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I have recently purchased some custom fit wooden blinds to fit to a square (or box) bay window. I followed the measuring guide diligently, and now the blinds have arrived it is time to fit them. What the measuring guide and fitting guide neglected to mention is what to mount the fitting brackets to. This is also something I should have thought about before purchasing them.

The blinds are to be fitted in the following arrangement:

bay window diagram

The question is: What do I mount them to?

The ceiling of the bay is (I'm 95% sure) plasterboard. The largest of the three blinds is pretty heavy. I'm not convinced that the plaster board will support the weight of the blind even with a heavy duty plasterboard fixing.

Another option I've read about, is screwing a batten to the joists and mounting the blind to that. I believe the joists run towards the back blind. This shouldn't be a problem for the back blind, but might be a problem when mounting the side blinds as I'm not sure if there'll be anything to screw the batten to.

Mounting the blinds to the window frames is not an option as the windows have protruding handles.

I can't be the only person to have this problem, but there's a surprising lack of information on the internet.

Any help or guidance would be extremely appreciated.

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  • Are you saying that your blind is too wide to fit when end brackets are in place?
    – Kris
    Commented Jul 18, 2020 at 12:53
  • No they're the correct size. I just don't know what to mount them to.
    – ben_re
    Commented Jul 18, 2020 at 12:55

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TL;DR: You're over thinking this. The manufacturer has already made the calculations necessary and has determined that the brackets, screws and anchors (if provided, or purchased separately as specified in the instructions) are sufficient for holding up the blinds in any of the mounting situations specified in the instructions. If they hadn't, they'd be getting lots of returns and/or lawsuits (especially in America - we like our lawsuits...).

If you're mounting it outside the bounds of what's specified in the instructions, you're a bit on your own, but still don't have much to worry about as you'll see if you read on...

The manufacturer knows the weight of the blinds you purchased and the brackets for installing it should be sufficient in number (2 or 3 brackets -or more- depending on the width of the blind) and construction (plastic, thin metal, or heavier metal) to support the weight of the blind.

The use of the provided wall anchors (usually I've found they provide them) in the spacing specified in the instructions and the holes specified in the brackets (they usually have different holes for different installation situations) should be sufficient. If they don't provide anchors, pick some up at your local hardware store/home improvement center.

Drywall/plaster board anchors are really pretty darn sturdy and will support a fair amount of weight, but if you're really concerned about the provided anchors, go get some that are rated for higher weights. You will probably find anchors that are each rated to support the full weight of your blinds. When multiples are used (one for each appropriate hole in the multiple brackets necessary to mount the blind) you'll have far more holding power than you need.

Consider that if the larger blind weighs 40 pounds and requires 8 screws (4 in each of 2 brackets as I've commonly found), each screw/anchor combo only has to support five pounds. Sure, there's some extra weight from tugging it up and down, but you'd be hard pressed to find a drywall anchor only rated at a mere 5 pounds.

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  • Thanks for the answer. It's entirely sure that I'm over thinking this. I just don't want the ceilingof the bay crashing down at some point. The fixing kit supplied with the blinds contain only the brackets an screws. The guide states that you need to ensure the fixings are suitable for the surface, but gives no indication on what fixing to use. If I was mounting in a normal recess then I'd be drilling in masonry so a normal wall plug would do. That's good to know about the plaster board anchors. I'll look into them.
    – ben_re
    Commented Jul 19, 2020 at 8:47
  • @ben_re "plaster board anchors" come in the same basic assortment that "masonry anchors" come in. There are a few specific for masonry that you won't find equivalents of for plasterboard, but essentially they're the same.
    – FreeMan
    Commented Jul 19, 2020 at 15:19
  • I've got to be honest, though, I don't know that I've ever seen blinds attached to the ceiling. Do be sure that the brackets are designed to do that...
    – FreeMan
    Commented Jul 19, 2020 at 15:20
  • Thankfully the brackets can be top, rear, or side mounted. It's going in a box (or square) bay window, so the "ceiling" starts at the top of the window frame.
    – ben_re
    Commented Jul 20, 2020 at 10:09

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