Blinds - Hilary’s?

Moe_Zambeek

Apologies for the domestic content.

 We just had a quote for some vertical blinds from a local place: 3x 100cm / 200cm drop in the front bay window, and 1 approx 200x200 and 1 300x200 in the dining area. The price quoted was a grand…that was for PVC slats, though they said any ‘class 5’ blind would be roughly the same. They suggested pvc as we wanted easy to clean slats.

That seems to me to be expensive, and it looks like Hilarys offer a cheaper vertical deal where the 3 100x200s would only be 199. Seems cheap…

The question I have is twofold I guess - is the quote I got excessive, and are Hilarys worth pursuing / likely to be cheaper? 

Grampa

We had a quote from Hilary's a few years ago that we nearly went for. Luckily a friend told us of a small local company who were around 30% cheaper for exactly the same...With that in mind I'd say that your initial quote was excessive to the point of being criminal!

stratman3142

I ordered some from 247 blinds and fitted them myself. However, they were vertical blinds and they were just for flat (non-bay) windows.

I just checked and 247 blinds also do venetian blinds. Not sure about bay windows.

Moe_Zambeek

Thanks all.

The bay window is basically 3 flat sections rather than curved; currently setup with 3 individual header bars. I could just replace the slats but the hanger type seems to be an outdated design that isn't currently available. 

Nitefly

Wow, I'm impressed that you found someone more expensive than Hillary's!

You need to talk to @DiscoStu - he's a blind man 

boogieman

We had some made to measure Venetian blinds from blinds2go recently, well happy with them. They’re reasonably priced and were delivered pretty quickly. Think they do various types of blind. 

https://www.blinds-2go.co.uk/

DiscoStu

Oi! I'm on holiday haha!
I used to work for Hillarys but I've been with a local company for the past 3 years.
Generally I would say that we are cheaper than Hillarys. What Hillarys do is ramp up the individual price then offer a multibuy deal. I had one job with them where two blinds individually would have been something like £200 each, but with the multibuy were £199 for the pair. It's not fair pricing and not something I particulary liked but as a customer you may actually find their multibuy deal to be very competitive. Deals only apply to certain fabrics with them though and can't remember if PVC were part of it.
When you say PVC though, what do you mean? You get PVC/fibreglass mix slats which are flexible like vinyl but are waterproof. They can come with weights and chains at the bottom like standard fabric slats. You also get solid PVC which are just that- solid. Essentially lengths of plastic with no weights at the bottom. Hard-wearing but very plasticy.

Moe_Zambeek

Thanks @DiscoStu ;

By PVC we meant the hard plastic slats - I don’t like them but the wife does

DiscoStu

Moe_Zambeek said:

Thanks @DiscoStu ;

By PVC we meant the hard plastic slats - I don’t like them but the wife does

Ok. I'll see if I can rustle up some prices in the morning for you for comparison. Holiday head allowing!

Moe_Zambeek

@DiscoStu appreciated but please…don’t disrupt your holiday on my behalf!

Philly_Q

Watching this with interest... I have ancient, moth-eaten curtains in my flat and I like the idea of blinds (or shutters?), but I know very little about the different types, or who makes good quality ones.

Nitefly

DiscoStu said:

Oi! I'm on holiday haha!

Sorry mate, but I knew you were the man... 

stonevibe

I just ordered a custom-sized Roman blind from John Lewis, as they had the best price and warranty, plus they were very quick to get it made and delivered. Looked at lots of companies and JL was the best of the lot, not sure what other types they make, but might be worth checking out?

gubble

boogieman said:

We had some made to measure Venetian blinds from blinds2go recently, well happy with them. They’re reasonably priced and were delivered pretty quickly. Think they do various types of blind. 

https://www.blinds-2go.co.uk/

We've used this website four times now for blinds.

