Curtain pole in an upstairs bay window?

Sunnyday

Hi peeps - i`m hoping that someone can help.

I live in a 1930`s semi with bay windows on one side of the house, in the upstairs bay i have vertical blinds which are fastened to brackets on the top of the window frame.

What i want to do now is put up a curtain pole but as the blinds stick out a fair bit i need to fasten the pole to the roof in the bedroom which is actually the flat roof of the bay outside IYKWIM.

The pole that i wanted is a metal one so is reasonably heavy and i really need to know how long the screws and plugs can be to fix it. I`m worried that i shall drill straight outside and when it rains i shall have water pouring through

I`ve had a look from the ground floor upwards but there`s no clue as to how deep the top of the bay is and i`ve no idea what its made of either.

Has anyone any idea? or perhaps you live in a similar house and have done this?

Any ideas appreciated.

SD

ormus

http://www.redrosejoinery.co.uk/view.php?title=Roofing+and+Lead+Work-+Bay+window+-+Lancaster

this photo will give you an idea of how much space you have to play with. and the general construction method.
(forget the slate roof bit).

as long as you dont go mad with the screw length, you will be ok.
say 2 inch max?

Sunnyday

ormus wrote: »

http://www.redrosejoinery.co.uk/view.php?title=Roofing+and+Lead+Work-+Bay+window+-+Lancaster

this photo will give you an idea of how much space you have to play with. and the general construction method.
(forget the slate roof bit).

as long as you dont go mad with the screw length, you will be ok.
say 2 inch max?

Ours is a flat bay that juts out below the actual roof, i think that it should be covered by lead but i think that its probably felt these days. I`ve had a look in the survey report from when we bought the house and it doesn`t say what its covered with - only that it was inaccessible to inspect.

I wondered if when they built the house in the thirties it was just a board that was put across.

SD

SD

k4kate

We've lived in a similar house but I have a bit of an alternative for you. If the window is nearly as wide as the 2 walls either side of it as tends to be the case with 30's bay windows, you could brace the curtain pole against the 2 adjacent walls ie the walls the run at 90 degrees to the window wall.

We've done this to hang up relatively heavy curtains where we were limited on areas to fix them. We used a metal clothes rail and fixed it to the walls with the fixing cups/end sockets at either end with a middle support piece attached to the ceiling - see the links below which show the pieces you can buy but there are lots of different variations.

http://www.ironmongerydirect.co.uk/Products/Cabinet_Furniture_and_Hardware/Hanging_Rails_and_Systems/1533/Tube_End_Sockets

http://www.ironmongerydirect.co.uk/Products/Cabinet_Furniture_and_Hardware/Hanging_Rails_and_Systems/12443/Hanging_Brackets__Matt_Nickel


You might be able to get the pieces to fit with your curtain pole of choice or you could find a hanging rail that has the style you are looking for. Sorry if this sounds a bit random but I thought it might help!

Yorkie1

I have the same dilemma - there's coving above the windows so the track would need to be even further away from the wall!

I was advised by my builder that curtains plus tracks can be very heavy, and that the ceiling is only plasterboard, so if going vertically with the screws it's better to try to screw through the ceiling into wood struts above, rather than just plasterboard screw fixings through the board.

I don't know which particular fixings my neighbours used downstairs, but their curtain track (plastic, screws through board) is pulling away from the ceiling.

I may bottle out and just replace the roman blinds.

ormus

i was assuming that the op knew enough to screw into the wood "joists" and not just the PB.

(or lathe and plaster as is common in 1930s houses).


my 1935 semi, is as per the bay window piccy. and ive screwed into the joists for my curtain track.
i found the joists by using a sharp steel spike/bradawl.
the joists were spaced at 400mm centres.

Sunnyday

k4kate wrote: »

We've lived in a similar house but I have a bit of an alternative for you. If the window is nearly as wide as the 2 walls either side of it as tends to be the case with 30's bay windows, you could brace the curtain pole against the 2 adjacent walls ie the walls the run at 90 degrees to the window wall.

We've done this to hang up relatively heavy curtains where we were limited on areas to fix them. We used a metal clothes rail and fixed it to the walls with the fixing cups/end sockets at either end with a middle support piece attached to the ceiling - see the links below which show the pieces you can buy but there are lots of different variations.

http://www.ironmongerydirect.co.uk/Products/Cabinet_Furniture_and_Hardware/Hanging_Rails_and_Systems/1533/Tube_End_Sockets

http://www.ironmongerydirect.co.uk/Products/Cabinet_Furniture_and_Hardware/Hanging_Rails_and_Systems/12443/Hanging_Brackets__Matt_Nickel


You might be able to get the pieces to fit with your curtain pole of choice or you could find a hanging rail that has the style you are looking for. Sorry if this sounds a bit random but I thought it might help!

Hmm thats made me think a bit, the last people who lived here may have done something similar as there are holes already in the walls at either side. I think that it would use too much of the space up in the room though to have a curtain across.

Yorkie1 wrote: »

I have the same dilemma - there's coving above the windows so the track would need to be even further away from the wall!

I was advised by my builder that curtains plus tracks can be very heavy, and that the ceiling is only plasterboard, so if going vertically with the screws it's better to try to screw through the ceiling into wood struts above, rather than just plasterboard screw fixings through the board.

I don't know which particular fixings my neighbours used downstairs, but their curtain track (plastic, screws through board) is pulling away from the ceiling.

I may bottle out and just replace the roman blinds.

Our bay has vertical blinds up which i`d like to leave so we need to fix the pole quite a way from the window frame too. There are screw holes in the actual window frame too so something has also been fixed on there at some point.

ormus wrote: »

i was assuming that the op knew enough to screw into the wood "joists" and not just the PB.

(or lathe and plaster as is common in 1930s houses).


my 1935 semi, is as per the bay window piccy. and ive screwed into the joists for my curtain track.
i found the joists by using a sharp steel spike/bradawl.
the joists were spaced at 400mm centres.

Ormus i didn`t even know that there would be any joists above the bay i thought that it may be just a board that has been covered in something on the outside

I`ve never lived in a brick built house before or had bay windows so its a whole new learning curve for me Most of the other houses have blinds up so i`m assuming that they`re fastened to the frames like ours.

Think i shall have a wander the full length of the street to see if i can see any curtains up

I think that Dad has a bradawl that i can borrow but i have a huge fear of poking it straight through something quite thin and making a hole through to the outside :eek:

Thanks for the ideas peeps.

SD