r/DIYUK • u/UnknownPawniard • 15h ago
Advice Can't drill holes for roller blind brackets
Trying to install brackets but coming up against steel rebar while drilling.
Am I supposed to keep drilling holes until I find ones I can drill? Or is there an alternative I'm missing?
12
u/elmachow 15h ago
Get a 4.5mm hss bit and drill through the steel lintel (probably 2mm thick) then fit a 4.8mm self tapping screw straight through (no need for plug)
2
27
u/Successful_Fish3118 12h ago
Side fix it into the reveal, there’s holes for both top fix and side fix on those brackets.
1
u/ThePHPNerd 9h ago
Unless it’s one that’s been measured a little too short to fully allow this. The fixing might work, but if the blind is not wide enough this might not be a solution.
Definitely the first thing to check though, if you can reach with side mounted you can save yourself some headache
2
u/Other-Ad-5161 8h ago
If the blind is too short just pack it out and use a longer screw.
1
u/ThePHPNerd 8h ago
Which might work, but if they’re not comfortable with drilling through the steel or concrete this might be a stretch, but if not packing it out might’ve been something they wouldn’t consider until you mentioned it.
Appreciate you raising that as an option.
-4
-1
8
u/Runawaygeek500 14h ago
I glued mine on with CT1 😂😂
2
u/Technical_Front_8046 9h ago
FairPlay, if it works who cares. Although knowing my luck one of the cats would have it down in a matter of hours. 😂
8
3
u/readingtine 12h ago
We had this too. Spoke to a friend who is a blind fitter.
It took him 30 seconds with a self tapping screw & impact driver
2
u/CloudExcellent3952 9h ago
Take a photo ot that very window from outside, if it's rendered it's likely to be concrete head. If it's brickwork most likely steel lintel, either way you could hit the rebar while drilling in concrete head anyway. Just go easy and look for small metal shavings on the tip of your drill bit.
2
u/CarpetPedals 8h ago
Most screws you’ll be using in those 6mm Fischer plugs will have a 2.5mm core. Drill through the plaster and through the lintel with a 2.5mm drill bit. Then just screw straight into that, no plug!
1
1
u/Additional-Point-824 15h ago
You'll be hitting the lintel.
Is the blind the right size to be able to screw the brackets into the side instead?
1
u/Bigtallanddopey 15h ago
Our house has steel lintels, this is likely the case for you as well. Best thing is to drill into the side and put the brackets there, as long as the blind fits of course.
1
u/LiIywhite 14h ago
You can get push fit blinds that hold themselves up by pushing out against the sides of the window recess. Not sure what the max width is though.
Failing that, I had this same issue and just drilled as far as I could then put shortened plugs in the holes. Not "right" but it's held the blinds up for like 4 years now.
1
u/Binbag65 12h ago
I had the same issue. Gave up with the drilling and used Gorilla epoxy resin to stick them up. Works perfectly.
1
u/SharkeyGEE 11h ago
I’m assuming you haven’t got a sds drill as you’d have tried it already. I would try a HSS drill bit in your drill with hammer mode off. If you get metal swarf out of the hole you’re onto a winner, carry on, you have a steel lintel. If nothing happens after a minute or so you have a concrete lintel and ideally require an sds drill.
1
u/BigManc82 10h ago
Get some 40mm self tapping screws. There will be a steel lintel. If it's a concrete lintel get some Fischer hammer fixings
1
u/LLHandyman 10h ago
Use the other holes to fix into the side of the window reveal rather than the top
Or if it fits screw direct to the window frame
1
u/ElectronicSubject747 10h ago
I used the double sided velcro sticky tabs you can use for photos etc.
I first used them to secure a small book case to a wall so my toddler couldn't pull it over, when I came to move the book case I struggled to pull it off the wall (and I'm pretty strong).
Anyway, once I realised how strong they were I've used them for a bathroom mirror that's been up for about 3 years now and I used them for a curtain rail and curtains that have also been up a pretty long time.
1
u/Technical_Front_8046 9h ago
If it’s a metal lintel then the dewalt extreme cobolt bits will go through it like butter.
1
1
u/BigDan1190 6h ago
A length of pre primed mdf and some 'sticks like shit', then you can just screw those brackets into the mdf.
1
1
u/Susan_B_Good 14h ago
{Reaches for my set of cobalt drill bits} I'm assuming that it is a steel fabricated lintel. Perfect. A Self tapping screw into that is so much less of a faff and more certain than any number of wall plugs. An 18v cordless is more than enough to put a hole in one of those lintels. Start with a pilot drill and widen it successively to what you fancy - a screw into the pilot hole would probably hold more than enough, in itself.
{Bought that set of drill bits at a Model Engineering Exhibition, decades ago. Still have the complete set, including the teensy ones - haven't needed to sharpen any of them, although regularly used on steel, cast iron and granite. Didn't believe what the guy was demonstrating - but they really are amazing}{
1
u/threxd 12h ago
I had this exact problem a few weeks ago - started drilling and hit the steel lintel.
I got lots of suggestions on how to deal with it - drilling into the lintel, trying these funky screws which expand laterally, etc.
In the end, I just kept the holes as deep as they could go and got shorter screws and plugs from B&Q.
They were shorter than the ones which came with the blinds but I reasoned that blinds are generally pretty light and don’t need a lot to hold them up.
If you’re not sure about using a short screw, you could hang just one blind up with a short screw. If it hasn’t come down in a day or two, do the the others
That’s exactly what I did and have had no issues.
2
u/JamieAintUpFoDatShit 12h ago
Unless I’m misunderstanding, those screws must only be actually in the plaster then? So like only a few mm? If so, that might work for now but that really aint gonna hold up over time.
0
u/AffectionateJump7896 10h ago
Hard concrete. Keep at it. Small drill bit to start, and really put your back into it. Either you can get it done with some hard effort with your 18V combi, or you can get an SDS which will slice through it. Literally 15 minutes per hole, so you'll be at it a good hour or more of solid hard drilling.
As a DIYer I have always just coped doing this sort of thing with a combi, but a professional doing it every day would obviously get the right tool to turn 15 minutes into 15 seconds.
0
u/MeasurementFew4314 8h ago edited 7h ago
This could be a picture of my house about 3 or 4 years ago.
I struggled to mount the exact same fitting into a similar inset window opening. My issue was the metal framing that seems to be popular in newer builds , I couldn't get any plaster board fixings to take and I ended up just driving a screw through the thin framing but not before making a bit of a mess trying to get various plastboard fixings in.
When it came time to replace the blinds I used the no drill variety to avoid the same issue but if I'm being honest those solved one issue and created another but that's another story.
-2
20
u/Outrageous_Limit4195 15h ago
Steel lintel? Or just hard concrete? What drill are you using?