Roller shutter dropped or off its track: how to put it back

What you need

• PZ2 Pozidriv and flat screwdrivers
• Combination pliers and needle-nose pliers
• Torch
• 3-step ladder
• Vacuum cleaner or a brush
• Silicone spray for the guides
• Set of roller shutter hangers, steel or plastic with hook (Gaviota, 2 or 3 pieces, 3-5 euros at Leroy Merlin, Bricodepot or the ferretería, the local hardware shop)
• Shutter stops with screw or rivet (pair, 2-3 euros)
• Slat end caps in the size of your slat (bag of 10, 2-3 euros)
• Loose PVC or aluminium slats if any are broken (2-6 euros per metre)

Step by step

1. 1

   Lower the curtain without forcing it

   Leave the shutter in the lowest position it reaches with a gentle pull. If it is inside the box and will not come down, do not pull: go straight to the next step.

2. 2

   Open the box and look at the hangers

   Remove the access panel, vacuum out the sand and, with the torch, find the hangers between the tube and the top slat. Check whether any is broken, bent, unhooked from the tube or out of the hole in the slat.

3. 3

   Release the top slat from the tube

   Unhook the hangers from the tube (they twist or pull out of their slot with the pliers). The curtain then rests in the guides and on the sill. If it is heavy, wedge it or ask someone to help.

4. 4

   Feed the slats back into the guides

   From the box, push the curtain downwards and towards the guide until every slat sits in the channel on both sides. Start with the bottom ones. Check that each slat has its end caps; replace any that are missing.

5. 5

   Fit the new hangers

   Hook each new hanger into the top slat, in the same hole the old one used, and then into the slot on the tube. Fit every hanger in the set even if only one was broken. They should be aligned and at the same height.

6. 6

   Check the stops on the bottom slat

   With the curtain straight, lower the shutter to the sill and check the stops on the bottom slat. If they are missing or loose, screw or rivet them on 5-10 cm from each end.

7. 7

   Clean the guides and test

   Vacuum and clean the guides, give them a short burst of silicone spray and raise the shutter slowly with the box open. It should go up straight. Stop and correct if a slat drifts. Close the box once it goes up and down three times without rubbing.

Why a roller shutter drops and how to tell which side the fault is on

A roller shutter hangs from the tube by two or three hangers (flejes): sprung steel strips or plastic straps with a hook that clip onto the tube and the top slat. When one breaks, unhooks or bends, that side of the curtain stops rising with the tube and the shutter hangs at an angle. If both break, the curtain falls inside the box and the shutter stays fully down.

The second cause is the slats coming out of the side guides. It happens when the end caps on the slats are missing, when the guide is splayed or bent, or when the shutter has gone up with so much force (recoiler spring too tight, motor with no end stop set) that the curtain has gone too far into the box and come out at the top. In windy spots like Torrevieja, Santa Pola or Cabo de las Huertas, the wind lifts the curtain when it is halfway down and pulls it out of the guide.

To find out what is going on, lower the shutter as far as it will go without forcing it and open the box. If the tube turns and one side of the curtain does not follow, it is a hanger. If the hangers are fine but the slats are poking out of the guide, it is a problem with the stops or the guide. If the tube has shifted to one side and the slats rub on the box, the bearing or the tube bracket has given way, and that is when it is worth calling us.

• Curtain at an angle, one side lower: broken or unhooked hanger.
• Slats out of the guide on one side, curtain straight: missing end caps or splayed guide.
• Curtain inside the box, will not come down: over-wound shutter, missing stop or end stop set wrongly.
• Curtain rubbing on the box or the wall: shifted tube, damaged bearing or bracket.

Fixing a dropped roller shutter: mistakes we see every week

The most expensive mistake is pulling the strap with the curtain crooked. The slats that are out of the guide hit the edge of the box and snap, and a 50 euro repair becomes a 100-150 euro one with new slats. Before raising anything, the curtain has to be straight and inside both guides over its full height.

The second mistake is replacing only one hanger. If one has broken from fatigue, the other is just as worn; replace them all at once (they come in sets of 2 or 3 and cost under 5 euros). We also see hangers hooked into the wrong hole in the slat, so the curtain rises crooked from day one.

And the third: forgetting the stops. The stops are the plastic or rubber pieces screwed to the bottom slat that stop the shutter going all the way into the box. Without them the shutter drops again on the next lift. If the stop screws no longer bite in the slat, use rivets or replace the bottom slat.

When to call a professional

Call us when the tube has come out of its bracket, when more than two or three slats are broken, when the box is external with no access panel from inside, or when the shutter is foam-filled aluminium over 2 metres wide (it weighs 25-35 kilos and repositioning it by hand between two people with the curtain loose is dangerous). Also if it is motorised and has come out of the guide: that usually comes from a badly set end stop that needs correcting.

Our fixed price for a dropped or jammed roller shutter is 50-120 euros including the call-out and the hangers. If slats need replacing, 50-100 euros for 1-3; if the fault is in the tube or the pulleys, 80-150 euros. You can see all the prices in how much roller shutter repair costs and book a visit at roller shutter repair. We arrive in 20-45 minutes in Valencia, Alicante, Torrevieja and Benidorm.

In Torrevieja and the Orihuela Costa area, where the wind brings shutters down every season, we have a dedicated page: roller shutter repair in Torrevieja. Also in Benidorm.

Prevention on the coast: wind, salt and second homes

Salt air corrodes galvanised steel hangers in 3-5 years on the seafront. Whenever you open the box for any reason, check them for rust or white spots: replace them before they break. There are plastic hangers with stainless steel hooks that last far longer in a marine environment, and they cost the same.

If the property stands empty for part of the year, leave the shutters fully down with the slats resting on the sill. A curtain at half height is a sail for the levante wind and drops in an afternoon. If a shutter faces a very exposed terrace, a simple security catch on the bottom slat (a stop with a hook, 3-4 euros) stops the wind lifting it from outside.

Related guides

If after repositioning the curtain the shutter still will not go all the way up, see my roller shutter will not go up. If you open the box and see a broken strap, follow how to replace a roller shutter strap. And the summary of the seven usual faults is in how to fix a roller shutter.