Hear from Our Customers
You’re not looking for window coverings. You’re looking for a way to stop avoiding your own backyard when it hits 95 degrees at noon.
Exterior roller shades do what your patio umbrella can’t—they block the sun before it turns your outdoor furniture into a griddle and your family into sweat-soaked hostages. You’ll see temperature drops of 15 to 20 degrees in shaded areas. That’s the difference between tolerable and miserable, between using your space and staring at it through the window.
River Hills homeowners deal with intense UV exposure, energy bills that spike every summer, and outdoor furniture that fades faster than it should. Outdoor shade blinds handle all three. They cut cooling costs by 20-30% when installed on west- and south-facing windows. They stop up to 95% of the sun’s heat before it even reaches your glass. And they give you control—motorized, app-based, or scheduled—so you’re not manually cranking shades every time the sun shifts.
Your patio becomes usable. Your energy bill drops. Your furniture stops looking like it aged five years in one summer.
A Plus Shutters & Shades started as a branch of A Plus Home Remodel, a construction company that’s been transforming homes across the Dallas-Fort Worth area for over ten years. That construction background matters because exterior roller shades aren’t just fabric—they’re structural installations that need to hold up against Texas wind, heat, and storms.
We’re based in Arlington and serve River Hills, Fort Worth, Dallas, Southlake, and the surrounding areas. We know what works here because we’ve been doing it here. Texas-made products, local installers, and a process built around what actually makes sense for homeowners who want straight answers and quality work.
You’ll get a free consultation where we measure your space, show you samples, and explain what’s going to work for your setup. No pressure, no runaround—just clear information so you can make the right call.
First, we come to your home in River Hills for a free consultation. We measure your windows, patios, or outdoor areas where you want coverage. We talk about what you’re trying to solve—heat, privacy, glare, energy costs—and show you fabric options, colors, and opacity levels that match your goals.
Once you decide what you want, we custom-build your outdoor roller shades to your exact measurements. These aren’t off-the-shelf products. They’re made to fit your space, your home’s style, and the specific conditions of Central Texas weather.
Then we schedule installation. Our team handles the mounting, wiring (if you’re going motorized), and testing to make sure everything operates smoothly. If you choose motorized exterior shades, we’ll sync them with your phone, set up voice control through Alexa, or program them to lower automatically during the hottest parts of the day.
After installation, you’re done. The shades are built to last with minimal maintenance. If you ever need adjustments or have questions, we’re local—you can actually reach us.
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Every exterior roller shade installation includes custom sizing, professional mounting, and fabric options designed for Texas heat. You’re choosing from materials that block UV rays, resist fading, and hold up against wind and rain. We’ll walk you through opacity levels—whether you want full blackout roller shades for total privacy or lighter outdoor shade blinds that still let you see outside.
If you go motorized, you’re getting app control, voice integration, and the option to set schedules. That means your shades lower automatically at 2 p.m. when the sun hits your west-facing patio, or you can close them from your phone when a storm rolls in. You’re not stuck with manual operation unless that’s what you prefer.
River Hills homes often have large outdoor living areas with multiple zones—covered patios, pergolas, screened porches. We handle multi-shade setups where you control everything from one app. You can group shades by area or operate them individually depending on where the sun is or how you’re using the space.
You also get weather-resistant hardware built to handle Gulf Coast storms and high winds. These aren’t indoor blinds mounted outside. They’re engineered for exterior use, which means they’re not going to fail the first time a storm comes through.
Exterior roller shades can drop the temperature in shaded outdoor areas by 15 to 20 degrees, which makes a massive difference when you’re trying to use your patio in July. When installed on windows—especially west- and south-facing ones—they reduce heat gain by blocking up to 95% of the sun’s heat before it even reaches the glass.
That translates to real energy savings. Homeowners typically see cooling cost reductions of 20-30% because your HVAC isn’t fighting against solar heat all afternoon. In River Hills, where summer temps regularly hit the mid-90s and your AC runs nonstop, that adds up fast.
The key is that exterior shades stop heat outside your home, which is far more effective than interior blinds that trap heat between the glass and the fabric. You’re preventing the problem instead of trying to manage it after it’s already inside.
