Jesus, man. I bought some vertical blinds earlier today. As soon as I got back home from my run that was pretty much the first thing I started work on. I started drilling the brackets into the walls and in about 20 minutes the blinds were up and looking…well…as good as can be expected. When I added the valance, I noticed that it was a little bit droopy. Upon closer look, I realized that the brackets were starting to come out of the walls. The screws just weren’t strong enough.
God, how stupid of me! It’s a lesson that I’ve really only learned recently, but regardless it’s important enough for me to just know. Drywall alone cannot hold a screw in place when the screw bears a heavy load. That’s a recipe for disaster! If the screw needs to hold weight, it needs an anchor in the wall. The anchors tend to reinforce the screw, preventing it from slipping out easily.
So, with the brackets slipping out I decided to take it all down. I started undoing the nuts holding the bar up. After taking down two of three, the bar started tipping. My arms got a good workout trying to hold the bar up while I tried to get the third one down. The screw for the third bracket actually broke in half. Just great, eh?
Anyway, I’ve drilled some bigger holes in the wall and put in some anchors. I need to hammer them in, but since it’s late I’m going to wait until morning. What’s another night without blinds, right? Thing is, my living room is now a complete disaster zone. No matter, I guess; it shouldn’t last long this way. I kind of lament that every time I try to be handy something goes awry. I know that this type of thing is something that really only comes with practice, but it still irks the heck out of me. Argh!
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