Can't drill into the area just above window

[kinetic747]

Bit depressed about this tbh. I'm sick of not being able to do the simplest thing in DIY. I'm 36, I have a lot of tools, all the resources but just can't even hang a blind up.

You sound the opposite of myself, I'm reasonably competent but never seem to have the right tools. If I'm doing something new to me, I always take a look at the method on YouTube, there are lots of good tutorials around.

 

[manic111]

Drilling in to lintels can be a bad idea. At some point you could hit steel and it then can be very tedious. Accuracy can go out the window ( no pun intended ) and you end up with a mess. What I find is always a very good idea is attach a good piece of wood to your poopy holes then attach the fitting to the wood. The wood needs to be the same length as your curtain, blind or whatever and about 50x20mm. The advantage of this is that once you have the wood fitted, not only is it easy to hang your blind or whatever, but its easy to fit a new blind or curtain rail in the future. I just paint them the same colour as the wall.

And don't worry, lintels really are a pain. I have done this for years and years and yet can still end up with a hole big enough to fit your head in. Once the wood is in place though you need never do it again.

Bit of a thread resurrection but I'm coming up against the same issue. Been trying to drill the lintel with some HSS bits and failing. Can you give me any more info about this timber technique? I can't work out why fixing a piece of timber and then fixing the blinds to the timber would be any more secure than just fixing the blinds directly?

 

[godinman]

Bit of a thread resurrection but I'm coming up against the same issue. Been trying to drill the lintel with some HSS bits and failing. Can you give me any more info about this timber technique? I can't work out why fixing a piece of timber and then fixing the blinds to the timber would be any more secure than just fixing the blinds directly?

I think the idea is that you can attach the wood along the hole width of the window with more fixings, then where the blinds screw to the wood you can use wood screws with may be more reliable than trying to use wall plugs on the edge of the window lintel, which could have metal reinforcement which would make you drill wonky, or have plasterboarding and a void, making it hard to fix the ****** little brackets that often come with blinds.

The blinds in my son's room are a ******* travesty due to me not using wood and being mildly incompetent.

 

[rodders]

Metal lintel - self drilling screws.

 

[manic111]

I think the idea is that you can attach the wood along the hole width of the window with more fixings, then where the blinds screw to the wood you can use wood screws with may be more reliable than trying to use wall plugs on the edge of the window lintel, which could have metal reinforcement which would make you drill wonky, or have plasterboarding and a void, making it hard to fix the ****** little brackets that often come with blinds.

The blinds in my son's room are a ******* travesty due to me not using wood and being mildly incompetent.

Makes sense - thanks! Will give it a crack

 

[Semple]

Bit of a thread resurrection but I'm coming up against the same issue. Been trying to drill the lintel with some HSS bits and failing. Can you give me any more info about this timber technique? I can't work out why fixing a piece of timber and then fixing the blinds to the timber would be any more secure than just fixing the blinds directly?

Have you got a sharp drill piece, rather than blunt? I'd also use self tapping screws, that way you can drill a decent hole for the screw.

Once you've drilled the hole, then it's easy, but need to give it some welly to get through the steel.

 

[Scuzi]

To get through a steel intel, drill through the plasterboard until you hit steel. Hammer a punch into the lintel to create a dimple. Drill a 2-3mm pilot hole, then move up to the size you need. Drill slowly in the steel for the bit to cut effectively. Going in full speed will just create lots of heat and damage.

 

[theone8181]

To get through a steel intel, drill through the plasterboard until you hit steel. Hammer a punch into the lintel to create a dimple. Drill a 2-3mm pilot hole, then move up to the size you need. Drill slowly in the steel for the bit to cut effectively. Going in full speed will just create lots of heat and damage.

And blunt a drill bit quickly. Are you sure it's still still lintel and not a concrete one (not read through all the previous posts).

 

[Werewolf]

Not sure if it'll work, but from memory Bosch and a few others do a multipurpose drill that will do masonry and metal, I think it's specifically for this sort of job where you're likely to hit different materials in the same hole (you hammer until you hit the metal then turn it to normal drilling).

 

[LuckyBenski]

Not sure if it'll work, but from memory Bosch and a few others do a multipurpose drill that will do masonry and metal, I think it's specifically for this sort of job where you're likely to hit different materials in the same hole (you hammer until you hit the metal then turn it to normal drilling).

I've got a small set of these Bosch bits and they're lifesavers. Really solid and still sharp (maybe because I save them for annoying jobs!)

 

[Participant]

How old is your house op?

I hate the look of battens above windows when hanging blinds and curtains so always remove them and fix directly to lintels.

It sounds like it's still not certain if your lintel is steel or concrete, but if concrete my 18V DeWalt SDS with DeWalt masonry bits goes through brick and concrete with ease.

 

[manic111]

How old is your house op?

I hate the look of battens above windows when hanging blinds and curtains so always remove them and fix directly to lintels.

It sounds like it's still not certain if your lintel is steel or concrete, but if concrete my 18V DeWalt SDS with DeWalt masonry bits goes through brick and concrete with ease.

Blimey, thanks for the replies everyone!

It's definitely a steel lintel, I've put a hole up to it and can see it with a torch. I'll try punching a hole in it and then drilling a pilot hole

 

[jpaul]

which are these multi-purpose drills then ?
the cobalt ones are great for metal though, and add some oil on drill tip ... and tungsten carbide hammer for concrete.

 

[HangTime]

Bit depressed about this tbh. I'm sick of not being able to do the simplest thing in DIY. I'm 36, I have a lot of tools, all the resources but just can't even hang a blind up.

If it's any consolation I'm terrible at DIY (always hit some issue or make a mistake) and don't always have the best tools either

I have a made to measure blackout blind in the window recess of my son's bedroom that was a pain to fit and needed to be treated fairly delicately, it fell down when my dad pulled the cord too hard and the area of the wall to attach the bracket to is now too damaged from repeated drilling to attach it. I spent many hours on it but gave up and have just used a suction blackout blind for the past few years.

Generally everything I try doing with DIY ends up looking like a bodge job and I sit there wishing I'd just paid someone else to do it, but equally the idea of paying a fortune for relatively simple things that everyone says is easy doesn't make me feel great either. It's bad enough when we get a plumber in to fix a toilet flush, cost of the parts is tiny for a little valve or whatever but then there is £55 labour or whatever.