Hear from Our Customers
Your patio stops being a furnace you avoid from May through September. Surface temperatures drop 15-20 degrees, which means you can walk barefoot on your deck again without burning your feet. Your furniture stops fading into sad, sun-bleached versions of what you paid for.
Inside, your AC isn’t fighting a losing battle against windows that turn into solar ovens. Exterior roller shades block heat before it ever hits the glass, cutting your cooling costs by up to 25%. That’s real money back every month during Texas summers.
And you get your outdoor space back. Morning coffee on the patio. Dinner outside without everyone sweating into their plates. Hosting friends without apologizing for the heat. You’re not trapped indoors with the blinds drawn anymore, wondering why you even have a backyard.
A Plus Shutters & Shades started as part of A Plus Home Remodel over 10 years ago. We’ve spent that time learning what actually works in Texas heat and what’s just marketing talk. Our showroom in the area lets you see and touch the materials before you commit to anything.
We use Texas-made products because they’re built for this climate, not some generic national supply chain version. Our installation team has construction backgrounds, which matters when you’re mounting hardware that needs to handle 105 mph winds. We’re not a franchise following a script. We’re local, and we’ve been here long enough to know what St. Edwards homeowners actually need.
First, we come to your place and measure. Not just the openings, but wind exposure, sun angles, and what you’re actually trying to accomplish. Some people want blackout roller shades for total privacy. Others want to keep the view but lose the heat. The fabric and openness rating changes based on that.
We’ll show you samples and explain the difference between a 3% openness and a 10% openness in real terms, not technical jargon. Then we talk about manual versus motorized operation. If you’ve got large outdoor shade blinds covering a big patio, motorized makes sense. Smaller windows, maybe not.
Once you pick what works, we order it custom. Installation usually takes a few hours depending on how many windows we’re covering. We mount the hardware, hang the shades, test the operation, and show you how everything works. Then we clean up and leave you with a patio that’s actually usable again.
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Every exterior roller shade we install is custom-measured for your space. The fabrics are UV-resistant and weather-resistant, built to handle Texas sun and storms without falling apart in two years. We’re talking about materials that block up to 99% of UV rays while still letting you see outside, depending on which openness rating you choose.
Motorized options integrate with smart home systems if that’s your thing. One-touch control from your phone, or set them to automatically lower when the sun hits a certain angle. The motors come with a 5-year warranty. Fabrics are covered for 5-15 years depending on the grade. Hardware gets a lifetime warranty.
In St. Edwards, most of our customers are dealing with west-facing patios that turn into blast furnaces by 3 PM. Exterior window blinds handle that better than interior solutions because they stop the heat outside, before it turns your windows into radiators. You’re not just blocking light. You’re blocking thermal transfer, which is what actually drives up your cooling bill and makes your outdoor furniture too hot to touch.
Exterior roller shades can cut your cooling costs by 20-30% during summer months, but that number depends on how much glass you’re covering and which direction it faces. West and south-facing windows are the biggest energy drains in Texas. When sun hits glass directly, it heats up the interior even with your AC running full blast.
Outdoor roller shades block that solar heat gain before it reaches the window. Your AC isn’t fighting against windows that are radiating heat into the room. The result is lower indoor temperatures and less runtime on your cooling system. Most St. Edwards homeowners see the biggest impact in July and August when the sun is most intense.
The actual dollar amount varies based on your home’s size and your current energy bill, but if you’re running $300-400 monthly cooling bills in summer, a 25% reduction is $75-100 back in your pocket every month. Over a Texas summer, that adds up fast.
Interior shades block light, but they don’t stop heat. By the time sunlight reaches an interior shade, it’s already passed through your window and turned into thermal energy inside your home. That heat is trapped between the glass and the shade, radiating into your living space. Your AC has to work harder to compensate.
