Questions that come up on most estimates

A roller shade is one panel of fabric on a tube. A zebra shade has two layers printed in alternating solid and sheer bands. Line the sheer bands up and you get filtered daylight with the view intact; slide them so the solid bands meet and the room goes private. It gives you a range of light on one shade instead of just up or down.

Transparent fabrics cut glare and daytime visibility while keeping the view and most of the light. Semi-blackout gives real privacy and softens the light without making a room dark. Blackout is what a nursery, a shift worker's bedroom or a media room needs. It stops light through the fabric itself, though a little always comes around the edges unless side channels are fitted.

Yes, but the fabric alone will not do it. Light comes around the sides of any shade. For a properly dark room the answer is a blackout fabric plus a light blocker, either an adhesive L-shaped channel or an aluminium U-channel down each side of the opening. Usually an outside mount as well. It is worth saying out loud at the estimate so the room is built to do the job.

No. Measuring is the part that goes wrong most often, and a shade cut a quarter-inch wrong is scrap, so it is done in person as part of the estimate. If you want a rough idea before booking, measure the width of the opening in three places (top, middle and bottom) and use the smallest number. That is usually enough for a ballpark conversation over the phone.

An inside mount sits inside the window recess, so the trim stays visible and the whole thing looks built in. It needs enough depth and a reasonably square opening. An outside mount fixes to the wall or trim above the opening, covers more glass, blocks more light around the edges, and is the honest answer for older houses where the frames have moved.

The fabrics run to a 300 cm finished width, roughly 118 inches, so most single openings are covered by one shade. Wider runs, like a big slider or a wall of glass, get split into two or more shades on a shared headrail so they read as one treatment. On motorised installs a single motor can drive them together.

Yes, and it is the one upgrade worth pushing. Hanging cords and bead chains are a genuine strangulation hazard for small children and pets. Cordless lift and motorised options remove the cord entirely. If a corded option is the right fit for other reasons, cord cleats and tensioners help, but cordless is the better answer in a house with toddlers.

Four, broadly. Bead chain or wand, in plastic or metal, which is the traditional and least expensive. Cordless, where you simply lift and lower the shade by hand. Motorised, driven by remote, wall switch, phone app or voice. And a manual-automatic 2-in-1, which is motorised but can still be moved by hand. That last one earns its keep when a battery runs flat at an inconvenient moment.

Usually not. Most run on a rechargeable battery inside the tube, and some valance profiles are designed so the motor can be charged without taking the shade down. Hardwired motors are an option in new construction or during a renovation, when there is a wall open. One motor can also drive several linked blinds together, which is how a long run of windows ends up landing on exactly the same line.

Often, yes. Roller and zebra shades in good condition are the most likely candidates, because the motor goes inside the existing tube. Whether it is worth doing depends on the age and condition of the fabric. It is a quick thing to assess from a photo, so send one over and you will get a straight answer.

The measure and consultation happens in your home and usually takes under an hour, including going through fabrics. Everything is made to your measurements, so there is a production window after that, and installation is typically a single visit. Exact timing depends on the product and the size of the job. You will get a real date, not a vague window.

No. The in-home measure and quote is free, and there is no obligation attached to it. You will get the price for what you asked about, not a package built around something you did not.

Yes. Offices, salons, waiting rooms, short-term rentals and small retail. It is the same trade and the same fabrics, but the decisions are different: the problem is usually glare on a screen rather than privacy from the street, anywhere the public can reach has to be cordless or motorised, and a run of windows on one wall has to match itself or it is the first thing anyone notices. A multi-window job is quicker to scope on the phone than to type into a form.

Further than most people assume. We are based in Metro Detroit, Michigan, and also work in New York. There is no showroom, so the drive is part of the job wherever you are, and the real question is whether the job justifies it rather than how many miles it is: a whole house further out often makes more sense than two windows nearby. Say where you are and what the job is, and you will get a straight answer.

For fabric shades, dust regularly with a vacuum brush attachment on low suction and spot-clean marks with a barely damp cloth. Aluminium and faux wood slats wipe down with a damp cloth, which is exactly why they end up in kitchens and bathrooms. Avoid soaking any fabric shade, because water marks on a light fabric are difficult to reverse.