My curtain rail has fallen down i have tried several times (at least 20 holes) to put it up again, i have been told i have concrete lintels above the windows and it wont let me drill any further than a couple of cm into the wall, any ideas? are there special drill bits i need to buy? is there any hope!!!
Thanks Barty,but i'm talking about the main curtains not net ones,the net ones are held up already by a spring rod, which is fine because it is inside the window space, but the main ones are on the outside of the window space if that makes sense? so the spring rod would have to be about 13ft long!
I had the same problem and, for heavy curtains, there are three things you could try. There are "spiral staircase" metal plugs, about 1cm across, that screw into plasterboard. (Attach a batten across.)
If you have enough depth (hollow space) behind the front plasterboard before reaching the outside wall, you could try the more reliable butterfly plugs. These are where you drill a hole through the plasterboard, insert the plug and, as you tighten it up, it squeezes the plug into butterfly wings that sit behind the plasterboard. (Imagine poking an umbrella through then opening it up.)
A batten across will spread the weight. Use a length of 2" by 1" (it's actually metric now about 4.5cm x 2cm). Drill this first with a thin, e.g. 3mm wood drill and use a bradawl to poke through to mark where you need to drill the wall itself. Accurate marking and drilling is critical.
To drill into the concrete lintel, you'll need a masonry bit, probably 6mm. Be sure to buy the right size for your plugs as you can't undrill, or fill to reduce diameter of holes that are too big, very easily in concrete. You'll also need a decent (powerful domestic) hammer drill (I doubt a cordless would do it), preferably with a variable speed (i.e. slow to fast drilling speed).
As you start to drill into the concrete, the bit will probably start to skid all over the place (and you'll probably fall off the ladder when it carries you with it) so better to drill a little hole with a smaller bit, e.g. a 4mm hole for the 6mm bit to sit in to get it started in the right place.
Masonry bits are not cheap (£6+ each) and you could need more than one as they go blunt very quickly in concrete. With holes drilled, insert heavy duty Plasplugs.
Take great care, as you also need some arm strength and forward pressure to drill into concrete, which can be dangerous if balancing on a stepladder, so make sure you are not on the top step and it's a step ladder with a hand-hold bar at the top that's well within your arm reach.
Good luck. Drilling concrete lintels can be done fairly easily, but not sure I'd recommend it to anyone without some knowledge and experience of power tools and potential dangers.
If your 20 holes weren't deep enough, I suspect you are only getting through the plaster facing rather than into either the concrete or the brick if above the lintel. If so, use the smaller masonry bit to drill a deep enough hole (rather than just a starter hole). If that doesn't go through to required depth, your drill might not be powerful (heavy/fast) enough, so nor would it be with a bigger bit either. I have a suitable drill somewhere. What are the chances of it being filed under D? lol.
Haha, if you are anything like me it will be filed under "Bit Thingy"
No, i have a large drill that should be powerful enough thanks, I have used it many times in the past as my hubby is pretty useless with DIY, I have had to do it all over the past 30 yrs or so.
but my muscles aren't what they used to be ! so i am much more cautious.
Ok, all done! at last, I had to go and get a new drill bit which helped,I put up a long wooden rail that took a lot of drilling some which were good holes some bad but at least its still up there haha.
someone should have mentioned that drilling into a concrete lintl will reduce its strength. If you have peppered the lintl with holes, you may have structurally damaged the lintl and the side of your house may collapse.
It's true that drilling into concrete could cause a stress fracture line, and especially if peppered with holes, as mentioned. If only a couple of holes are drilled and to probably only a fifth of the width and are then supported (plug and screw), I personally would think OK. If the house fell down, I'd be a bit surprised if due to two fill-up holes, more likely being to cross stress (or lousy concrete). Having worked on the building of the Barbican towers, quality of concrete can be all important, whether holes drilled into it or not.
