Roller blinds built for the glare bouncing off the harbour

Sunscreen does the daily work

On a lounge that faces the harbour square-on, a fine sunscreen mesh — usually 3–5% openness — is the roller most Gordon's Bay homes end up drawing every afternoon. It keeps the line to the harbour mouth and the fishing fleet while cutting the glare bounced straight back up off the water. Lower percentages block more heat and glare at the cost of a softer view; most harbour-facing lounges land at 3–5%, though canal-front homes on Harbour Island sometimes want it lower again, because still water reflects harder than open bay.

Blockout, and the double-roller answer for bedrooms

Bedrooms want the opposite problem solved — full dark, regardless of what the harbour lights are doing after sunset. A single blockout roller does that on its own. A double roller (day/night) pairs a blockout fabric with a sunscreen on the same bracket, so the room gets a filtered harbour view by day and total privacy at night without swapping blinds. Blockout fabric also works as a genuine thermal layer, taking the edge off a west-facing room in summer and a cold winter night once the wind gets up. Away from the coast that thermal side of the fabric does most of the work: a west-facing bedroom in the Somerset West garden suburbs has soaked up a full afternoon of sun by the time anyone goes to bed.

Fitted for salt air, wind and older window frames

Chain and cord tensioners are fitted as standard on anything corded. Near a sliding door onto a deck we lean towards battery motorisation and a sealed cassette rather than an open bracket, because that's what actually survives the air off the bay. Older harbourside cottages sometimes have timber frames or non-standard reveal depths that need measuring properly rather than assuming a standard fixing — we template on site rather than guess from a photo.

What a roller blind costs here

By the square metre installed, as a guide: hand-operated rollers in blockout, sunscreen or a light-filtering weave price at R1,000 to R1,600. Plain blockout is the cheap end; a fine sunscreen on harbour-facing glass, or a double roller holding both fabrics on one head, the dear end. Motorise it and the guide is R2,500 to R3,800.

Two coastal factors move that. Sealed cassettes and corrosion-resistant fittings for an exposed deck-facing opening are specified rather than offered, and they show as their own lines. Small panes attract a minimum instead of an area rate, because bracket, tube and labour hardly change with the glass. Your written quote follows the free measure.