Doug, what is this a coincidence? Our shade over the dining table broke today too. A job for tomorrow. Yes, the valance has to come off. There are at least 2 screws holding the upper part of the valance to the bottom of the cabinets and a single screw on each side holding the bottom outer corner of the side pieces. The screw on the bottom is buried in the fold of the fabric. All screws are #2 square drive. Remove the buttons on the bottom of the shade strings then unscrew the header from the window frame. You have to remove the plastic end caps from all 3 metal tubes. Also remove the 2 little wooden knobs on the lower and center metal tubes. After this, the metal tubes slide off of the shades. The top one is hardest because of the screws mashing in the frame tube. You are right in that the cords cross each other. In fact, they cross in the center and then again at the bottom. When you take it apart, observe where the cords go and assemble the same way. You will see there are 2 sets of cords in the wider shades and this is one of them. From the top. 2 cords go to the right and 2 to the left. They then go down individually through the holes in the shades to the center then cross sides. Down through the holes again to the bottom and cross again all the way out the end cap then down to the tabs. If I was good at paint, I could draw a picture and e-mail it to you but I'm not that good in MS Paint. Just take your time and watch how it goes together as you dissassemble it and you'll do fine.