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I need to hang some standard window blinds (blinds that you pull upward by pulling the strings down) inside a few of my windows, but my walls are concrete stucco, and there is about a 3/4" gap between the drywall and the concrete on all of my windows.

I know that one option to hang the blinds would be to use a hammer drill and a masonry drill bit and screws to screw into the concrete, but that seems awfully obtrusive into the structure of my house just for some blinds. I'm wondering if it would work if I just attach the blinds straight to the drywall, using a shorter screw and drywall anchors? Or might the drywall not be able to handle the force of pulling on the string to open up the blinds?

There are 4 screws that hold each bracket up (one bracket on either end of the blinds), and so there would be 8 screws total holding the blinds up. Also, the blinds are 34.5" long, so it's not too much weight...right?

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  • When you say 3/4" behind the drywall ... there is concrete, does that mean there is a space between drywall and concrete or the drywall is about 3/4" thick?
    – bib
    Apr 15, 2016 at 15:21
  • @bib See the question, I clarified
    – villapx
    Apr 15, 2016 at 15:35

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No, you cannot support your blinds with two pieces of paper, because that's all there is in drywall to resist the tension force pulling out or at an angle. The contained gypsum is strong to compression, you can stand on it if it's flat on the floor. But if you screw in and then exert force to pull the screw out, with very little force you'll either have the screw fall out, the drywall blow out, or the drywall screws attaching the drywall to the building structure will pop out the back side and the section of drywall will collapse. You need to install the blinds and other heavy objects to the building structure like studs or into concrete you have behind your walls.

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  • The tech ended up installing the blinds straight onto the corner bead. Had no issues at all with stability. (see my answer)
    – villapx
    Aug 26, 2020 at 22:56
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We ended up instead purchasing blinds from a blinds shop, and the installation was cheap so they sent a tech out to install them. He simply screwed the blind brackets into the corner bead at the fronts of the window sill (so, within 1-1/4" from the front corner, assuming you have a standard size corner bead). He said that that's their typical installation method. We never had any issues with the structure or stability after 4 years with the blinds.

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