Fourways blinds and awnings FAQ for the estate belt

Because in midsummer the sun rises at 05:12 on a bearing of 117 degrees and sets at 18:59 on 243 degrees, both south of the east-west line. So a south room that supposedly never gets sun takes low, raking light early and late from about October to February, then almost none in winter. On a cluster stand that south wall usually faces a neighbour a few metres away, which is why the brief there becomes privacy with daylight rather than heat, and why a day/night blind usually beats a vertical on that window.

Angle. On 21 December the sun stands 87.2 degrees high at noon, within three degrees of straight overhead, so a roof overhang or first-floor slab shades a north window completely. From about three o'clock it drops through angles where nothing above the window helps; at twenty degrees the beam is nearly horizontal, it comes in under the overhang onto the television and the back of whoever is at the stove, and keeps heating the glass until sunset. Low sun has to be stopped at the plane of the glass, and ideally outside it.

Yes. Cloudless Highveld skies plus altitude give very high ambient ultraviolet, and Johannesburg typically runs a UV index of eleven to thirteen from October to March. That is what fades the couch and the rug on the sunny side of an open-plan room. A sunscreen roller on north and west living glass cuts glare and ultraviolet while keeping the garden in view; the one thing to know is that the mesh reverses after dark, so a room used at night needs a partner blind.

The fit. On 21 December the sun is up at 05:12, and it is light leaking round the edges of an undersized blind that wakes people, not the fabric. For an east bedroom, blockout is the only honest answer, because a day/night blind will not make a room dark whatever it is sold as, and the blockout should overlap the reveal generously or run in side channels. Where the bedroom also wants a daytime view, a double roller puts blockout and sunscreen on one bracket, each operated on its own.

A single roller runs to roughly three metres of fabric before it needs a central join line. Beyond that we either split the run so the join sits where a door mullion already breaks the glass, or motorise linked blinds so the join disappears into the operation rather than the view. On a four-metre stacker motorisation stops being a luxury, because span and weight beat hand operation, and the only sound fixing point is often the ceiling rather than the aluminium frame.

Something nobody has to reach. A chain is impractical up there, so the choice is a motorised roller, on a rechargeable battery where chasing a cable is not an option, or a cellular honeycomb blind that traps a layer of air against the tall pane and simply stays in place. In a brand-new build the window is far easier to fit while the scaffold is still up, which is one reason we would rather measure before the painters finish.

Yes: it stops sideways sun. An awning handles sun from above and can do nothing about a four o'clock beam arriving almost horizontally across the patio. A zip screen runs mesh in side channels down the open edge, stopping the low beam at the edge of the room and holding its shape in wind. The catch is that it does enclose the space. You still see through the mesh, but the outlook softens, and the channels are permanent fixtures on the columns.

We will not tell you approval is required, because the published rules we have seen do not mention blinds, awnings or screens by name. What we will say is that where an architectural committee approves plans and even repaint colours, as Cedar Lakes does, anything bolted to an outside wall deserves a call to the estate office before it is ordered. Dainfern is laid out in villages with distinctly different architecture, so the first question at a measure there is which village you are in. Interior blinds are never the issue; an awning cassette, a roller shutter headbox or zip-screen channels are what to ask about.

What is visible from outside. Some schemes ask for a uniform blind colour from the street, or allow no exterior fixtures at all. We do not know every complex's conduct rules, so we ask you to check with your trustees or managing agent before an awning or exterior screen is ordered; interior blinds in a neutral backing colour are almost never a problem. A small courtyard patio can take a compact folding-arm awning, but if it sits in a wind funnel between two blocks we will say so at the measure rather than fit something that will not last.

Before the painters finish, ideally at lock-up stage. A ceiling-recess system needs its slot formed while the bulkhead is still open, a wired motor wants its cable chased in before the plaster is skimmed, and reveals in fresh plaster, often out of square, can be measured properly before the skirting hides the truth. Come to it after handover and all of that is still possible; it simply costs more and leaves marks a new house should never have to carry. Most enquiries on these estates are full-house fit-outs, quoted and scheduled together.

In our view it is specification rather than an upsell. Thunderstorm season runs from October to March, supercells over Gauteng peak in October and November, and hail runs from mid-November to February, mostly in the mid-to-late afternoon. A gust front arrives faster than anyone can reach the remote, and the sensor retracts the awning before the front does, which is the only protection that works when you are out. Wind ratings are real engineering limits, not suggestions, and an awning remains a shade product rather than a rain product.

Because new-build plaster reveals are often out of square and whether an inside mount is possible comes down to millimetres behind the frame. We measure width in three places and drop in three, check what is actually behind the plaster, since brick, a lintel, a drywall bulkhead and an aluminium head channel each take a fixing differently, trace the power route for anything motorised, judge the patio's real wind exposure, and stand in the room to see where the four o'clock beam actually lands. Getting one of those wrong is how a blind ends up crooked, short or hanging off a bulkhead.

You enquire by the form or the chat, with the rooms, roughly how many windows, and your area. One of our expert consultants will contact you shortly to book a free in-home measure. At that visit every window is measured properly with the sample books open, and fabric, openness and control are worked through room by room against the light each one actually gets. A written quote follows, itemised per window, so you can see what each blind costs before anything is ordered. Approve it and everything is made to those measurements, fitted, levelled and tested before the installers leave. Your details are used only to arrange that call-back.