Solar Shades in Cedar Rapids While the New Trees Grow In

If your house gets more sun than it used to, solar shades are the simplest fix for a lot of Cedar Rapids homes. They cut glare and help block UV, and you still see the yard. I'd put the tightest weave on west windows and go a step more open on the south. Keep it open wherever the view matters most. Rooms you use at night will need a second layer for privacy.

Young trees and more sun

A lot of the city's trees are young. Emerald ash borer is widespread here, and the city has been removing its parkway ash trees and replacing them. Right now many of those new trees are saplings by the curb. They won't shade a second-floor window for years.

That light will change slowly as they grow. I'd pick shades for the light you have now. Don't plan around a tree that may take a decade to matter.

How solar shades work

Solar fabric is a woven screen. Openness is the share of the weave that's open to light, and ours run from 1% to 14%. A lower number is a tighter weave. It cuts more glare and helps block more UV, and it gives more daytime privacy. A higher number lets in more light and gives a clearer view.

They take some of the sun's heat off a room as well, before it reaches the couch. Glare is still the main thing they fix. Think of the cooling as a bonus.

Which shade blocks the sun best depends on what you want to keep. If it's the view, go solar. If you want the room dark, a blackout roller or a room-darkening cellular shade does that job instead. Plenty of sunny houses end up with both, in different rooms.

Pale fabric keeps a room bright, but a pale color can look different at noon than it does under lamps. Our steps for judging swatches in Cedar Rapids light work for shade fabric too. And if you're replacing windows soon, wait to order shades. Our plan for measuring after a window replacement explains the timing.

Which windows get which weave

West windows are the hardest. Start there. In July the sun sinks through the western sky all evening and doesn't set until almost 9. That low sun comes in flat across the room onto the couch and the TV. I'd go tight there and cover the glass fully, since sun around the edges still heats the sill. South windows get high midday sun, and the roof overhang blocks part of it. A medium openness usually does the job there. In winter the low sun comes straight into south rooms and lands on screens. Low sun comes through the lower glass too, so lower the shade most of the way rather than just the top half.

East bedrooms catch the sun well before most people want to be up. A solar shade won't make a bedroom dark. For sleep, I'd use a room-darkening cellular shade or a dual roller with its blackout shade down at night. If the east room is a home office, solar is perfect for cutting morning glare on the screen. North glass gets very little direct sun, so it rarely needs a solar shade. It gets cold in January instead, and a cellular shade's honeycomb holds a pocket of air against the glass that helps.

Along one wall of windows, use one fabric and one mount so the wall reads as one piece. A different wall can get a different weave if its sun is different. Most of our solar shades come in wide widths, so one shade can span a big window and look clean.

If the sun also bakes a deck or patio, look at outdoor shades. They hang outside and help cut heat, glare and UV in that space. Raise them when the weather turns rough, and a motor makes that a one-button job.

When you're ready, book a free consultation. A sunny afternoon is ideal. Choosing solar shades in Cedar Rapids or Marion is a lot easier with the sun right there in the room. We'll bring tight and open fabrics to compare. If you're trading out old blinds, our installers take them down and haul them away.

Night privacy and motors

Once your lamps are on, a solar shade stops hiding the room, and even light-filtering fabric only blurs it. So a living room with solar shades needs drapery panels or a second shade for evenings, and bedrooms get room-darkening shades.

On west glass, motorized solar shades make a lot of sense. You can set them to drop at the same time every afternoon or follow sunset through the app. You can also add a sun or temperature sensor. Then the shade does its job while you're at work, on the days you forget, and through the long stretch of July evenings when the sun is lowest and the glare is at its worst.

Kevin Sill is CFO and co-owner of the family-owned Budget Blinds franchises serving the Cedar Rapids and Marion area.