Stuff You Should Know
Over the years of selling our bamboo curtains we have boiled down some of the important bits of information that you as an informed customer should know prior to considering a purchase.

Click on any of the topics below for more information:

White Blinds

We keep getting requests for these. YES!  we can supply these BUT (aaah .....there is always a catch!), there are some pointers you should know. We have sold  these for several years and we learnt a number of important facts.

White blinds do not last long before they start to peel and flake. Normal paint does not penetrate easily into the bamboo fiber. The best paint job will last ~2-3 years (depending on the amount of sun and usage). Unlike  normal wood blinds, bamboo blinds either rollup or pleat up when raised, this causes the bamboo to rub against each other and slowly but surely over time and usage the paint will flake and peel. (unless of course you never roll up your blinds, then the problem goes away!). The normal Transferable lifetime warranty does not cover this problem.

Options are: Dyeing or repainting. White dye properly used will actually penetrate the bamboo fiber, however the bamboo will never be completely white like paint. 2nd option: repaint every 2-3 years, light sanding and spray painting required. (we will provide the instructions)

Red/Oak or Color matched Blinds

See section above for core information. Red/oak blinds are sometimes stained or painted. This type of blind has the same problem as white blinds. Continuous exposure to sunlight WILL fade the color of these blinds. Speed of the fading will depend on the amount and intensity of the sun exposure.

Please expect some change in Dye lots, (what is this??, every new batch of inventory stock of blinds is a new dye lot, dye lots do not necessarily match the sample we send you. In general the color are very very close but never an exact match) if an exact match in color is critical, please request a factory sample to match color. 

Color matching is also a common request. Please send us the name, paint number and the name of the manufacturer and we will custom paint the blinds. (yup, even purple color)

Patio and Door Blinds

O.K..... This has become one of our most requested blinds. Extremely common in the far east and europe, it has been catching on pretty rapidly in N. America.

There are 2 options. 
1) Horizontal Bamboo Blinds                            2) Vertical Bamboo blinds
                              

1) Horizontal bamboo blinds.
You can have one blind running across the entire 2 paned doorway. Please note the maximum width are usually 96" or 144" . If your doorway exceeds this width, you will have to split the blinds in two. A very common request is to have a multiheadrail system (commonly known as 2in1 or 3in1, please read the attached link carefully, good bits of information is available, pictures of multiheadrail is shown above).

Our opinion, we do not recommend blinds of width's greater than 96"
Why? Click her to find out more information
 

For Patio Doors, we recommend splitting the horizontal blinds into 2 parts
   A single blind tend to look like a large mat. Patio doors look better with two separate blinds.
   Patio doors with two separate blinds are more functional. One blind can be opened for entry and exit while the other can be closed. Allowing the blind to be displayed at all times.

Note: length A
This length is crucial for horizontal bamboo blinds. When a blind is fully raised, a blind will compress to a certain height, this is know as "stacking". (see item below for more information, For all blind length's, stacking heights are indicated in the above link) The stack height will dictate how high the blind will be installed, above the top of the doorway. (If the stack is not taken into account, you will be knocking your head on the blinds every time you walk thru the doorway!). 

The distance above the door to the ceiling (A) must be at least the stacking height. If this additional height is not available, horizontal blinds should not be used, please consider vertical blinds. Please see measuring instruction for more details on measuring for doorways.

2) Vertical Bamboo Blinds.
This is our preferred option. A cleaner more efficient look. They open and close like a vertical curtain except that they are made from bamboo! 

The only restriction is that the door height must not exceed the maximum width of the bamboo style. Also note the stacking requirements for vertical blinds, dimension (B) is now crucial.

Multiblind headrails

2 on 1 Headrail                               3 on 1 Headrail

These blinds have 2 or 3 blinds attached to 1 headrail. The idea is to have one common valance for more than one blind. (for example you would have 3 blinds on one headrail with a common valance). Each blind will have separate cords, locks and lifting mechanisms, consequently each blind can be independently raised and lowered. We have made blinds that were up to 165" width!

Please note: very important: to have one continuous valance, the width must not exceed their maximum size of 96" or 144". (depends on the style). If the maximum width is exceeded, the valance will be split.
THEREFORE: if your blind exceeds the maximum width, there is no advantage to getting a multiheadrail blind. (it will end up looking like two blinds with two valances!)

