Putting Up Curtain Rail Into Ceiling?

tigertrio

I need to put a curtain slide rail into my ceiling.

I have a stud finder and (hopefully) have found the rough position of the studs.

There are 3 separate tracks as the space is quite wide, each track needs 1 screws 5-20cm from each end. So there will be 6 screws in total.

As a novice, I'm looking for some advice.

1. I presume I am correct in thinking that the best place to attach the screws is in to the wood beams/studs?

2. When the 5-20 cm from each rail end does not line up with a stud, would I be best off finding the closest ceiling stud which may not be at the recommended distance from the end of each rail, or should I keep the recommended distance and go into the plasterboard?

3. If drilling into ceiling stud, what sort of screw do I need? Do I need a rawl plug?

4. Any other advice for this novice?

stuart45

Do you know which way the ceiling joists run? 
You don't need rawl plugs in timber.

tigertrio

stuart45 said:

Do you know which way the ceiling joists run? 
You don't need rawl plugs in timber.

The stud finder seems to think this way:

Window to cover
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stuart45

I'd screw into the joists rather than the plasterboard. Use wood screws and make sure they're long enough to go though into the timber to get a decent fix.

ThisIsWeird

This ain't a bungalow - no access to above ceiling?
If not, and the joists don't line up with where your brackets need to go, then your options are to use as many joists as you possibly can, and p'board fixings for the rest - but that will always be a compromise with such 'dynamic' loads.
Or, first attach a suitable batten/plate to the ceiling, say a 3x1 timber, suitably bevelled to make look nice, screw and PVA that to the ceiling first, then you can screw your brackets wherever it's needed.

ThisIsWeird

Can you confirm, Tigertrio, what type of curtain rail are we talking about? Is it a suspended 'pole' type, or a curtain 'track', the boxed plastic section with rollers inside them?

For the latter, I'd have thought it possible to place the fixing screws pretty much anywhere just by making additional holes in it?

The hanging rail type is far more awkward, as the brackets usually need to be in fixed positions for aesthetic reasons.

Any chance of a photo of the window area to be curtained?

tigertrio

ThisIsWeird said:

Can you confirm, Tigertrio, what type of curtain rail are we talking about? Is it a suspended 'pole' type, or a curtain 'track', the boxed plastic section with roller inside them?

For the latter, I'd have thought it possible to place the fixing screws pretty much anywhere just by making additional holes in it?

The hanging rail type is far more awkward, as the brackets usually need to be in fixed positions for aesthetic reasons.

Any chance of a photo of the window area to be curtained?

It's just a rail/track thing. In theory the screws could be anywhere, there's no aesthetic reasons, i'm just following the instructions by saying 5cm - 20cm from each end. i presume you could stray from this a little.

So, best idea would be wood screws into joists - any particular wood screws - longer the better?

FreeBear

tigertrio said: So, best idea would be wood screws into joists - any particular wood screws - longer the better?

I usually aim for 25-30mm of screw to be in solid wood. So if your ceiling is 15mm thick, and the bracket 5mm, the screw wants to be 45-50mm long.

ThisIsWeird

tigertrio said:

It's just a rail/track thing. In theory the screws could be anywhere, there's no aesthetic reasons, i'm just following the instructions by saying 5cm - 20cm from each end. i presume you could stray from this a little.

So, best idea would be wood screws into joists - any particular wood screws - longer the better?

As FreeBear says.

Best to buy the track first and see what size screws come with it - most likely too short, but pay attention to the screw thickness and type of head - it could be 'pan', for example. Then check out Screwfix or similar for longer equivalents.

At the moment, how far from each track end would the screw need to go to catch a joist - how much past this ~20cm they recommend?

There are various options for securing the track ends - at the ~5cm distances - using plasterboard fixings, and they should be ok as the joists will be taking most of the load.

No way to access the ceiling from above?

I've also seen this type of track - pretty sure (tho' it doesn't actually say) that the ceiling fixings are slide-adjustable, so should be movable to suit your joists: https://www.dunelm.com/product/camden-wood-effect-light-oak-ceiling-fix-curtain-track-1000182941