Works For Me- Fix A Broken Vertical Blind

October 24, 2006 by Mary Owlhaven

I am so glad it is finally Works For Me Wednesday! I have been sitting on this post for 12 whole days.

Broken vertical blind A couple weeks ago, one of the slats broke on the much-abused vertical blind over my sliding glass door. (We Owlhavens wear things hard, especially the ever-busy little Owls.) As you can see below, the slat just ripped straight through the top of the hole. ripped slat

My first fix was just to move one slat in from the end of the blind to fill the gap in the middle. But I started thinking that if one had broken, others were sure to follow. I wondered if there was any way to fix it. I thought about super-gluing some more plastic to block off the hole, but I was sure that wouldn’t last.

While thinking it over, I had a brainstorm. I realized the other end of the slat was still in perfect condition. If I could just cut the right size of hole in the unbroken end, I could turn the slat around, putting that end at the top of the window, and leaving the broken bit down at the floor where most people would probably not even see it.

marking place to punch new hole It was a piece of cake to mark the right place to cut the new hole. All I did was gently fold the slat in half, and then mark with a pen on the good end, using the broken end as a template for perfect placement of the hole.

ready to hole-punch the slat Next, how to cut it? I was afraid that a knife or a pointy scissors would leave a ragged cut. I realized that the original hole, though rectangular, was very close in size to the hole made by a standard hole punch. I whipped out my trusty three-holer, and punched away. Voila. A nice clean hole.

new hole I thought I might have to shave the hole more rectangular, but it turns out that the circular opening pops into the clip in the blind perfectly! Slat all fixed

Now that I’ve figured out how to do this, I think I could fix the next broken slat in three minutes flat. This little trick will probably double the life of my blind. Works for me!

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Posted in Family, Home | 32 Comments

32 Responses

on October 25, 2006 at 6:47 am zoe

Love it! So ingenious!
on October 25, 2006 at 7:03 am Michelle

Where were you when I needed you last year? I got so sick of the stupid breaking slats I decided to get a new covering all together. Course I had never liked the verticle blind thing, it came with the house. But I would have kept it if I could have been as smart as you.
on October 25, 2006 at 7:13 am homeschoolmama

Very clever, Mary!
on October 25, 2006 at 7:50 am Lori

You are so smart!!! What a great idea.
on October 25, 2006 at 8:52 am Holly

aren’t you smart?
on October 25, 2006 at 8:53 am Pastormac's Ann

Wow! I wish I had seen this before my boys destroyed the slat that fell off. That one is in pieces now. Don’t think this will work for it. But I’ll keep this in mind for the next ones that fall off, which undoubted they will.
on October 25, 2006 at 8:59 am Lines From The Vine

Awesome idea! We *hate* the blinds here…we are constantly having to replace them! You did a great job with your repair!

Tracy
on October 25, 2006 at 9:35 am KelleyB

That tip would have saved me a LOT of stress in my last house!
on October 25, 2006 at 11:21 am Amy

Such a smart idea! We don’t have vertical blinds in this house, but it is good to know in case we ever move
on October 25, 2006 at 11:38 am Mimi

Wow! You are McGuyver! Good job.
on October 25, 2006 at 12:22 pm jcn

brilliant!
on October 25, 2006 at 1:45 pm Stephanie

Oh now that is smart.
on October 25, 2006 at 2:11 pm Alissa

dude. i’m an idiot. i just threw away 3 of these stupid things! if only i’d read this earlier!!!
on October 25, 2006 at 2:25 pm Lady Why

Brilliant idea! I love creative people!! You all give me the best ideas!
on October 25, 2006 at 4:10 pm The Wooden Porch

You have pretty hands.
on October 25, 2006 at 8:15 pm Allyson

If you end up with two broken ends, you can use a section of an unbent paperclip across the hole as well.
on October 25, 2006 at 10:09 pm Shane

How simple, but smart. Thanks a bunch!
on October 26, 2006 at 7:22 am Joanne

Wow, wish I’d had this info this summer. I threw out 5 missing slats because they were all broken from the sort of abuse you described. If I’d only been so clever. Sigh.
on October 27, 2006 at 3:59 am Yada

