Window Blind Installation

Amy is renting an old house with other university students in Ottawa. We spent four days there recently, painting and installing some blinds we bought at Walmart. The plastic privacy blinds, which have wide 1-1/2" slats, gave the rooms a nice, clean look. Although none of the blinds cost more than $13 each, they looked custom-ordered, as they were a perfect fit inside the wooden window frames. A couple fit so snugly, I thought I wouldn't get the blind inside the holders at the top of the window frame, till I discovered that it's possible to trim about 1/8" or so off the edges at the top of the blind with scissors. That ensured a tight fit inside the blind holders, within the window frame.

The only other difficulty was installing the blind holders, as the window frames were made of very old hardwood. I'd brought a rechargeable power screwdriver, but had forgotten the charger. Installing the screws through the plastic holes of the blind holders is often best done by hand, with a manual screwdriver, so I pre-drilled the holes. The drill was hot by the time I finished.

Pre-drill a hole with a bit that's a little smaller than the screw provided with the blind holders.

Even after pre-drilling, it still took some effort to screw the woodscrews in by hand.

Here's a tip from my great-grandfather to make this job a little easier: rub the screw against a bar of soap before inserting in the pre-drilled hole and tightening.