Home Improvement : Sun Control System for Angular Windows

If you have a triangular or similar asymetrical (not rectangular or square) window on your house--a not uncommon situation with contemporary homes with clerestory windows--and you are seeking an effective form of sun control, you are in luck.

Intertrade Inc., 3175 Fujita St., Torrance, first mentioned in this column about four years ago, is marketing the Asyroll, a West German roll shutter that reportedly is the first to be designed specifically for asymetrical windows. Roll shutters have long been used in Europe for the selective insulation of windows and are increasingly used in this country.

Roll shutters are designed so they can be lowered during the hottest part of the day, to keep heat from entering the home while still permitting light to enter through specially designed slits in the shutter slats. If you want more light, the slats can be supplied in translucent plastic, according to Arno I. Zwarg, president of Intertrade.

Also new from Intertrade are retractable patio awnings with hardware in colors as well as the standard anodized aluminum color that is supplied for more than 90% of the awnings sold, he added. The colors, available at extra cost, are: green, dark brown, blue, beige and off-white.

In addition to solid colors and stripes, the patio awnings are also available in designs, including an attractive blue and white cloud pattern. Awnings also come with vertical retractable panels or valences that provide still more sun control. The valence panel on the awning illustrated above can be cranked down to any intermediate point or cranked up for a decorative look, making the awning look like a regular one, Zwarg added.

Not surprisingly, the almost-always-sunny Coachella Valley around Palm Springs, Palm Desert and La Quinta is fertile territory for Zwarg’s products. Developer M. B. Johnson purchased 500 retractable awnings and matching canopies for his Laguna de La Paz project in La Quinta. Closer to home, Intertrade recently sold 500 roll shutters to the Granada Royale Hometel hotel at Los Angeles International Airport.

The firm, located in a business park just north of Lomita Boulevard and a few blocks east of Hawthorne Boulevard, also sells a line of high-quality--and expensive--West German patio furniture.