How do you install a roller blind?

A roller blind is made to a measured size to fit inside the window frame, called a recess fit, or outside it, called a face fit. Fit it the way it was measured and ordered, because its width was made for that.

What you need

• The blind, its two brackets and the child safety device that came with it.
• Screws and plugs that suit what you are fixing into, such as timber, masonry or a metal window frame. Fix into something solid.
• A drill, a screwdriver, a pencil, a tape measure and a spirit level.
• A stable ladder, and a second person for a wide or heavy blind.

How to install a roller blind, step by step

1. Hold the blind where it will go and mark where each bracket sits, with the control end on the side the chain was ordered.
2. Check the marks are level with a spirit level. Brackets that are not at the same height or in line can make a blind roll to one side.
3. Fix the brackets with screws that suit the surface, into something solid.
4. Fit the control end into its bracket first.
5. Fit the idle end. With a push in spring pin, press the pin into the end of the tube, line it up with its bracket and let it go so it sits in the bracket. With a retractable pin, draw the pin back, line the end up with its bracket and put the pin out into the bracket.
6. Check that both ends sit firmly in their brackets.
7. Fit the child safety device to the wall or frame as its instructions say, so the chain is held and can't form a loop of 220mm or longer at less than 1,600mm above the floor.
8. Run the blind all the way down and up. It should roll straight and stay where you leave it.

The child safety device

Every Speedy Blinds chain blind comes with a child safety lock, the device that holds the chain, for the fitter to install to Australia's mandatory safety standard for corded window coverings. The standard counts a blind's chain as a cord. Once fitted, the chain must not be able to form a loop of 220mm or longer at less than 1,600mm above the floor. A person fitting a blind in their own home is not installing in trade or commerce, but those are the safe heights to follow, above all in any room where young children spend time.

Motorised roller blinds

A motorised blind goes into its brackets the same way, with the motor at the control end. A rechargeable battery motor needs no wiring. A motor wired into mains power must be connected by a licensed electrician. Your retailer can set up the motor's limits and its remote, or tell you who will.

Are roller blinds easy to install?

Many people can fit a roller blind with basic tools, especially into brackets that are already up. It is harder when the blind is wide, heavy or high, when the wall needs special fixings, or when a motor needs wiring. Then a second person, an installer or a licensed electrician makes it easier and safer.

Ask your retailer which idle end your blind has and how its safety device fits, and if anything doesn't line up, ask before you drill again. They can also tell you whether they install, or who does. Speedy Blinds makes roller blinds for retailers.