Decent price and delivery times - blinds are good too. Very happy with them and would reccomend

DiscoStu

Right then @Moe_Zambeek I've punched your measurements in to our system and yes about a grand is right enough for solid PVC. 
We'd charge £950 fitted and that's for the 'basic' flat slats. You can get curved PVC as well but they cost even more.
Solid PVC slats are made by the supplier so we can't make them ourselves and not every supplier offers them due to limited appeal. They are more expensive than fabric slats which we would make ourselves in our factory.

If you want easy clean slats then consider the PVC/Fibreglass fabric I mentioned before. Still waterproof, still blackout, but flexible and can be made in-house by your local company (if they do their own manufacturing).
There are various finishes available but plain fabrics such as Unilux (from Decora) is an A range (the lowest price range) which we'd do for £675 fitted.

Moe_Zambeek

Great stuff - thanks @DiscoStu !

DiscoStu

Moe_Zambeek said:

Great stuff - thanks @DiscoStu !

No problem mate. Just bear in mind that you have options with blinds which may affect the price such as headrail colour, going for chainless or welded weights etc. The sizes you gave will not be exact so you might end up cheaper/dearer depending on the survey.

Oh, and some quotes might be ex-VAT. Ours are inclusive of VAT and we fit for free so check these details too.

BillDL

Moe_Zambeek said:

By PVC we meant the hard plastic slats - I don’t like them but the wife does :

When I leave my small top windows open and it suddenly gets windy my fabric vertical blinds flap and fly around wildly.  I would be worried that in the same situation rigid PVC slats would flail around like helicopter rotor blades and decapitate anybody trying to quickly close the windows.

DiscoStu

BillDL said:

Moe_Zambeek said:

By PVC we meant the hard plastic slats - I don’t like them but the wife does :

When I leave my small top windows open and it suddenly gets windy my fabric vertical blinds flap and fly around wildly.  I would be worried that in the same situation rigid PVC slats would flail around like helicopter rotor blades and decapitate anybody trying to quickly close the windows.

I've seen them snap at the top before. They are hung on the headrail via a hole punched in the slat itself, so if the piece at the top snaps then it's a whole new slat.
With fabric (including the PVC/Fibreglass) then the slat has a pocket at the top and a plastic hanger is inserted. If the hanger breaks in the future then you simply replace the hanger.

I don't personally like the solid PVC slats and have done less than 10 jobs in the 5 years I've been doing blinds, whereas we do the PVC/Fibreglass fabrics several times a week.

Moe_Zambeek

Hello,

I thought an update might be in order. 

With the feedback and info provided above by very helpful fellow inmates, I checked the online suppliers again and came to the conclusion that the local blind place was allocating themselves a degree of value-add that I didn't agree with, so I measured up and bought direct from Blinds2go. Following their instructions to the letter, everything arrived and fitted perfectly - rollers and verticals. About 1 week from order -> delivery.

We dropped the plan for the PVC slats and went with a blackout PVC fabric for most and the cost ended up being a bit less than 1/3 of what the local place quoted. Granted, the PVC slats originally quoted were more expensive but that's not enough to offset a 2/3s price difference.

I would add that we were replacing blinds already in place, so the fitting was made a bit easier - at least for the verticals - because the fixings were already in place and so properly lined up and spaced. That made it easier to fit the new ones. 

I'd also add that the runner bars / trucks on the B2G verticals are a bit more fragile looking than the old Homestyle blinds that were replaced...but they seem durable enough given the use case. Time will tell.

Overall - if I was fitting from scratch and not a DIY enthusiast, I think a well-priced pro fitment is worth seeking out. After that though, your options are more varied.

boogieman

We’ve just replaced our Velux blinds with ones from blinds2go. Can't fault them, they’re decent quality, easy to fit and arrived in four days from ordering. 

DIY blind fitting is very straightforward, the main issue I’ve had is there’s usually a concrete lintel right where you want the fixings to go and they can be a real bugger to drill into. I eventually bought a big fuck off cheap mains powered SDS drill to do the heavy jobs, rather than just relying on my cordless drill. Made life a lot easier.