How to attach outdoor blinds to steel frame?

[MeMo]

I’ve bought pvc cafe blinds for my alfresco area but am unsure how to attach them to the bulkhead around the ceiling as it is a steel beam (it’s a steel frame house). The blinds have a length of wood at the top and are normally screwed into wood or bricks. The beam is enclosed in either plaster, ply or something of a similar thickness. Here’s some pics while the house was getting built so you’ve got an idea of what it looks like under the plaster 

 

Can someone give me advice on how I might be able to attach my blinds to the beams? Are there special screws or something else I’m not thinking of that’ll be an easy solution?

TIA

[MitchellMc]

Welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community @MeMo. It's amazing to have you join us, and many thanks for your question about installing cafe blinds.

To install your cafe blinds, you'll need to first mark your bulkhead in a corresponding location to the mounting holes in the blinds headrail. You should then be able to use self-tapping screws to go both through the plasterboard and the steel beam. Although these metal screws are designed to cut through steel, it might be best to pre-drill with a 3mm drill bit to assist them in penetrating the beam. Please ensure the metal screw you select is not so long that it penetrates the other side of the bulkhead.

Please let me know if you need further assistance or have questions.

Mitchell

[MeMo]

Thanks @MitchellMc your suggestions have worked really well! A couple of the blinds have a thicker head rail though. Is it possible to get the self tapping screws you suggested a bit longer? Maybe 50mm. I only need 4 of them because the 40mm ones do the job on the rest of the blinds. 

[EricL]

Hello @MeMo

I'm sure @MitchellMc will be pleased to hear his recommendations worked for your installation. If you want longer screws you can get Buildex Metal Shed Tek C3 Hex Head No Seal Screws 14g x 25mm 12g Bx50. I recommend checking the stock available at the store for smaller packets of the screw. 

Please don't forget to post a photo of the area once all the blinds have been installed. I'm sure our members would be keen to see what it looks like. 

If you have any other questions we can help with, please let us know.

Eric

[MeMo]

@MitchellMc @EricL I’ve tried drilling into the concrete slab to attach the anchor points that came with the blinds but my drill only gets a couple of mm in and won’t go any further. Any suggestions? I’m using the CraftRight 15 pce masonry drill bit set and it says it’s suitable for concrete 

[MitchellMc]

Hi @MeMo,

It might be a silly question, but do you have the drill on hammer function mode? Always worth asking, just in case. I know I've made that mistake before.

You could be hitting the reinforcement bars, which is something I've run into several times before. The masonry drill bit won't go through them. Switching over to a Multi-material drill bit with the drill in non-hammer mode will likely get you through the reo.

The third thing I can think off is that you've possibly burnt out the drill bit tip by going too fast. Masonry drilling is done at a relatively slow speed. If you drill at high speed for too long, you can round over the cutting tip, and then the drill bit becomes ineffective.

Let me know your thoughts on those issues.

Mitchell