of the make, they could be Velux. Work well.

[Mrs Pingu]

Yes, I have experience of a Velux one but that screwed into a wooden frame and was very much smaller than my current windows.

[Ham]

I've fitted some for Miss Ham's home, and they are very good. You should be aware that, because of the cording, there are small holes through the blind, they are not blackout. I used these folk and was very happy https://www.247blinds.co.uk/

[Mrs Pingu]

I've fitted some for Miss Ham's home, and they are very good. You should be aware that, because of the cording, there are small holes through the blind, they are not blackout. I used these folk and was very happy https://www.247blinds.co.uk/

I assume the holes are in Venetian or Roman blinds, not roller?

[Ham]

They were pleated, most perfect fit are, I'm not certain that roller will work in perfect fit, unless there is a large gap at the side for a guide wire, like for a conservatory roof. Post a link to what you are thinking of? FWIW, back in the 70's I worked for a while as a curtain rail and blind fitter, technology has moved on a bit, but not that much.


ETA actually I've just worked out what you're talking about, the blinds that run in channels rather than fit into UPVC, you should be ok with those, and I haven't fitted them at all ( Perfect Fit vs Casette Blackout - not the same thing)

[Mrs Pingu]

@Ham these are Perfect Fit rollers
https://www.blinds-2go.co.uk/perfect-fit/refine/type-82

[Ham]

Interesting, I would check out people who have them before ordering. I notice on the  website the pleated ones have obvious guide wires in the middle, but no holes in the fabric, which is curious.

Perfect fit, as I understand it, is simply a frame that fits into double glazed windows, the blind then sits inside the frame. 

The total blackout also have a frame, and brushes/light trap to maintain blackout, in an ideal world they sit outside the reveal.

 It is possible that the roller could just sit inside a bare frame, but remember that the roller fabric is likely to be ~4cm narrower than the overall width. While I can see that a perfect fit could be made "total blackout", I think you would lose an unacceptable amount of window real estate, so I would be curious to see how it is achieved. Possibly tellingly, none of the images show close up of what's happening.

[Mrs Pingu]

I have a bit of a problem anyway, in that the (smaller) upper of the 2 panes in each (opening) window has a trickle vent right above the pane, so there may not be room for a roller blind in those panes anyway.

[Mrs Pingu]

Interesting, I would check out people who have them before ordering.

Hence my post here

[Polar Bear]

We have a number of roller blinds from this company and over about 5 years or so have seen the following faults / imperfections.

1:  the cords twist and eventually fray and snap.  Once snapped the blind is probably beyond repair.  I have two broken ones in the loft awaiting dissection.  The broken blinds are on our larger windows.  Those on smaller windows seem to have survived probably because of the significantly reduced weight in my opinion.  We have had 3 break but the first managed to do so in warranty before I started doing point 3 below.

2:  we bought the thermal ones which essentially are hexagonal profile tubes with foil liners across the width of the window.  Where the cords pass over time wear happens against the blind material leaving "pin prick" (slightly bigger in fact) holes where daylight intrudes.  It's more annoying than an issue but it happens.

3:  the cords twist.  Every month I go round and release the twisting in the cords by separating the block where two go into one and letting the cords dangle to spin out.  It takes just a few minutes round all the windows where we have these but it's an irksome chore.  Even with doing this diligently I did not spot the fraying on any of those which have broken.

4:  we also have a velux blind of similar construction for the blind material but running in channels for that perfect fit.  It is a similar age and the cord on one side has snapped in the past few weeks.

For all of these there is no repair service. 

We are looking at alternatives but my faith in these things has somewhat diminished.

[mrcharly-YHT]

Not blinds, but decent blackout curtains.

I think MrsC bought from Debenams, sort of a velvet finish.

They are really opaque, absolutely essential here in summer.

[Mrs Pingu]

Not blinds, but decent blackout curtains.

