Walls not strong enough to fit blinds

Giggidy

Mr.Generous wrote: »

Lime plaster crumbling is the pits to fix into. You can 'no nails' a batten to the surface but you have to wait a couple of days for it to harden fully.

Would "glueing" the batten on make it sturdy enough to hold blinds? Its my kids' rooms and don't want to risk heavy blinds falling on to them.

TheCyclingProgrammer

rosie383 wrote: »

We have encountered exactly the same problem today as the OP. Tried to drill holes above a bay window and there seems to be about 1cm of plaster of some sort, then a big gap, which, again like the OP, I can put a 12cm screw into and it goes all the way in without encountering anything.
Managed to find a solid bit to drill into, but will have the same problem when we put the small side bay blinds tomorrow. 1930s house.

Did the solid bit feel like wood? Does the wall sound hollow? Again, it's possible if it's not on the ground floor that it's lath and plaster. Find the studs and fix a batten to the studs and then fix into that.

TheCyclingProgrammer

Giggidy wrote: »

Thanks for all the useful info I just need to clarify a few things, as you can probably tell I have no idea about wall studs (had to google that) and knocking on the wall to find it (sounded the same to me no matter where I knocked). I think your suggestion with the wooden batten is the way forward rather than fixings and polyfiller. Will probably have to get a stud wall finder firstly. And then with regards to the wooden batten, what is 2x1? 2mm by 1m? Pilot holes?? :think:: No idea at all!

2x1 is inches although of course these days it's metric and the metric sizes vary.

This should do you: you want something smooth that you can paint (a coat of primer/undercoat and a few coats of emulsion matching your wall should do the trick).

http://www.wickes.co.uk/Wickes-Whitewood-PSE-20-x-44-x-2400mm-Single/p/107147

A pilot hole is simply a hole drilled slightly smaller than the size of your screw - if you try and screw straight into the wood, especially that size, it may split. You could also counterbore the hole (drill a larger hole around the pilot hole larger than the screw head but only 2-3mm deep) so the screw finishes below the surface and you can fill and sand these, so the batten fixings are hidden.

Some people might also add a bit of no nails to the batten for good measure but it shouldn't be necessary and will only make it impossible to remove without ripping off half the plaster with it.

Once you've located a stud you might also want to pre-drill the plaster through to the wooden stud if it's very crumbly. You could also pilot drill the stud with a wood bit but shouldn't be necessary.

You could use a stud finder though I'd give the old tapping trial and error method a go first, if you don't mind patching up a few holes and touching up the paintwork.

TheCyclingProgrammer

Mr.Generous wrote: »

Lime plaster crumbling is the pits to fix into. You can 'no nails' a batten to the surface but you have to wait a couple of days for it to harden fully.

Depending on the weight of what is fixed to the batten and the state of the plaster this could potentially be a disaster. Much better to locate studs if lath and plaster.

Giggidy

TheCyclingProgrammer wrote: »

2x1 is inches although of course these days it's metric and the metric sizes vary.

This should do you: you want something smooth that you can paint (a coat of primer/undercoat and a few coats of emulsion matching your wall should do the trick).

http://www.wickes.co.uk/Wickes-Whitewood-PSE-20-x-44-x-2400mm-Single/p/107147

A pilot hole is simply a hole drilled slightly smaller than the size of your screw - if you try and screw straight into the wood, especially that size, it may split. You could also counterbore the hole (drill a larger hole around the pilot hole larger than the screw head but only 2-3mm deep) so the screw finishes below the surface and you can fill and sand these, so the batten fixings are hidden.

Some people might also add a bit of no nails to the batten for good measure but it shouldn't be necessary and will only make it impossible to remove without ripping off half the plaster with it.

Once you've located a stud you might also want to pre-drill the plaster through to the wooden stud if it's very crumbly. You could also pilot drill the stud with a wood bit but shouldn't be necessary.

You could use a stud finder though I'd give the old tapping trial and error method a go first, if you don't mind patching up a few holes and touching up the paintwork.

Thanks again! Very useful, will attempt it this weekend, seems straightforward enough after your explanation of what to do and get.

Tiglet

I had a similar problem in a 100-year-old house. The plaster was dry and crumbling but the walls were sound. I cut squares from a piece of old scaffolding plank about 8in square, chopped away the plaster back to the brickwork so I could put the squares of wood against the bricks. I fastened these to the bricks with big masonry screws in each corner, then plastered over them.

Once the new plaster had set it was then easy to fix curtain rails by screwing straight into the wood.