[Closed] Curtain rail steel lintel hell

Hss High speed steel, bits should be what you're after really, or similar. If they've got a pointy spike on the end they're specifically wood bits.

Difficult to know exactly what you're drilling into. Could it be an RSJ if it's so hard...?

buy longer curtains...

Wood bits tend to have a brad point. If you are drilling steel you only need to drill a pilot big enough to allow the point of your final drill size through as this is the bit of a drill that can not cut. Look at the end and you will see what I mean.

Must be a wide window to have a steel UB.
The steal beam would usually be covered in plaster board and have chogs of wood or an length already bolted inside the web for you to attach to.

Blind man (not actually blind) did our blind recently into steel. Even with his super drill and bits he broke 3 doing the 8 screws.... I guess they're just hard to drill. He had about 200 drill bits so i think it's just par for the course.

Glue it to the wall.

dont like doing it but in my front room its steel lintel

So i just used sticks like shit to stick a piece of trim to the wall and screwed my curtains to that ......

Depends on weight of your curtains mind but youll be surprised how well that shit sticks if you have the surface area to take it.

Not sure of this is better or worse than completely missing the steel and trying to mount it on the plasterboard 😐

I thought I was lucky with cast lintels. SDS = win!

The only steel lintel I have used was a catnic, so had brick to use as an anchor. Do you not have a course of bricks to fasten in to?

Just glue a bit of wood up there for an easy life.

rare earth magnets 🙂

I too hate curtains and have one or two tantrums about them in the past 🙂

I'll agree with the "glue a plank of wood to the wall" approach here. Painted to match the wall it won't be too obtrusive, you could even make it a minor feature if you put a profile around the edge.

We also have glued planks, a few longer to extend beyond lintel and so have a couple screws at extremes.

use No More Nails to glue a wooden batten to the wall above the window, paint and screw the curtain rail in to that.

QED

(quite easily done)

edit...too slow.

There are temperature limitations to using Glue such as No More Nails - if you are using it in a room like a conservatory you may find that the working range is exceeded.

At least my folks did down south - I'm in Scotland so no such risk

Do you know if it's an "RSJ" , a box section or a catnic lintel ? If you are snapping bits then you are either not drilling straight or the bit is slipping into one of the small holes in the catnic.
Drill through the plaster till you get to the steel face, then swop to the HSS bit. I've always found slowing the drill speed down helps . Make sure bit is sharp and is not some cheap Chinese poo.
All else fails , you could try Tek Screwing the brackets (may not look pretty), or using the bonded wooden plank method to cover up your previous attempts 😉

As suggested, fix a curtain batten and then the curtain rail to that. Use something like three inch by three-quarters timber/MDF for the curtain batten, preferably with a pencil round on two edges. Gripfill it on (or similar adhesive) use small pins to temporary hold the curtain batten on until the gripfill goes off, or use longer nails that can be pulled out later. 24 hours later fix the curtain rail to the curtain batten using something like one inch screws. It does look better imo if the curtain batten is painted to match the wall.

I have to say this is one job I voluntarily emasculate myself, and get a man in. I don't even attempt them now.

There's only so much swearing my wife can put up with, so surprisingly she agrees.

It costs (I think) £25 an hour. Say a couple of hours. But he'll have a drill better than mine, and bits much better. And he'll have more of them. No having to drive to a hardware to fork over vast amounts on a sunday afternoon.

I did this recently and, as above, I drilled with a standard masonry bit until I hit the steel lintel then swapped over to a high speed bit. The blind is actually really well secured too.

All pretty good advice up there but be aware there are HSS bits and HSS bits.

To get through a hard material you may need to upgrade to cobalt bits, these are a much harder bit so will cut better. Also, with metal drilling, faster isn't better - by the time it's screaming and glowing red the bit's knackered and you're going to need another one anyway, whatever it cost.

I would ignore all the above advice about glueing, wooden battens and the rest. Persevere with your drilling and you can be sure your curtains/blinds will be 100% secure.

Wow. I thought I was a pretty mediocre DIYist, but you lot have made me feel alot better about myself. Thanks!

