Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Property/DIY

Join our Property forum for renovation, DIY, and house selling advice.

DIY question - attaching blind brackets

12 replies

Bimbleberries · 02/03/2023 15:10

How would I know if I need rawl plugs for screws to attach blind brackets to the top of a recess? I'm not even sure if it's bricks or what that I need to drill into.

I need to move these brackets about 1.5cm nearer the window (ideally) and add an extra one to install smaller blinds (definitely). I've never done much DIY so am a bit clueless.

I had this blind down once to repair the mechanism, and at that time I took out one of the screws and I don't think there was a plug in there - it looked just screwed into the ceiling (installed by the original builders of the flat). Do I need a special drill bit to do that though? Masonry or something, if it's brick? Or special screws? I have a drill but I don't even know if I'll be able to get it into the corner far enough to use it.
Thanks for any help.

DIY question - attaching blind brackets
OP posts:
screamingj · 02/03/2023 21:18

I wouldn't advise fitting a blind without using plugs because the screw will have a poor grip. They usually supply screws & matching plugs when you buy them. The lintel above the window is usually brick or block. Brick is easy to drill, block can be harder but still do-able with a hammer action drill. Be careful when choosing your new position that the old & new drill holes are far enough apart that one doesn't break into the other accidentally.

screamingj · 02/03/2023 21:19

It may be that the builders screwed yours only into plasterboard? But that's not a strong connection.

screamingj · 02/03/2023 21:21

Undo the screw and look at what colour the dirt is on it and in the screw hole. That'll give you an indication of what's there. (white plasterboard, red brick, grey block). To drill into brick or block you use a 'masonry bit'. It's a drill bit with a flatish end.

screamingj · 02/03/2023 21:22

Once you've done it once you'll be chuffed and you'll always be able to hang your own blinds after.

Bimbleberries · 02/03/2023 21:38

Thank you! I still feel quite daunted, just not knowing what to ask for or where to look at the DIY store. I was worried about something like the holes collapsing into one another, or just not being able to get the drill into the corner even. I don't know if it's a hammer action drill. It's just a normal electric drill that I got at Homebase a while ago, nothing expensive. I don't know if it's plasterboard up there or not. I've never used plugs or properly drilled into the walls for anything, let alone the ceiling.

I could buy a masonry bit I guess, which sounds like it would cover me for whatever it might be made of. I've no idea what size though, or what screws or plugs even. I guess they'd have to be bigger than the ones currently in there, if those don't have plugs.

I will have a look at the colour if I can get the screws out, but that's quite hard at the moment, as it's currently a blind that goes across three windows, so very large, and I can't really lift it easily to put it back into place. I'm wanting to replace it with two smaller blinds instead, partly to make it easier. But until I know if I can put the brackets up myself, I don't want to order new blinds - it's a huge glass window onto the street so I have to be able to do it, and do it that day, if I take the old one off!! But the currently blind is big and heavy, and whatever the current screws are seem enough to hold it up, so they must be fairly secure.

I'd hire a handyman if I knew one, but I don't. Even someone just a bit taller who wouldn't have to balance on a chair to do it might find it easier, and even better if they actually knew about DIY. But at the same time, it shouldn't be that hard, I know...

OP posts:
screamingj · 02/03/2023 21:41

Do you have a street Whatsapp group? Are there other neighbours who might be able to help you out?

screamingj · 02/03/2023 21:42

A hint for the future. When you move house, get someone in to put wooden battens up in your windows. Then you can screw into the wood and take things up and down yourself easily. This is what I did when I added new windows.

Bimbleberries · 02/03/2023 21:53

We have a neighbour's group, but not really for that and I don't know them well enough. I have lived here for a few years, as it was a new build but it's hard to find out what the builder's used for various things.

There is actually a wooden batten in front of the window, but it's not very helpful for blinds as it's out in front of the recess, and with a very very small flat, curtains would cut into the space too much. The blinds were installed by the builders, and they're fine really, but just huge and plain, so I thought something more colourful and smaller would be nicer and easier to open the two sides separately.

I have found my drill manual, which was actually from Aldi, and apparently it is a combi drill and has a 'hammer' setting, which I guess sounds like I should be able to do it, if I knew how...

It is just four holes/screws/plugs, which shouldn't be so daunting. I wish there were an inconspicuous area that I could try drilling into to find out if I can do this, before I actually order the new blinds. Or otherwise I order them, and then try to ask around for a handyman in the meantime.

OP posts:
Bimbleberries · 02/03/2023 22:04

The neighbours' group (forgive all the random apostrophes that autocorrect seems to be inserting into my writing!) might be worth asking about a handyman, though.

It's a block of flats, if that makes any difference to what the material is likely to be - one of these new build blocks that is mostly glass it seems, hence the huge blinds.

OP posts:
Bimbleberries · 03/03/2023 09:09

I remember my dad having something similar to that as a child. I wonder if I'd be able to get enough strength to use it on this brick/block whatever it is. I don't really want to buy more tools though, better to just hire a handyman if it came to that.

But I tried getting my little cordless drill into the corner and I think it might reach OK, so I just need to figure out what to buy in terms of masonry drill, screws, and plugs. What size drill bit and screw would I want for blind brackets? I could take the screw out and measure but I can't get at it until I take the blind down, and I can't do that until I'm ready to put new ones up as I can't get the original one back into place myself. So all I can do is try to buy the right drill bit and screws so that I can try it once the new ones arrive and I've got the old one down. (I haven't ordered the new ones yet as I'm trying to decide if I can do this!). Would putting a plug in do anything if it isn't something I need? Will it make bigger holes in the ceiling than just using screws like I think the builders used?

OP posts:
rumred · 03/03/2023 10:55

Have a look at you tube, there's bound to be a similar job videoed which can help you understand what you need to do. Also ask a handy friend for help

New posts on this thread. Refresh page