Here I show you how you can hang curtains without drilling holes by fixing a curtain pole to a wooden batten. The batten is first glued using Sticks-Like-Sh*t, then the pole is attached to that.
I've fitted a few curtain poles with my husband over the past few years. I'm usually holding the spirit level while he likes to take over. And normally, we've only ever had issues with using the right plasterboard fittings.
But a few days ago, I started drilling with my combi drill on a hammer drill setting with HSS bits. However, I just couldn't do it and didn't know if it was just me being weak.
Then my husband took over and he found it impossible too. And we soon realised we must have hit the steel lintel. As we don't have an SDS drill and my Dad's is too far away to borrow, it beat us both.
But as we were using curtains we already had, we didn't want the hassle of shortening them. And as they are very lightweight, we wondered about gluing a wooden batten for the curtain pole instead.
And the grab adhesive that first came to mind was one that is often recommended to me. And that is Evo-Stick's Sticks Like Sh*t.
So I'm going to show you how I hung a curtain pole without drilling.
How to Put Up a Curtain Pole With a Wooden Batten
First, you'll need your batten. Mine was 65mm deep and slightly wider than the windows for my curtain pole brackets.
However, I only used off cuts I had for this and didn't have a strip long enough. So I cut another piece to glue together to get my right length.
If you have one long perfectly straight length, then that's great! I wasn't as fussed as I need to use up off cuts and it won't be at eye level.
So to glue my batten together, I used Bostik's Fix and Flash which was gifted from an old unpaid craft challenge.
MARK WHERE YOU WANT YOUR POLE BATTEN
If you don't need to do this, then obviously measuring and marking with a pencil and spirit level as usual is fine. Then do your usual predrilling with a masonry drill bit and use rawl plugs for bricked walls.
If you have plasterboard, then you'll need strong plasterboard fittings.
But above, I'm measuring where I wanted my pole using a scrap piece of card of half the depth of my batten. This is because we'd already marked where our pole was going to do due to the length of our curtains. Then drew a straight line from this with a spirit level.
MARK YOUR CENTRE POINT
Now you'll need to measure and mark the centre point on your batten and one dead centre above your window.
You can see ours in the 2nd picture above.
HAMMER IN TACS
While coving, I learnt a great tip to hammer in tack nails along the pencil line. This was, it'll prop up the batten for you while the glue sets overnight.
Don't worry about the holes. You can fill them later when caulking along the bottom of the wood.
Make sure you have 1 tack about every 30cm.
Here it how it looks while propped up before I glued. It may be a good idea to check one more time that your pole will be high or low enough for your curtain.
Why, you ask? Because later I had to raise my brackets slightly the next day and fill in old screw holes.
WILL "STICKS LIKE SH*T" HOLD A CURTAIN POLE?
Now, in case you're wondering regarding weight, our pole is one of the cheaper B&Q ones and it's extendable. And because so many people recommended "Sticks Like Sh*t", I had to try.
Once I applied, it didn't stick instantly, hence where the tack nails come in handy. It also requires 24 hours to fully cure. But once set, I attempted to push it and it was incredibly tough.
I suspect it sets like a really tough rubber and it holds the curtain pole, including our curtains. I will of course update you if it fails, but I don't think for one second it's going anywhere.
HOW TO APPLY "STICKS LIKE SH*T"
It's not essential to apply Sticks Like Sh*t to both surfaces. It can be applied on painted surfaces too.
Ensure both surfaces are dust free and here's where I applied in a wiggle fashion from top to bottom.
Then push where you want it and leave to cure for 24 hours. Although I left mine for about 16 and it was good to go.
PAINTING YOUR BATTEN
With my batten being an MDF off cut, you can buy MDF sealer. However, I skipped this step and painted with two coats of the same wall paint instead.
Now it blends in. If you have a primer, then great. But I knew this part wouldn't be touched or knocked.
Then repeat the same marking and measuring for your curtain pole, then pre drill and screw to the batten.
CAULKING TO FINISH
To help your batten blend in to the wall even more, I used Painters Mate. It's similar to caulk but is flexible. I thought this was perfect for something glued to the wall.
Apply with a caulking gun and run over with a wet finger or damp cloth.
Then leave it for an hour, then paint over it with your wall paint and that's it!
How to Put Up a Curtain Pole Batten with Grab Adhesive
Equipment
- Hammer
- caulking gun
- Paint brush
Ingredients
- 1 wooden batten for your length and deep enough to hold screws.
