Wire it in now — while the walls are still open.

In an established home, motorising a blind usually means a battery unit or an electrician chasing a wall to find a plug point. In a Boardwalk Meander home that's still being built, none of that applies — the wiring goes in alongside the lights and the aircon, hidden and permanent, before the plasterers even arrive. It's the single biggest reason to have this conversation before your build reaches lock-up, not after.

Power options

• Wired 220V motors — the new-build default. Permanent, no charging, and the only sensible option for big or heavy systems, exterior products, and blinds above stair voids or double-volume glazing.
• Rechargeable battery motors — no wiring required, ideal for a room you've already moved into or a spec change after handover. Charge every few months via a USB-style charger.
• Solar trickle options exist for awkward positions where neither wiring nor regular charging is practical.

Control layers — sold by lifestyle, not tech

• A single multi-channel remote that runs every blind in the house from one handset.
• App control from the couch — or from the office, checking whether the west-facing blinds are still up.
• Schedules: bedroom blinds open at sunrise, living-area blinds drop at three in the afternoon through summer.
• Sun sensors drop shading automatically on the hottest elevation; wind sensors retract awnings and exterior screens before a highveld storm rolls through.
• Voice assistants and smart-home hubs, for a house already set up that way.

The best time to plan the blinds is while the electrician is still on site.

Where it's essentially required

Wide stacking doors and any blind heavier or wider than a chain comfortably handles; windows above stair voids and double-volume living rooms; concealed ceiling-recess systems, which are almost always motorised by design; and every exterior product — external venetians, awnings, zip screens — where a wind sensor genuinely protects the hardware.

Safety and practical honesty

No dangling chain is the most child-safe operation there is, which matters in a young-family estate like this one. Quality motors are quiet but not silent, and carry multi-year guarantees; battery units need that periodic charge, which we'll set clear expectations on at the quote stage rather than leaving you to discover it.

What it costs, honestly

Motorisation is priced by what the motor drives, so the answer is a spread rather than a single number: R2,500 to R7,500 per square metre installed across the whole range, as a guide. A motorised roller in sunscreen or blockout guides at R2,500 to R3,800. A motorised cellular blind runs R3,000 to R4,800. A motorised concealed or ceiling-recess system runs R3,200 to R5,000, and exterior products — awnings, zip screens, external venetians — sit above that again.

Those bands take in the motor, the handset or wall control and the setting-up on the day. They leave out the electrician: a wired 220V motor needs a power point at the head of the opening, which is why doing this while the walls are open costs less than doing it afterwards. Battery motors skip the cabling and ask for a charging routine instead. Small blinds attract a minimum, and every window is priced on its own line at the free measure.