Hello,

The other day a curtain pole fell down without warning. It was an old
pole that had been there when we moved into the house so I decided to
take the opportunity to replace it with a fresh shiny one. The new one
comes with two nylon wall plugs.

I drilled two holes for the plugs but it seems that the wall above the
windows consists of very flaky plaster over nothing. The hole is too
small to see into but after going through the surface, there doesn't
seem to be any resistance on the drill bit. It's as if there's a big
hole! Could it be that the builders bricked up to the window and then
in the foot or so above the window got lazy and just put plaster over
that wire mesh stuff that they use? (This is a bedroom window so has
nothing above it).

What is the best thing to use to anchor the curtain pole into the
wall? The problem is that the curtain pole bracket has a screw hole in
the back and comes with a double-ended thread so that one end screws
into the bracket and the other end screws into the wall IYSWIM.

TIA.

Hello again,

The plaster over mesh thing wasn't as far-fetched as it might sound.
The builders decided (in the 1970s) to put out soil pipe inside the
cavity wall. Outside are bricks, in the middle is the soil pipe, and
on the other side is the mesh with plaster over. I hope I never need
to access the soil pipe!

I have drilled another hole and it seems that the window is not like
this. There is flaky plaster over a breeze block. The problem is that
the wall plug (and I'm using proper rawl ones, not the cheap ones
included with the rail) are expanding in the plaster section, rather
than inside the block. The double-threaded thing, simply does not go
far enough to reach the block. When the plug tries to expand, the
plaster is simply crumbling around it so that it will not secure.

Any ideas?

Thanks.
Sam.

Sam wrote:
Hello again,

The plaster over mesh thing wasn't as far-fetched as it might sound.
The builders decided (in the 1970s) to put out soil pipe inside the
cavity wall. Outside are bricks, in the middle is the soil pipe, and
on the other side is the mesh with plaster over. I hope I never need
to access the soil pipe!

I have drilled another hole and it seems that the window is not like
this. There is flaky plaster over a breeze block. The problem is that
the wall plug (and I'm using proper rawl ones, not the cheap ones
included with the rail) are expanding in the plaster section, rather
than inside the block. The double-threaded thing, simply does not go
far enough to reach the block. When the plug tries to expand, the
plaster is simply crumbling around it so that it will not secure.

Any ideas?

Thanks.
Sam.

Invest in intelligent curtain poles that shout out a warning before they
fall off the wall. :-)

Possibly drill a larger hole that goes well into the breeze and fill it
- with dowel, a piece of wood, car body filler - before screwing the
bracket to that.

--
Rod

Hypothyroidism is a seriously debilitating condition with an insidious
onset.
Although common it frequently goes undiagnosed.
www.thyromind.info www.thyroiduk.org www.altsupportthyroid.org

On Wed, 12 Nov 2008 13:21:46 +0000, Rod
wrote:

Sam wrote:
Hello again,

The plaster over mesh thing wasn't as far-fetched as it might sound.
The builders decided (in the 1970s) to put out soil pipe inside the
cavity wall. Outside are bricks, in the middle is the soil pipe, and
on the other side is the mesh with plaster over. I hope I never need
to access the soil pipe!

I have drilled another hole and it seems that the window is not like
this. There is flaky plaster over a breeze block. The problem is that
the wall plug (and I'm using proper rawl ones, not the cheap ones
included with the rail) are expanding in the plaster section, rather
than inside the block. The double-threaded thing, simply does not go
far enough to reach the block. When the plug tries to expand, the
plaster is simply crumbling around it so that it will not secure.

Any ideas?

Thanks.
Sam.

Invest in intelligent curtain poles that shout out a warning before they
fall off the wall. :-)

Possibly drill a larger hole that goes well into the breeze and fill it
- with dowel, a piece of wood, car body filler - before screwing the
bracket to that.

Maybe bite the bullet and cut away all the plaster where the pole is
to go and fix a piece of timber securely to the breeze blocks and then
plaster or plasterboard over it then fit the rail .

"Sam" wrote in message
...
Hello again,

The plaster over mesh thing wasn't as far-fetched as it might sound.
The builders decided (in the 1970s) to put out soil pipe inside the
cavity wall. Outside are bricks, in the middle is the soil pipe, and
on the other side is the mesh with plaster over. I hope I never need
to access the soil pipe!

I have drilled another hole and it seems that the window is not like
this. There is flaky plaster over a breeze block. The problem is that
the wall plug (and I'm using proper rawl ones, not the cheap ones
included with the rail) are expanding in the plaster section, rather
than inside the block. The double-threaded thing, simply does not go
far enough to reach the block. When the plug tries to expand, the
plaster is simply crumbling around it so that it will not secure.

Any ideas?

Thanks.

Do what most people end up doing. Fix a wooden batten along the wall above
the window with big screws into the brieze block. Paint the wood to match
the wall so it becomes mostly invisible. Fix curtain pole to this.


--
Bob Mannix
(anti-spam is as easy as 1-2-3 - not)

On Wed, 12 Nov 2008 13:36:45 -0000, Bob Mannix wrote:

"Sam" wrote in message
...
[19 quoted lines suppressed]

Do what most people end up doing. Fix a wooden batten along the wall above
the window with big screws into the brieze block. Paint the wood to match
the wall so it becomes mostly invisible. Fix curtain pole to this.

with big screws.....or if you have ever lived in a victorian place where
the walls seem to be made of god knows what...with No More Nails!


Steve

Steve wrote:
On Wed, 12 Nov 2008 13:36:45 -0000, Bob Mannix wrote:

"Sam" wrote in message
...
[19 quoted lines suppressed]

Do what most people end up doing. Fix a wooden batten along the wall
above the window with big screws into the brieze block. Paint the
wood to match the wall so it becomes mostly invisible. Fix curtain
pole to this.

with big screws.....or if you have ever lived in a victorian place
where the walls seem to be made of god knows what...with No More
Nails!

I've done the same many times, using screws - and No More Nails to make
sure. If you use MDF for the batten you can emulsion straight over it to
match the wall.


--
Dave - The Medway Handyman
www.medwayhandyman.co.uk

Steve wrote:

with big screws.....or if you have ever lived in a victorian place where
the walls seem to be made of god knows what...with No More Nails!

BTDTGTTS. I had to re-attach a curtain rail in my mother's house with
(IIRC) 3" no. 10 screws to get a decent fixing into something solid. I
wouldn't use anything near that to hang kitchen cabinets in my modern house!
--
Hugo Nebula
"If no-one on the internet wants a piece of this,
just how far from the pack have you strayed"?

"The Medway Handyman" wrote in message
news
Steve wrote:
On Wed, 12 Nov 2008 13:36:45 -0000, Bob Mannix wrote:

"Sam" wrote in message
...
[19 quoted lines suppressed]

Do what most people end up doing. Fix a wooden batten along the wall
above the window with big screws into the brieze block. Paint the
wood to match the wall so it becomes mostly invisible. Fix curtain
pole to this.

with big screws.....or if you have ever lived in a victorian place
where the walls seem to be made of god knows what...with No More
Nails!

I've done the same many times, using screws - and No More Nails to make
sure. If you use MDF for the batten you can emulsion straight over it to
match the wall.


To be fair, if you use tree wood you can emulsion straight over it (well
after knotting compund). Most builders use the wall emulsion as the primer
(and undercoat if they're really hurrying) for the skirting boards. The
fitting screw go better into tree wood than into MDF IMHO.


--
Bob Mannix
(anti-spam is as easy as 1-2-3 - not)