How wide can you make a roller blind?
Roller blinds are the most popular type of window blind especially in schools, offices and high-end residential projects. Modern building design often includes large glazed areas to maximise natural daylight and provide a better visual connection with the outside world. This design trend has led to architects and interior designers requiring blinds that can span wide openings with a single blind. This post gives basic guidelines as to how wide various roller blind types can go to.
The maximum width of a roller blind is determined by the diameter of the roller tube. The most common roller blind tube diameters and their maximum recommended widths are as follows:
30-35mm: 1.6m
40-45mm: 3.1m
60-80mm: 3.8m
If a roller blind’s maximum width is exceeded the roller tube bows slightly which causes the fabric to ‘smile’ – angled ripples in the fabric starting in the centre and flowing out toward the edge of the fabric on both sides.
One way to increase the width of glazing covered by roller blinds is to use a system which includes linked brackets. This allows multiple blinds to be linked together and still be operated by one control – be it a manual pull chain, a geared crank rod or an electric motor. Linked blinds can be operated quickly and in the case or electric rollers blinds the number of motors and power outlets required can be dramatically reduced, saving time and money. The slim-line intermediate link bracket reduces the light gap between two adjacent fabrics to as little as 20mm. Linked blinds are especially useful when covering wide doorway openings as blinds that cover the whole opening can be operated with a single control at one end.
As roller blinds increase in width, the operation of manual chain operated roller blinds can become harder. To overcome this, some roller blind systems such as ShadeTech RBXL-C can be installed with a booster spring which is concealed inside the roller tube and provides finger-tip control to even the heaviest blinds.
In cases where glazing wider than 3.5m must be covered by a single roller blind, the Draper Motorised 2 and Draper Colossal roller blinds are a great option. Both are electrically operated roller blinds manufactured and can cover widths of 4.8m wide (Draper Motorised 2) and 8.7m wide (Draper Colossal).
Contact us for advice on a specific project where large areas of glazing need to be covered
Take a look at panel blinds as an alternative to roller blinds suited to covering wide areas of glazing.