Curtain Rail

[cwhaley]

I know curtain rails have been done to death on here, but I can't find anything specific for my query... I put a curtain rail up last year into a bay window. It is a fairly wide bay with large thermal curtains with lots of weight to them.

Naturally the area above the window is peppered with holes after 70+ years of holes being drilled there. I managed to get 5 of the 6 pole support arms secured into the brick but one of them is hanging in by a thread, as a result the curtain pole hangs down on one end.

There seems to be a void behind the plaster at that arm -- every exploratory hole I drilled revealed a void behind the plaster. As a result I can't get a good grip for the plugs. Anybody know of something I could fill the void behind with (without removing any more plaster), let try and then try again? Something like expanding foam but much stronger?

I know I could take the whole lot down, fit painted lengths of timber and then fix to this but I don't want to go to that effort for one failed fixing point. There is no metal lintel above the window only a single skin of brick which rests on the window frame.

 

[Tigercubrider]

you could fill the hole with epoxy putty and fit the screw in, (using a plug) or use quick set mortar, same process.
I have also whittled a bit of wood to a close fit and hammered it in.

 

[cwhaley]

you could fill the hole with epoxy putty and fit the screw in, (using a plug) or use quick set mortar, same process.
I have also whittled a bit of wood to a close fit and hammered it in.

I've genuinely not heard of the epoxy stuff -- just seen some in Screwfix (made by the Easyfix brand). I'll take a look around and see if I could use it to secure the fixing. It's a horrible job with there only being weak plaster and single-skin brickwork to work with!

I did have to use a little bit of pine to strengthen one of the wall plugs but with little fixing material currently behind the 'problem hole' I think the epoxy solution would be better.

 

[ETAF]

i think thats made by rawlplug, i was recommended by thier support site to try this stuff - ON a Wall to anchor some bolts
https://www.screwfix.com/p/easyfix-...VS7DtCh39AAWzEAQYASABEgL5vPD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

filled the hole 50% with the stuff , and then pushed a bolt in, not quite the same as as you need
Holding a 4x4 post to the wall with a gate, worked really well for that application

what had you seen ?

 

[cwhaley]

i think thats made by rawlplug, i was recommended by thier support site to try this stuff - ON a Wall to anchor some bolts
https://www.screwfix.com/p/easyfix-...VS7DtCh39AAWzEAQYASABEgL5vPD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

what had you seen ?

Yes that's the same stuff as what I'd seen and mentioned above. I need to see where I can get a screw fixed in at least partially to a brick and then fill the void around it with this stuff. Messy and bodgy I know, but there's little else I can do.

 

[ETAF]

it comes out pretty fast, and i one use can - i used the 175ml size
the top has a spiral and mixes the 2 halves of the tube together
if a hollow, it may just all disappear inside
how big a hole do you have at the moment

is it just plasterboard you have or plaster on nothing ?

will any of the plasterboard fixings work, in combination with some resin or perhaps foam, although foam isnt any good to fix into
https://www.screwfix.com/c/screws-nails-fixings/plasterboard-fixings/cat840020

you can get zero expansion foam, they use on window frames
https://www.toolstation.com/exact-gap-hand-held-expanding-foam/p66044

the last time i used foam, it just kept on expanding and made a real mess

 

[cwhaley]

is it just plasterboard you have or plaster on nothing ?

will any of the plasterboard fixings work, in combination with some resin or perhaps foam, although foam isnt any good to fix into
https://www.screwfix.com/c/screws-nails-fixings/plasterboard-fixings/cat840020

you can get zero expansion foam, they use on window frames
https://www.toolstation.com/exact-gap-hand-held-expanding-foam/p66044

the last time i used foam, it just kept on expanding and made a real mess

Thanks -- it's just traditional render and skim over brick. I'm fine with the expanding foam but as you say it's not going to be strong enough to hold anything of weight.

I've had a bit of time to think about this and I think I'm just going to cut some lengths of pine to width of each bay window section, mitre each corner so they meet (I've got the angles from when I did the skirting) then prime/paint it the same colour as the walls. Will be a faff of a job but worth it I suppose.