Help with putting up curtain pole

headintheclouds

Hello!
Hope someone can give me some advice. I've just moved into a brand new house and needed to hang my curtains over patio doors. The builders told me that with all the other windows I needed to allow 15cm either side of the frame to avoid pipes etc, and that, as it's plasterboard, cavity walling and only then brick, I needed to use 2 1/2" screws.
All ok on the outer supportsof the patio door curtain polebut the central one is a problem (needs it because the cavity is over 2m). There is a steel bar/girder/plate (something, anyway) that no-one thought to mention, right along the top of the door opening. Maybe I am supposed to know these things, but I'm a girl & d.i.y. is scary enough as it is! I have put the pole up but the central bracket is certainly not very firm. I only had about 1 c.m. of wall before I hit the metal. What should I do to make sure the screws are well embedded and that the whole thing is not going to come crashing down, bringing lots of plaster with it? I am such a d.i.y. novice that I don't even know if you can actually drill through metal and if so, what you should use. By the way, I have used a cable detector and know there's nothing there.

Sorry if I sound a bit dim, but I don't really know what I'm doing.

cazziebo

saying thanks because you're asking a question I need help on too!

maninthestreet

That steel bar is a lintel - it's holding up the wall directly above the the patio door frame. You need to use a drill bit designed for drilling into metal, a masonry drill bit won't cut into steel. You probably need to drill a pilot hole into the steel, with drill bit of smaller diameter than the gauge of the screw you intend to use. Then use a self-tapping screw when attaching the central bracket, which will cut it's own thread into the hole in the steel lintel. It may be possible to use a plastic wall plug in hole drilled in the lintel (like you should have used for the end holes in the brick), but it might not grip steel too well.

IWasWondering...

Hi, Congrats, you have found the lintel/RSJ. You need to use a High Speed Steel drill bit to do your fixing hole/s. It will have HSS on the drill bit. Then you will be able to drill in far enough so you get a more secure fixing. I had the same job to do in my new house. I cheated and just marked up where I wanted the holes and got my (then) boyfriend to drill. Good luck.

headintheclouds

Thanks so much everyone. You are all stars! I just hadn't a clue what to do and kept waking up last night worrying about it (pathetic, eh?).
I will be off to Homebase as soon as I get a chance. In the meantime I will take down the curtains and the central support ready for the next steps.
Good luck cazziebo. It's all rather scary, this diy stuff, isn't it?

headintheclouds

maninthestreet wrote: »

It may be possible to use a plastic wall plug in hole drilled in the lintel (like you should have used for the end holes in the brick),.

Just to reassure you - I did use plastic rawl plugs - the special open-ended ones for plasterboard. Thanks for the reminder, though.

maninthestreet

So you didn't actually drill into the brick for the end holes, only into the plasterboard, until you reached the cavity? How deep is the cavity, i.e the depth of space between the plasterboard and the brick surface?

The plasterboard type plugs you have probably won't be suitable for use in a steel lintel.

headintheclouds

Yes - I did drill into the brick. I drilled the hole right through the plasterboard until I felt something solid the other side of the cavity, inserted the rawl plug into the hole and then screwed in a 2 1/2" screw which went through the plasterboard, through the hole and then into the brick. It all feels pretty secure. I haven't tackled the central fixing again yet, though. A friend was worried about me doing this up a stepladder on my own in the house, so told me I had to wait until someone else can be there. V. health and safety conscious!
Thanks again.