- Sticks Like Sh*t grab adhesive
- Tack pins/ nails
- Paint same colour as your wall
Instructions
- Measure and mark the centre of your window on the wall and the batten.
- Find where you want to hang your curtains and drawer a straight line where your curtain pole needs to be with a spirit level.
- Then draw a line of where the bottom of your batten needs to be.
- Hammer in tack pins along the bottom pencil line, every 30cm. Now you can use this as a shelf to keep your batten in place on the wall while it sets.
- Ensure the batten and wall are dust free, then apply Sticks Like Sh*t to the batten in wavy line, then press it on the wall where you want it, resting on the pins.
- Leave overnight to set. Then remove the pins and go over around the edges closest to the wall and caulk or Painters Mate. Fill in the pin nail holes too. Remove excess with a wet finger or damp cloth.
- Leave to dry for an hour and paint twice with your wall paint to blend in. You may need a 3rd coat for coverage.
- Then fix your pole the wooden batten by predrilling and screwing the fittings, then you can hang your curtains!
Lisa
I absolutely love this idea,my house was built in 1845 and I have the thick plaster walls (which will crack and make a mess of the wall) I will send pictures as I go and try this to hang my new living room curtains! Thank you for your help and ideas❤️
Linda
Hi Vikkie, do you think I could use bed slats as a batten? If they were not deep enough, could I glue two together or am I just being silly? What length wood screws did you use for your 65mm batten? Sorry, complete noob!
Vikkie Lee
Hi, yes, I think it could work. I glued my two pieces together just to tidy it up, but it's the sticks like sh*t adhesive that's really doing all the work fixing it to the wall. You could even put two pieces up alongside each other, then caulk or fill and sand the join before painting.
I can't remember what length screws. And to screw the pole to the batten, as long as you find screws just shorter than the thickness of the batten, you should be ok.
Let me know if you have any other questions 🙂
Vikkie Lee
Hi, yes, I think it could work. I glued my two pieces together just to tidy it up, but it's the sticks like sh*t adhesive that's really doing all the work fixing it to the wall. You could even put two pieces up alongside each other, then caulk or fill and sand the join before painting.
I can't remember what length screws. And to screw the pole to the batten, as long as you find screws just shorter than the thickness of the batten, you should be ok. I may have used 15mm long screws as I think this is 18mm thick mdf.
Let me know if you have any other questions 🙂
Sharon Fahy
Hey thanks for posting thi video ... ive just had same problem and will be using this method when i get my batten sorted later today. Mines for a curtain over my door , think i hit the steel too, stick like is a great option and cheap too. I must admit i didnt think of putting tacks up to hold the batten in place .. im thick like that lol. Thanks again what a life saver .
Martin
I was forced to do something after all 3 curtains rails pulled away from the wall, one actually falling off. The walls as as soft as cheese so using your technique (with plenty of glue) has worked really well. Thanks for the help.
Luke
Thank you for your help. This worked a treat when fitting a blind to a hollow wall in our bathroom!
Marie
Thank you so much for the article. We hare having issues trying to put up a curtain pole in our soft plaster in front of a very hard lintel. Im certainly going to give this a try. What happens if the glue squirts out of the top or bottom when fixing the pole, do you have a few minutes to wipe it away, did you encounter this.
Thanks!
Marie
Sorry, forgot to post a 5* on my comment
Marie
Did you have any issues with the adhesive squirting out the top and bottom? If so, how did you deal with it, is there time to wipe it off?
Vikkie Lee
Possibly. Definitely wipe it away immediately before it dries. It doesn't set that quickly 🙂
Roney
No doubt, very helpful tips!!! I have I stalled my one successfully. Thank you
Andrew
excellent idea. I shall try. Andrew
Akosua Ford
Thank you for this wonderful tutorial. I just have a question - I tried it but the tacks I used wouldn't hold my baton (it's 4cm in width and from Wickes) and I'm wondering if it is too heavy, or whether I should get longer tacks to support the baton, or whether I should hold it in place for 10 minutes?. I held it in place for the glue to set for about 5 minutes but that definitely wasn't long enough.
Thanks 🙂
Gmann
Great idea however if you hit a steel lintel you can get away with using self tapping screws.
Drill using a high speed twist metal drill that is 0.5mm smaller than the screw size ie. if using a 7mm screw drill with a 6.5 mm dia.drill. The screw will then “self tap” into the hole to give a secure fitting.
