Hello chaps,
This is my first post here and, initially, I wasn't quite sure where to post. Then I looked at my walls again, and I instinctively knew...
First, a tiny bit of info. I lived in the UK until about two months ago, but then a good job took me to Austria. I found an ideal apartment in Vienna and then moved in about three weeks ago. The only real downside was the complete and total lack of curtain rails or, more precisely, fittings to hold the aforementioned curtain rails.
Now, I've never attempted any DIY before, but what could be simpler than drilling a few holes and screwing a few brackets into the wall...?
As it turns out, the two most obvious answers to this are "Nuclear Physics (Advanced)" and "Chinese arithmetic (in Urdu)".
God alone knows what my walls are made of, but it appears to be someting akin to biscuit. As soon as the drill bit starts to bite, the wall starts crumbling and flaking. In fact, the drill bit goes through it as though it's a particularly fresh digestive. This inevitably results in holes that are somewhat wider than initially envisaged.
The wall plugs go into place incredibly easily, but then the walls are so fragile that the screws just cause them to rotate in place, widening the holes even further. This also means that the screwsonly go in so far before they just start rotating along with the wall plugs. Needless to say, the brackets end up not being secured to the walls and the weight of a curtain rail just rips them out of the wall (leaving crater-sized holes in their wakes).
I've had to use the Austrian equivalent of Polyfilla to cover my mistakes, but my previously pristine walls have now taken on the appearance of Swiss cheese.
Frankly, I'm at my wits' end. Worse still, so is my girlfriend. I've reached the point where I haven't got a ****ing clue what to do in order to salvage the siuation. My ego lies in tatters on the plaster covered floor and I'm sorely tempted to shunt the drill up my nose and have done with the whole thing.
PLEASE!!!! There MUST be someone out there who can provide some helpful advice! Any helpful suggestions would be ENORMOUSLY appreciated. My sanity is in your hands...
Cheers
Utterly-Useless-Matt
This is my first post here and, initially, I wasn't quite sure where to post. Then I looked at my walls again, and I instinctively knew...
First, a tiny bit of info. I lived in the UK until about two months ago, but then a good job took me to Austria. I found an ideal apartment in Vienna and then moved in about three weeks ago. The only real downside was the complete and total lack of curtain rails or, more precisely, fittings to hold the aforementioned curtain rails.
Now, I've never attempted any DIY before, but what could be simpler than drilling a few holes and screwing a few brackets into the wall...?
As it turns out, the two most obvious answers to this are "Nuclear Physics (Advanced)" and "Chinese arithmetic (in Urdu)".
God alone knows what my walls are made of, but it appears to be someting akin to biscuit. As soon as the drill bit starts to bite, the wall starts crumbling and flaking. In fact, the drill bit goes through it as though it's a particularly fresh digestive. This inevitably results in holes that are somewhat wider than initially envisaged.
The wall plugs go into place incredibly easily, but then the walls are so fragile that the screws just cause them to rotate in place, widening the holes even further. This also means that the screwsonly go in so far before they just start rotating along with the wall plugs. Needless to say, the brackets end up not being secured to the walls and the weight of a curtain rail just rips them out of the wall (leaving crater-sized holes in their wakes).
I've had to use the Austrian equivalent of Polyfilla to cover my mistakes, but my previously pristine walls have now taken on the appearance of Swiss cheese.
Frankly, I'm at my wits' end. Worse still, so is my girlfriend. I've reached the point where I haven't got a ****ing clue what to do in order to salvage the siuation. My ego lies in tatters on the plaster covered floor and I'm sorely tempted to shunt the drill up my nose and have done with the whole thing.
PLEASE!!!! There MUST be someone out there who can provide some helpful advice! Any helpful suggestions would be ENORMOUSLY appreciated. My sanity is in your hands...
Cheers
Utterly-Useless-Matt