Hear from Our Customers
Your patio drops 20 to 30 degrees. You’re not squinting anymore, and your outdoor furniture isn’t fading into oblivion by July.
You can sit outside past 10 a.m. without feeling like you’re in a convection oven. Your AC isn’t working overtime to cool rooms with west-facing windows. And when you have people over, you’re not apologizing for the heat or herding everyone inside.
Exterior roller shades do what awnings can’t and what interior blinds won’t. They stop the sun before it hits the glass. That means less heat transfer, better energy efficiency, and outdoor spaces you’ll actually use during peak Texas summer. You also get privacy without losing your view, and you can control bugs without turning your patio into a screened-in cave.
If you’ve been avoiding your back porch because it’s unusable five months out of the year, this fixes that.
A Plus Shutters & Shades is a branch of A Plus Home Remodel, a construction company that’s been operating in the Austin area for over 10 years. We’re not just shade installers—we understand how homes are built, how heat moves, and what actually works in Central Texas.
We run a dedicated shutter and shade showroom where you can see samples, test motorization, and talk through your options without pressure. Most of our work comes from repeat clients and referrals, which tells you something about how we operate.
San Leanna sits in one of the hottest microclimates near Austin, with minimal tree cover and full sun exposure most of the day. We’ve worked with enough homes in Travis County to know what holds up and what doesn’t. Our installs are clean, our products are built to last, and we’re local enough that if something needs adjusting, we’re not three states away.
You call us or fill out a form. We schedule a free consultation at your home in San Leanna—no sales pitch, just measurements and a conversation about what you’re trying to solve.
We bring fabric samples so you can see how much light different materials block. We’ll talk through manual vs. motorized options, mounting styles, and whether you want blackout roller shades or something that still lets in filtered light. If you want smart home integration with Alexa or Google Assistant, we’ll walk through that too.
Once you approve the quote, we order your custom outdoor roller shades. Everything’s built to your exact dimensions. Install usually takes a few hours depending on how many windows or patio openings we’re covering. We mount the hardware, hang the shades, test the operation, and show you how to use them.
If it’s motorized, we sync it with your phone or smart home system before we leave. If it’s manual, we make sure the pull mechanism is smooth and accessible. You’re not figuring this out on your own.
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You’re getting custom-built exterior window shades designed for your exact openings. That means no gaps, no sagging, and no “close enough” measurements. We use weather-resistant fabrics that hold up under UV exposure, wind, and the occasional Texas downpour.
The frames and hardware are powder-coated aluminum or stainless steel, depending on the system. Motorized options come with rechargeable battery packs or hardwired power, and they integrate with most smart home platforms. You can set schedules, control them by voice, or just hit a button when the sun shifts.
San Leanna homes tend to have larger outdoor living areas and covered patios, which makes exterior roller shades a smart investment. You’re not just cooling the patio—you’re reducing heat gain on the windows behind it, which cuts your energy bills. In a community where the median home value is over $570,000, protecting that investment from UV damage and improving livability makes sense.
We also offer blackout options if you’re trying to create a true outdoor room, or solar shades if you want to keep the view while blocking glare. Everything’s customizable, and we’ll walk you through what works best for your setup during the consultation.
It depends on the size of your openings, whether you go manual or motorized, and what fabric you choose. A single 8-foot-wide shade typically runs between $800 and $1,500 installed. Motorized systems cost more upfront but save you the hassle of manually cranking shades up and down, especially if you have multiple panels.
For a standard covered patio with three or four openings, you’re usually looking at $3,000 to $6,000 total. Larger patios or full outdoor living areas with multiple zones can run higher. We give you a fixed quote after measuring, so there’s no guessing.
If budget’s a concern, you can start with the most sun-exposed side of your patio and add more panels later. The system’s modular, so you’re not locked into doing everything at once.
They legitimately drop the temperature. Exterior shades block heat before it reaches your windows or patio surface, which is way more effective than interior blinds. You can expect a 20- to 30-degree reduction in direct sun areas, depending on fabric density and time of day.
The science is simple: when you stop infrared radiation outside your home, it doesn’t turn into heat inside your home. That’s why exterior shading is one of the most efficient passive cooling strategies you can use in Texas. Your AC doesn’t have to fight as hard, and your outdoor spaces stay comfortable longer.
We’ve had clients in San Leanna tell us they went from avoiding their patio between 11 a.m. and 6 p.m. to using it all day. That’s not an exaggeration—it’s what happens when you block 90% to 95% of UV radiation and direct sunlight.
Yes, if you go with motorized outdoor roller shades. Most of our motorized systems integrate with Google Assistant, Amazon Alexa, and Apple HomeKit. You can control them by voice, through an app, or set them on a schedule so they lower automatically when the sun hits.
Some clients set their shades to drop at 10 a.m. and retract at sunset. Others tie them into their smart home routines—like “Good Morning” raises the shades, and “Movie Time” lowers them. It’s all programmable.
If you’re not into smart home tech, motorized shades also come with a remote. You can mount it on the wall or keep it on a side table. Manual systems work fine too, especially for smaller patios, but motorization makes more sense if you’re covering multiple openings or large spans.
Good ones will. The systems we install are rated for wind resistance, and we use reinforced mounting hardware that’s anchored into studs or masonry, not just surface-screwed into trim. Fabrics are tensioned so they don’t flap or sag, and the side channels keep everything locked in place.
That said, if a severe storm’s coming through, it’s smart to retract your shades. Motorized systems make that easy—you can raise them from your phone even if you’re not home. Most of our clients in San Leanna leave their shades down during normal weather and only retract them for major wind events.
We’ve installed these on homes across Travis County for years, and failures are rare when the system’s properly spec’d and installed. If you’re in an especially exposed area, we’ll recommend heavier-duty hardware or a different mounting style during the consultation.
Blackout shades block the view—that’s the trade-off. They’re designed to stop light completely, which makes them great for creating a dark, cool space or for privacy. If you want to see out while still blocking heat and UV, you’ll want solar shades or a tinted mesh fabric instead.
Solar shades block 90% to 95% of UV rays and reduce glare, but they’re semi-transparent. You can see through them during the day, and they give you privacy from the outside looking in. At night, when your interior lights are on, the view reverses—people outside can see in, just like with regular windows.
Most of our San Leanna clients go with solar shades for daytime use and pair them with interior blackout blinds if they need full privacy at night. We’ll show you fabric samples during the consultation so you can see exactly how much visibility and light blockage you’re getting with each option.
For a typical covered patio with three to four openings, installation usually takes three to five hours. That includes mounting the brackets, hanging the shades, squaring everything, and testing the operation. Motorized systems take a bit longer because we’re running power or syncing batteries and programming your controls.
If we’re doing a larger outdoor living area or multiple sides of your home, it might stretch into a full day. We’ll give you a time estimate when we measure, and we don’t leave until everything’s working the way it should.
The actual construction mess is minimal. We’re drilling into headers and mounting hardware, but we’re not tearing anything apart. Most clients are surprised how clean and fast the process is compared to other home improvement projects.
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