Are "no-drill" blinds actually any good?

[LulaK]

I have a couple of small places in new house eg bathroom window where I'd like a blind but don't want to drill. Blinds2go offer no-drill ones, but do they actually work, or just fall down after six months? I assume they use a pressure system? TIA

Yes, ours works fabulously. We've had it a good 12 months

But it was a nightmare to initially fit. I don't know if that was our measurements or the nature of the product.

@Feelingstrange2 Ooh interesting thank you. So it's not just a case of twisting the two edges apart like a pressure stair gate?

Our one is great, it's big and heavy and shows no sign of budging after a couple of years. Easy to fit once we had the right size (they sent the wrong size at first, but it was easily rectified).

I didn't fit ours so hopefully another Mumsnetters will explain the science behind them.

I just heard the battering, clattering and swearing! At one point we thought it would have to go back but in the end it fitted. Can't really be sure to know if it was us or them as we only bought the one.

Now it's in situ it's fabulous! And appears to be going nowhere.

Like you, it's for a small window. Ours is in the bathroom.

Yes, have had one up for a few years now (roman blind in a recess) and it looks great. It's just a very snug fit which you put into place then expand with a little switch. Took about ten minutes to put up on my own. Make sure you measure twice though!

We've got old crumbly walls where even professionally hung blinds have fallen loose after some months. I've had a roller blind and a pleated blind up for around a year. They are very strong.

The roller blind is more like what you're thinking, twist the end until it's tight. Took a minute to hang. The pleated is like a switch, which I found harder to fit - but still took minutes.

Blinds2Go, absolutely brilliant,big heavy blind, in fact it's the longest they do and hasn't moved. Easy to put up .

We got ours from blinds 2go - awful name but they are great! DH put them up but he's really not handy and didn't seem to have any trouble. Just make sure you measure carefully.

Thank you, all. I might go for no-drill for all of them, sounds like they will work. Much appreciated.

Measure carefully and buy the insurance they offer in case you get it wrong and they'll replace it.

Supplementary question - can you take them down again or do they have to stay up permanently?

I've got a window that I'd like to have a blind in winter but not in summer.

Love mine, was really easy to fit and hasn't budged, was from blinds 2 go

Yes I've got the roman ones downstairs and roller ones (twist like a stair gate) in my sons room, they're great. Dh got some for his office which have fallen off, but I think that's more to do with him than the blind tbh 🤣

You can take them down easily

I got my tension rod roller blind from 247 blinds. Very impressed. It’s been up 12 months now. Every few months they seem to do 25% off so that’s worth waiting for.

I have a roller blind in a 1.8m window. It fell down the first time we fitted it, but then dp did the twisting and it has been solidly up for 3 or 4 months now. I plan on getting more for some of our other windows that need blinds replacing too.

One thing that is annoying and you can see I the picture the previous poster uploaded they hang from under the roll instead of rolling over and down. All my other blinds are the opposite, so you have to remember which pulley goes which way. It's just a minor annoyance though, not a complete deal breaker!

Very happy with ours in the bathrooms. Paid the extra insurance for measuring, thank goodness, as they were half a cm too long to fit. Very easy to reorder a cm smaller and the new ones fitted perfectly, and easily installed.

They do work, but you have to really get them in tight - ours fell down a few times when I pulled the cord to put the blind back up. You have to get it in dead straight and make sure you screw the little plastic safety thing (that stops the cord hanging loose) to the wall - I noticed my adult ds was pulling it at an angle rather than downwards which pulls at the blind itself and can loosen it.

May I ask how long yours is pleased?

Extremely easy to install. Just be very precise with your measuring.

I have another supplementary question! I have a 3 panel window - 2 lateral windows and a fixed glass at the centre. Would the recess of the 3 panels be deep enough for 3 separate blinds (doesn't look like it to me...), or would I then need 1 longer blind to go into the recess of the entire window (covering all 3 panels with one blind, that is)?

Nobody knows how deep your recess is though? The fixings aren’t really any bigger than the size of the rolled up blind, if that helps.

I think you'd get a bit more light coming round the sides if it was over rather than under

That's true! I just assumed there was a universal answer to this - as in, all window panels are the same, but maybe not! I would say there's only 1-2 cm between the window panel and the glass, hence my doubt that this is even possible. I'll probably go with one longer blind taking the entire recess!

Why are people going for a no drill blind? Is it cos the drill blind ones are harder to install?