Will likely be moving to a new house in the near future.
One of the earliest jobs will be putting up curtain tracks as neither of us can cope with sleeping in rooms that are not sufficiently dark. Seems to me that we should select one make of track and fittings and use it throughout. (We might need to consider cording, and maybe a heavier duty track in the living room with full length curtains. Ideally the same gliders everywhere.) No bays or any other awkwardness to cope with.
Rigid track because coiled is poorer quality. One where the hooks run in a groove rather than surround the track, the latter looks bad and replacement bits cost more.
Swish products are commonly available. However I don't see a requirement to use the same type in every room. I would think it unlikely that you would want to move curtains from one room to another.
You can sometimes buy standard length curtains at a lower price than made to measure. The exact height of the rail then becomes more important if the curtains are to reach to the floor.
I know I don't have to use the same make - but given the choice, I would prefer to have one packet of spare gliders and another of spare hooks, rather than several. :-)
Also, if one make seems "best" overall, I can't see any point in switching to the second-best...
Curtain length isn't much of an issue as partner is an excellent curtain maker. Bought ones only exist here because sometimes they have been cheaper than even the material. (There, that gets real DIY into this thread.)
I'd certainly go for a brand like Swish rather than a "brand" from a DIY shed, the latter have a habit of changing what their "heavy duty curtain track" is. So what you buy today will have changed by the next time you want some more, or even just hooks. BTDTGTTS...
Spares. Only need to carry one set of hooks, brackets, cord sets, etc Can shuffle parts about if required.
As for the track itself, I use the heavy duty plastic stuff everywhere with the cam operated bracket to track clamps. Makes it so much easier to fit/remove the track. The only "problem" I've had with plastic is a build up of dust causing stiff/juddery action. Squirt of silicone based furniture polish on a bit of kitchen roll wiped along removes the cack and reduces friction almost to zero. Works on ali as well. Hooks that fit around the track, things that run in a slot aren't easy to clean.
I also put a batten (20 x 35 mm ish) on the wall and fix the wall brackets to that rather than trying to drill quite a number of holes in the wall at exactly the right places.
That looks rather good, thanks. Did you get the plain aluminium finish or, what I'd be thinking, the white? If white, is it a good dense white or that rather thin, slightly grey white that you sometimes get?
After only 25 years all the plastic cams go brittle (UV getting at them?) and they snap off ... is nothing made to last these days :-P
Talking of brittle plastic, I noticed the B&Q extending plastic feet on my kitchen cabinets have started going brittle/crumbly after about 9 years, nothing more volatile than Jif used on the floors. Annoying to have to drag the cupboards out and replace them all, but surprisingly buying a bulk pack of 40 Hafele legs from Screwfix works out cheaper than buying el-cheapo ones from Toolstation.
We have one, across a patio door and adjacent full-length window. I hadn't realised just how much width they took up even when drawn back. Maybe OK if not mounted within the reveal, but I wouldn't get one again.
I agree with others. Choose a well known maker, with parts available almost anywhere. Swish or, second choice, Harrison. Living in a house with mixed curtain rails is as bad as mixed plastic plumbing or gutters.
Not that it stops me from having a large, old toolbox stuffed to the gunnels with countless curtain hooks and accessories, all safely kept 'just in case' :-)
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