Plaster walls- old house, how do I attach curtain rods?????

6 years ago

I just moved to PA, in a 97 y/o house with plaster walls. Never encountered plaster before. Always had dry wall in previous homes. Seems it is about 1/2 inch thick and then I hit solid something?..... brick maybe? I broke a drill bit trying to get deeper into the wall and then when I tried to put in a screw the plaster cracked all around the screw and just fell off in chunks. The screw was not stable. It doesn't appear that it grabs on to the plaster. It's like screwing into sand! How do I attach my curtain rods and hang mirrors and heavy pictures? HELP PLEASE.

Featured Answer

cawaps

6 years ago

If you have lath and plaster (you mentioned brick, so maybe not on exterior walls but probably on interior walls), you should also familiarize yourself with hollow wall anchors.

I also mounted my curtain rod brackets to the wood window trim.

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Comments (9)

zorroslw1
6 years ago
We lived in a 100+ yr old house with plaster walls. We always hung the rods from the wood trim on the Windows. We didn't have a problem hanging pictures or heavy mirrors. We usually just used large picture hangers, the kind with the nail already in them that go in at a slant. If you try to drill a screw straight into the wall I don't think you will get a good solid hold because the screw will go completely through the plaster and wood lath used to hold the plaster on it. You may be hitting a nail in the lath which is why the bit broke.. I would, go to the local hardware store and ask them what to use to hang curtain brackets on a plaster wall. They should be able to help, surely there is a fix for it.
1929Spanish-GW
6 years ago
Get a really high quality stud finder and say a little prayer. When you hammer nails to hang a picture, put a little piece of scotch tape on the wall where you put the nail.
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With sheetrock walls, you can usually use any electrical receptacle as a reference point since the box will typically be attached on one side or the other to a stud. Since you are dealing with plaster, the boxes may not necessarily all be attached to studs, but you could take off a receptacle faceplate and, if you can't see a stud, use a piece of wire to probe to either side around the opening...of course turning off the power before fiddling around with a wire by the box. If you don't have a receptacle on the wall in question, is it an inside wall where you can make such a determination from the other side of the wall? Lastly, you can always do the drilling approach and put the holes where a shelf will be so you don't have to worry about patching and re-painting.
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ahaaaaa..... You know, my brain wasn't even going in the "new hardware" direction - partly because spending more $$ is in the "Avoid Doing That" file - but I think the suggestions to get bigger rods is the way to go. I had already realized that extending the rods beyond the window frame was necessary, but maybe just getting another panel for each window (if they're still available) & larger rods will solve the problem. Thanks so much everyone - having extra sets of discerning eyes helps SO much!
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Box it out with wood, like a picture frame, except you don't have to do the back wall. Come out past the shelf in the front just the amount you need to come out, which looks like a few inches. Attach the wood to the bottom of the shelf on the left side and to the wall on the right side... then go buy some velcro tape and glue it to the wood and the curtain. You don't need to velcro the entire lenght of the wood on both the left side and the front, you just have to do a few inches, then skip a few inches...I hope this is clear...the curtain would just be on the left side and on the front. You could also cut a top for over the 'new addition' :) the curtain would also be easily removable for washing. J.
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PRO
Anglophilia
6 years ago
Hire a pro to hang these for you. It will be money well spent and not that expensive.
Christy Reves
6 years ago
Being familiar with my granny's house items were hung from wood frames. You might consider silicone to glue hooks to plaster. I would not attempt anything heavy though. Good luck.
New York 7a
3 years ago
We live in a 80+ year old house with plaster wall.

For curtain rods, we use wood frames. Don't want to take chances. Other than that, we've only used nails that PO left. Never drilled any holes since we moved in 10 years ago. Command hook is great for things like Christmas wreath that hides that plastic hook.

This article might help you -- although I never drilled anything to our wall ourselves.

Good luck!

https://www.thisoldhouse.com/walls/21014946/choosing-the-proper-fastener
sjeanb
last year
A couple of people have mentioned hanging things from "wood frames". Can someone please explain what this means?
cat_ky
last year
wood frames that surround the window (trim)
PRO
Patricia Colwell Consulting
last year
This is a house built in 1905 we just used the wood frames since those walls were plaster and lath

Plaster walls- old house, how do I attach curtain rods?????

cawaps

Comments (9)

zorroslw1

1929Spanish-GW

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