Curtain Poles keep falling down - brick wall is weak

[shopper150]

I have some curtain poles that keep falling down because the brick wall is 'crumbly'. The screw holes keep getting too big. The builder/handyman is fobbing me off. I want to propose a good solution to resolve this.

Can anyone suggest solutions? If we use huge screws, would it solve the issue?

[Scolmore]

A 'pad' of wood, say 20mm x 45mm screwed and glued to the wall with a gap-filling adhesive. The pole brackets are then fixed to this with woodscrews.

[SEDon]

Mine has come down a couple of times to great frustration. I didn't want an unsightly batton so I decided to fix it for good (so I hope). Raked out all the crumbly stuff where the fixing goes, a good sized hole about 4 times the size of the fixing to a decent depth. Filled with rapid set cement (want something solid to shore up the area which is still drillable). Finish with sandable filler and redrill.

[MaxFromage]

Wetnfix plugs. I tried everything until these. Absolutely brilliant. End thread.


https://www.amazon.co.uk/WETNFIX-20-DISCS-Fixing-r...

[dhutch]

Chemical fixings?

But yeah, also just sounds like nonsense. Even with soft brick or block a standard Rawl plug should work well especially if your not swinging off it.

Else as said, battern it.

[Diderot]

Shutters.

[LooneyTunes]

Encounter this quite a lot, especially with the middle pole/rail supports as where they need to go has often had fixings before.

SEDon said:

Raked out all the crumbly stuff where the fixing goes, a good sized hole about 4 times the size of the fixing to a decent depth. Filled with rapid set cement (want something solid to shore up the area which is still drillable). Finish with sandable filler and redrill.

The “advanced” (2-pack) wood fillers also work well for filling holes/areas that need to be re-drilled. Can do a decent depth of fill (and your surface fill) in one hit and goes off quickly too. Sands really easily with a multi tool.

shopper150 said:

If we use huge screws, would it solve the issue?

Possibly, but you still need something for them to bite into, and watch out for them causing problems with the rail fittings. Large screws won’t necessarily get through the holes on the mounting plates and/or can have heads that cause problems when it comes to fitting any covers over the plates.

Using decent wall plugs is important. If they’re anything other than Fischer he needs to get down to screwfix.

[Riley Blue]

MaxFromage said:

Wetnfix plugs. I tried everything until these. Absolutely brilliant. End thread.


https://www.amazon.co.uk/WETNFIX-20-DISCS-Fixing-r...

Thanks, ordered - just what I need for some jobs I'm doing!

[shopper150]

Scolmore said:

A 'pad' of wood, say 20mm x 45mm screwed and glued to the wall with a gap-filling adhesive. The pole brackets are then fixed to this with woodscrews.

I think this is what was originally done. Lasted about 3 weeks and has fallen off. However, from the (bad) picture I've been sent, it look like the batten may not have been screwed into place. [url]
|https://thumbsnap.com/VwZcQ97b[/url]

[Wagonwheel555]

I had some issues with attaching skirting to crumbling walls, the breeze blocks behind the plaster were the lightweight type.

Bought these:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/fischer-555008-DUOPOWER-W...

8mm hole, tap them in and I could probably hang off one of them.

I used it with the 5 x 70mm screws too.

I now use these for 90% of fitting stuff to walls, including two heavy 1500mm 3 column radiators, neither of which I have any concerns about coming out.

[Sheepshanks]

Wagonwheel555 said:

I had some issues with attaching skirting to crumbling walls, the breeze blocks behind the plaster were the lightweight type.

Bought these:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/fischer-555008-DUOPOWER-W...

8mm hole, tap them in and I could probably hang off one of them.

I used it with the 5 x 70mm screws too.

I now use these for 90% of fitting stuff to walls, including two heavy 1500mm 3 column radiators, neither of which I have any concerns about coming out.

Funnily enough I bought some of these the other day to use in plasterboard and they were absolutely useless - they simply didn't work in the way the pictures show, the plug spun in the hole as the screw (I bought them with plugs and screws as a kit) needs too much force to break through the end of the plug. However even holding a plug with pliers while driving the screw in I couldn't get it to scrunch up. I found YouTube vidoes that show exactly the same.

I couldn't see them being much use in crumbly brick either - there isn't the squishyness in them you'd need to grip in the hole.

[MaxFromage]

Riley Blue said:

Thanks, ordered - just what I need for some jobs I'm doing!

