Curtain Pole Fitting

The plugs and screws supplied with a pole are often not right for your wall, so we use fixings that suit the wall and the weight.

A common guide is to fit the pole typically 10 to 15 cm above the top of the window frame, and to extend it typically 15 to 25 cm past each side. The curtains then stack back off the glass, letting in more light. Where the ceiling is close, we use a ceiling-fixed track.

We measure before we drill:

• Width: The pole or track length, from the window width plus the stack-back each side.
• Drop: From the bottom of the rings or gliders to just above the sill, or just above the floor for full-length curtains.
• Overlap: On corded tracks, the centre arms overlap so the curtains meet without a gap.

Yes, but plasterboard alone holds only light curtains. For anything heavier we fix into the timber or metal studs behind the board, use heavy-duty cavity fixings, or fit a timber batten across the studs first and fix the brackets to that.

Other walls need their own approach:

• Concrete lintels: Drilled with a masonry bit, with plugs and screws sized for the load.
• Steel lintels: Common above windows in newer homes. We fix above or beside the lintel, onto a batten spanning it, or drill the steel with metal bits and use suitable screws, depending on the lintel.
• Lath and plaster: Found in older homes; we fix into the timber behind so the plaster does not crack or come away.

The strip close to the ceiling is one of the zones where electric cables are allowed to run, so we always check with a detector before drilling high on a wall.

A bay track is bent to follow the shape of the bay, then fixed to the wall or ceiling with brackets close to each corner and along each straight run, set far enough out for the curtains to clear handles and sills. A bay pole is joined with angled elbow joints, and passing brackets let the rings slide past the supports. We template the bay first so the bends land in the right place.

Blackout, thermal and interlined curtains are much heavier than unlined ones. They need a stronger pole or track, fixings into solid material, and a centre bracket on long runs so the pole does not bow.