Forum Discussion

big_jim_2's avatar
big_jim_2
Explorer II
Mar 22, 2018

Day night shades

Anybody besides me tired of restringing shades? I am looking for a different kind of shade that won't break. I don't care if they have the day feature as after 15 years we find we rarely use that feature. It seems that every year we are fixing one of the seven in our motorhome.
  • The vinyl ones rattled too much so went back with a high quality cloth and still have trouble, the bottom comes loose on one or 2.
  • rhagfo's avatar
    rhagfo
    Explorer III
    We replaced 90% of our shades with vinyl mini blinds. They can be open, closed, tilted to block incoming sunlight while still being able to see out!
    The only
    Ones not replaced yet are in the bedroom, on the list.
  • If you are restringing your shades every year you are 'making the strings too tight' when you install them.

    I have had day/night shades on all of my MH's. 20 years combined And I have only had to restring one of them. And that was because I dropped something on the bottom plastic screw and broke it.

    And I'm a flipper of day/night shades all day long everyday. I use them a lot. My strings are not real tight.

    Check how tight your strings are next time you repair them. Loosen them up a bit and they won't keep breaking. :C
  • We replaced all of ours with cordless cellular shades which are custom cut at Menards (sorry if you are not in the area but there are similar setups from Home depot and others). Installation is just removing the old and screwing to brackets into place.
    We bought blackouts for the bedroom and it is totally dark with no light from all the holes in the old D/N shades. All the others are cream colored and let light through during the day but there is no view in or out. We have been very happy.
  • My last fiver had strings that were bad.. I was just going threw the steps of learning how to restring when I traded it in..

    My current fiver has day/night rollers.. I will not have blinds in an RV again after having these!
  • On our previous coach, a Class C, when our day/nights broke strings-we called Budget Blinds and had them install blinds. What a difference, no more hassle and ease of use. Just a suggestion to 'beat' the frustration
  • big jim 2 wrote:
    Anybody besides me tired of restringing shades? I am looking for a different kind of shade that won't break. I don't care if they have the day feature as after 15 years we find we rarely use that feature. It seems that every year we are fixing one of the seven in our motorhome.


    Big Jim 2,
    Yep, I too am seriously tired of restringing. Our coach is 14 years old and, I've restrung some of those windows at least 3 times. I've been dabbling in looking at MCD roller shades, Blind Chalet's roller shades and even once in a while we'll look at what Home Depot and Lowes has to offer. The problem with MCD shades is THE COST. I'd have to sell my first born (she's close to 38 years old now) in order to ge a full set of replacement roller shades for our 14 year old coach.

    Blind Chalets roller shades are an almost identical set of roller types like MCD and, are close to 1/2 the price. The problem is, Blind Chalet's are much harder to mount. Whereas, MCds are much easier to mount. So, you pay for that EASY install.

    One of these days I'm gonna make a decision. One of those two will get the contract!
    Scott
  • big jim 2 wrote:
    Anybody besides me tired of restringing shades? I am looking for a different kind of shade that won't break. I don't care if they have the day feature as after 15 years we find we rarely use that feature. It seems that every year we are fixing one of the seven in our motorhome.

    Haven't had to do a lot of re-stringing and especially in this coach, but they are pretty tight and can be somewhat of a PITA for putting them up and down.
    At home, we have went to something like these and must say they are a real blessing for more than one reason, so would first explore these in an RV application.... Blinds
  • Maybe this will help if you don't already do it... We always travel with the shades pulled up tight. This helps keep the strings from getting sawed as you drive along.

    We always travel this way and haven't had a string break in 15 years.