apologies for what must be a very dumb question.
I have to fix a curtain holder to a wall. Can I just drill holes and put screws in / do I need to use special kind of screw / I vaguely remember my dad using some kind of plastic plug things to screw into - should I use these?
Any advice much appreciated.
I feel a bit like a fish sucking in a fly but here goes .
What you need are screws suitable in size and length for the fitment . By curtain holder I presume you mean a curtain rail so the screws have to support the brackets so they should be round heded screws so they don't bugger up the fitting . You need to drill a hole at the appropriate point using a suitable sized masonry bit and insert a wallplug like this one
Stuart
done
Don't you have anything to say about what lurks beneath the surface, and the difficulties that may then be encountered?
-- Mike W
Like what ...?
Drilling into the joint and having the mortar, plaster crumble away leaving a much to big hole.
Trying to drill into the lintel.
Yes, if...
Yes, if you want to just put screws into the wall. And it doesn't work that well with most wall types.
Probably.
What sort of wall is it? Brick, block, plasterboard?
I reckon the heading gives a clue :) I'd use those little plastic thingees.
|apologies for what must be a very dumb question. | |I have to fix a curtain holder to a wall. Can I just drill holes and |put screws in / do I need to use special kind of screw / I vaguely |remember my dad using some kind of plastic plug things to screw into - |should I use these?
Go to the nearest Shed, B&Q or similar, you will find at least a few dozen ways of fixing screws into absolutely anything. Read the instructions, which should take all day.
You can't fix screws directly in plaster, brick or concrete because the screw threads need either wood or plastic to bite into. If it is a plastered brick wall the plaster will be about one inch thick and there might be a concrete lintel instead of bricks where you need to drill the holes. An ordinary electric drill and cheap masonry bits will struggle to make holes in a concrete lintel, with or without the hammer setting. The screws that came with the curtain holder, if supplied, may be fairly short, which means that a plastic wall plug will mainly be held in plaster, with little if any of the plug and screws in brick or concrete. This might not be strong enough to hold a large/heavy curtain rail/pole and large/heavy curtain. You need to judge this and decide whether to use longer screws. If you use plastic wall plugs it will say on the packet the size of masonry drill bit to use so that the hole is not too large or small for the wall plug.
It's not a dumb question if you've never done it before. If you are still confused after the answers here why not get down to B+Q and ask one of the elderly gentlemen they employ to answer just this sort of query ?
norm
Or you could have a grub around here .There is loads of info .
Not usually, people say "brickwork" without knowing what is under the plaster.
Possibly, personally I'woudl use an appropriate fixing, and in anything other than sound brickwork it's unlikely to be a plastic thingy.
Yep. Use a masonry bit with preferably a hammer drill. Get a plastic plug thingy that exactly matches the size of screw you intend to use, and a masonry drill bit that exactly matches the plastic plug thingie..builders merchants should be able to advise on that at least...;-)
From which you will gather the truth, that putting up a curtain rail can be more difficult and time consuming than building an entire wall.
Use a masonry screw. No plastic plug required.
When I had to put blinds up I got so fed up of the drill bit skidding about on the lintel (bit of metal just under the plaster) that I ended up employing someone to do it. He had a hell of a time but at least he had to repair any mess and it didn't total my drill.
By the way, he used the plastic thingies.
If you know they are catnics you can use a self tapper just drill to it to find the depth. A concrete lintle is easy enough just watch out for the rebar.
But the best thing is to put a 3 or 4 X 1 along the window with gripfill and fix to that.
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