Common Problems Your Blinds Face Everyday

Okay, blinds are cool, blinds are great. They provide energy efficiency, reduce heating/cooling costs, provide style and privacy to your home, but what’s the downside? Like any household item, blinds can break down. They experience problems like anything else which can affect their functionality and convenience.

Here’s a few problems you might face with blinds.

1. Jamming Blinds

   Your blinds can get jammed and difficult to operate over time from dirt and dust accumulating on the hardware, or more usually from broken mechanisms that get strained from rough use or being pulled in the wrong way. When the blind parts jam up, adjusting and using the blinds can become a difficult process. Upgrading to a superior set of blinds with more durable hardware is the best solution to this jamming issue.

2. Sagging Blinds

   Blinds that have been installed wrong, that are sitting off on their mounting brackets, or have been damaged from use can start to sag. This uneven appearance can affect their fresh look in your home and also make it difficult to adjust the slats or height easily. The right installation is the first line of defense, followed by proper use and adjusting of your blinds.

3. Discoloring Blinds

   Being a window hanging, blinds are exposed to excessive amounts of sunlight. This can cause discoloring of the fabric and make them appear worn or outdated. This fading is unavoidable, but typically doesn’t affect their use. Additionally, the discoloration is almost entirely on the window facing side of the blinds, not the side you see everyday.

4. Breaking Slats

   The most infamous of them all! Broken slats are the bane of the world of blinds! This occurs more often with cheaper blinds, primarily plastic slat blinds. Understandably, this affects their appearance. The broken slats can even catch on the drawstrings and make it difficult to adjust the blinds. Upgrading to a non-plastic set of blinds is one great way to avoid this problem

5. Warping Slats

   Wood blinds in a high moisture, high humidity environment can begin to warp and lose their straight shape. Besides affecting their appearance, it affects their positioning in the drawstrings and make it difficult to adjust your blinds. Avoiding installing wooden blinds in bathrooms and kitchen spaces where there’s higher levels of moisture is typically enough to prevent this from happening.

6. Automating Issues

   Motorized and automated blinds can experience problems with their remotes or power supply, causing them not to respond to commands or even stop working entirely. While this can sometimes be the result of faulty wires or panels in the system which can be difficult to repair, this problem can typically be fixed simply be checking the batteries!

Blinds can experience problems just like any other household item subject to daily use and abuse. Their appearance and functionality can suffer and be bothersome. However, knowing the potential problems ahead of time can help you pick the right kind of blinds for you, avoid installing the wrong blinds in the wrong areas, mistreating them, and how to troubleshoot basic problems when they come up.

Don’t take this as a warning to not get blinds, take this as a heads up to know what you could face with blinds and being better informed about potential roadblocks along the way. Knowledge is key!