Putting up curtain poles

[Deleted User]

Hi all, I'm moving home next week and looking to save some money. The current owner is taking the curtain poles with him which means I will have to put them up. How difficult is this? I don't know anybody that I can ask as a favour and I'm guessing a tradesman will be expensive

pinkfluffythings

If there is already holes drilled all you'll really need to do is screw them in providing the wall plugs are still there, if not they are very cheap.

If you don't feel confident you could check a local buy/sell page on Facebook or Gumtree for a handyman. That is what we did, made a list of jobs we needed done that we didn't feel able to do ourselves and paid him for a few hours of his time.

fluffymuffy

If you don't own or want to buy a drill then the best approach is to use builders glue to stick a wooden batten over the window and then screw the brackets into that. You'll still need a screwdriver. The DIY shops used to cut wood to size (do they still do that?) and you can get your batten there along with some builders glue (comes in a big plastic tube) and you need a metal gun frame (£5?) to put it in to squirt it out with.

wrightk

fairly easy. if you have a curtain pole rail ie a bit of wood that the pole holders can attach to even easier all you need is a screwdriver. if not you will need a drill, wallplugs and screws (will be included with a new curtain pole)

If above your window you dont have a supporting rail to hold the curtain pole holders you will need to check its a solid wall and your ok to drill holes.make sure you use the correct drill bit size for the wallplugs

just space out the pole holders evenly, perhaps mark them with a pencil, drill holes, push wall plugs in (may need some encouragement). screw them up, fit pole, easy peasy

wrightk

fluffymuffy wrote: »

If you don't own or want to buy a drill then the best approach is to use builders glue to stick a wooden batten over the window and then screw the brackets into that. You'll still need a screwdriver. The DIY shops used to cut wood to size (do they still do that?) and you can get your batten there along with some builders glue (comes in a big plastic tube) and you need a metal gun frame (£5?) to put it in to squirt it out with.

i think bandq do a free cut to size for wood and up to 15 cuts per visit, obviously providing you buy the timber from them

Jaynne

You're setting yourself up for way more work trying to glue up a baton. For a start its going to look like an eyesore unless you paint it too and unless you're putting up rails rather than the poles that the title suggests it will look silly.

B&Q sell £10 corded hammer drills that will work perfectly for this sort of thing and will go through brick (albeit slowly). You'll need a couple of masonry bits (probably a 6mm bit and maybe a 7mm). Poles often comes with rawl plugs and screws but they're not expensive.

Its a very easy job, you choose where you want your pole, make sure its level and mark with a pencil where the wall fixings need screwing in. If you're lucky some of the existing holes will be reusable otherwise you just drill to the depth of the rawl plug. If the drill doesn't have a depth stop a little tape around the drill bit is a good guide to know where to stop.

At the end of the job you've worked out how to use a drill and can now go on to use it to put up any manner of things around your house.

jackieb

My husband put 2 new ones up last week. You don't need a baton. He removed ours as the previous owners didn't own a spirit level apparently. I think it looks better. We needed a hammer drill, masonry bits (could you borrow one?) and rawl plugs.

I'm sure you could find step by step instructions online. As long as you have a bit of common sense it's pretty easy.

Barneysmom

Why don't you just offer the current owner the money to buy for their new house, problem solved.

jackieb

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d_7S3I5t_vY

Believe me when I say my husband is not a keen DIYer but he did an excellent job.

That's not him in the video btw.

Here's another. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GFPXwysk-8A&feature=related

Leif

I did mine (4) and it is fairly easy. I was told by the curtain shop staff to put the pole 4" above the top of the window inset, and extend the pole 6" beyond each end. It looks good. Some people put the poles much higher which I think looks bad. I also think curtains should extend just below the bottom of the window, and not to the floor, but it is a personal thing. Certainly not covering the radiator makes sense.

I found the best way to start the hole was to use a wood bit, not a masonry bit, as the former has a sharp point. Then when the bit hits something hard, change to a masonry bit. This is assuming solid walls i.e. NOT dry wall (plasterboard). Use a spirit level to make sure the pole is not skewed.

If you need to drill new holes, as the old ones are not usable, or are in the wrong place, you can fill the old ones with Easi-fill, which is easy to mix, and easy to sand. Plasterers use the stuff.

I agree that gluing a baton to the wall is naff. Do it properly.

Oh, and get a good screwdriver, the screws can be a devil to put in, but then I have concrete block walls.

Edwardia

If you use a spirit level in an old house curtain poles and pictures can look wonky because the walls picture rail or coving aren't straight. I'd advise doing it by critical eye in an old house.

Would also suggest that you don't use a batten because curtains can be surprisingly heavy and the whole thing could collapse.

Personally, we have floor length curtains in all rooms that have them and only one radiator in the house is under a window. Chopped off curtains look weird to me.