I have a bedroom curtain rail that is affixed with solid wall fixings. The wall is solid plaster but the fixings are pulling out and the rail looks about to fall down.
I have been sucessful with this method in other rooms.
Anyway can someone tell me the easiest way to sort this out?
TIA.
I don't think I've ever seen a solid plaster wall. There are a few possible causes.
It'd help to tell us what the wall really is.
NT
snipped-for-privacy@gmail.com brought next idea :
I think he is maybe hitting a concrete or steel lintel, just above the window - hence the 'solid' comment, rather that 'solid plaster'.
It might be best to try to drill fixings above the lintel, if there is space above, or work out whether it is steel or concrete and use an appropriate drill bit. If steel, it would have to be drilled and tapped with a thread and a machine screw used. If concrete it will be very hard, so may need something like an SDS drill and bit to make an impression.
If it really is just plaster, a good technique is to make a larger than needed hole, fill with car body filler, then push a wall plug into that and leave to set.
AFAIK it's just plaster there, where I drilled into. The 'solid' comment refers to the fact it's not plasterboard with a cavity behind. It was quite soft though and the drill went in easily. I'm sure there is a lintel, but I don't know where exactly.
Probably not applicable.
That sounds a good idea. I'll probably try this, thanks :-)
These are the best drill bits I have ever used to drill into lintels:
They deal with concrete and rebar without problem. They are far better than ordinary TC bits, which don't seem to like hitting steel inside concrete.
In that case what you need is a deep hole, paint the hole with pva to tough en it some & fill with ordinary wall filler (not car body type), preferably with a little pva mixed into it. With a soft wall I'd look at maybe a 3" d eep hole, 2 plugs in it one after the other, cutting the lip off the 1st on e, and a suitably long screw. And of course give the filler enough time to dry.
NT
Well if its an outer wall its probably mostly brick of some kind and if his luck is like mine the places you decide to drill are either the hardest brick known to man, or right into the join between them!
Brian
If there is no lintel at all, how does the top of the window not collapse? Mine I think is wood as I've noticed it before, but where I needed to drill was above it. Brian
If it's steel, it's probably only a Catnic style lintel and the steel is about 2mm. Switch to an HSS bit, drill a hole and use a plug designed for gripping in hollow substrates - or switch to a self tapper.
Concrete - it's SDS time :)
You really need to start by telling us the age of the property, and/or more details about its construction, if you know that.
As others said, the wall will not be solid plaster but in a modern house might be lightweight blockwork, which "feels" very similar.
If it is an old property made from random stone then you may be hitting quite large spaces filled only with mortar (but if you have tried half a dozen places you are likely to hit something solid at some point). I suppose you might be unlucky and have everywhere hit the horizontal mortar joint between brick or blockwork and a concrete, wood, or steel lintel.
On really old properties, sometimes it is best to fit some sort of batten first, then screw the curtain rail to that. The "batten" could be timber, or on difficult walls you might use a length of 12 or 18 mm plywood a few inches wide in the vertical direction. 18 mm if you are trying to hang heavy curtains.
BTDT! My lintels are concrete with pebbles. How the hell we got holes with a Rawltool I just can't remember. Nowadays it's the SDS. I tried the Bosch bits but it really needs a good masonary bit and leaning on - not too much though, with a 6mm bit.
It's a modern extension, built about 10-15 years ago.
It might be. All I really know that it's easy to drill into.
I had a similar problem. Blow the dust out of the hole, maybe enlarge it if necessary, fill with hot-melt adhesive from your glue gun, push in a plastic plug, hold it for a few seconds to set, place your fingers in iced water to ease the pain, then re-assemble.
It worked very well, was very quick to do, and mine are heavy curtains with a 4" long cantilever supports. Not the neatest method, agreed.
Cheers
Most of these workarounds are unnecessary with an sds drill
It will almost certainly be lightweight blocks, then. They are easy to drill into, but to get a stronger fixing you need to have a large and long enough plug, and make sure the plug fits well in the hole you have drilled.
If it's light weight blocks, that is the last thing you should be drilling with.
they do generally stay up, I've seen such constructions at times. And I've seen them thinking about not staying up too.
NT
Ahh. You've got lightweight blocks. In which case you want fixings specifically designed for them.
NT
In the older part of the house at least one window didn't have a lintel and relied on the window frame. When we replaced the window we had to have a lintel added.
OK. Great. Can you recommend any in particular? There seems to be quite a lot of different fixings aimed at lightweight blocks.
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