Roller shutter repair at home: straps, cords, slats, jammed or dropped shutters

What we do

• Strap replacement (with or without internal box)
• Cord and winder replacement
• Shutter off its guide or dropped
• Jammed shutter that will not lift or lower
• Broken slat replacement
• Axle, pulley and bearing replacement
• Motorising an existing shutter (tubular motor)
• Shutter motor repair
• Alicante and Majorcan style blinds
• Full shutter replacement

The most common roller shutter faults and how we fix them

Snapped or frayed strap. The repair we do most, especially in Valencia blocks from the 60s to 80s where the original strap has been going up and down for thirty years. We open the box (internal or inspection hatch), unwind the drum, fit new 14, 18 or 22 mm strap depending on the model and wind it onto the winder at the right tension. If you would rather do it yourself, there is a guide to replacing a roller shutter strap with photos of the internal box; otherwise the job costs €35-60 and takes us under an hour.

Cord and winder. On cord-operated shutters (common in bungalows in Torrevieja and Orihuela Costa and in older flats in Alicante) the cord wears through on the pulley and the wall winder loses its spring. We replace the cord, the pulley if worn and the winder, for €40-70. To replace the shutter cord yourself, see the cord and winder guide.

Shutter dropped or off its guide. It happens when a hanger strap or a spring clip on the axle breaks, when a stop comes off or when someone raises the shutter with the window open and the wind pulls it out of the channel. We take out the window or the box, refit the curtain in the guide, replace the hangers and check the stops. Fixing a dropped shutter costs €50-120 depending on whether the frame has to come out. There is a guide to dropped shutters that helps you tell whether it is a hanger or something more.

Shutter will not go up or down. It can be the strap wound the wrong way on the drum, a bent axle, a seized bearing or, very common on the coast, aluminium guides full of salt and sand that brake the slats. We clean the guides, replace the bearing or the axle (€80-150 with parts) and check the curtain runs free. If your shutter will not go up, the guide to shutters that will not lift sums up the four most likely causes.

Broken slats. PVC slats split in the sun of Alicante and Benidorm after ten or fifteen years; foam-filled aluminium slats last longer but dent. We replace 1 to 3 slats (€50-100) without changing the whole curtain, hooking them into the same position. If more than half the curtain is damaged, replacing the whole shutter is better value.

How we work

The same process in every town: photo, fixed price, visit.

• 1. Photo on WhatsApp. A photo of the shutter from inside showing the box, another of the winder or the switch if it is motorised, and tell us the width of the window. From that we know whether it is strap, cord, axle or motor, and what to bring.
• 2. Fixed price. We send you a firm price with materials included. If you accept, the call-out is included; if you end up not going ahead, it is €25 in Valencia or Alicante city or €35 elsewhere. If we open the box and find something different (a bent axle where it looked like just a strap), we tell you before carrying on.
• 3. Visit the same day or within 24 hours. For straps and cords we usually have a slot the same day. You pay on completion in cash, by card, Bizum or bank transfer, with an invoice including IVA (VAT) and a 6-month written guarantee on labour. We leave the box clean and the shutter tested top to bottom.

What affects the price of roller shutter repair

The first factor is the type of fault: a strap is €35-60, a cord €40-70, a dropped shutter €50-120, an axle or pulleys €80-150 and motorising with the motor included €180-320. Prices include standard materials; a heavy-duty strap or a 60 mm axle can add €10-20.

The second is access to the box. Internal boxes with an inspection hatch open in two minutes; built-in boxes plastered over, or PVC boxes with a glued lid, mean more dismantling and more time. On external shutters on villas in Dénia or Jávea we sometimes have to work from outside on a ladder, and we allow for it in the price.

The third is the size and material of the curtain. A 2.5 m balcony shutter in aluminium weighs three times a bathroom window shutter, needs 22 mm strap and sometimes a compensating spring. To see market ranges and when it is worth repairing or replacing, see the roller shutter repair prices page with examples by town.

When fixing the shutter gets complicated

Sometimes a simple fault hides another. A strap that snaps every year usually means the drum has a burr that cuts it, or the axle is bent and the strap is rubbing; replacing just the strap is money wasted. A shutter that comes down crooked almost always has a broken hanger on one side, and if it is forced the curtain ends up out of the guide with broken slats. That is why, when we repair a shutter, we check the axle, hangers and stops even if you only called about the strap.

Motorised shutters are another chapter. If the tubular motor does not respond, it may be the limit switches out of adjustment, the capacitor or the motor itself. We repair shutter motors and remotes, and when the motor has burnt out we replace it with one of the right torque for the weight of the curtain. To motorise a manual shutter we need a power point near the box; if there is none, an electrician has to run one, because we do not do new electrical installations. We tell you from the photo so there are no surprises.

Wooden Alicante-style and Majorcan-style blinds, typical of the old towns of Altea, Villajoyosa and Alcoy, are repaired with a different logic: wooden slats cut to size, hemp cords, fittings rusted by the damp. We repair them, but the price is given after seeing them, because each one is different.

Where we repair roller shutters

We have technicians based in Valencia, Alicante and the Vega Baja. In Valencia most calls are snapped straps in blocks in Ruzafa, Benimaclet, Patraix and El Cabanyal, and aluminium shutters in renovated flats. In Alicante it is mostly shutters jammed with salt in San Juan and Albufereta and the 1970s flats of Carolinas.

In Torrevieja we do a lot of strap and cord shutters in 80s and 90s bungalows, often for owners who are not here all year. In Benidorm we work on aluminium shutters in apartment towers and for holiday-let managers. In Elche we cover older flats in Carrús and El Pla and apartments in Arenales del Sol.

Roller shutter repair at home also reaches Mislata, Torrent, Paterna, San Vicente del Raspeig, Mutxamel, El Campello, Santa Pola, Guardamar, Orihuela Costa, Villajoyosa, Altea and Calpe from the nearest base, at the same fixed price and, in most towns, the same week.

Guide prices

Roller shutter repair in…

• Valencia
• Alicante
• Torrevieja
• Benidorm
• Elche

Guides and tips

• How to replace a roller shutter strap (with an internal box, without removing it)
• How to replace a roller shutter cord step by step
• How to fix a roller shutter: the 7 most common faults and their fixes
• Roller shutter dropped or off its track: how to put it back
• My roller shutter will not go up (or not all the way): causes and what to do

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