Hanging curtain rail can’t drill further than few cm

doh777 · 11-07-2019 4:47pm #1

Hello

Trying to put up a curtain rail in an apartment. I can’t seem to drill further than a few cm. Using cement and steel drill bits with hammer action.

Anyone any idea what material I’m coming up against? And might there be a work around?

Thanks in advance.

ewc78 · 11-07-2019 4:48pm

Sounds like you're hitting a steel beam.

my3cents · 11-07-2019 4:53pm

You can only go so far if you hit good concrete with a normal percussion drill. You'll need an SDS type drill to get any further.

doh777 · 11-07-2019 4:54pm

Thanks for the reply. If i go higher with the position of the brackets might I bypass the beam?

Roen · 11-07-2019 4:56pm

Had the same problem with a hammer action drill. Get an SDS as above ^^

doh777 · 11-07-2019 4:56pm

SDS meaning?

my3cents · 11-07-2019 4:58pm

doh777 wrote: »

SDS meaning?

LOL Not this again - nothing to do with you btw

Its a chuck system that combined with a hammer/percussion action transfers much more energy to the bit so drills through stuff a hammer drill with a standard chuck can't.

BrokenArrows · 11-07-2019 4:58pm

doh777 wrote: »

Thanks for the reply. If i go higher with the position of the brackets might I bypass the beam?

Maybe, hard to tell without knowing the construction of the building.

You mention a few CM. I could generally say few is 3cm. 3 CM sounds like plenty depending on the curtain rail and how heavy your curtains are planning to be.

keithdub · 11-07-2019 4:59pm

A screw gun wont do the job you need a sds drill. Get a cheap oun out of lidl or aldi

doh777 · 11-07-2019 5:07pm

Ok. Heavy enough curtains so I will be using long screws. Thanks for all the replies. Looking a getting an SDs drill on adverts so. Thanks again.

g6fdyotp5nj2l7 · 11-07-2019 5:09pm

You don't necessarily need an sds drill for that job any half decent corded hammer action drill will do it.
You must be meeting a lintel. If you go a bit higher you should avoid it.
I don't know what you're calling a few centimetres. If you're able to drill in 4 centimetres it should be plenty for curtain brackets.

doh777 · 11-07-2019 5:13pm

I’m getting 2cm in then impasse. Was wanting to use 6cm screws for the brackets.

g6fdyotp5nj2l7 · 11-07-2019 5:19pm

doh777 wrote:

Iâ€™m getting 2cm in then impasse. Was wanting to use 6cm screws for the brackets.

You must be meeting a lintel so provided you're using a corded hammer action drill. Move a bit higher and you should be cable to drill it. I wouldn't be buying an sds drill to hang curtains.

doh777 · 11-07-2019 5:26pm

The drill is cordless. Just had someone onto me involved in the construction, it’s not a lintel, just mass concrete with steel shook into it? So a more powerful drill is needed. Thanks again for all replies. I’ll try borrow a drill. If not second hand seems as economical as renting one. Thanks

Lumen · 11-07-2019 5:27pm

Do you really need long screws for this application? The quality of the fixing is more important than the length.

doh777 · 11-07-2019 5:33pm

Yeah, would like it to be as solid as possible. Thanks again for all replies.

my3cents · 11-07-2019 10:01pm

doh777 wrote: »

Yeah, would like it to be as solid as possible. Thanks again for all replies.

It may not fit in in this situation but what I have done when I couldn't get a good fix into the wall just where I wanted to put the mounts was to put a feature piece of timber across the top of the window and fix that firmly to the wall. The advantage being you can put the fixings in the timber wherever you can get them in the wall then your mounts can just be screwed to the timber.

GreeBo · 13-07-2019 11:00pm

^
Have done this before on crappy plasterboard walls when the studs were nowhere useful.
Timber to the studs and then fix curtains wherever you want

delboythedub · 15-07-2019 10:46am

get yourself a large nail or simular item with a sharp point a hilti nail etc and put in the hole that you made and a few gentle taps with a hammer may clear problem and then continue with your drill. You may have hit a small stone and this trick with the hammer might clear it.

Hanging curtain rail can’t drill further than few cm

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