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how hard is it to replace window blinds?


Calico Mary

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Is this something an idjit like me can do, or should I just buy the new ones and pay the extra to have the apartment maintenance guys install them??:unsure:

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I have replaced many blinds, curtains, window dressings, etc.

 

It never seems to go as planned. If you have the tools and the inclination, go for it. Worse comes to worst you have a backup - the maintenance guys.

 

The problem with apartments is, depending on the age of the building, many sets of blinds / curtains may have been removed and replaced and improvising how you do your installation cleanly may have some challenges. 

 

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Try blindster.com

 

I'm gonna use them for my back porch windows.

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I’ll bet you can do it. Mrs. Lose gets in a design mode at times and window blinds get changed and I do the changing. Most blinds come with pretty detailed installation instructions.

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A trick you can use.

If the blinds your choose have the square boxes at the ends where the blinds themselves snap in to, holdng the 2 little end boxes can be a problem as you try installing the screws the boxes move.

 

Using double face tape, place the box where your measurements say to put them.

Install the screws right through the tape.

The end box will not move.

 

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28 minutes ago, Cliff Hanger #3720LR said:

A trick you can use.

If the blinds your choose have the square boxes at the ends where the blinds themselves snap in to, holdng the 2 little end boxes can be a problem as you try installing the screws the boxes move.

 

Using double face tape, place the box where your measurements say to put them.

Install the screws right through the tape.

The end box will not move.

 

Well, now, where were you and your solution to this problem over the last fifty years when I was cussing up a storm over those damned boxes?

 

Thanks for the tip.  I'll use it at least twice in a  couple of weeks after I get back from Las Vegas.

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All it requires is opposable thumbs and a minimal IQ.

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General principle of home maintenance:  never begin a project when the hardware stores are closed.

 

Corollary:  a 10 minute job takes at least three hours.

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Something else to consider: window frames aren't always square. Don't buy blinds that are so wide they get stuck when rolled down or so narrow that they let excess light in on the sides. Usually 1/2" of clearance on each side is enough.

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5 hours ago, Forty Rod SASS 3935 said:

Well, now, where were you and your solution to this problem over the last fifty years when I was cussing up a storm over those damned boxes?

 

Thanks for the tip.  I'll use it at least twice in a  couple of weeks after I get back from Las Vegas.

I used to do it for a living. We used 1 inch self tapping sheet metal screws with a hex head. We used a 1/4 inch magnetic nut driver in our screw gun. Put the screw in the nut driver. Hold the box in place with the other hand, stick the screw in the hole, pull the trigger. Zzzzzp. Done.

 

 

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6 hours ago, J-BAR #18287 said:

General principle of home maintenance:  never begin a project when the hardware stores are closed.

 

Corollary:  a 10 minute job takes at least three hours.

Sounds like the "90% inletted" stock I bought for a rifle.  They don't tell you the other 10% will kill you.....or make you mad as a hatter.

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I've done it many times, Mary.  You can do it.  If you have any issues, give me a call.  I'll be home this weekend.

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Thanks Kris, I just might take you up on that....probably won't get around to doing this until Sunday tho.  I did stop at the Home Depot on the way home to get the new ones, but the only double sided tape they had in stock was like $15....I ain't paying that for a roll of tape I only need a few inches of....I'll see if Kroger has any on Sunday morning when I do my grocery shopping, if they don't it's only a few blocks out of my way to swing by Walmart or Lowes on the way home.  Can't do that tomorrow, have to take my car to the auto shop at 8 AM...AND I have to clean the living room before I do this anyway, don't need anyone seeing the mess in here!

 

Thanks everyone for the hints and the encouragement....especially Cliff Hanger....this could be interesting, but there's no one here to get video...sorry!

 

Rye, I looked at that website...nice stuff....then I saw the prices....:blink:  One vinyl blind there would cost almost $20 more than I paid for all three at HD + the package of replacement vertical slats for the patio door blinds......:wacko:

 

Oh, and UB....I have the opposable thumbs part.......:blush:

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1 hour ago, Forty Rod SASS 3935 said:

Not likely.  I don't gamble.  Going to my grandson's HS graduation and dealing with his mother's family is gamble enough for me.

