Fixing curtain rails to lintels

[CAMRAMan]

Having just moved into a new, new house, I've encountered lintels over the windows. Plasterboard surrounding, natch.


If I wanted to fit a curtain rail is it just a case of using a hammer drill and masonry bit combo?

[Diver300]

Having just moved into a new, new house, I've encountered lintels over the windows. Plasterboard surrounding, natch.


If I wanted to fit a curtain rail is it just a case of using a hammer drill and masonry bit combo?

Basically, yes, as long as they are concrete lintels, not steel.

SDS drills will drive 6 - 8 mm holes into concrete in seconds. Conventional hammer drills with chucks that you tighten may struggle.

Make sure that you go far enough into the concrete lintel that the screw/plug will grip, so you need to increase the screw length by the thickness of the plasterboard, and make sure that the plug is all the way into the lintel, and it's not in the plasterboard.

If there is a gap between the plasterboard and the lintel, you need a tube around the screw so that you don't distort and crack the plasterboard. The screw head tightens against the curtain bracket, the bracket tightens against the tube, and the tube tightens against the lintel. I've used 15 mm copper pipe for that.

[Wombat]

If its a new house, then surely a steel lintel is far more likely?  They are not easy, having found this the hard way myself.  It may be a case of drilling through the plasterboard and seeing what lies beneath.  If a steel lintel then the appropriate drill (i.e. a normal HSS
 or cobalt drill) will do the biz, but if its a long way back, then a conventional plug may be tricky.  Options may include putting the curtain rail right at the top of the wall above the lintel, so you're into conventional blockwork, but in many case the lintel is high enough that this isn't an option. 

if it is a concrete lintel, then as said before, an SDS drill is just so much better and less dramatic than a conventional hammer drill.  Less 'orrible bloodcurdling noise, too!

If its a timber framed house, then....  umm, find out how its built!

[rafletcher]

Steel lintels are best drilled (not hammer mode) with cobalt drills.

[chrisbainbridge]

Advice from our curtain man was to go above the lintel and he does it to his job. From my experience I would agree

[robgul]

I'd be surprised if it's not a steel lintel on a new build - I fitted a curtain rail by drilling the plasterboard and then (keeping the drill bit aligned) drilled into/through the steel lintel - then used a long "frame screw" (the things that come with their own plastic plug) by fitting the screw/plug in the hole and into the lintel - then removing the screw to fit the pole bracket and putting the screw back (turning it slowly to keep it straight and going into the lintel) - it worked!

The alternative option is to fix a wooden batten to the wall using a plasterboard cavity fixing every 30 cm or so - then screw the curtain pole brackets to the batten.

On the subject of drilling into concrete - I'm currently drilling holes in some concrete fence posts to attach some wood cladding - my non-SDS drill is finding it a challenge (that's using the heavy duty JCB corded drill, not the battery jobbie)

[Polar Bear]

My preferred way is to fit a wooden batten well above the window if there is space.  Make it significantly wider than the window so you can have long, wide curtains which look nice when swagged over ties when drawn back but also look smart when drawn closed and fully obscure the window.

Of course, if there is a radiator beneath the window this rather ruins the whole aesthetic.  Why do they put rators beneath windows?  It means that you cannot realistically have floor length curtains.

[Mrs Pingu]

My preferred way is to fit a wooden batten well above the window if there is space.  Make it significantly wider than the window so you can have long, wide curtains which look nice when swagged over ties when drawn back but also look smart when drawn closed and fully obscure the window.

Of course, if there is a radiator beneath the window this rather ruins the whole aesthetic.  Why do they put rators beneath windows?  It means that you cannot realistically have floor length curtains.

Physics. I believe the hot air from the radiator is supposed to be carried into the room when it meets cold air from the windae. Or something like that.

[chrisbainbridge]

My preferred way is to fit a wooden batten well above the window if there is space.  Make it significantly wider than the window so you can have long, wide curtains which look nice when swagged over ties when drawn back but also look smart when drawn closed and fully obscure the window.

Of course, if there is a radiator beneath the window this rather ruins the whole aesthetic.  Why do they put rators beneath windows?  It means that you cannot realistically have floor length curtains.

I think because before double glazing it was a way of beating the convector air and it freed up wall space for furniture in smaller rooms.
When we built out own home all the radiators were on inside walls. Interestingly our present habitation for the reverends job has radiators where possible on inside walls.

[Ham]

My preferred way is to fit a wooden batten well above the window if there is space.  Make it significantly wider than the window so you can have long, wide curtains which look nice when swagged over ties when drawn back but also look smart when drawn closed and fully obscure the window.

This.

If you can. get a Kirsch Superfine track. They are probably the best available for a non-professional and they fit perfectly onto a 2 x 1 batten, too (with care pre-drilling the end brackets so that you don't split the end of the batten. You may be able to source them from a local curtain store. They are corded and adjustable, for size and draw.

[FifeingEejit]

My preferred way is to fit a wooden batten well above the window if there is space.  Make it significantly wider than the window so you can have long, wide curtains which look nice when swagged over ties when drawn back but also look smart when drawn closed and fully obscure the window.

Of course, if there is a radiator beneath the window this rather ruins the whole aesthetic.  Why do they put rators beneath windows?  It means that you cannot realistically have floor length curtains.

As well as the mentioned circulation reasons, it's wall space that's not going to be used for anything else.

[CAMRAMan]

In some of the rooms I can fit a batten above the window, or indeed mount the curtain pole directly. In the lounge, however - a bit of a goldfish bowl - there isn't the height above the window. My HSS bit has succumbed, so off to Screwfix tomorrow.

[Ham]

If you have less than 2" above the reveal, consider fixing to the ceiling.