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Tips and Tricks |
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Because this site
is owned and run by Fitting Services we are able to pass
on tips and tricks to fitting curtain poles and tracks
that we have developed over the ten years that we have
been serving this industry.
If you have any good tips or
tricks we would love to hear about them, and pass them onto our other customers.
Above all there is no substitute
for carefully thinking through the job before hand, and
taking your time can save time! |
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Walls and
Fixings. |
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All curtain tracks
and poles that we know off are fixed to walls, window
frames or doors.
Find out more
about the different types of walls and timber and the
fixings that we use.
Walls and Fixings |
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Tracks and
Poles in two pieces. |
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This will sound
like common sense and it is, where ever a track or pole comes in two pieces make sure the join is in the
middle, unless you have a good reason for putting the
join in another place to accommodate a bespoke solution.
You will not want gliders or rings to slide over a join
where they can easily snag leading to premature wearing
of both track or pole and curtains. |
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Fitting a
PVC or other malleable plastic curtain track |
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If a PVC, nylon or
otherwise bendable plastic track is to be fitted to a bay window
them use a hair dryer or steep in warm water to soften
the plastic around the bends, don't over do it in one
place or the track will buckle in that spot, rather heat
over the general area to produce a smooth curve. |
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Bending a metal curtain track |
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Metal curtain tracks can't
generally be bent without either special bending
equipment or in some cases tracks come with packing rods
which allow bending by hand. see the instructions for
the Copes Fineline curtain tracks.
Click
on the image to enlarge it |
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If your curtain track can be bend
by hand then we would recommend that you use the
technique used for the Copes Fineline track, i.e. to
bend the track over your knee, we would however suggest
that you pack out your knee with a pillow or cushion to
increase the bending radius. |
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Fitting a
Curtain Pole |
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This is a general
tip for fitting curtain poles with the most standard
type of bracket. These brackets have a metal base plate
with three screw holes which secure it to the wall and
the wooden cup is then screwed onto the base plate.
Mark the centre of the place where you want the first
end bracket to be fixed, place the base bracket so that
the centre is over your centre mark with one screw hole
horizontally in line with the centre, then mark drill
and fix that hole only to give you some play up and down
to level the pole, see the picture to the right .
Click
on the image to enlarge it
Once you are
sure the brackets are in the right position and your
curtain pole
is level then drill and fix the other points on the
bracket.
This tip is especially useful when the pole is in two
parts with a joining piece and centre bracket. |
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Cutting a
Curtain Pole down to size |
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For wooden curtain
poles we use a mitre box and a suitable saw although any
wood saw will do and if you are stuck use a straight
block of wood as a guide. We do however recommend the
use of a mitre box to give a straight finish and you
will also find that the pull saw will give a cleaner
smoother finish with less chance of chipping than a
conventional wood saw.
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Use a hacksaw for
metal curtain poles, take your time and make sure to
make a straight cut. |
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Changing the
cord on your curtain track |
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Most cord drawn
curtain tracks operate on the same principles. One of
the most popular corded tracks is the Swish Superluxe or
Duo track, and you can find a detailed list of
instructions by following this link
Cording Instructions for Swish
Superluxe |
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Bending
Plastic Tracks for Bay Windows |
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Although these
guidelines are taken from Swish recommendations they
will also help when bending other plastic curtain
tracks. |
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You may need to
place additional brackets when fitting plastic tracks to
bends such as bay windows.
The illustration
to the right demonstrates that the tighter the curve
required the closer in to the apex of the curve the
brackets need to be.
Click
on the images to enlarge them |
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The diagram should
help you measure and bend your track in the correct
position, it is possible more useful for bending metal
tracks than plastic one's as plastic tracks can easily
be reformed whereas metal track tend to require greater
accuracy.
Measure the
distance from the centre of the track to the apex of the
bends and mark the track at this position, make the
bends. |
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