Do-it-yourself Bamboo Shades Repair

Bamboo shades are usually hard-wearing and can be used to decorate your house for long periods of time. However, some accidents may cause damage to the bamboo shades while they are still in good working condition. The usual damages occur in the slats and ladder stings because these are the weakest points of the bamboo shades and blinds. Nonetheless, broken bamboo shades are relatively easy to repair. This post will teach you how.

Before everything else, you have to prepare your tools and materials. The usual tools and materials needed for general repair are:

Tools
(1) Pliers
(2) Screwdriver
(3) Putty knife
(4) Paintbrush

Materials
(1) Replacement Slats
(2) Step Ladder
(3) Varnish
(4) Wood Glue
(5) Sandpaper

Step 1: You have to make sure that the bamboo shade is fully extended and opened. To extend and open the shade pull the lift cord and swing the tilt wand of the bamboo shade. Once fully extended and opened, remove the bamboo shade from its mount and lay it on a flat work surface. If you can’t find a table that it big enough, you may work on the cleared floor.

Step 2: Locate the end caps of the bamboo shades. You will find these in the corners of the bamboo shades at the end o f the blind-rollers. Use a screwdriver to unscrew the caps from place. The caps cover the knots that secure the cords and strings used to maneuver the bamboo shades. You will have to remove the cord from the roller. Do not cut the cord, as much as possible, just untie the knot no matter how tight it is.

Step 3: After the lift cord is removed, you would be able to pull the ladder strings through the holes in the roller. Continue pulling until the slats that need repairing are within your reach. The old slat can be slid out through the hole without any problems. Once the old and damaged slat is completely removed, push the replacement slat in place. Make sure that the new slat is placed between each corresponding ladder string. Do this to all slats that need replacement. Once you are done, secure the slats in place by carefully tying the ends of the cord. Do not cut the excess cords, simply shove it inside the bottom rail and replace the end caps

Step 4: If the lift cord of your bamboo shade is also broken, then you would have to repair it too. The pulleys used to open and close the shade are found inside the head box. All the you would have to so is to simply pull both ends of the lift cord up into the head box. Fix how the lift cord lies on each of the pulleys in the head box. There might be some tangles and knots so you have to untangle and un-knot them. When you are through, replace and re-screw the end caps back in place.

Step 5: Once done, replace the bamboo shades as is in its mount. After the bamboo shades is set, you may test how your repair went; swing the tilt wand and pull the lift cord.

So there you have it. These are the basic steps that you will have to undertake in order to repair your bamboo shades on your own. But you have to remember that there are different types of bamboo shades so you have to consult the manufacturer of your bamboo shades for the parts that you will buy when repairing so that you can be sure that you are buying the right ones. It would also help when you make an illustration of how the lift cords are attached through the rollers and the pulleys in the head box so that you will have no trouble putting it back.

While do-it-you-own bamboo shades repair is really a non-trivial task, some people just can’t allocate a portion of their time in trying to fix their own bamboo shades. Of course, there is nothing wrong about this, what’s wrong is if the broken bamboo shades are left un-repaired because it can cause serious accidents especially to children. So, if you can’t fix the bamboo shades on your own, better hire someone to do the job or buy a new bamboo shades.