Bay curtain track fixed to wall or ceiling ?

by Sue
(Bristol)

Hi

I hope you can help me with my square bay window. I really can't decide where would be be to fit a new track. I am wary of fixing to the ceiling as I don't know if I can get the track to stay fixed properly.

My last curtain track was screwed in to the top of the upvc window frames. This time I really would like to avoid doing this. Plus the curtains we had only
hung to sill level. But I really would like to go with floor length curtains this time round.

The ceiling I believe is made of plaster board. So I am unsure if it will carry the weight of the new curtains.



Hi Sue

Thanks for your enquiry regarding a bay window curtain track. I personally would choose to go with a ceiling fixed curtain track. With upvc windows the handles usually protrude 4-5cm out from the frame. So if you fix to the frame the curtains tend to catch on the handles.

With a ceiling fix track you can have the track set further away from the window to clear the handles. It will also just look better. A lot of people worry about the ceiling fixings carrying the weight of the curtains. However this is only really a problem with super heavy curtains.

The only brackets that carry much weight are the last 2 brackets on each end. When your curtains are open (Stacked back off the window) then all the weight is hanging from those brackets. The good thing is that this is usually the strongest part of the bay ceiling. The other brackets don't carry anywhere as much weight. As when the curtains are closed over the window the weight is evenly distributed over all the brackets.

Finally another benefit of ceiling fix is that you can bring the track far enough forward to clear the window sill. Allowing you to hang longer curtains without them draping over the window sill.

I hope this helps you decide how to get this project on the go.


All the best

Lee