Make sure the length of screw is sufficient to accommodate the gap between plaster board and the lintel. I usually tighten by hand to give more control on the screw.
Anne
Really wanted to try this idea has we have a huge living room window and a steel lintel running across where we want to hang the pole. We thought we would try it on a smaller bedroom window which ee think was successful (will know more tomorrow!😬
Do you or anyone else have any tips what to do if the wood is not completely flat or the wall maybe not be 100% flat?
Yes we are beginners but willing to learn 🙂
Mat d
Don't try this on old plaster and anything other than lightweight pole and curtains.
I did sometbing similar and it just ripped the plaster of the wall..
Robert Andrews
Are these curtains still up?
Nine years ago, I had to put up curtains in our Victorian bay window... that's three surfaces, and pretty tall.
Like you, I hit some soft stuff and then some incredible hard stuff - lintel.
We got plugs in and the curtains up.
But, recently, the screws and plugs have noticeably pulled away.
I need to think of a fix.
I'd be amazed if some glue is suitable for this job. Pretty long curtains.
Niall
Hi,
Thanks for your article its been very useful. I am about to do this in an apartment where the curtain pole keeps coming out of the wall, it is making a real mess of the plaster board and multiple holes have been drilled already to no avail.
I am slightly concerned that even this method may not work as our curtain pole and curtains are quite heavy. The wooden batten is a decent size as well at 21deepx92tallx2400wide(mm) so there is a some weight in it also, it's a pine strip wood plank from B&Q ( other brands are available 🙂 ). I don't know what we do if this fails as it will be nearly impossible to get the board off the plaster board without cutting it out, making an even bigger mess and repair job.
I already know the height for the batten, it will be centred horizontally on the window, and I have already painted it. My intended method is slightly different, I have predrilled 5 holes in the batten, hole 3 being in the dead centre, the others equidistant. I plan to put a hole in the wall in the centre, matching the central batten hole, screw the batten (hole 3) to this while it is supported manually at either end, I can then adjust it around the centre to get it level, once level it will be manually held there and I will drill the other 4 pilot holes into the wall with a small bit, going through the pre-drilled holes in the batten, all done in place.
After completing all pilot holes we unscrew the centre screw, take the batten down, drill and plug the 4 pilot holes, apply glue to the batten, put it in place and use the 5 screw holes to affix it tightly to the wall for the SLS to cure. We come back a couple of days later and reattached the curtain pole \ brackets and pray it holds. Little bit of tidying up required as well probably.
Any thoughts on this approach or the choice or wood being used? I'm just worried its all going to be too heavy for this useless plaster board we seem to have, but I did want a decent depth of wood in order that we have something substantial for the 3 curtain pole brackets to attach to, hopefully the double whammy of the 5 screws and the SLS will be good enough. Also this method avoids the tacks, possibly there is less clean up but who knows.
I'll let you know how it all goes.
Cheers,
N
Christine
Hi Anne,
I have the same problem where the wall in front of my bay window isn't entirely level. Also, I have the issue with the lintel.
Here's what I did.....
I used three 5 inch square fence caps from b&q (need to get the ones with the flat backs).
I positioned them where the curtain pole brackets go. I used the TURBO version of the sticks like sh*t (screwfix cheaper than b&q).
The curtains I made are unlined because they are only decorative to frame my bay window which has shutters , however the curtains are floor length.
I did the batten method years ago in my bathroom when I didn't want to drill through tiles. It definitely works! Pleased that I came up with the idea myself at the time, so knew it would work this time for the floor length curtains.
Christine
HILS
I thought this was really interesting as I am too short to reach the where the last bracket needs to go to install a Roman blind bracket - and the blind is REALLY heavy. I had used Sticks like Sh ..** to attach a very heavy
bird box bracket, outside, to a concrete post that supported my neighbours fence.
When I left, a year later, I could not get the bird box bracket off - despite
prizing it off with anything that came to hand, it would not budge, so hope my curtain bracket won`t either.
David
Well done. Two suggestions. First - lower your line of brackets so the screws into the batten for each bracket are midway between top and bottom of the batten - and not near the top edge of the batten (as in the photo with caulking)) which risks splitting the wood when tightening batten screw. Second - for heavy curtains, use a hardwood batten - pine and MDF are weaker and will loosen over time as curtains are repeatedly pulled open and closed.
Susannàh
Fantastic instructions
Will do it tomorrow