How to Hang Drapery Rods on Sheetrock Walls

Draperies can add sophistication to the interior of your house, as well as provide more practical benefits, such as blocking sunlight, drafts, and noise from entering your home. Hanging drapery rods isn't a particularly difficult task, but with most modern construction using Sheetrock as a wall material, it's important to hang the rods properly, utilizing the correct wall fasteners.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Drapery rod and brackets
• pencil
• ruler
• finishing nail
• hammer
• hollow wall anchors
• wood screws
• carpenter's level

1. 
   Positioning the drapery rods

   With the help of a friend, hold your drapery rods up where you'd like to have them mounted to check for placement and height. When you're satisfied with the positioning, mark lightly on the wall with a pencil where the rod's bracket will be placed. Measure with a ruler to ensure that the brackets will be equally spaced on either side of the window.

2. 
   Screw holes on a drapery rod

   Hold your brackets up to the wall in the position they'll be in and make a pencil mark on the wall where the bracket's screw holes are.

3. Hammer a small finish nail into the wall where each of the screw hole markings were made. Note what the nail encounters -- whether it hits solid wood, or whether it passes through the Sheetrock and encounters empty space behind. Remove the nail after each test.

4. For hollow walls, place hollow wall anchors into the location of the screw hole markings. Hollow wall anchors come in a variety of styles, designed for holding different weights. Consider the weight of your drapery rod and draperies when choosing hollow wall anchors. For most applications, "Zip-it" style screw-in wall anchors are excellent. They're easy to install and hold well (see Additional Resources). Once the anchors are in place, screw your bracket into the anchor.

5. If you hit wood behind the Sheetrock, you don't need a hollow wall anchor -- the wooden stud behind the wall will hold a wood screw. Mount the bracket onto the wall with wood screws that are at least 1-3/4 inch long. To ensure the screw starts well, tap a small hole into the wood with a finishing nail, then screw in the wood screw to hold the bracket in place.

6. Place your drapery rod on the brackets to finish the installation.

Tips & Warnings

• When positioning the drapery rod, it's a good idea to check the position with a carpenter's level.

References

• Carpentry; Kohl; 2003

Resources

• Zip-it wall anchors