Hello, D-I-Y wizards. I need to re-fix a venetian blind to my lounge window recess. The "ceiling" (i.e. the top) of this recess is of plasterboard, with a void behind it. Previously, in my ignorance, I had screwed the blind's retaining brackets to the top of the recess, with ordinary screws, but later, I found out that it was only plasterboard (i had believed that there was wood behind the plasterboard, but there is not). Now, on dull days, whenever my wife raises the blind, I think of the precariousness of its anchorage, and I shudder.
Recently, I discovered Fischer Hollow Wall Anchors (Rawlplug makes a similar fitting), and bought some, with the intention of securing the blind's holding-brackets with these, thus providing a secure machine-thread fix on one of the two holes in each of the three brackets, at least.
This house was built in 1947, and, when I think that the plasterboard at the top of the window recess is three-eighths of an inch thick, I am only guessing. The words on the Fischer fixings packet state that the maximum thickness for any fix is 12mm. Now, the holding-bracket to be fixed is 2 (maybe 2.5) mm thick. If the plasterboard is indeed 9mm (three eighths of an inch) thick (that's a total of 11.5mm), I have also to allow for the thickness of the plaster skim on the board (also the wood-chip wallpaper). So, even at the best, it looks as if it will be touch and go. Also, if I drill the 8mm diameter hole that the Fischer fittings require, my boats will have been burned.
So, I am inviting comments, from those knowledgeable and interested enough to do so, about the following:
A) Can anyone think of a safer, more certain alternative to the Fischer fixings? (I like its machine thread option, because once the Fischer fitting is fixed, the thread may be used repeatedly, whereas, over time, the thread of a plastic plug-type fitting, driven in, then screwed into, could be spoiled, through repeated use.)
B) Given the known building date of this house, can anyone say, with certainty, what thickness of plasterboard was generally used in the late 1940s? Is this plasterboard most likely to be three eighths of an inch thick?
Any other helpful comments would be received gratefully. With thanks in advance to any correspondents,
A.W.
Recently, I discovered Fischer Hollow Wall Anchors (Rawlplug makes a similar fitting), and bought some, with the intention of securing the blind's holding-brackets with these, thus providing a secure machine-thread fix on one of the two holes in each of the three brackets, at least.
This house was built in 1947, and, when I think that the plasterboard at the top of the window recess is three-eighths of an inch thick, I am only guessing. The words on the Fischer fixings packet state that the maximum thickness for any fix is 12mm. Now, the holding-bracket to be fixed is 2 (maybe 2.5) mm thick. If the plasterboard is indeed 9mm (three eighths of an inch) thick (that's a total of 11.5mm), I have also to allow for the thickness of the plaster skim on the board (also the wood-chip wallpaper). So, even at the best, it looks as if it will be touch and go. Also, if I drill the 8mm diameter hole that the Fischer fittings require, my boats will have been burned.
So, I am inviting comments, from those knowledgeable and interested enough to do so, about the following:
A) Can anyone think of a safer, more certain alternative to the Fischer fixings? (I like its machine thread option, because once the Fischer fitting is fixed, the thread may be used repeatedly, whereas, over time, the thread of a plastic plug-type fitting, driven in, then screwed into, could be spoiled, through repeated use.)
B) Given the known building date of this house, can anyone say, with certainty, what thickness of plasterboard was generally used in the late 1940s? Is this plasterboard most likely to be three eighths of an inch thick?
Any other helpful comments would be received gratefully. With thanks in advance to any correspondents,
A.W.
