Curtain batten frustration

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Birmingham
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The last curtain pole and batten fell down when the windows had been wide open and it had ripped from the wall during stormy weather. They’d been up for the four years we’ve been here and who knows how long before that.

This week, I decided to put up a new batten and curtain rail.

The window aperture is 2030mm. I used standard 20.5 x 69 x 2400mm redwood from Wickes.

I drilled holes either side. All four holes were six inches away from the side edges of the window. The topmost holes were six inches above the top edge of the window.

Even then, the best I could manage were 35mm holes using bosch multi construction bits on hammer mode. Walls are brick.

I used fischer nylon plugs and fixed the batten up. Went in nice and straight. Added decorators caulking to hide the tiny gap between the bottom of the batten and the wall. Painted over it.

Today, affixed the curtain brackets and rail went up. All good. Hung the (rather heavy) curtains up. Top edge of the batten started coming away from the wall. Whilst removing the curtain rail and curtains, the bottom screws and plugs came out of the wall. The batten is still hanging on the wall by virtue of that caulking!

Where do i go from here?
 
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I usually supplement the mechanical fixings by cleaning off any paint or paper behind the batten and giving it a good wiggle (technical term for zig-zag bead) of no nails or similar before fixing.
35mm is not a lot the first 10 at least will be only plaster I would be going for 50mm at least.
If the brick id hard treat yourself to an SDS drill and bits you will be amazed at the difference it makes!! Don't mess with cordless ones, corded are cheaper and usually give more bang for your buck.(y)
 
I usually supplement the mechanical fixings by cleaning off any paint or paper behind the batten and giving it a good wiggle (technical term for zig-zag bead) of no nails or similar before fixing.
35mm is not a lot the first 10 at least will be only plaster I would be going for 50mm at least.
If the brick id hard treat yourself to an SDS drill and bits you will be amazed at the difference it makes!! Don't mess with cordless ones, corded are cheaper and usually give more bang for your buck.(y)
Thanks. Before I saw your reply, I decided to cut off the wallpaper behind where the batten was and consider using a grab adhesive. Look at what I found underneath:

B62746FE-C922-4098-A331-A5130EB2C6CA.jpeg
(Excuse the crappy panoramic photo off my iphone)

You can see my vertical holes at either end but in between are 9 rawlplugs embedded. Not sure how secure they are but I’m now considering using them to help me fasten the batten.
 
Well I ended up using Sticks like s**t adhesive and screwed the batten using 7 rawlplugs (two were either side of the central one and felt flimsy). Curtain pole up. Heavy curtains up.

Fingers crossed it all stays up.
 
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I always drill my fixing holes, so the entire plug length is able to go into the brick, mortar, or concrete beneath any plaster and push the plug all the way in. You should never rely upon part of the fixing being made in the plaster, because it can blow the plaster off as the screw expands the plug, even if it doesn't - it will be a much weaker fixing.

To drill masonry and concrete, an SDS bit and drill will drill a clean hole in seconds with no effort.
 
I always drill my fixing holes, so the entire plug length is able to go into the brick, mortar, or concrete beneath any plaster and push the plug all the way in. You should never rely upon part of the fixing being made in the plaster, because it can blow the plaster off as the screw expands the plug, even if it doesn't - it will be a much weaker fixing.
Normally that's what I do. For every fixing. Brown wall plugs. 7mm drill bit. Deep enough so the whole wall plug is within the brick work. But I kept hitting what I presume was the lintel (even at six inches above and to the side of the window). No idea if it was concrete or steel but HSS or masonary drill bits weren't going through it. I had no SDS drill so I was sort of stuck.
 
Normally that's what I do. For every fixing. Brown wall plugs. 7mm drill bit. Deep enough so the whole wall plug is within the brick work. But I kept hitting what I presume was the lintel (even at six inches above and to the side of the window). No idea if it was concrete or steel but HSS or masonary drill bits weren't going through it. I had no SDS drill so I was sort of stuck.

If you were hitting lintel, then then its unlikely the lintel would be covered by brick, rather it would be covered by just plaster. The usual way to deal with a steel lintel is to drill and tap it. A concrete lintel will certainly need an SDS drill. Brown plugs shouldn't be necessary for that, red ones are normally adequate with #8 screws.
 

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