Manual exterior shades use a crank or pull system. You physically operate them when you want them up or down. They’re reliable, cost less upfront, and work fine if you don’t mind the effort.
Motorized exterior shades use a motor controlled by a remote, wall switch, smartphone app, or voice assistant like Alexa. You can set schedules so your shades automatically lower during the hottest part of the day or raise them in the evening. If a storm rolls in while you’re at work, you can close them from your phone.
For River Hills homeowners with multiple shades or large outdoor areas, motorized makes sense because you’re not walking around cranking four or five shades every time the sun shifts. You’re controlling everything from one spot. If you have high or hard-to-reach windows, motorized is the only practical option.
The cost difference is real but not outrageous, and most people who go motorized say they’d never go back to manual once they experience the convenience.
Yes, if they’re installed correctly with the right hardware. Exterior roller shades designed for outdoor use are built with weather-resistant materials and wind-rated components. They’re not the same as interior blinds—they’re engineered to handle exposure to sun, rain, wind, and temperature swings.
That said, in severe weather—like a major storm with sustained high winds—it’s smart to retract your shades to protect them. If you have motorized shades, you can do that from your phone even if you’re not home. Most systems can be programmed to automatically retract when wind sensors detect unsafe conditions.
In River Hills, where storms can come on fast, having that control matters. You’re not risking damage because you couldn’t get home in time to manually crank your shades up. The materials themselves are fade-resistant and UV-stabilized, so they’re not going to deteriorate after one Texas summer like cheaper options will.
We install with heavy-duty mounting brackets and ensure everything is anchored properly to your home’s structure. That’s where our construction background makes a difference—we know how to secure these systems so they last.
Absolutely. Blackout roller shades are available for outdoor use and they’re popular in River Hills for patios where you want complete privacy, total sun blocking, or a darker space for watching TV or using a projector outside.
Blackout fabric blocks nearly 100% of light and UV rays. You’re creating a fully shaded area that stays significantly cooler and gives you total privacy from neighbors. If your patio backs up to another home or a street, blackout outdoor roller shades let you use your space without feeling exposed.
The tradeoff is that you lose your view when they’re down. If you want some visibility while still blocking heat and UV, you can go with a solar screen fabric instead—it blocks 90-95% of heat and UV but still lets you see outside. A lot of homeowners mix both: blackout shades on the sides for privacy, solar screens on the front for heat control with a view.
We’ll show you samples during your consultation so you can see exactly how much light each fabric blocks and what the view looks like from inside. That way you’re choosing based on what actually works for how you use your patio, not guessing.
For most River Hills homes, installation takes a few hours to a full day depending on how many shades you’re installing and whether they’re motorized. A single patio shade might take an hour or two. A whole-home setup with multiple windows and outdoor areas could take four to six hours.
Motorized installations take a bit longer because we’re running wiring, syncing the system, programming schedules, and making sure everything connects to your app and smart home devices. We’re not rushing through it—we’re making sure it works right the first time.
The process is straightforward. We mount the hardware to your home’s exterior or patio structure, install the shade, test the operation, and clean up. If you’re getting motorized shades, we’ll walk you through how to use the app, set schedules, and troubleshoot basic issues so you’re not calling us every time you want to adjust a setting.
Most installations happen in one visit. We schedule around your availability and work efficiently so you’re not dealing with a multi-day disruption. Once we’re done, your shades are ready to use immediately.
No. Exterior roller shades are designed to be low-maintenance, especially compared to other outdoor structures like pergolas or retractable awnings with more moving parts.
The fabric is weather-resistant and UV-stabilized, so it’s not going to fade or break down quickly in Texas sun. You’ll want to hose it down or wipe it with a damp cloth a few times a year to remove dust, pollen, and debris. That’s it. No special cleaners, no complicated upkeep.
Motorized components are sealed and built for outdoor use, so they’re not going to fail from normal exposure to heat and humidity. If something does go wrong—which is rare—we’re local and can come out to handle it. Most issues are simple fixes like recalibrating a motor or replacing a remote battery.
The biggest maintenance tip: retract your shades during severe storms if possible. That protects the fabric and hardware from unnecessary stress. If you have motorized shades with wind sensors, they’ll do this automatically. Otherwise, it’s just a quick tap on your app or remote when you see bad weather coming.
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