Romans Direct Fitting Instructions (To fix into wood) PREPARATIONS STEP 4– Continue Screwing the Batten to Window Toolbox: Bradawl, or Electric Drill and drill bits for wood. Steel Tape Measure Screwdriver of appropriate size and type Stepladder If your batten has a centre hole (or holes), after you have fixed the end holes, peel the blind back to expose the centre hole and fix the screw as in Step 2. Fix the blind back onto the batten and repeat from the other corner if you have two centre holes. It helps to have another person on hand. They can be your eyes when you are aligning the blind batten prior to fixing, and can hold the batten whilst you screw the fixing in. STEP 5 – Fixing the Cleat Fixing Tip: To prevent wood from splitting, make a pilot hole with a Bradawl or small drill bit before inserting screw into wood. You will use the cleat to wind the cords around when you pull the blind up (to hold the blind in its raised position), so position it at a height that will be comfortable to do this. If you have any queries or problems, contact Romans Direct Support at support@romansdirect.co.uk or telephone 07017 406 470. It is easier to fix the cleat into wood, so if you have a wooden window frame fix the cleat into the flat part of the frame. Place the cleat in the chosen position to mark and make pilot holes with the Bradawl. Screw into position. STEP 1 – Positioning the Batten Take the batten with the blind attached and offer it to the window and select the fixing position. The blind should be fully unfurled. Check that it is central on the window and that the blind is not dropping too low on the windowsill. You can now fix the cleat to the window frame or the wall. If you have to put the cleat into the wall you will need to use a drill. Mark the positions of the cleat screw holes onto the wall and using an appropriate (masonry) drill bit drill the holes. Insert the wall plugs provided and then screw the cleat to the wall. This is easier if one person holds the blind and the other stands back and checks the position. The blind should be vertical, although the acid test of correctness is whether it looks right to your eye. (Once installed, there is room for very slight adjustment of verticality through adjusting the Velcro attachment to the batten.) Alternatively, if there is no one else available to help and you are finding it difficult to check positioning, you can lay the blind flat on the floor fully unfolded and measure the complete drop of the blind. Then transfer this measurement to the window, starting from where you want the base of the blind to come to and measuring up to the top of the window where the batten will be fixed. Mark some faint guide marks onto the window frame with a pencil where the top edge of the batten is to be fixed. With your batten fixing position worked out, you can now proceed to step 2. STEP 2 – Screwing the Batten to the Window With your blind and batten correctly aligned, one person can now hold this in place, whilst the other screws the batten to the window frame. Person 2: Take your Bradawl and peel off gently one corner of the blind (from the Velcro) to expose a fixing hole. Firmly twist the Bradawl into the windowframe through this hole to make a good hole that will allow the screw to ‘take’ easily and screw in. If the wood is hard you may need a hammer to help you do this. With the screw in, re-fix the blind onto the batten. Professional Tip: Drilling into walls Some plaster and wall materials are ‘soft’ and open up a wider hole than you want. So, for your first hole use a drill bit smaller than the width of your wall plug and drill one of your holes. If the hole remains compact, then you can go up to the correct size and drill again. Ift he hole ‘blows’ and becomes too big use some filler and fix the plug into this. Make sure you wait until the filler is completely dry before fixing the screws and choose a small drill bit for your next hole. STEP 3 – Continue Screwing the Batten to Window Person 1: Holding the batten and blind in place – don’t move! Person 2: Doing the fixing. Go to the other end of the blind, peel the corner off to expose the fixing hole and repeat step 2. Alternative Method of Fixing If you have no-one to help hold the batten and are finding it difficult to fix using Steps 2-6, you need to take the blind completely off the batten. Lay the blind flat on the floor. Unthread the wooden cordpull and the blind cords can be unthreaded from the eyelets on the batten. Don’t unthread the blind itself – this is Fitting Instructions – into wood unnecessary. Separate the blind from the batten. Don’t panic! A diagram for re-threading the blind is enclosed. With the batten free, you can now proceed with steps 2-4. With the batten now attached to the window frame, you now need to re-attach the blind to the batten. Re-thread the blind as per diagram. It is easier not to have the blind Velcro stuck to the batten for this, so resist the temptation to re-attach the Velcro just yet. Hold the blind in one hand and thread with the other (a bit tricky, but you can do it!). Re-attach the blind to the batten with the Velcro. Thread the cords back through the cord-pull and knot them, ensuring that the ends of the cords are in line in order that the blind will pull up level. Tip: If the last 1 or 2 cords are a problem to thread through the hole in the wooden cordpull, try pushing them – one at a time – through the hole with the Bradawl. Adjusting the Cord Pull With all the string re-threaded onto the cord-pull you can now re-knot it. WITH THE BLIND FULLY DOWN, push the cord pull up a little so you can grasp the ends of the strings with your fingers. Apply a little tension to the strings and pull down to move your blind up. This is to check that the blind is pulling up evenly. If your blind is ‘wonky’, re-align it by gently tugging each string until you find the one that controls the ‘wonky’ end, loosen or tighten this string to even the blind and then carefully knot the cords, trim the ends and pull the cord pull down in place. Note: if you wish to shorten the cord length of the blind you can do this using this procedure. ALWAYS SHORTEN CORDS WITH THE BLIND DOWN OR YOU MAY CUT OFF TOO MUCH CORD. Fitting Instructions – into wood