Help please with baton for curtain pole

[Pebbles1]

Hi,

I'm new on here and need help. I joined another Forum before this one but left because people weren't reading my post properly to find out what I needed to do and so came up with many different suggestions which were not what I wanted to do (as it would be too hard for me) but were almost insisting I did them. lol

I had a curtain track in my living room which was fixed directly into the masonry wall with 8 screws. We are decorating and changing the room completely and I've gone for a brass, corded curtain pole to replace the curtain track. I'm doing the work myself (something I've always done as hubby wouldn't know one end of a screwdriver from the other) but need help with how to fix the pole.

My masonry walls are a devil to drill into even with a good Black and Decker drill and bit, even though the walls are extremely hard, they do tend to crumble when drilling a hole. It's a nightmare drilling holes just to put shelves up, let alone drilling the wall so high up for the pole. I'm not very tall and so have to be on the top rung of a ladder which I find a bit scary now that I'm 57 years old and in not so good health. It didn't worry me when I was younger. I can't afford to get someone in to do the job and don't have anyone that I can ask to do it for me so I NEED to do it myself.

The best option would be to use the existing holes (from the track) to fix a wooden baton onto the wall and then fix the curtain pole to this. It would be so much easier drilling into the wood than going through the hassle of trying to drill holes in the wood. On the other Forum they said "surely you can drill the holes with a good drill..you only need a few holes"...well no...I need to drill 15 holes for the brackets for the curtain pole. There are two end brackets and 3 for in between as the curtain pole is 11ft long, each bracket having 3 holes. I would be using 1 1/2" screws and No More Nails for extra support. I need to know how thick and deep the wood should be.

Someone said to use 4 x 1 but how can I when the screws are 1 1/2" long? I explained that the brackets were 2" high and that the screws were 1 1/2" long but I think it fell on deaf ears. I want the narrowest baton possible as I don't want it to be an eyesore, although I will be covering it with wallpaper. I really do need to know how deep it should be. If the screws are 1 1/2" long should the wood be the same depth or a little deeper? I was also told to zig-zag the screws to fix the baton, but I can't do that as the holes from the existing track are all in a line and, the whole point in my wanting to fix a baton, is so I don't have to drill any holes in the masonry. I know ideally, the curtain pole should be fixed to the wall, but I just can't do it that way.

Can anyone please advise me?

Thank you.

Pebbles1

 

[noseall]

Provided the drapes are not too heavy, i.e. lined velour and 7' tall then there is no reason why your plan won't work.

It will be possible albeit tricky to use the existing holes and plugs for the new curtain rail batten.

A 4" x 1" is fairly typical, but as long as you can accommodate the surface of the bracket on the batten, without the risk of splitting when fixed, then so be it.

The fixing screws can pass through the batten and into the soft plaster if necessary. Or you can buy shorter screws if you wish. Make sure the screws are stocky or man enough and are fully threaded.

 

[diyvirgins]

sorry to hijack your thread - but i have a similar, but opposite question... every curtain pole in our house is fixed to a wooden baton srewed into the wall....i had presumed this was normal practice....but when we redecorate i would love to remove them and have the poles attached directly into the wall....

so is this ok? one room will have full length wide curtains, so maybe we should stick to a baton for them, but the other small windows (1.2m wide) with lighterweight and infrequently used curtains, then would scrapping the batons be ok?

thanks all

 

[Pebbles1]

sorry to hijack your thread - but i have a similar, but opposite question... every curtain pole in our house is fixed to a wooden baton srewed into the wall....i had presumed this was normal practice....but when we redecorate i would love to remove them and have the poles attached directly into the wall....

so is this ok? one room will have full length wide curtains, so maybe we should stick to a baton for them, but the other small windows (1.2m wide) with lighterweight and infrequently used curtains, then would scrapping the batons be ok?

thanks all

Hi,

My post is 3 years old now, but I solved my problem. I got someone to do it for me without using a baton. My pole is 10ft long and I have very heavy, lined, floor length, velvet curtains and the pole holds brilliantly. I have since been able to put up another pole myself in my bedroom without using a baton and with heavy curtains and its fine. You may find that the existing holes in your wall are deep enough to put the pole up but if not you can make them deeper with a drill.

Pebbles

 

[Burnerman]

You can use a batten, or screw directly to the wall...it all depends on what the walls are made of!
Dry lining / plasterboard, then a batten may spread the load better.
Also, curtain poles don't always have fixing holes that will take a decent size screw - a fix into plaster aint good enough, it must penetrate into the masonry behind.
If you have plaster onto breeze block - anything you like so long as you use a proper masonry bit and hammer action drill....drill small holes first, working up to the required size if the wall is at all crumbly.
If you remove the existing batten, its likely to bring some plaster with it.
John