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- Verified Buyer
My inset window measured precisely 36W X 58 1/2H. Since there are already blinds installed on the inset, I wanted the shade to go from above the window on the outside, to fully block the light on summer morning's on this eastern-facing bedroom window. Although the site recommended that, for an exterior hang, two extra inches on either side was needed, I decided to go with the standard, non-custom width, and the 60 inch length provided the extra needed to reach the bottom of the window from above the inset. I did not mind a tiny strip of light at either side of the shade. The shade's light-blocking ability is excellent. It rolls very smoothly. I would have given it five stars but for two tiny problems: First, the cord clip. The clip is plastic, and if there is a trick to bending the hard clip outward so that one can slip the plastic beads of the chain into the prong, well, I'm not smart enough to figure it out, and the "illiterate" instructions (pictures only, no words) certainly do not make this clear. The second problem is that, not wanting to attempt drilling into the hard wall framing around my inset window, I decided to use the provided sticky tabs to install the shade. There are only four of these in the package. Although the shade is very light, I still doubted that would be enough, and I was correct; only 48 hours later, the shade fell off the window in the middle of the night, scaring the (bad word deleted) out of me! In retrospect, it's a good thing the cord wasn't inserted in the cord clip, for the chain would have broken when this happened. Anyway, I purchased a full package of sticky tabs to cover the entire head of the shade and re-installed it. Nevertheless, I like the shade well enough that I have now also ordered them for my western-facing windows (same problem with the summer sun).My thoughts on this product are a mixed bag. I usually buy certain items like this from Walmart because of the easy returns. However this product is available in custom sizes so it may not be returnable anyway.I was very skeptical about using adhesives to mount these blinds. The adhesives are simply 4 1" x 1" double-stick tabs that you can buy at any Walmart. I gave it a go. I should mention that I live in a mobile home with think walls. Within the first 48 hours 3 of my 7 blinds fell off the wall as the sun heated up the walls. For now I have used duct tape of almost the same color to reinforce them until I have the time to drill holes and use the mounting hardware option. Also you should be aware that if someday you take these blinds down the adhesive tabs will probably leave a mark.The blinds come from the Far East - China? I found the pre-sales question and answer cumbersome. They ended up sending me the wrong size for one window and quickly sent a replacement. I didn't have to send the wrong sized blind back fortunately.The material of the blinds seems to be of high quality. I will warn you that if you accidently let the blinds down all the way they will probably fall off the the rolling bar as the adhesive isn't strong enough.They advertise these blinds as insulated. I was expecting an extra layer of insulation. However my biggest problem is that when the sun blares down and through the windows it can heat up the mobile home by as much as 40 degrees extra. This makes it almost impossible to keep the temperature at a reasonable level during the hotter summer days. From what I have seen so far this problem is mostly resolved.The blinds look very nice and do an excellent job of darkening if that's a feature you want.Despite the problems and disappointments I had I do not regret the purchase.This shade is exactly the right size for my bathroom window. The seller contacted me before shipping to confirm the size. That was nice as it can be confusing whether the measurements refer to just the shade or to the frame. My favorite thing about this shade is that it blocks a lot of light, so it helps keep the house cooler in the afternoons. Also, it was easy to install - I used the adhesive strips. I've been using this for about a week now, and so far so good. The only thing that made me give 4 stars and not 5 is that it's not Prime eligible and took a while to ship.I like themI reviewed about 10 other blinds in order these because the optional dimensions are perfect for my window and they had reviews which suggested that they were better than other blinds. The ONLY downside is that they failed to send additional double-sided tape as promised (based on previous reviews that there isn't enough tape to hold them up when retracting the cord) and I had to go out and buy more (highly recommend to tape the whole length as the small pads they send are insufficient).These blinds are indeed very dark, stop heat (& cold to some degree), easiest to customize the size, have no vinyl odor (a problem I had with other blinds before), have good texture and colour options, and have a choice of installing with screws or double sided adhesive tape. I can see how people who have extreme heat conditions would complain that the tape melts and they fall off, so therefore tape the whole back. Pulling too hard on the cord would also pull the blinds off the small adhesive pads they send, so again, ADD MORE TAPE to the whole backside of the blinds when installing them.Last tip, lower the blinds completely when installing them so that you can see along the whole length that they are perfectly vertical and covering both sides of your window completely! I've seen blinds installed before that were obviously installed with the blind retracted, and the fabric was crooked and didn't cover the bottom corner/edges of one side when it was lowered.J'ai choisi ces stores parce qu'ils sont légers et que l'on peut les coller. Je ne peux pas utiliser les diverses fixations qui s'adapte à différente fenêtres. Par contre, les stores ne tiennent pas avec les collants.Very easy to install and the seller very gentle. I recommend this product.Great product.Had a misunderstanding about size and cost with a few friendly emais cleared up product shipped as promised very satisfied.
