I need to put some blinds up- have I got the right gear? 15 January at 1:59PM in In my home (includes DIY) MoneySaving 34 replies 881 views

GDB2222

TimSynths said:

MikeJXE said:

TimSynths said:

I've had to give up sadly, ive ran out of talent. The drill would only go in 1.5cm then goes no further- could be metal.

1964 construction- I know across the top of the window its a concrete lintel and impossible. I used to have the blinds drilled into he wooded frames but ive recently had uPVC windows fitted and wanted to put the blinds back up. I'll have to wait for friends in the know to become available.

Thanks all.

Your drill isn't powerful enough you need an SDS drill 

I have a friend who is an electrician- I'll get him round for a curry...

That sounds much cheaper than buying an SDS drill. 

diystarter7

GDB2222 said:

TimSynths said:

MikeJXE said:

TimSynths said:

I've had to give up sadly, ive ran out of talent. The drill would only go in 1.5cm then goes no further- could be metal.

1964 construction- I know across the top of the window its a concrete lintel and impossible. I used to have the blinds drilled into he wooded frames but ive recently had uPVC windows fitted and wanted to put the blinds back up. I'll have to wait for friends in the know to become available.

Thanks all.

Your drill isn't powerful enough you need an SDS drill 

I have a friend who is an electrician- I'll get him round for a curry...

That sounds much cheaper than buying an SDS drill. 

they are not that expensive.
The drill I have form over 35 years ago still works but was for light diy - used it on may projects and then as per my post me and one of the kids bought a cheap sds drill with a few bits think it was 30 quid. TBH, it did not make a great dela of a difference it the drill bits that count and knowing when you have made contact with metal so you dont bust your bit.

Thanks

stuart45

If you hit metal in a concrete lintel, you shouldn't change bits and drill through the re-bar.
When drilling through metal, or timber the bit is important, but when drilling through hard masonry a decent SDS drill is needed. The action of a masonry drill bit is different to a metal or wood drill. It needs to break up the material as it cuts through. The drills that cut through masonry without breaking are diamond core and much slower.

ChristineMackey

Many modern new constructions use a brick exterior skin over a timber structure.

knightstyle

DD wanted to put up some blinds but didn't have a masonry drill and found metal lintels so she used these, very easy and stick onto window surround plus a small screw in each corner.

silvercar

knightstyle said:

DD wanted to put up some blinds but didn't have a masonry drill and found metal lintels so she used these, very easy and stick onto window surround plus a small screw in each corner.

Where from, please?

Postik

Reminds me of when I fitted new curtain poles to my old house.  Previous occupants tried and created holes about an inch wide.  I filled and re-used their holes where possible but in some cases I had to drill new holes.  It was very, very difficult.  I also heard you are not supposed to drill into the lintel.  Although I did, put the curtain poles up, and then tried to forget about it.

frugalmacdugal

Hi,

silvercar said:

knightstyle said:

DD wanted to put up some blinds but didn't have a masonry drill and found metal lintels so she used these, very easy and stick onto window surround plus a small screw in each corner.

Where from, please?

think it might be some where like HERE, there was a thread sometime ago about them, google comes up with THESE choices.

knightstyle

DD got them from Amazon...https://www.amazon.co.uk/s?k=conservatory+blinds&crid=3MUG0ON0P4AFF&sprefix=,aps,71&ref=nb_sb_ss_recent_1_0_recent

ChilliBob

Whilst solid brickwork does vary, a decent bit makes the world of difference. 

In my old house I was putting full weight on hammer mode to drill a 10mm hole and it was just ridiculous.

Got some of the Bosch professional blue (literally, the shaft is smurf blue striped) drills, man it was like a knife through butter.

At which point my Dad did admit the bit I had borrowed from him (along with his drill probably!), was about 20 years old and done all sorts.

Just to add, I tend to use my stud finder thingy before drilling into any walls, just incase there is some cable or pipes - sometimes you get some odd results, but often it can be useful.

In my old house there were two wall lights, my guess was the cable would run down the wall and under the floor. The stud finder thingy told me one was wired to another or something, as there looked to be a live cable across the middle of the wall.. Hung my mirror a bit higher!