Light Leakage

[getaway]

The roll down blinds on my 1999 Autohomes Wayfinder have a 1" gap allowing light to flood on to the slumberer inside, especially during the very early dawns of midsummer. I have tried to block the gap with pipe insulation foam and Velcro with not a lot of success. Any ideas? :'(

[Derek Uzzell]

Presumably your Wayfinder has blinds with a 3-piece 'open bottom' surround, rather than those where the surround fully encloses the blind on all 4 sides. Open-bottom blinds are regularly criticised by motorhome journalists for letting in light at their base but, personally, it doesn't bother me. In fact, I quite like having the light creep in as the sun starts to rise.

 

Can't see why your foam-strip idea shouldn't work as long as you position the foam accurately. A length of 1" L-shaped aluminium screwed to the wall should also do the job, or even a piece of 1" wood with, say, some draught-excluder 'brush' fixed to it. You'll have to allow for the fly-screens somehow, but I wouldn't have thought that would be too difficult.

[howie]

Might be easier to stop that light coming in by applying something to the actual window rather than the blind getaway.

Not sure what you might use, but even a strip of heavy tinted 'sunshade' thats normally put at the top of the windscreen would go some way to solving the problem.

Cheap, easy to apply or remove, and should'nt look to much out of place.

[getaway]

A very belated " Thank you" to both who responded to my query, still working on the problem.

[howie]

Don,t know if this would work with your blinds but the ones we have look as if they could be taken off (frame) and turned upside down. The holes match and the problem would be solved by having the blinds closing 'up' instead of down.

[michele]

Both good idea's ..

 

How about curtains silly probably as you may of thought of that already .

The only thing I can add is whats already said by Howie & Derek .

 

Good luck with what you decide.

 

Maybe its easy to fit a top curtain rail over the top of your original opening

[howie]

Always have used the curtains Michele and looks a lot warmer and cosier when they're drawn. Not so fiddly as the blinds and always easier to have a quick peek out to see whats going on. Any light coming through is easily put right by a clothes peg to keep them together and this applies when in storage to keep the tension off the blinds.

[getaway]

My problem solved! By lowering the flyscreen with the blinds, most of the light leakage has been resolved. Thanks to all for suggestions.