Exterior roller shades stop the sun before it hits the glass. The heat never enters your home in the first place. Surface temperatures on your patio can drop 15-20 degrees, and your windows stay cooler to the touch. That’s why exterior solutions are significantly more effective for energy savings in hot climates like Texas.
Interior shades work fine for privacy and light control in bedrooms or offices. But if your goal is to reduce heat and lower cooling costs on a patio or large glass doors, exterior is the only option that actually solves the problem. The physics just work better when you block heat outside rather than trying to manage it once it’s already inside.
Quality outdoor roller shades are engineered for wind resistance up to 105 mph, which covers most Texas storm conditions. The key is proper installation and the right hardware. Cheap systems with flimsy mounting brackets will fail. Professional-grade exterior roller shades use heavy-duty aluminum housings and reinforced mounting points that distribute wind load across the structure.
The fabric itself is designed to handle weather exposure. We’re talking about materials that resist mold, mildew, and UV degradation even with constant outdoor exposure. That said, if a severe storm is coming with sustained high winds, most manufacturers recommend retracting motorized shades as a precaution. It’s not that they can’t handle it, but why test the limits unnecessarily.
In normal Texas weather, including the pop-up storms we get in St. Edwards during spring and summer, properly installed outdoor patio blinds stay put and keep working. We’ve had installations up for years that have been through multiple storm seasons without issues. The difference is in the quality of the product and the installation, not just the marketing claims.
Motorized makes sense when you’ve got large outdoor shade blinds covering wide openings, multiple shades you want to control at once, or high-mounted installations that are hard to reach. If you’re covering a 15-foot patio opening, manually cranking that shade up and down gets old fast. Motorized operation is one button, and you’re done.
Manual operation works fine for smaller windows or single shades where convenience isn’t as critical. It’s also a lower upfront cost. No motor to buy, no electrical work needed. Some people just prefer the simplicity of a manual crank or pull cord.
The other factor is smart home integration. If you want your shades to automatically adjust based on time of day or sun position, motorized is the only option. You can set them to lower at 2 PM when the sun hits your patio, then raise at sunset. That kind of automation is convenient, but it’s not necessary for everyone. Think about how you’ll actually use them day-to-day, and that’ll tell you which direction to go.
Openness rating refers to how much light and visibility the fabric allows. A 3% openness blocks more light and gives you more privacy, but you lose some outward visibility. A 10-15% openness lets you see outside clearly while still blocking UV rays and heat, but neighbors can see in more easily during the day.
For St. Edwards patios where you want to preserve your view but block the brutal afternoon sun, most people go with a 5-10% openness. It’s the sweet spot between visibility and sun protection. If privacy is the main concern, especially on ground-level patios close to neighbors, a 3-5% openness or blackout roller shades make more sense.
The fabric color also matters. Darker colors give you better outward visibility, like looking through sunglasses. Lighter colors reflect more heat but can create a slight haze effect when you’re looking outside. There’s no universal right answer. It depends on whether you prioritize view, privacy, or maximum heat rejection. We bring samples so you can see the actual difference before deciding.
Quality exterior roller shades with UV-resistant, weather-resistant fabrics typically last 10-15 years in Texas conditions, assuming proper installation and reasonable maintenance. The fabric is the component most affected by sun exposure, which is why warranty coverage on fabrics usually runs 5-15 years depending on the grade you choose.
The hardware, motors, and mounting systems last longer. Aluminum housings and quality mechanical components can go 15-20 years or more. Motors are warrantied for 5 years, but they often outlast that if they’re not being cycled constantly. The key is starting with commercial-grade materials designed for outdoor exposure, not interior products being marketed as outdoor-capable.
Cheaper systems might save you money upfront, but they’ll fade, tear, or stop operating smoothly within 3-5 years. Then you’re replacing them and paying for installation again. In Texas heat, the sun is relentless. The difference between budget materials and quality outdoor roller shades becomes obvious fast. We’ve seen plenty of failed installations from other companies that didn’t hold up. That’s why we only use Texas-made products built specifically for this climate.
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