There is an old construction joke, “I didn’t get the job because I understood the scope of work.” Our estimator did understand the scope of work and the significant difficulty in getting to the mounting location on this project and we were not awarded when it was first bid. Months later the contractor called for a second review and awarded us the work.
The architectural concept of the mounting would not work due to a window support knife plate. We first confirmed with the window contractor that the knife plates could handle the weight of the two 50 lbs. shades which we proposed to hang on them. Our team designed a custom steel saddle bracket to be suspended on each knife plate. Lastly, a 2’ x 6’ wooden mounting surface was devised, which allowed us the ability to level each shade as it was mounted. This CAD drawing details the entire assembly.
The shades (see measuring document) were manufactured in our Ann Arbor facility with Somfy 485 intelligent motors and bus network. Our team compiled shade layout, CAD drawings of custom brackets and electrical wiring diagrams, fabricated both brackets and shades, and completed the installation. The final challenge was incorporating the Somfy digital network into existing Lutron switching. This was accomplished with a Somfy protocol translator.