Pilot hole to metal, then metal bit and less speed btw. Also, don't underestimate your actual position relative to the drilling. If you can't exert some force in a straight line you'll be there, breaking bits all day, and then cursing when they're jammed in the metal.

Battern unless light weight curtains and fully hidden by pelmet is a bodge in my non expert bodgemaster opinion. I had the same problem recently - was using a crap drill and cheese hss bit. Borrowed my brothers decent drill and bits and jobs a good un. A good workman always blames his tools.

you could even make it a minor feature if you put a profile around the edge

Even more minor when you cover it over with a curtain pole and curtains!

Glueing a plank to the wall sounds like a bodge. And I'm not usually one to complain about bodges that make life easy.

Good drill and good bits should go through a lintle with a bit of patience. Its not magic.

Not sure of this is better or worse than completely missing the steel and trying to mount it on the plasterboard

[img] https://encrypted-tbn3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSP1-p5QDMxZDqqXB85IK20niOnezpvSCdCbxhm0i0f2w1JPqkS [/img]

those would be worse than gluing the damn thing.

Those things only have one place in a house and thats in the bin.

intersets all day long those ****ing abominations are good for nothing.

FWIW the previous owner of my house stuck up shelves with no more nails or similar.... judging by the colour they had been there for a while and i wasnt aware they were no more nailsed so had been loading them up with books and shit..... never moved an inch . Only found out when i went to remove it !

Glueing a plank to the wall sounds like a bodge.

Curtain battens fixed with gripfill is the standard on all new traditional builds by the major house builders, especially where there's dot and dab plasterboard. Obviously timber framed houses don't need them.

In fact local authorities require curtain battens to be included in their minimum requirements for affordable housing. Example :

[url= http://consult-ldf.n-somerset.gov.uk/consult.ti/AH_SPD/viewCompoundDoc?docid=3827476&partId=3829812&sessionid=&voteid= ]Affordable Housing Supplementary Planning Document consultation[/url]

Last item on the page :

[i]"Painted softwood curtain battens to each window (where construction is traditional as opposed to timber frame)."[/i]

Try living in a solid wall, Wimpy "no-fines" house. Walls are cast from a slurry of pebbles & cement. Long ago gave up trying to drill it. If I'm hanging anything heavy (kitchen cabinets, radiators etc) for these days I knock out 1" square & fill with quick drying mortar, then press the raw plug in to that.

Or try living in a 150 year old flat. Drilling into the walls is a real lottery as you just don't know what is behind the plaster. Sometimes it drills nicely and you get a good fix with a plug, sometimes you hit what I guess is engineering brick which even with a good drill and bit takes ages to drill into and sometimes the drill bit goes thru the plaster then straight into the wall without needing to be turning at all - I guess lime mortar in the inner rubble wall. NO plug holds in that. Its a real pain when whatever you are fixing to the wall needs drilling in a specific place as you have no idea if a plug will hold or not there

those would be worse than gluing the damn thing.

Those things only have one place in a house and thats in the bin.

intersets all day long those **** abominations are good for nothing.

Conversely I thing they're great.

No drilling and never had one pull out.

Simple. Drill your holes at 2mm. Use a nice new bit. Do not apply to much pressure as this is a cause of bits snapping, let the drill do the work. Then swap the supplied screws for self tapping screws.

Wrong...wrong...wrong

[url= https://www.hilti.co.uk/direct-fastening/general-purpose-powder-actuated-tools-and-cartridges/r2647 ]FTW[/url]

😈

Glue the batten to the wall? I don't think I've ever had a house with flat enough walls to do that...

All pretty good advice up there but be aware there are HSS bits and HSS bits.

To get through a hard material you may need to upgrade to cobalt bits, these are a much harder bit so will cut better. Also, with metal drilling, faster isn't better - by the time it's screaming and glowing red the bit's knackered and you're going to need another one anyway, whatever it cost

This...Thanks tinybits!

I picked up a set of cobalt bits form my local hardware store and took it easy with the drill speed, pausing every 10 secs or so for the bit to cool and working up from a smaller pilot to the size of hole I needed. Easy when you know how!

I suspect my previous 'HSS' bits were made of toffee.