Hear from Our Customers
Austin gets 85% sunny days. That sounds great until you’re trying to enjoy your patio in July and the sun chases you back inside after twenty minutes.
Exterior roller shades change that. They drop the temperature on your covered patio by up to 30 degrees, which means you can actually sit outside without melting. They block UV rays that fade your furniture and overheat your home through the windows. And they keep bugs out while still letting you see through from the inside.
The real benefit shows up on your energy bill. When your AC isn’t fighting against windows that turn into solar panels every afternoon, it runs less. Your home stays cooler. Your bills stay lower. And you get your outdoor space back for more than just the two weeks in spring when the weather’s perfect.
We had a decade of construction experience before we ever touched a shade. That background matters when you’re mounting outdoor roller shades that need to handle Texas wind, heat, and the occasional hailstorm.
We’re a branch of A Plus Home Remodel, and we’ve been doing this work in Texas long enough to know what holds up and what doesn’t. The shades we install are made right here in Austin, built for this climate, not some generic product shipped from out of state.
You’re not getting a crew that learned window treatments last month. You’re getting people who understand structure, who know how to install things correctly the first time, and who’ve seen what happens when shortcuts get taken in this heat.
First, we come out and actually measure your space. Not an estimate over the phone—real measurements, because outdoor shade blinds need to fit right or they don’t work right.
Then we talk through what you need. Motorized or manual. How much visibility you want versus how much shade. Whether you’re trying to block heat, bugs, or both. We’re not reading from a script here—we’re figuring out what actually makes sense for your patio and your budget.
Once you approve everything, your shades get built locally. No six-week wait for a shipping container from overseas. When they’re ready, we install them using the same construction standards we’ve held for ten years. That means proper mounting, clean work, and making sure the motorized systems actually sync with your phone or smart home setup if that’s what you’re getting.
You end up with outdoor roller shades that work the day we leave and keep working through every Austin summer after that.
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Every exterior roller shade we install uses fabrics designed to handle Texas weather. That means they resist fading when the sun beats down all day, they hold up when temperatures swing 40 degrees between morning and afternoon, and they don’t fall apart the first time we get high winds.
You can choose blackout roller shades if you want full coverage, or go with a tinted fabric that blocks heat and UV but still lets you see outside. The hardware—Rollease Acmeda clutches and heavy-duty components—is built to last, not the cheap stuff that breaks after a season.
If you go motorized, you’re getting smart integration that works with Google Assistant and Alexa. Raise and lower your shades from your phone, set schedules so they drop automatically when the afternoon sun hits, or just use voice commands when your hands are full. And because these shades can qualify for federal energy efficiency tax credits up to $1,200 through 2025, you might get some money back for making your home more efficient.
This isn’t about adding a decoration to your patio. It’s about making your outdoor space usable and cutting the load on your AC when it’s running nonstop from June through September.
Exterior roller shades can drop the temperature on your covered patio by up to 30 degrees compared to full sun exposure. That’s not marketing talk—it’s what happens when you block direct sunlight before it heats up the space.
The bigger impact is on your home’s interior. Windows that face west or south turn into heat sources every afternoon in Austin. When you block that sun from the outside with roller shades, your AC doesn’t have to fight as hard to keep your house cool. Most homeowners see a noticeable difference in how often their system runs, especially during those stretches where it’s over 100 degrees for days straight.
The exact temperature drop depends on your shade fabric, how much sun exposure you normally get, and whether you’re covering windows or just shading a patio. But the difference between sitting outside with shades down versus no shades is the difference between comfortable and unbearable during an Austin summer.
Yes, if you choose a tinted or solar shade fabric. These outdoor roller shades block heat and UV rays while still letting you see outside during the day. From the outside looking in, people can’t see through—so you get privacy without losing your view.
Blackout roller shades are different. They block everything—light, heat, visibility. Those make sense if you’re trying to create a dark space for a TV area or if you want complete privacy at all times. But most people doing outdoor patio blinds in Austin go with the tinted option because they want to see their yard while still getting relief from the sun.
The fabric you pick changes how this works. We’ll show you samples so you can see the actual difference in visibility and shade coverage. It’s not something you want to guess at—you need to see it to know what you’re getting.
They do if they’re installed correctly with quality components. The motorized systems we use—Rollease Acmeda—are designed for outdoor use, which means they’re built to handle heat, humidity, and temperature swings without failing.
Cheap motorized shades are a different story. If someone’s using low-grade motors or cutting corners on installation, you’ll have problems. Motors that aren’t rated for outdoor use overheat. Poorly mounted systems bind up when the shade fabric expands in the heat. And if the power setup isn’t done right, you’re dealing with electrical issues on top of everything else.
We’ve been doing construction work in Texas for over a decade, so we know what holds up. The motors we install are heavy-duty, the mounting is solid, and the smart home integration actually works. You’re not going to be out there manually cranking your shades down because the motor died after six months. These systems are built to run for years, even when it’s 105 degrees outside and your shades are going up and down multiple times a day.
Exterior roller shades block heat before it ever reaches your windows. Interior shades block light, but the heat’s already inside your home by the time it hits them. That’s the difference that matters for energy savings in Austin.
When sun hits a window, the glass heats up and radiates that warmth into your house. Interior blackout blinds for windows can reduce glare and give you privacy, but they don’t stop the heat transfer. Exterior window blinds stop the sun outside, so your glass stays cooler and your AC has less work to do.
If your main goal is energy efficiency and keeping your house cool during summer, exterior shades are the better option. If you just need privacy or light control for a bedroom, interior shades work fine. But for patios, outdoor living spaces, and windows that get hammered by direct sun all afternoon, exterior roller shades make a measurable difference in how much your cooling system has to run.
Yes. The federal energy efficiency tax credit covers up to $1,200 for qualifying exterior window treatments installed by December 31, 2025. Exterior roller shades can qualify if they meet the energy efficiency requirements, which most modern outdoor shades do.
You’ll need documentation showing the product meets the standards, and you’ll claim the credit when you file your taxes. It’s not automatic—you have to actually submit it—but it’s a legitimate way to offset some of the cost of making your home more energy efficient.
The credit exists because exterior shading reduces cooling costs, which means less energy consumption overall. In a place like Austin where AC runs constantly half the year, that adds up. The tax credit is set to expire at the end of 2025, so if you’ve been thinking about outdoor roller shades, now’s the time to move on it before that benefit goes away.
Installation usually takes a few hours to a full day depending on how many shades you’re putting up and whether you’re going motorized. The actual mounting and setup isn’t complicated if you know what you’re doing, but it needs to be done right or you’ll have issues down the road.
The longer timeline is in the custom build. Once we measure your space and you approve the specs, your shades get made locally here in Austin. That typically takes a couple of weeks, not months. We’re not waiting on overseas shipping or dealing with national backorders—your outdoor patio blinds are being built in Texas for Texas conditions.
From the day you call us to the day your shades are up and working, you’re usually looking at three to four weeks total. That includes the consultation, the build time, and the installation. If you need them faster for a specific event or deadline, let us know up front and we’ll see what we can do to speed things up.
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