Houseworks: How to fix a loose curtain pole

According to carpenter and builder Rónán Hussey, one of the most common DIY jobs he’s called upon to fix is curtain rails which have fallen down or come loose from a wall.

“The screws and rawlplugs belonging to the hooks and brackets which hold the pole in place often come loose from repeated tugging and pulling of curtains,” says Hussey. Homeowners try to screw and push the dodgy brackets back into the plasterboard, which may buy some time but, ultimately, this just puts more pressure on the weakened plasterboard and the curtains end up on the floor.

On the basis that the brackets are fixed to plasterboard, Hussey suggests repairing the damage as follows: first, remove the curtains, unscrew all brackets, and remove any rawlplus and then the curtain pole itself.

Then use a pencil and mark out a 4-inch square section around the damaged area (if the curtain pole and brackets are particularly large you may need to expand the size of this section). Drill a 10mm hole in each corner of the square and, using a plasterboard handsaw, cut along the pencil lines and punch out the damaged section of plasterboard.

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Patch the gap

Use a piece of plywood (or a similar strength wood) to patch up the gap. Cut it just shy of the height of the hole (ie 3.5 inches) and an inch longer on each side (ie 6 inches). Drill a small hole in the centre point of the plywood and thread a double knotted piece of string through it Apply adhesive to the outer edges of the plywood patch, and manoeuvre it in behind the gap while pulling the string towards oneself to ensure the adhesive sticks to the inside back of the plasterboard. Once adhesive is fully dry, cut off the remaining string.

Next, cut a 4-inch square section of new plasterboard and pop into the gap, it should be a near perfect fit, but skim over the joints with a little Polyfilla and dry as per instructions before lightly sanding and painting. Now you can reaffix the bracket with appropriate plasterboard rawl plugs and rehang the pole and curtains.