Tips for Fixing Vertical Blinds

Vertical blinds offer privacy and protection from the sun while at the same time being easy to open and adjust so you can still enjoy the great outdoors just outside your window. Vertical blinds are susceptible to general wear and tear and can develop problems over time. There are some basic steps you can follow to fix your blinds when problems occur and keep them in good, working condition.

Vane Out of Alignment

If a vane on your vertical blinds has come unaligned, slide a thin, flat object such as a credit card up the vane on the hook side of the vane holder to remove it so you can realign the vane. When you slide the vane and flat object down and out of the vane holder the vane should easily slide out, at which point you can realign it.

Reattach Vane

Once a vane is removed it can be a bit challenging to reattach correctly. To begin, take notice of the headrail in the blind carrier body, in which there should be a rectangular hole that the stem fits. Align the carrier stem in need of adjustment with the rectangular hole and insert a piece of string into the stem. Then take hold of the stem and push it into the carrier body.

Once you've done this, try operating the rotation chain. You will see that the stem inside the carrier body does not rotate. To fix this, rotate all the other stems to align with the one you are adjusting, then grasp the ends of the string and pull down, which should move the stem back to an operable position. At this point you can reattach the vane.

Difficult to Operate Control Chain

First remove the end cap on the control chain, where you should see a pulley with a rod in the middle. On the rod should be a round washer with a star-like center. Oftentimes this push nut is too tightly attached. If this is the case, tap the control rod on the other end of the headrail to loosen the push nut. After this the control chain should work better.

Shorten the Cord

Inside the headrail the vane carrier cord ends in a knot. Hold the carrier and pull the extra cord until the cord safety device attains your desired height, then tie a knot in the cord at this level. Once you've done this test the blind controls to make sure everything still works smoothly. If everything checks out you can tighten the knot in the cord and cut the excess cord off below the knot.

Remove Gaps Between Blinds

If the blinds have unnecessary gaps between them you can remove them by creating overlap. To do this, first mount the headrails with the non-control ends touching, then locate the small, white tubes attached at the ends of the inside of the headrail. These are space tubes than can be popped off using a flat edge, such as a screwdriver. Create overlap to eliminate gaps by removing one or more of these spacer tubes.