Most window coverings were designed for a window you look through, not a door you walk through. That is why so many sliders end up with a blind permanently pulled to one side, or no blind at all.
There are only a few products that genuinely work on a slider. Here is what each one does, what it costs, and which one suits which door.
What fails on a slider
A standard roller. It hangs in the walkway. If the door is used every day, the blind is up by default and the room gets full sun from the moment you open it. Fine above a fixed window, poor on a door.
A roman blind. Same problem, worse: a folded stack of fabric sitting exactly where you walk through, and a hem that collects dust at floor level.
A cheap vertical on a windy elevation. The slats tap against the frame when the door is open, and the bottom chain wears. Not a reason to avoid verticals, but a reason to specify the weights and the chain properly.
What works, and when
Vertical blinds
The default for a slider, and for good reason. The slats stack clear of the opening, the door still opens fully, and they tilt for afternoon sun. Best where the door is in daily use and the wall beside it is clear.
Vertical blinds in Auckland →Roller on a door-height slider
Works if the blind can sit outside the walkway, typically on a slider that is mostly glass and only opened now and then. On a door you use twice a day, it will live rolled up.
Roller blinds in Auckland →Sunscreen on a west-facing slider
The case for fabric rather than verticals: keeps the view, cuts the 4pm glare and heat, and does not look like an office. Popular on new townhouse sliders onto a courtyard.
Sunscreen blinds →Outdoor blind over the deck side
If the slider leads onto a deck you actually use, shading the outside beats shading the inside — the heat never reaches the glass.
Outdoor blinds →What decides it
Which way the door slides, and which side the stack sits. Get this wrong and the slats stack over the opening rather than the wall, so the door fouls the blind every time. It is the single most common mistake we correct.
Headroom. A track needs clearance above the opening. In a new build with a dropped bulkhead there may be almost none, which pushes you to a shallow cassette or a different product entirely.
Whether the door is a door. A slider used ten times a day needs a product that gets out of the way; one that is opened twice a summer can carry a roller.
The sill and the floor. Slats and fabric need to clear the floor and the door track. On a low sill there is often only one option that does not drag.
What it costs
Vertical blinds are quoted per opening, because the track width and the stack direction change the job more than the fabric does. Rollers on a slider are priced like any other roller: from $145 for our smallest standard window, $175 to $250 for a standard 1.8 x 1.5 m. Outdoor blinds are quoted per opening on the fixing method.
The full breakdown of what moves a price is in what blinds cost in Auckland.
On an Auckland slider specifically
New townhouses across Auckland are full of wide, low sliders onto a small courtyard, usually facing west. Two things follow: the afternoon sun lands directly on the glass, and the opening is wide enough that a single roller would be a heavy, awkward thing to use.
On those doors we usually specify verticals or a sunscreen roller on the courtyard side, and treat the deck side separately. Apartments add a body corporate consideration: whatever you fit has to look consistent from the street on every floor, which usually means a neutral sunscreen or a plain vertical.
Slider questions
Can I put a roller blind on a ranchslider?
You can, and it works if the blind sits outside the walkway. On a door used daily it will spend most of its life rolled up.
Do vertical blinds let light in at the sides?
A little, at the stack. On a slider that is usually a fair trade for being able to walk through.
Can I motorise a slider blind?
Yes, on a vertical or a roller, from $150 per window. It is worth it on a wide opening or one behind furniture.
What about a stacker door that opens right across?
The same logic, but the stack has to clear the full travel. We check it at the measure rather than at install.
Free measure and quote
We look at how the door actually opens before recommending anything.