No problem. I've spent hours trying most of the solutions noted here which all failed. Takes 30 seconds longer than putting a standard plug. Let it set and away you go. If the mess you've made is particularly large ( ), push an extra one in with a screwdriver round the sides. Job done.

[Simpo Two]

shopper150 said:

I think this is what was originally done. Lasted about 3 weeks and has fallen off. However, from the (bad) picture I've been sent, it look like the batten may not have been screwed into place. [url]
|https://thumbsnap.com/VwZcQ97b[/url]

That is a bodge of the first order; they didn't even get the glue on properly!

The problem in this situation is that if you try to use a longer screw, you can hit the steel lintel over the door/window. If this happens I drill a pilot hole through the steel and then self-tap the screw straight into it. There is always something solid, you just have to go in further.

Children are especially good at pulling curtains down, especially if the bottom trails on the floor. Whilst rushing about they stand on the bottom and then lean into the door recess, putting extreme leverage on the fixings.

[Wagonwheel555]

Sheepshanks said:

Funnily enough I bought some of these the other day to use in plasterboard and they were absolutely useless - they simply didn't work in the way the pictures show, the plug spun in the hole as the screw (I bought them with plugs and screws as a kit) needs too much force to break through the end of the plug. However even holding a plug with pliers while driving the screw in I couldn't get it to scrunch up. I found YouTube vidoes that show exactly the same.

I couldn't see them being much use in crumbly brick either - there isn't the squishyness in them you'd need to grip in the hole.

Why would you use a rawl plug with plasterboard? Surely you would use proper plasterboard fixings?

Well they worked well for me into brickwork, all the rads in the house were removed due to walls being skimmed and every one was re hung using these. Like I said, I had to use a 5x70mm screw as the 4x70mm ones were too thin, the thicker heads on the 5x70mm ones allowed me to ram them home with an impact driver.

If the brickwork is falling apart then no rawl plugs are going to work, you will need something more robust

[Sheepshanks]

Wagonwheel555 said:

Why would you use a rawl plug with plasterboard? Surely you would use proper plasterboard fixings?

Well they're not Rawl Plugs, they're DUOPOWER Wall Plugs!

It was to hang mirror hooks so I wanted something reasonably strong - the picture looked ideal:




Unfortunately they just don't work as shown.

[redandwhite]

Riley Blue said:

Thanks, ordered - just what I need for some jobs I'm doing!

Please update how you get on, i tried these and they quickly failed to deliver, hopefully you have a better experience.

[Riley Blue]

redandwhite said:

Riley Blue said:

Thanks, ordered - just what I need for some jobs I'm doing!

Please update how you get on, i tried these and they quickly failed to deliver, hopefully you have a better experience.

Will do. They're to make good the previous owner's D-I-Y bodges, a curtain pole and line in the airing cupboard.

[mgtony]

Wagonwheel555 said:

Why would you use a rawl plug with plasterboard? Surely you would use proper plasterboard fixings?

The DuoPower are marketed for use in plasterboard and in numerous threads on here some people rave about them.

I posted this up about them being used in plasterboard a while back:

To use the Duopower ones on plasterboard, you are meant to tighten the screw up and then keep tightening while the rear of the plug is hopefully compressing against the rear of the board. But most people will just tighten so the screw is 'home' and reasonably tight.
Keeping on tightening the screw, the plug is more likely to start spinning than doing what it's supposed to.

There are videos like this where the bloke doesn't seem to have a clue as how to use them on plasterboard or know the point of a clearance hole instead of a pilot hole.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_29NGLCUHBY

This video demonstrates them, but again they don't really show opening out enough behind the board to stop them pulling through with a bit of weight on them. Also if the point of the screw is supposed to pierce the end of the plug and draw it inwards, I can't make out why a fully threaded screw worked better than the one with no thread at the head end of the screw?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GKzpAUwQuto

[RizzoTheRat]

Is ceiling mounting the rail an option? I think all of our curtain rails are ceiling mounted, but we do have solid ceilings not plasterboard.

[dhutch]

Simpo Two said:

That is a bodge of the first order; they didn't even get the glue on properly!

The problem in this situation is that if you try to use a longer screw, you can hit the steel lintel over the door/window. If this happens I drill a pilot hole through the steel and then self-tap the screw straight into it.

Even easier if it's old enough to have wooden lintels!