Help me fix my window shades

May 19, 2005 6:55 PM

I have vinyl shades on my windows. One, in particular, has absolutely no tension.

When pulling down on it, the entire shade unrolls and, if you're unlucky, falls off the window with a crash. I've used the tips here to no avail. Anyone have any other ideas?

I don't want to replace them because we're in a rental apartment.

posted by sugarfish to Home & Garden (5 answers total)

Tell your apartment manager and request maintenance. I've found that, generally, if it comes with the apartment, maintenance will fix it. I've had maintenance replace non standard light bulbs (if it's fluorescent, a weird size, or an odd shape, it's their problem), wash my windows (because they'd nailed in my screens so I couldn't do it myself), and retuck my carpet using a carpet tool (after a leak from the laundry room next door loosened it.) Heck, they've even jumped my car when my battery died.
posted by xyzzy at 7:23 PM on May 19, 2005

try taking the shade off. tip it upwards, one side will slide out first.

on the right side of the roll, you can see the metal sticking-out part that sits in the bracket when it's on your window. grasping that thingy, give it a few good turns clockwise. you should feel some resistance. that tightens the inner spring that is responsible for the tension.

replace the shade and test it. after some experimenting you should be able to get it just right, and if not, call your landlord.

good luck!
posted by subatomiczoo at 8:40 PM on May 19, 2005

If those tips about partially rolling/unrolling the shades by hand (like subatomiczoo also described) don't work, then the internal spring's probably shot. That is something a good landlord/maintenance department would replace, but they're also not all that expensive, either. You can buy cheap ones at standard lengths at any Wal-mart, Home Depot, etc., and cut them down to the exact size of your window. (Just sayin'.)
posted by LairBob at 9:04 PM on May 19, 2005

Yeah. Mine were the same way, and paying $12 for a new set at Target was a lot easier than enduring the frustration of waiting god knows how many weeks for my maintenance people to show up.
posted by makonan at 4:10 AM on May 20, 2005

Response by poster: Thanks, all. I think that the internal spring is to blame.
posted by sugarfish at 12:28 PM on May 20, 2005