The Shade Saga

It is not uncommon to have problem with RV shades.  The strings break which causes the shades not to stay in place.  Our shades started having problems a few weeks after we bought the motor home.  The motor home is eight years old so that is not surprising. The folks were told that re-stringing them was a major pain. Dad said it was worth the $16 that the kit costs to try it.  Mama bought a re-stringing kit before we left Houston in March.  Mama has been asking Dad to try re-string one since that time.  She didn't think she could do it herself because she watched a You Tube video and it looked really hard.  In May, Mama was still asking Dad to re-string it.  She was tired of propping up the shades with pillows and suction cups.  The suction cups fly off and the shades fall down and that scares us.  The suction cups fall behind the couch and then Mama has to use kitchen tongs to fish them out.  It is quite a production.  She decided to cut off the "day shade" and just leave the night shade to make it easier to hold the shades up.  She couldn't use the day shade anyway.  That worked well for a few weeks, but then the shades lost all their pleats and were harder to hold up.

We can use pillows on the two windows that have couches in front on them.

Mama started growing impatient and decided to try re-stringing herself.  However, the video she watched said she needed to take down the valance and she couldn't figure out how to do it.  Dad told her not to attempt it.  He told her on a rainy weekend, we would put up new shades.  Finally, this past weekend was rainy.  Mama was excited. Dad was not.  The folks headed to Home Depot.  They had picked out shades there.  They are not RV shades, but according to forums Mama has read, people have used these and are quite happy with them.  Dad said they should just buy one to make sure they liked it because since they were custom cut and they could not be returned.

Let me just say that putting this shade up was not easy. The folks started on it Saturday afternoon and finally Sunday night it was up.  It took five trips to Home Depot to accomplish this. They kept bringing home wood and bigger screws.  The biggest problem is that the valance is in the way and it will not come down.  The folks checked the forums and found out that the manufacturer says it is not removable.  It is very hard to get the shade to clip into place.  Dad kept lowering the placement of  it so that he had more finger room.  It was difficult and several bad words were said.

Ready to see our new shade? 

Isn't it pretty?

Mama loves her new shade.  It has a black out feature which will help block the sun.  We are not sure how well it does that yet because it has been raining since it was put up.  She will really be happy when the remaining four are put up, but she doesn't have a clue when that will happen.  We only have one more weekend here and it doesn't sound like Dad wants to waste it putting up shades even though it would make Mama really happy and she would love to have it done before we go home.  Pssst....Dad if you are reading this, that is a big hint for you. If Mama is happy, we are all happy.  BOL

Dad thinks he has a different way to install the rest of them, but it involves another trip to Home Depot and even longer screws.  BOL   FYI:  Dad is actually really good at home repairs but motor homes are a totally different beast.

Joey,
The Greyhound Who Is Glad That All He Has To Do Is Look Cute To Make Mama Happy