We have blackout curtains, but due to the stupid design of our windows (no reveal, window goes ALL the way up to the ceiling) a lot of light escapes round the top and sides of the curtain.

[mrcharly-YHT]

Not blinds, but decent blackout curtains.

We have blackout curtains, but due to the stupid design of our windows (no reveal, window goes ALL the way up to the ceiling) a lot of light escapes round the top and sides of the curtain.

Oh that makes it very hard to mount a track.

You need a pelmet.  Welcome back to the 70s!

[Polar Bear]

Not blinds, but decent blackout curtains.

We have blackout curtains, but due to the stupid design of our windows (no reveal, window goes ALL the way up to the ceiling) a lot of light escapes round the top and sides of the curtain.

Oh that makes it very hard to mount a track.

You need a pelmet.  Welcome back to the 70s!

I must admit, the first thing that came to my mind was a pelmet too.  I recall that my Dad made not only the pelmets but also the extra long wooden rails from which heavy curtains which extended a good foot beyond the window each side were hung.

[Ham]

Juat in case you haven't seen them, the total blackout that fit outside the windows are these https://www.orderblinds.co.uk/dept/total-blackout-roller-blind_d01274.htm (for eg)

would that work better for you?

[Mr Larrington]

External roller shutters for the “off-licence in a rough part of town” look?

[Polar Bear]

I would like external shutters but more the continental look than the sink estate look.  Especially useful in heatwaves.

Problem we have though is that our windows open outwards. 

[Mrs Pingu]

Juat in case you haven't seen them, the total blackout that fit outside the windows are these https://www.orderblinds.co.uk/dept/total-blackout-roller-blind_d01274.htm (for eg)

would that work better for you?

I had similar in our last place (Bloc Blinds). Won't work here for 2 reasons - 1. because the window tilts/turns inwards and there's no reveal to speak of (i.e. can't open without fouling the top} 2. The entire window is about 3 meters wide.

External roller shutters for the “off-licence in a rough part of town” look?

I have considered this... we've had them in some French holiday rentals over the years. Not sure if they would work on our window or not (because it's a flat roof dormer).

I know I sound like a naysayer but they really are a pain in the backside to solve....

I have even considered those blackout blinds you get for kids rooms that attach round the window with velcro but that would be a pain to put up and down twice a day.

[Ham]

Sounds to me like one of the very few instances where internal shutters that fold out to the walls might make sense, and you would have the additional benefit of being Really Trendy.

[Mrs Pingu]

If I remember I'll take a photo tomorrow.

[Mrs Pingu]

I promised photies, so you can see my pain. Behold, not only right up to the ceiling but jammed up to the dormer cheek to boot.
Ghastly plastic curtain track would not have been my choice, but I can see why it's there.
Pelmets =   
PXL_20231114_183411306 by The Pingus, on Flickr

PXL_20231114_183435573 by The Pingus, on Flickr

2023-11-14_06-38-47 by The Pingus, on Flickr

[Ham]

Aaaaand you want blackout? I can see why you are tending to perfect fit.

As an alternative, a pleated casette blind (ie, fits in a frame all around the window) might work, but with the blind packing down at the bottom. Whilst that might be nice in theory, I'd be cautions of its size - that's about 2m wide?

As another thought, as you appear to have 75mm at the top you could consider a topfix roller or a vertical that could pack into the centre for window opening, but they aren't that blackout. problem with the roller is not the roller itself, but the leading edge of the blind that would droop down, you could roll it right up

[Mrs Pingu]

Closer to 3m wide (a single one of those panes is 91cm between the black beading) and more like 40-60mm at the top.

[Ham]

Ah - I was looking at it zoomed and what I thought was a 50mm-ish bit of wall to the corner is actually a bit of ceiling to the rail.

And the top down/bottom up don't come that large. FWIW, you might well get a vertical headrail in 40mm, but I don't think it will do what you want.

FWIW, for the curtain rail I would have bent a bay track to come back along the sides, allowing the curtains to pack back and clear the windows.