Outdoor roller blinds
that hold in the wind
Made-to-measure screens for the open sides of patios, verandas and braai areas. Clear PVC keeps your view; aluminium side tracks keep the screen taut when the weather arrives.
Walls that roll away
Outdoor roller blinds, often called drop blinds, are tracked screens that lower across the open sides of a patio, veranda or braai area. Clear PVC shuts the weather out while the view and the daylight stay; tinted PVC and solar mesh deal with glare and afternoon heat. Aluminium side guides hold the screen taut at its edges, so it seals the opening rather than flapping against it, through coastal cold fronts and highveld thunderstorms alike.
Urbanshades makes each blind to measure, with powder-coated, marine-grade aluminium tracks, stainless fasteners and no ferrous metal in the assembly. The people who measure your openings are our own crew in each region, the same crew that returns to install, and every blind is specified for the wind exposure of its particular site.
The choices behind your quote
Each blind is sized to its own opening, so the decisions below matter more than any model name. They determine how yours looks and works.
Clear PVC screens
Optically clear PVC blocks wind and rain without costing you the outlook or the light. It is the default for view-side patios and for braai rooms that must stay bright in winter.
Tinted and mesh fabrics
Tinted PVC holds the view while taking the edge off glare from water and pale walls. Solar mesh trades the sharp picture for serious heat reduction and still lets a breeze pass, well suited to a west-facing stoep.
Manual or motorised
A crank or strap handles smaller blinds with nothing to wire. Motorisation suits wide spans and multiple drops, one remote for the lot, with every electrical part inside an IP65-rated housing.
Paired with louvre roofs
Beneath a louvre awning, the blinds become movable walls while the blades run the roof. Drop the screens with the louvres open for a bright, sheltered lunch, or close everything against the rain.
What each blind is built from
The same standard applies from a single doorway to a whole veranda.
- Screens
- Optically clear PVC, tinted PVC or solar mesh, chosen per opening. Many patios mix materials: clear on the view side, mesh where the sun hits.
- Guides
- Aluminium side tracks or tensioned guides keep the screen edges captive, sealing the blind against its opening in strong wind.
- Operation
- Crank or strap for manual blinds; remote-controlled motors for the rest, with optional rain and wind sensors and every electric in an IP65 housing.
- Weather
- Each installation is specified for its own exposure, from front-line coastal wind to sudden highveld storm cells.
- Components
- Marine-grade, powder-coated aluminium tracks and rails, stainless steel fasteners and not a piece of ferrous metal in the assembly.
- Guarantee
- The tracks, screen and installation are all covered by a written guarantee held on record against your address.
- Quoting
- A free site visit anywhere in either territory, Western Cape or Gauteng, followed by a fixed written quote inside 48 hours.
Outdoor blind questions
The questions that come up at almost every site visit.
Where does Urbanshades install outdoor roller blinds?
In the Western Cape and in Gauteng. Cape Town and its surrounds are covered by our Cape crew, while Johannesburg and Pretoria fall to our Gauteng team, and each territory has its own page on this site with local photos and contact details.
Do outdoor roller blinds really keep out wind and rain?
They do, provided the screen runs in side tracks. The tracks grip the screen edges and keep them under tension, so the blind seals its opening rather than billowing and letting weather in around the sides, which is what a loose drop screen does.
Can I keep my view with the blinds down?
With optically clear PVC, yes. The screen reads close to glass, so a patio with an outlook holds onto it even with the blind all the way down. Tinted PVC dims the picture slightly, and solar mesh softens it to light and shapes. Samples come along to the site visit.
Do clear PVC screens yellow or go cloudy?
Good PVC stays clear for years when it is cleaned gently: fresh water, mild soap and a soft cloth, never anything abrasive. Most cloudy screens are thin film that has been scrubbed. Near the coast, avoid letting salt bake onto the screen over summer.
What do outdoor roller blinds cost?
Opening size, screen material and manual versus motorised set most of the price, and wind exposure quietly adds to it, because an exposed site needs heavier tracks than a sheltered one. After a free site visit, a fixed written quote reaches you within 48 hours.
Can blinds be fitted to an existing patio or awning?
Usually, yes. Existing roofs, pergolas, awnings and beams all take blinds, as long as the structure can carry the tracks and the load the wind will put through them. We check that at the free site visit and price any strengthening into the quote.
