Review on Custom Light Blue Outdoor Waterproof Blackout Roller Shades - Perfect For Porch, Gazebo, Patio & More! by Geoff Foster

These blinds are excellent! I highly recommend this product for quality and customer service. I originally purchased two beige blinds to block sun exposure and maintain privacy between us and our neighbor. They worked so well that I decided to enclose the entire patio with these shades: I purchased 6 total beige shades 50% (est. (2) 81”W x 73”; (2) 55”W x 60” H; (2) 56”W x 80”H). I recently found that all shades work great as an outdoor projector backdrop which looks amazing at night.InstallationI installed these shades to the bottom of my deck which is about 10’ from the ground. I installed the mounting hardware first and the shades last as recommended. Equipment used included a ladder, leveling tool, power drill, etc. Four of the areas I wanted to conceal the shades, so I installed in the interior using combination of bolt/nut and L shaped brackets. Two of the shades (81”W) were top mount which should have been simple but I measured one too close to exact (Slightly too wide is bad between columns!) but luckily I was able to shave the corner of one blind using a box cutter to slide the shade into the fixed mounts. Lastly, I used sticky tack as a spacer for the widths that were not exact.FunctionalityEach shade comes with a hand crank tool. This would have worked easily but 4 were slightly too high (10’ plus) and we as a family are slightly vertically challenged. At first, I purchased a step stool which worked fine. Ultimately, because I had six shades, I looked for auto crank option and purchased the manual awning conversion kit 42” ($79.99 on amazon). This conversion kit uses a power drill to automatically turn the crank. Two issues I had with the conversion kit was that it was not long enough and second more importantly, the hook is much larger than the crank tool hook supplied with these shades (Mounts are fairly flush and do not have a large space for crank hook). To solve this problem, I duct taped the crank tool supplied with this conversion kit and it works perfectly (Pic attached).Wind and BeesKeep in mind where you’re mounting the shades. Two shades I allowed to rest freely without using the bottom hooks to support due to air flow and limited areas of support. One shade attracted a bee that began chewing through the bottom of one of the shades (easy fix).Please don’t let the details of my review deter you from purchasing. Again, I highly recommend these shades. I write very limited reviews because over time problems occur with any product but so far so good! Hope this helps!