A roller blind is a fabric panel on an aluminium tube, made to your exact opening rather than picked off a shelf — which matters more than usual on a new-build estate, where four- and five-metre stacking doors and double-height windows are the default rather than the exception. The one decision that actually matters is the fabric: sunscreen for rooms that want to keep the view, blockout for rooms that don't.
Sunscreen — the view-preserving choice
A tight mesh weave cuts glare and UV while keeping the garden or fairway visible through it — the standard specification for open-plan living areas, kitchens and any wall of glass you don't want to hide.
- Openness factor 3%, 5% or 10% — lower percentages block more heat and glare but soften the view slightly; 3–5% is the usual sweet spot on big new-estate glazing.
- Daytime privacy, but it reverses after dark once the lights are on inside — worth pairing with a second blind or curtain on bedrooms and street-facing rooms.
- Wide spans run to roughly 3m in a single fabric width; beyond that we either split with a central join or motorise linked blinds so one control runs the whole opening.
Blockout — true dark for bedrooms and nurseries
Total light stop for bedrooms, nurseries and media rooms, with a genuine thermal benefit — an extra insulating layer against the highveld's hot afternoons and cold winter mornings alike.
- The double-roller combo — a blockout and a sunscreen on one bracket — is the practical answer for a bedroom that still wants a view during the day and total dark at night.
- Cassette or pelmet valances hide the tube, with the fascia colour-matched to your frames for a clean new-build finish.
- Chain control needs a child-safe tensioner as standard; spring-assist and motorised options remove the chain altogether.
The best time to plan the blinds is while the electrician is still on site.
What it costs, honestly
Here is the range rather than a shrug. Per square metre installed, a manual roller in blockout, sunscreen or a light-filtering weave is guided at R1,000 to R1,600 — simple blockout cheapest, a premium sunscreen or a double roller dearest. Wire in a tube motor and the guide moves to R2,500 to R3,800, control included.
Two qualifiers. Because bracket, tube and fitting time hardly move with the pane, a very small opening is billed at a minimum instead of by area. Wide-width spans, side channels and cassette fascias each appear as their own line. Every window is still measured and priced individually, in writing, at the free measure.
Asked at almost every measure
Which openness percentage should we choose?+
3% and 5% are the usual picks on big new-estate glazing — they hold back more heat and glare while keeping a readable view. 10% keeps the view sharper but lets noticeably more glare through. We bring samples so you can hold them against your own window, in your own light, before deciding.
Will a sunscreen blind give us privacy at night?+
No — and anyone who tells you otherwise is selling. Sunscreen mesh gives daytime privacy, then reverses after dark once the lights are on inside. For street-facing rooms and bedrooms we pair it with a blockout on the same bracket.
Can one blind cover a five-metre stacking door?+
Not in a single fabric width. We either split it into two or three blinds under a shared fascia so the joins read as deliberate, or link motorised blinds so the whole opening runs off one control.
Fitting sunscreen and blockout rollers across Boardwalk Meander's new-estate neighbours too: