Website by mikee, personal website

Curtain track, curtain pole, window blind or venition blind installer/fitter

Dunelm of Basingstoke don’t offer an installation service and one of their managers wouldn’t take my business card . How do they expect ladies who buy their products to get them fitted? Contact me and I’ll fit curtain rails, curtain poles, window blinds or other products.

I’ll also fit those supplied locally by Debenhams, John Lewis or other independent retailers in the town.

Existing track/poles pulling out of the wall?

I often get called out to customers who’s curtain poles or tracks are pulling out of the wall. This is most often because the wall plugs they are fitted on are not holding them.  If I was a betting man, I’d say that in 9 out of 10 occasions this is where they are hung onto a dry lined wall (where the wall is just plasterboard, held on the brickwork by battens or plaster “dabs”).

This is probably the worst bracket. It allows deep pleated curtains to be hung, but with the pole out at the and of the bracket, it exerts a lot of pressure on the screws.

This bracket is OK, but if the curtains are heavy and you have only three brackets then this needs to be fixed to a solid wall to get it to work properly.

This is a much better bracket, with a really strong bracing support. Your curtain retailer should be able to guide you on the most suitable rail supports.

See my guide on  rawl plugs if you are doing it yourself here

What type of wall do I have?

External walls - where you’ll hang curtains, are generally either dry lined or solid (solid is generally plastered over breeze block)

Internal walls, non load bearing walls, can be stud - so they are just hollow with plasterboard either side of a frame, or they are dry lined. In much older houses they could be solid..

Stud and dry lined walls can be identified by tapping the wall. If they sound hollow then they are. Tap several areas in case you tap on a batten or “dab”

Click on picture to enlarge

Stud and dry lined walls are what cause people the most problems when hanging curtains or heavy objects. This is because the fixing (rawl plug) has to hold the load with a small amount of grip on a relatively soft plasterboard.

Before you head to the retailer, tap the wall. If it’s hollow, then take more care with the type of bracket you use and the fixing.

Bear in mind, if you have curtains with a pull cord at one end you really will put a lot of force on the track, especially if the curtains do not run freely.

Electric curtain tracks

I can highly recommend electric curtain tracks. They are especially effective at opening and closing heavy curtains but the added bonus is they automatically close at dusk. And open at dawn. This gives added security when you arrive home late or are on holiday. Add a timed lamp and burglars will believe someone is at home!