External Venetian Blinds
Effectively always motorised, with wind-sensor auto-retract as standard.
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A tubular motor sits inside the blind roll itself, controlled by handset, phone app, wall switch, schedule or sensor. On Cornwall Hill's wide great-room glazing and double-volume entrances it stops being a luxury upgrade and becomes the only practical way to operate the blind at all.
Power options
Rechargeable battery motors need no wiring and suit a retrofit onto an existing home — charge every few months via a USB-style charger. Wired 220V motors suit a new build or major renovation, running permanently with no charging, and are the better fit for big or heavy exterior systems. An electrician and some planning are needed either way.
Controlling it by lifestyle, not by tech spec
- Handset remote — one remote, every blind in the room
- App control — check the west blinds from the stables or the office
- Schedules — bedroom blinds open with sunrise, west blinds drop at 3pm in summer
- Sun and wind sensors — automatic shading, and automatic retraction before a highveld storm hits exposed exterior products
When it's essentially required
Spans too wide or heavy for a chain, blinds above stair voids and double volumes, concealed ceiling-recess systems, and exterior venetians and awnings — all of these are motorised as standard on Cornwall Hill, not as an add-on. It's also the most child-safe operation there is: no dangling chain, nothing to reach.
Where We Fit Them
One app, one control layer — fitted the same way across Irene, Southdowns Estate, Centurion Golf Estate and Midstream, wherever a run of glass has outgrown a hand chain.
What motorised shading costs on the estate
Automation has no flat rate, because the drive is married to a product and the product decides the money. Taken end to end, that spans about R2,500 up to R7,500 for every square metre, installed. With a motor, a blockout or sunscreen roller lands at R2,500 to R3,800 per square metre; a motorised external venetian at R4,500 to R6,500; a motorised folding-arm awning at R5,500 to R7,500 per square metre of projection.
Each band already includes the motor, the control you choose and the commissioning visit. Treat these as planning bands. Small windows carry a minimum charge, since the brackets, tube and fitting labour barely reduce with the opening. Each window on your schedule is costed on its own at the measure and confirmed in writing.
Got a wall of glass a chain can't manage?
Book a free in-home measure — we'll talk through the right motor and control layer per room.