How to put a curtain rail/track/pole up when there is great big concrete lintel?

[thenewaveragebear1983]

Oh please help me wise mumsnetters, before I scream or cry or both.

ds has two windows on his room, I have to do this twice! Above the window there is just a massive concrete lintel. It must be a foot tall. No matter where we drill, we hit concrete after about 2 cm, maybe 3. Our previous effort into a wooden plinth lasted 2 years but they’ve now come down. There is nowhere in the wall left to drill and everywhere is the same. And to make it worse, it’s not brick, it’s thermalite and the wall is turning to powder in my hands.

Ive just spent hours planning, measuring, drilling- proper rawl plugs and everything- the plugs just pull out of the crumbling plaster and there is no ‘bite’ at all. what a waste of my life. I’m so frustrated I could scream.

how the hell do I get a curtain rail up!??? Am I missing something?

I have this problem in my house! Possible solutions…

make sure you’re using a corded drill and brute strength

Glue (No More Nails) a wooden strip above the window and drill into that

Or get the nice man from Hilary’s round to do it all for you (but spend a fortune in the process)

We used glue Hard as Nails. It really works

@TheSassyAmberNewt corded drill, new drill bits all failed
we’ve tried the NMN but unfortunately when the last one came down it brought a big chunk of wall with it

I’m sorely tempted by Hilary’s but they are so expensive! I do think we might have to go for blinds though. There’s no wall left!

one thing I’ve just seen online which I will explore further is to screw the wooden plinth into the underside of the top edge of the window. This won’t be concrete. Then attach the curtain rail to that? Unfortunately because my house seems to be made of chalk I’m not sure that will work for us, but could work for you?

@Zuve to attach the wooden plinth?

Ah yes, I have sort of done that with blinds on some windows actually - the type that are spring loaded so you wedge them into the inside of the window.

See if you can borrow or hire an SDS drill - I used to live in a block made of reinforced concrete and a regular hammer drill just wouldn’t stand up to jobs and tended to create crumble, but the SDS went through like butter.

You might get away with screwing into the plinth or window frames, but will need to be careful when drawing blinds and curtains not to put too much stress on it.

I don’t think we’d want to fit it directly into the upvc

I am going to explore the plinth on the underside of the recess option. Maybe with a generous dose of NmN. I could then fit the track to that. 🤔

How about a ceiling fixed track or pole?

Does the concrete lintel go all the way to the ceiling? You could fit a rail above it for long drop curtains.

Otherwise you can drill into concrete. I have a corded hammer drill (not SDS) and make sure you are using decent masonry drill bits.

All around for a decent local handyman. It would be worth it.

You need a hammer drill. A decent corded one, not cordless as it won't have enough 'oomph'. And decent masonry drill bits. Then you'll get through concrete with no problems.

They don't cost much and it's always worth having a decent drill if you're a homeowner!

Several suggestions.
SDS drill
Concrete screws
The holes you've made, fill them with either filler or wood dowel, then you can drill into those. Both are strong enough to hold screws.
This might be enough though, to get rawl plugs to hold you can use these Rawl plug wraps or fill the hole with gripfill, let it go off and then screw into that.

I've used those tension rods previously, inside the window frames. No drilling required. They work if the curtains are not too heavy.

@OttersAreMySpiritAnimalthat’s helpful thanks, we have tried filling with filler but it’s not worked. The grip fill might be better.
the problem we have is that the holes are only 2cm deep. The weight of the plinth, plus rail, plus curtain is too heavy when they only extend 2cm into the wall.

we’ve just gone for the NmN solution- if that doesn’t hold, we’ll have to try something else. It feels like a bodge job though, I despise bodge jobs. I tried drilling a pilot hole upwards into the window recess and also only got 2cm in, so fuck knows what these walls are made of? Diamond filled chalk bricks it seems 🤣

@PunishmentRoundupWithJoonI’d seen a few of those. Unfortunately it’s a very wide window, so any curtains with any thickness are quite heavy.

this has all come about because ds has started waking at 4am because of light coming into his room. Because it’s dual aspect it’s daylight in there from very early. Bought him some nice black out curtains… lasted 1 day before the whole lot came down 🤦‍♀️

Definitely a concrete lintel? Could possibly be a steel lintel if you can't get further than 2-3cm in.

An SDS drill is the tool for these situations.
OH has a large one (too heavy for me) which he uses for serious jobs but "my" smaller SDS drill drills into concrete with ease with no pressure required.

A conventional hammer drill is fine for softer materials but for concrete, SDS is the way to go.

The solution to the lintel is a corded SDS drill.

Or you could try a roller blind that fits in the window space itself. (fixings drilled in to the walls)

Or you can get black out covers, which are either velcro, magnetic or static. (Not tried these)

Does the lintel extend a long way either side of the window? We had an issue with one of our windows so had to put a much longer pole than I intended. The curtains sit against the wall either side of the window.

I am going to tell you what everyone else is saying, you need to borrow or hire an SDS drill, even a corded drill is not going to be strong enough. This video of this fantastic chap (engineer) tells you that SDS is the only way to drill into concrete and explains about lintels and wall construction. He also has other videos on SDS drills and a whole host of other DIY videos which are incredibly informative.

o

Perfect fit no drill blinds. You don't need to use Hillary's. Still not a cheap option but the best way to get a really good blackout easily.

We have steel lintels and used perfect fit blackout blinds on the bedroom windows. They fit in a frame against the actual glass and don't rely on support from walls.

I feel your pain OP, we have concrete lintels in this house. The last time we put a curtain rail up, we used a whacking great drill and masonry bits. The concrete was so hard it blunted the drill bits, and we got nowhere. The masonry dust actually melted and stuck to the end of the drill bit.

We need new curtains and blinds. I'm going to get Hillarys to come out and fit them.

It might be steel, it’s hard to tell. It looks grey in the bottom of the hole - I assumed concrete, but of course, could be steel.

the big sds drill sounds good in theory but dh is categorically useless at any diy that doesn’t involve things he can buy in b&q. I do all the diy. I’m not sure I am ready for a drill of that calibre. We do have a handyman but he’s very expensive for small jobs - I’d have to find him a few days work.

the lintels extend wider than the window, and the window is big- 240 cm. To be fair, thinking about all other times we’ve done curtains, we’ve had the same problem. I’ve used no more nails in addition to what I drilled today, and it seems to be holding pretty solid now- we will see when the curtains go up I guess. It’s a lightweight aluminium track though so hopefully not too heavy.

thanks all for your insight and help. It’s very much appreciated. 🌺

Can I just say. Ffs. Why oh why do they make houses like this?

designed by a man perchance? It's like it's a fucking revelation that people need to put up window coverings. Duuuuuh!

Grrr. Don't even get me started on plumbing and impossible to clean radiators and equally impossible to undo valves etc.

I mean. In this day and age Theo has to be a better way ?

We have one of those. It's impossible to drill it so we just have no blind in the kitchen. I may look at click and fit now I've discovered it.