We moved into this house just over a year ago - it's a 1958 semi, that's had quite a few extensions. Before the winter, we're trying to get decent curtain poles and curtains up - at the moment, not very many rooms have these, or they have useless blinds.
We've got several problems. On the side of the house is a garage which was converted into a room about 15 years ago. We reckon the conversion was really just putting flooring down and plastering the walls. It has a decent double-glazed window and door which runs the full width (2.2m) and height of the room at the front, so obviously we can't just put up a curtain pole above it. The walls on either side seem to me to be plasterboard straight onto brick. The ceiling looks like some kind of painted wood, and sounds hollow. We have the same setup in the utility room which could also do with curtains, though this room is narrower. What's the best way of getting a pole up? I had thought that it could be attched to the ceiling in some way, but I don't know if this would hold.
Secondly, in the bedrooms, the walls above the windows sounds pretty solid, but when we get screws in, they seem very loose. One pole has already fallen down, pulling the screws and plugs out with it. Wonder if there's maybe some sort of lintel? It's daft really as it sounds so solid!
And thirdly, the dining end of the kitchen has a window which runs the whole width of the room. What's the best way of getting a curtain over it? The top of the window is level with the ceiling; one wall on one side sounds solid, the other sounds hollow.
Amazingly, I think this is a pretty solid, well-built house, but over the years it's been knocked about and bodged a lot!
Any ideas appreciated - I have no real idea about DIY - be gentle! I'm happy to go and measure/tap anything!
David
We've got several problems. On the side of the house is a garage which was converted into a room about 15 years ago. We reckon the conversion was really just putting flooring down and plastering the walls. It has a decent double-glazed window and door which runs the full width (2.2m) and height of the room at the front, so obviously we can't just put up a curtain pole above it. The walls on either side seem to me to be plasterboard straight onto brick. The ceiling looks like some kind of painted wood, and sounds hollow. We have the same setup in the utility room which could also do with curtains, though this room is narrower. What's the best way of getting a pole up? I had thought that it could be attched to the ceiling in some way, but I don't know if this would hold.
Secondly, in the bedrooms, the walls above the windows sounds pretty solid, but when we get screws in, they seem very loose. One pole has already fallen down, pulling the screws and plugs out with it. Wonder if there's maybe some sort of lintel? It's daft really as it sounds so solid!
And thirdly, the dining end of the kitchen has a window which runs the whole width of the room. What's the best way of getting a curtain over it? The top of the window is level with the ceiling; one wall on one side sounds solid, the other sounds hollow.
Amazingly, I think this is a pretty solid, well-built house, but over the years it's been knocked about and bodged a lot!
Any ideas appreciated - I have no real idea about DIY - be gentle! I'm happy to go and measure/tap anything!
David