Shades for the openings you just glazed
Impact glass decides what the window survives. The shade decides what the room feels like at four in the afternoon.
Why we carry them
The covering is part of the opening, not a second project
- Impact glass stops the missile and does nothing about glare
- Measured against the frame that was ordered, not the opening it replaced
- One set of measurements, one delivery, one number to call
Impact glass stops the missile, cuts the noise and blocks most of the ultraviolet. It does nothing about glare on a screen, nothing about the low western sun, and nothing about being visible from the street after dark. That is the shade’s job, and it is the reason almost every impact job ends with a second round of shopping a few weeks later.
Ordering them from the same company means one set of measurements, one delivery to coordinate and one number to call when something is wrong. It also means the covering is specified against the frame that was actually ordered, rather than against the opening as it looked before the new window went in.
The catalog
Five cloths, and the hardware that moves them
The families are separated by what the cloth does to the sun coming through it, not by how the shade is hung — a roller, a track. That is the choice you are actually making. The last card is the part of the order that is not cloth at all.
What a shade is actually for
Glare, which impact glass does not touch and a screen in a bright room makes unbearable
Afternoon heat on the west side, on top of whatever the low-E coating already stops
Privacy after dark, when the tint that hides the room by day stops working
Ultraviolet on floors, art and furniture, the damage nobody notices until it is done
Measured against the finished frame, so the covering fits the window that was ordered
Manual or motorised, and a run of tall or hard-to-reach openings is where motorised stops being a luxury
Questions we get about shades
Do shades count as hurricane protection?
No, and no shade is sold here as though they do. Protection is the glass, the frame and the anchoring, and it is what carries the Notice of Acceptance. A shade is a covering on the inside of an opening that is already protected.
Can I order them at the same time as the windows?
They go on the same estimate, yes. The final measurement is taken once the frames are in, because a covering ordered to the old opening will be the wrong width, so the shades are usually delivered after the windows rather than with them.
Motorised or manual?
Manual for anything you can reach. Motorised earns its price on tall openings, on a wall of sliding glass, and anywhere a whole elevation should move at once instead of chain by chain.
Put the shades on the same estimate
Tell us which rooms get the afternoon sun and we will quote the coverings alongside the glass.
Get a free estimate