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I tried drilling small holes in the ceiling above my window to hang Ikea curtain tracks, but when drilling, after 2mm of plaster, the drill is hitting something really hard (looks like concrete but possibly metal).

I have existing blinds that were installed in a similar way, but I can’t remove the blinds (due to strata bylaws) so I have to install the curtains in front of them.

I used a black oxide drill bit, tried with a titanium drill bit as well but I can’t get through it.

What am I missing?

holes existing blinds the curtain track to install

EDIT: Attaching a photo from further away to show the structure

the whole structure

EDIT 2: From the outside, looks like airducts.

first airduct second airduct

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    If it is concrete, you will need a masonry bit and probably a hammer drill(rent if not have one). Those two bits mention should do metal, but much slower than plaster.
    – crip659
    Commented Feb 5 at 12:50
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    With enough persistence, the titanium bit would go through any residential metals eventually (not above a window, but more generally you need to worry about protection plates for sensitive utilities in the walls). This suggests that you need to try harder or that you have masonry in there. Stepping back with your image taking can reveal architectural hints for us to infer from (exposed round columns, for instance). Exterior cladding and age can help. Otherwise there's not enough information here for a definitive answer.
    – popham
    Commented Feb 5 at 15:16
  • @popham I attached a picture of the whole structure if it helps. As you can see on this new picture, there are existing blinds that are screwed in the ceiling, that is why I assumed I could drill in there.
    – Valentin
    Commented Feb 5 at 17:10
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    Yeah, that'll be a concrete slab. Post tensioning like Aloysius suggested down below is typically used to achieve longer spans with reinforced concrete, where I wouldn't expect it to be used in a residential building unless they got fancy with some wide open spaces without columns. In a building with maintenance people, though, it would be silly not to ask. They might even have some concrete tooling for you to borrow.
    – popham
    Commented Feb 5 at 17:19
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    I did it! Got the masonry drill bit, a hammer drill and patience! Thank you all for your help 🤘🏻
    – Valentin
    Commented Feb 5 at 21:36

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Presumably the window opening has a lintel across the opening to support the weight of the wall above the opening.

Concrete lintel

Image source no endorsment implied

Those are commonly steel or steel reenforced concrete in a masonry building, for instance. The concrete example shown will be MUCH harder than the wall around it.

Best bet would be to mount the curtains further from the window opening so as to miss that.

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  • The confusing thing is that the existing blinds were installed right behind that window, which made me think I could drill easily past that, but I’ll give it a shot
    – Valentin
    Commented Feb 5 at 13:35
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    Slim chance, but if you have concrete floors, you should be aware of the risks of “post tensioned slabs”.
    – Aloysius Defenestrate
    Commented Feb 5 at 14:56

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