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I have an outside facing wall on the second story of my home. I'm trying to drill above a window to put a support for a curtain rod.

I can easily drill about 1/5 of an inch but then the drill just spins. From the picture I took it looks like wood. I imagine this is OSB or plywood. I am using a 1/4 inch carbide tipped masonry drill bit.

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Any ideas on how I should either set this curtain rod or drill 1/10 of an inch further so that I can place the anchor? If I don't need an anchor how should I be thinking about using shorter screws to support the weight of likely heavy curtains?

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  • You mentioned using a masonry bit... Are you using a regular drill, a hammer drill, or a rotary drill with said bit?
    – BillWeckel
    Jan 6, 2019 at 1:56
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    Why are you using a masonry but to drill through wood?
    – HazardousGlitch
    Jan 6, 2019 at 1:57
  • you say that you see wood .... so why are you not using a wood screw?
    – jsotola
    Jan 6, 2019 at 2:30
  • Also, if you're drilling around a window within a few inches, you would be hitting wood studs or headers, not plywood or OSB, assuming it was built correctly. You should use a screw like jsotola said and not a anchor.
    – HazardousGlitch
    Jan 6, 2019 at 2:43
  • Was using a regular drill. The answer was your last point @hazardousglitch. I was unknowingly hitting a wood stud. I should have used wood screws since the beginning.
    – user95212
    Jan 7, 2019 at 3:03

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Sometimes when drilling above a window, a lintel is encountered, which may be made of concrete, reinforced concrete, or steel. It may be necessary to move the curtain rod higher so that the center support mounting can be installed above the lintel. If that is not an option due to curtain length, an "L" bracket can be used to extend the mounting of the support higher. Downside: the bracket will be visible whether the curtains are open or closed. Camouflage with paint if not a aesthetically pleasing.

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