Was during Desert Storm, the wife and I were driving back from her internship in Huntington Beach, wanted to see and bike in Death Valley. While stopped on top of a pass, we saw two Navy jets below us, apparently practicing low level flying over the desert.   We stayed in Beatty, NV. I bought a roll of nickels and spent all afternoon playing video poker.  I don’t think LV has nickel machines now.

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2 hours ago, Calico Mary said:

Thanks Kris, I just might take you up on that....probably won't get around to doing this until Sunday tho.  I did stop at the Home Depot on the way home to get the new ones, but the only double sided tape they had in stock was like $15....I ain't paying that for a roll of tape I only need a few inches of....I

 

 

A lot of the blinds come with the double sided tape these days, you might look in the box and see if there isn't some included.

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2 hours ago, Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984 said:

Was during Desert Storm, the wife and I were driving back from her internship in Huntington Beach, wanted to see and bike in Death Valley. While stopped on top of a pass, we saw two Navy jets below us, apparently practicing low level flying over the desert.   We stayed in Beatty, NV. I bought a roll of nickels and spent all afternoon playing video poker.  I don’t think LV has nickel machines now.

My Mom was a good, religious woman who didn't approve of gambling..... BUT.....every time we went through Vegas on the way to California to visit relatives, Dad would drop her off at the only casinos we knew of with penny slots.   (The Golden Horseshoe and one other, IIRC.) He'd get her two rolls of pennies and the machines were set to pay off much more often that the others, so Mom would spend a few hours there and usually come close to doubling her money over that time.  She'd put it aside and when we got back home she put the whole thing in the contribution box at the church. She wasn't after the money, but enjoyed the fun of pulling the handle and watching the wheels roll around.

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Re: installation of those shades... A blind man could do it! :rolleyes:

As far as gambling is concerned, I don't do much, except slot machines.  When I was a little boy, my father was on two-weeks active duty at 5th Army Hdqtrs, in Chicago.  Although gambling was against the law in the city, the military had slot machines in the Officers' Club.  One of the machines was a nickel one.  My father wanted to show me how foolish gambling was.  He showed me a shiny nickel, and said I could have it for my piggy bank, or put it in the machine and would lose it.  Naturally, wanted to put it in the machine.  Dad complied.  Of course it hit the jackpot! :o I I have liked playing the "bandits" ever since...whenever I get to Vegas.

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Looks pretty darned good to me. Congratulations.

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On 5/10/2019 at 7:47 PM, Trailrider #896 said:

Re: installation of those shades... A blind man could do it! :rolleyes:

As far as gambling is concerned, I don't do much, except slot machines.  When I was a little boy, my father was on two-weeks active duty at 5th Army Hdqtrs, in Chicago.  Although gambling was against the law in the city, the military had slot machines in the Officers' Club.  One of the machines was a nickel one.  My father wanted to show me how foolish gambling was.  He showed me a shiny nickel, and said I could have it for my piggy bank, or put it in the machine and would lose it.  Naturally, wanted to put it in the machine.  Dad complied.  Of course it hit the jackpot! :o I I have liked playing the "bandits" ever since...whenever I get to Vegas.

1st night at my new assignment in Germany. Went to the O club for dinner and while waiting I hit the slots in the game room. Put in a couple of coins and 3 Sevens came up. Yeehaa said my buddy standing behind me. Lights flashed, bells rung but no money came out. So I put more coins in and played again. Just then I heard a yell. “Whatinthehellareyoudoing?” My buddy stood there with the club manager who had a fistfull of cash to pay me, I didn’t know that the machine would only pay out about 50 bucks. Anything higher you had to get the manager to pay you out. But my machine no longer showed the jackpot. “Too bad, Lt”, he says and walks off. I though I heard him chuckle. Jackpot would have been $500. My buddy wouldn’t talk to me for two days.

Military doesn’t have slots anymore. Doesn’t have Clubs either. :(

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