Thick curtain poles needed-help plse

never_enough

I've just had some curtains made, which with the interlining etc are far too heavy for the current poles. I'm looking for something in dark oak, plain finial & need 2 (3m & 2.6m). Not sure how thick they need to be but guess the thicker the better. The current ones are 45mm & starting to bow! I don't want them to end up in a heap on the floor. Does anyone have any recommendations for poles? The only ones I can find are crazy prices, I know they'll be expensive, but the prices I'm coming up with are around the £500 mark. :eek:
Can anyone help plse?

kittiwoz

Is it a single curtain that covers the whole stretch or a pair? Hopefully it is a pair because you really need and extra support in the middle to prevent bowing by the sound of it.

ajbaker

Have you looked at bannister rails? Sounds mad I know, but it is perfect. When looking at curtain rails I wanted something simple, old looking, but also wanted to make a feature of it. I spent months on the high street and on the internet but all of the modern stuff is rubbish. In the end I was lucky to see someone binning their old bannister rails - 60mm diameter oak. Fantastic! Could try either new, or from a reclamation centre...

Debt_Free_Chick

never_enough wrote:

I've just had some curtains made, which with the interlining etc are far too heavy for the current poles. I'm looking for something in dark oak, plain finial & need 2 (3m & 2.6m). Not sure how thick they need to be but guess the thicker the better. The current ones are 45mm & starting to bow! I don't want them to end up in a heap on the floor. Does anyone have any recommendations for poles? The only ones I can find are crazy prices, I know they'll be expensive, but the prices I'm coming up with are around the £500 mark. :eek:
Can anyone help plse?

Firstly, what are the current poles made of? And how many supporting brackets do you have?

45mm is already very large, so if the poles are bowing, I would suggest that the supporting brackets need to spaced differently or that you may need more.

Or perhaps a steel pole, which is finished to look like Oak. I would have suggested Jim Lawrence but he doesn't have an oak finish - sorry

never_enough

kittiwoz wrote:

Is it a single curtain that covers the whole stretch or a pair? Hopefully it is a pair because you really need and extra support in the middle to prevent bowing by the sound of it.[/quote

Both poles have two curtains on them & have one support in the middle. It's really a problem with the 3 metre pole, not so bad on the shorter one.

never_enough

ajbaker wrote:

Have you looked at bannister rails? Sounds mad I know, but it is perfect. When looking at curtain rails I wanted something simple, old looking, but also wanted to make a feature of it. I spent months on the high street and on the internet but all of the modern stuff is rubbish. In the end I was lucky to see someone binning their old bannister rails - 60mm diameter oak. Fantastic! Could try either new, or from a reclamation centre...

Hadn't though of that...hmm... The problem would be the supports & rings then of course. There's a reclamation place near Cambridge so I might go & have a look there.

ajbaker

I was lucky to find the bannister supports still attached. It took me a long time to find rings that fit; after several months searching I happened upon a fabric/curtain shop 4 doors from where I live! Each ring cost around 60p so not cheap, but again they just look better. If you need to source some large curtain rings drop me a private message and I will let you have the contact number for the shop I used.

never_enough

Debt_Free_Chick wrote:

Firstly, what are the current poles made of? And how many supporting brackets do you have?

45mm is already very large, so if the poles are bowing, I would suggest that the supporting brackets need to spaced differently or that you may need more.

Or perhaps a steel pole, which is finished to look like Oak. I would have suggested Jim Lawrence but he doesn't have an oak finish - sorry

Current poles are wood (oak coloured but prob not oak as were only about £50 each) There are brackets at each end, plus the one in the middle. I thought of putting more support, but how can I, as that would stop the curtains from being opened?

Have you used Jim Lawrence? I'm not sure about metal poles. It's for my dining room which is all dark wood & quite traditional looking. I dont want to make an expensive mistake!

Debt_Free_Chick

never_enough wrote:

Have you used Jim Lawrence? I'm not sure about metal poles. It's for my dining room which is all dark wood & quite traditional looking. I dont want to make an expensive mistake!

Only for lighting, but I'll probably get my curtain poles from there too. Although metal poles, he does them in a number of different finishes - did you take a look? If you work through the pole selector, you get a page that shows the different finishes. But nothing oak looking, sorry.

Paul_the_Painter

Is it definatly the wood bowing, and not the centre bracket coming off the wall? Because I would have had no hesitation in using 40mm wood for curtains of that type. If they are super heavy and you do need more brackets, Bradley (available lots of places) and John Lewis own brand(guess who makes them:rolleyes: ) metal poles are available with "passing brackets" anc "C rings" so you can have as many brackets you like, without worrying about how the rings get past the brackets.

never_enough

Debt_Free_Chick wrote:

Only for lighting, but I'll probably get my curtain poles from there too. Although metal poles, he does them in a number of different finishes - did you take a look? If you work through the pole selector, you get a page that shows the different finishes. But nothing oak looking, sorry.

I had a look last night. I'm really after wood, but they do look nice. The cream might work, but walls are cream. Fell in love with a light though...
sigh...more expense :rolleyes: :eek: