Summary

 – What are the characteristics of exterior blinds?

 – What exterior blinds should you choose for the windows of your home?

 – What exterior blinds should you choose for the exterior structures of your home?

 If you want to protect your house, apartment, and terraces and balconies from the sun’s fierce rays during the summer months, you need to think about equipping your facade and your windows with external protection. In their various forms, awnings can be adapted to all situations and can be of excellent service to you. Our article will help you make your choice of external blinds and thus remain with the freshness throughout the hot season.

 What are the characteristics of outdoor blinds?

 Their purpose is not only to shade your outdoor spaces, terraces and balconies but also to protect the interior of your home, acting as a kind of passive air conditioning. They also help preserve furniture and interior coverings by preventing fading due to solar radiation.

 They are resistant to climatic conditions, especially to rain and humidity, thanks to a water-repellent treatment or a coating that prevents water from penetrating them. These treatments also act as a barrier against mould and mildew.

 They filter UV rays and therefore protect your health.

 They come in many colours, from neutral to bright, plain, striped or patterned.

 Attention: if most of them are readily accepted by the local regulations, it is, however, recommended to inquire at your town hall to know if all of them are authorized and thus to be in conformity with the local urban plan or the allotment where the house is built and, in the case of a building, to ask the syndic which colour is to be respected for the installation.

 Which exterior blinds should you choose for the windows of your house?

 Although we most often think of horizontal awnings, such as awnings or projection awnings, vertical awnings are less common but very effective. You will make your choice according to space’s configuration to be protected; all models exist in ready-to-install or custom-made.

 Projection blinds

 Also called “Italian blind”, this model is easy to find and install with a few holes and screws. You need to find the right size for your windows.

 It is composed of a roller around which the fabric is rolled up and unrolled thanks to a cord and 2 lateral arms that you can lower more or less high until completely hiding the window to be protected.

 It is suitable for small windows, and it matches the fabric of the blind that protects the French windows, such as awnings. The arms’ length is limited to 120 centimetres, and their fabric width is also 120 cm.

 Awning

 The awning is both a decorative and protective element of the facade of the house.

 Its large dimensions allow the installation of garden furniture underneath.

 It consists of 2 arms that deploy in an open position to stretch the fabric. It is placed on the facade, and its weight requires the intervention of 2 people to do it.

 It exists without a box, for the entry-level models, with a half box to protect its canvas when it is raised and with a full box for even more effective protection of the fabric.

 It is a model that can be motorized or operated with a crank and home automation so that it opens and automatically closes when you are away, in case of sunshine, rain or wind, thanks to sensors installed outside the house.

 Some models with a box are sold equipped with LEDs to illuminate the evenings outside.

 In ready-to-install, its size rarely exceeds a depth of 3.50 m and a width of 5 m, which is sufficient to protect a terrace or a balcony of average height. Beyond these dimensions, you must call upon custom-made products or choose to install several awnings, which is not necessarily the most aesthetic choice.

 Good to know: the weight of an awning being consequent, and the slope’s adjustments having to be precise, it is often preferable to call upon a professional for its purchase and its installation.

 Which exterior blinds should you choose for the outer structures of your home?

 Awnings for pergola

 Suppose your terrace is vast, and you want to protect it effectively and aesthetically over its entire width. In that case, it may be worthwhile to install a pergola and awnings adapted to it.

 These awnings, which are easily attached, usually with a system of eyelets and cables, provide adequate protection from the sun or rain, as they are made of entirely waterproof fabric.

 Note: they can be found ready to install if you have chosen a pergola from a catalogue, sold as accessories, or custom-made if you have selected a pergola with personalized dimensions.

 Vertical awnings

 There are several types of awnings, depending on the protection you want to obtain.

 Roller blinds

 The fabric slides on 2 stainless steel vertical guides, installed on the pergola’s uprights. They are handy to protect yourself from the sun arriving laterally on your exteriors.

 Made of micro-perforated fabric, they allow light and view to passing through, but they are also available in a blackout version to hide from a side view. This type of roller blinds is rarely found in a ready-to-install version because it must meet each structure’s specific dimensions.

 

 Good to know: You can also install these vertical roller blinds on windows. They reduce the heat inside by 30%, acting as a passive air-conditioning system, and reduce the action of UV rays by 90%, thus protecting your furniture and coverings. Their dimensions vary from 80 cm to 300 cm in width and from 100 to 300 cm in height. They can be completed with a protective box. 

 Fixed awnings

 They are installed on the sides of structures, pergolas on the house, or adapted posts on a balcony, and they are designed to break the lateral views.

 They are fixed and permanently installed, except when they are removed for cleaning.

 It is necessary to find out if they are allowed in real estate and what colour to choose for the fabric and posts.

 Good to know: if you want to hide from an environment that is a little too invasive and you are not allowed to install blinds, it is usually possible to do so in a natural way with trellis and evergreen climbing plants. Again, if you are in an apartment building, check with your building manager to determine your rights and obligations regarding plants installed on your exteriors.

 Where to find outdoor blinds and at what price?

 You will find custom-made awnings in the awning shops, DIY stores, and the Internet or call Blinds and Awnings.