If you have a very large single window or multiple windows in sequence exceeding the maximum width, order 2 or more blinds of equal width and butt the blinds up against each other.
If you have 2or3 windows next to each other and the width is less than the maximum width, a multiheadrail blind might be applicable to have one continuous valance.

There is an additional surcharge for multiheadrail blinds.

Now specialty blinds is a topic that would take a bunch more pages. Suffice to say we make these styles. Call us for more information.

Stacking

For Horizontal Blinds
Soooooo!.......... What's stacking. Whenever you raise a blind to full open position, you will always lose a certain height to the folding/compression of the blinds at the top of the window. (Blinds are like accordions, they can only compress to a certain size). You must account for this loss in window visibility. (especially for small window)

Blind Height	Approx. Roman Stack Height	Approx Rollup Stack Height	Diagram
36"	7"	5.5"
48"	9"	7"
60"	11"	9"
72"	13"	10"
84"	14"	11"
96"	15"	12"
108"	16"	13"
120"	18"	14"

 

One way to get by this loss in visibility is to install the blinds above the window opening or in the window molding itself. (Ie if you install the blinds above the window opening, when the blinds are fully raised, the stack height will be above the window opening and you will have full visibility, also see the next topic below on molding). Inside mounting is not the ideal choice for door ways and entrances.

 

 

For Vertical Blinds
When vertical blinds are compressed (window/door blind is fully opened), they will stack to the dimensions below. There must be enough wall space on either sides of the window or door to take up the stack else, some of your window/door view will be blocked by the stack. (known as single draw)
If you do not have sufficient wallspace on either side of your door/blind, you can get around this also by splitting the blind into 2 separate blinds. (known as a split draw). This will split the stack/ wall space requirement to half for each blind.
Please click on the following link for more information on vertical bamboo blinds.

Blind Width	Approx.  Stack Width	Diagram
36"	4"
48"	4 3/4"
60"	5 1/4"
72"	5 3/4"
84"	6 1/4"
96"	7"
108"	7 1/2"
120"	8"
132"	8 3/4"
144"	9 1/4"
156"	10"
168"	10 3/4"
180"	11 1/4"
192"	12"
204"	12 3/4"
216"	13 1/2"
228"	14 1/4"
240"	15"
252"	15 3/4"
264"	16 1/4"
276"	17"
288"	17 3/4"

 

 

 

All your blinds come complete with Hardware. This means installation brackets and accompanying accessories. (Please note, some blinds do not come with screws, why we have no clue!)

Normal hardware brackets               Hold Down Brackets
           
Normal Hardware brackets are used for inside and outside mounts.

Hold Down Brackets are used to secure the bottom of shades. It used in conditions where the shade is likely to move often, like in a windy window or a door. A steel rod is run the entire bottom hem of the blind. There is a surcharge for hold down brackets.
For more information on hardware, please see visit our installation page.

So what a soft valance.... (a valance that's not hard? heh!)
Normally a 6" valance is free with any horizontal blind. However, you might want to have the valance alone to accent another style of window covering. (like mini blinds)

                  6" Valance                                          Contempo Cornice
          

You would definitely want to consider these when using vertical bamboo blinds. Please click on the pictures above for more information on these valances, these standalone valance styles are currently carried only by the Horizon Line Collection.

What does this gibberish mean?..........
Manufacturing is the country where the bamboo material/mat is made. The blind initially come in 144ft by 12ft rolls of bamboo mat material. Home country of construction varies from China/Taiwan, Thailand, India, S.Africa to Mexico. The only bamboo blinds that we are aware of being manufactured/woven in the U.S are from ConradShades. (designed for the very high end folks out there!)

Fabrication is the actual process of making the bamboo blinds. (Its cut from the rolls and fabricated into blinds). Most of the major fabricators are in the U.S, some are overseas.  For example blinds from S.Africa, Thailand, Indonesia are actually manufactured and fabricated overseas.

Construction is how the blind material/mat is made. In most cases, the mat is constructed via a machine. The most unique blind we carry are handmade, with no usage of a machine. Its painstaking work but the result are magnificent!