Simple and powerfull! Thanks!!
on October 27, 2006 at 7:03 am kelly

This comes just DAYS after I finally chunked the whole window treatment for all of those ripped slats ( we had half a dozen or more that had accumulated)
I had tried sealing with tape, bridging the gap with a staple, but it never occured to me to try the easiest ( and best) soloution.
Next time, I’ll know though! Thanks

Now, we have a shower curtain, picked to match the furniture, hanging from the brackets that held the slats.
on November 22, 2006 at 2:53 pm Sam

I Actually sacrificed the last slat cutting it into two inch lengths. Then I used a hole punch to create holes in each one. I then used silicone glue to reinforced each slat making them twice as strong at the weakest point….It works….
on March 31, 2007 at 6:54 pm Singh

I have been using my blind again and again since 10 years. I use paper stapler just right in center at broken slot. It works
on August 28, 2007 at 10:35 am Angie

I can’t get my slats to turn at all with the stick. I have to turn them one at a time. I know there must be a way to fix them but I don,t know what is broken. They are brand new blinds and I just turned it to many times one day and it has worked since. Please help!!
on March 17, 2008 at 8:17 am Chip

Angie,

I believe you need a new Vertical Wand Master Carrier. Typically the threads are stripped on these when you force the blinds to rotate further than they are designed to go, or force the blinds to rotate when they are obstructed. You can find replacements here:

http://www.blindsparts.com/servlet/Categories?category=VERTICAL+BLINDS%5C%3A+Carriers+Wand+Master

Chip
on March 17, 2008 at 8:21 am Chip

Here’s another great idea regarding this topic, “Vane Savers”. It seems that these can be used to repair or prevent (even better!) this problem. I found them here:

http://www.blindsparts.com/servlet/Categories?category=VERTICAL+BLINDS%5C%3A+Repair*Parts%3AVane+Savers

BTW, I’m not affiliated with this company, just cam across these while searching for my own replacement parts.

Enjoy!
Chip
on May 15, 2008 at 6:44 am Showcase: Owlhaven | Frugal Hacks

[...] We all have moments of glory and brilliance that we want to relive for the rest of our lives, right? What was your best ever frugal idea? Well, this is certainly not THE best frugal idea ever, but it is one that consistently get hits on my blog– it’s my way of fixing a broken slat on a vertical blind. [...]
on August 13, 2008 at 9:16 am Madame Butterfly

I have some vertical blinds with fabric inserts and I want to replace. How do I or where do I have this done? They are over 10 years old.

thanks
on November 8, 2008 at 6:38 pm Rob

Thank you so much for the great idea! Problem solved.
on November 23, 2008 at 12:39 pm Ms Tee

I had JC Penny’s installed custom fabric verticals in 2005. I’ve only had 4 break in 3 years considering I have 4 kids all under 10, a very hiper puppy and an in-home daycare business. I threw the first 2 away because I could move the others over to cover the spaces. I just broke 2 this weekend and was totally bombed that I could not cover the spaces. I was prepared to call jc penny the next day until I stumbled over your blog.
Thank you so much!!!!!!!!!! Awesome you ROCK!!!!!!!!!
on February 28, 2009 at 1:17 pm Davis

GENIUS!! It worked perfectly. Thanks for saving a lot of driving around time and money on replacements. I appreciate it.
on April 11, 2009 at 8:56 am Allison

Here’s another option before or after you punch a hole in the other end; if you have PVC Louvers vertical blinds you can purchase the adhesive repair tabs at ezlinertrashbags.com

Simply align a peel n’ stick tab over each broken hole and press in place. 2 x 3/4 each. Set of 10. For $9.95.

EZ Liner Products (EZ Household Helpers)
19051 Goldenwest Street Ste 106-#232
Huntington Beach, CA. 92648
714-329-3064 Monday through Friday 9 – 5 PST
Fax 714-846-0176 email: info@ezlinertrashbags.com
on May 12, 2009 at 6:55 pm Robert

Brilliant!!! Just Brilliant!

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