Window treatments are the last interior finishes installation in the residential unit sequence and the most vulnerable to damage from the trades that precede them. A window treatment installed before paint is complete gets damaged by the paint crew. A window treatment installed before flooring is laid gets damaged during flooring installation. Installing window treatments at the right point in the sequence, and measuring them at the right point relative to drywall and paint, determines whether they arrive to the superintendent’s first walk in the condition they were installed in.
Texas multifamily construction creates two additional considerations that other markets do not present in the same form. First, Texas summer heat in unconditioned buildings affects the installation and measurement of window treatments. Second, Texas’s large project scales mean that window treatment installation across a 250-unit DFW or Houston project requires a sub with crew capacity and scheduling infrastructure to work multiple floors simultaneously.
Sequencing window treatment installation on Texas projects
Window treatments should be installed after paint is complete and after flooring is complete on each floor. This sequence eliminates the two primary damage vectors: paint overspray on installed blinds and shades, and flooring installation traffic across completed window treatments.
In Texas’s production multifamily environment, where multiple floors are active simultaneously and trades are scheduled in tight sequences, the window treatment sub must confirm paint and flooring completion on each floor before mobilizing, not assume the floor is ready because it is on the schedule.
Window treatment measurement in Texas multifamily construction should occur after drywall and paint are complete, because the finished opening dimension includes the drywall and paint layers. Measuring before drywall is finished produces an inaccurate dimension that may result in blinds or shades that do not fit the opening correctly.
Specification by finish grade across Texas markets
Class A projects in Austin’s urban core, Dallas Uptown, Houston’s Midtown, and San Antonio’s Pearl district typically specify roller shades, often in solar fabric for primary living areas and blackout fabric in bedrooms. On premium Texas Class A projects, motorized roller shades in primary living areas and sometimes in bedrooms are specified to support smart home integration and to differentiate the product from Class B competitors. Roller shade hardware, fascia, and cassette finish must coordinate with the unit’s hardware finish package.
Class B and market-rate projects across the Texas suburban markets typically specify cordless horizontal miniblinds in 2-inch aluminum or faux wood construction. Cordless lift is required across all Texas residential window treatments under current child safety standards. Wand tilt is acceptable; corded lift is not.
Workforce and affordable housing specifies aluminum miniblinds at the entry level. The specification should confirm cordless lift and the specific slat width (typically 1-inch or 2-inch).
Texas summer heat and window treatment installation
Texas summer temperatures in unconditioned buildings, which can exceed 100 degrees during construction season, affect the measurement and installation of some window treatment products. PVC-based components in some blind products can distort at elevated temperatures. Motorized shade components with electronic controls have operating temperature limits that should not be exceeded during installation or storage.
Confirm with the window treatment sub that the products specified for your project have been selected with awareness of Texas summer installation conditions, and that storage and installation are planned for times when the building is either conditioned or when ambient temperatures are within the product’s specified operating range.
Motorized shade integration on Texas Class A projects
Motorized roller shades specified on Texas Class A projects, particularly in Austin’s technology corridor and Dallas’s Uptown and Frisco markets where developers are targeting technology sector residents, require coordination with the electrical rough-in and with the building’s smart home control system.
Hardwired motorized shades need a low-voltage power supply circuit at each shade location. The window treatment sub must provide power supply specifications to the GC or the electrical sub before the electrical rough-in advances. If power supply circuits are installed without the window treatment sub’s specifications, the circuits may not be in the correct location for the shade mounting hardware, requiring a rework.
The shade control protocol, whether Zigbee, Z-Wave, Wi-Fi, or a proprietary RF protocol from the shade manufacturer, must be compatible with the building’s specified smart home hub or building automation system. Confirm compatibility before ordering. Replacing motorized shades after installation because the control protocol is incompatible with the building system is a correction that no party wants to absorb.
Production scale requirements for Texas projects
A 250-unit Texas multifamily project requires a window treatment sub who can measure and install at pace across multiple simultaneous floors. The measurement phase requires visiting every unit on a floor in a compressed timeframe after paint and flooring are confirmed complete. The installation phase, which typically runs two to four weeks after measurement for standard products, requires crew capacity to complete all units on a floor within a defined window so the superintendent can complete the floor’s punch walk.
Before awarding window treatment scope on a large Texas project, confirm that the sub has completed projects of comparable unit count in Texas markets and that their crew capacity can support simultaneous installation across multiple floors.
How Innergy handles window treatments on Texas multifamily projects
Innergy covers window treatment installation on Texas multifamily projects as part of our Division 11 scope under an active Texas TDLR contractor registration. We measure units after paint and flooring are confirmed complete on each floor. For motorized shade projects, we confirm electrical rough-in specifications with the GC before the electrical crew advances and verify smart home control compatibility before procurement. We do not bring window treatments to a floor before both paint and flooring are complete.
For Texas GCs who want Division 11 window treatments as a standalone scope or as part of a full seven-division interior finishes package in DFW, Houston, San Antonio, Austin, or El Paso, contact us and we respond within one business day.