How do I detach this curtain rod??
May 5, 2022 7:28 AM Subscribe
I'm embarrassed that I can't figure this out, but I am stumped. Hopefully helpful picture and description of the situation inside.
I'm living in a flat that came semi-furnished. I need to take down the curtains, but to do that I have to remove the curtain rod from the wall brackets. This has turned out to be a much more difficult situation than I'd expected, and my friends are as baffled as I am.
The problem: the boxy brackets supporting the rod have what looks like a compression screw holding them in the cradle. But the screw isn't a recognizable shape: it doesn't fit a hex key, nor Phillips, nor flat head. It's impossible to see without sliding a phone camera above it (in the two inch gap between it and the ceiling, so the photo is out of focus).
The red circle is the compression screw. It looks like it has a smooth central circular depression. Nothing I've tried to fit in ther is able to get purchase, and there's no mechanism to trigger with pressure (from, say, a paperclip). The green circle feels like a headless threded screw, so perhaps there's a way to turn it to move the compression screw via some mechanism in the boxy bracket, but it's too short to get a grip with pliers. There's no yield or clear indication that the bracket can be manipulated or rotated--it's firmly fixed to the wall and doesn't seem detachable.
Does this make sense to you? If so, I'd be grateful for any advice!
I'm living in a flat that came semi-furnished. I need to take down the curtains, but to do that I have to remove the curtain rod from the wall brackets. This has turned out to be a much more difficult situation than I'd expected, and my friends are as baffled as I am.
The problem: the boxy brackets supporting the rod have what looks like a compression screw holding them in the cradle. But the screw isn't a recognizable shape: it doesn't fit a hex key, nor Phillips, nor flat head. It's impossible to see without sliding a phone camera above it (in the two inch gap between it and the ceiling, so the photo is out of focus).
The red circle is the compression screw. It looks like it has a smooth central circular depression. Nothing I've tried to fit in ther is able to get purchase, and there's no mechanism to trigger with pressure (from, say, a paperclip). The green circle feels like a headless threded screw, so perhaps there's a way to turn it to move the compression screw via some mechanism in the boxy bracket, but it's too short to get a grip with pliers. There's no yield or clear indication that the bracket can be manipulated or rotated--it's firmly fixed to the wall and doesn't seem detachable.
Does this make sense to you? If so, I'd be grateful for any advice!
But the photo is blurry, so I can’t really tell. Maybe a stripped roberts?
posted by congen at 7:40 AM on May 5, 2022
posted by congen at 7:40 AM on May 5, 2022
I would take some locking pliers on that and use it to twist it out. Locking pliers can get a strong grip on anything.
posted by bbqturtle at 7:49 AM on May 5, 2022
posted by bbqturtle at 7:49 AM on May 5, 2022
Any chance that the square support arm that attaches the whole deal to the wall can be lifted up/out of a small bracket that is hidden beneath the circular flange that is flush with the wall? That is, perhaps your removal point is not the rod (leaving the support arms behind) but the whole assembly including support arms. Sometimes those hidden brackets are hard to envision, but removal is often a matter of some combo of slide/tilt/rotate. Good luck!
posted by Ausamor at 7:51 AM on May 5, 2022 [4 favorites]
posted by Ausamor at 7:51 AM on May 5, 2022 [4 favorites]
I'd agree with Ausamor, that round "screw" looks more like a rivet and that "headless" screw looks like a pin. That wall mount needs to be screwed in somehow so that circular trim plate needs to come off to reveal screws. Perhaps push the entire rod upwards at the wall end and see if it slides off.
posted by Zedcaster at 7:57 AM on May 5, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by Zedcaster at 7:57 AM on May 5, 2022 [1 favorite]
I also think the rod might be riveted to the arms and the arms slide off the base. The screw in the green circle is likely small Allen (hex) key and if you back it off the arms should come off.
posted by Short End Of A Wishbone at 8:13 AM on May 5, 2022
posted by Short End Of A Wishbone at 8:13 AM on May 5, 2022
Best answer: Could you press a little piece of silly putty or playdogh or something onto it to get an impression? That would probably make it easy to go find the right screwdriver if it is a screw.
posted by Sweetchrysanthemum at 8:24 AM on May 5, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by Sweetchrysanthemum at 8:24 AM on May 5, 2022 [1 favorite]
Best answer: This isn’t the exact same design but it may provide useful hints as to how the various parts work together.
link
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 8:32 AM on May 5, 2022 [1 favorite]
link
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 8:32 AM on May 5, 2022 [1 favorite]
Is the compression screw definitely a screw? Pic makes it look like it's connected to something... Perhaps it slides parallel to the bracket, into or away from the rod to release it.
posted by homesickness at 10:09 AM on May 5, 2022
posted by homesickness at 10:09 AM on May 5, 2022
Best answer: The round base plate on the wall seems too shallow in depth to accommodate a tilt and fit wall bracket, so I'm assuming there is a straight post attached to the wall which would be secured by a socket screw
The green circled item seems to be a rivet (factory installed). This would be the appearance of what are known as a "pop rivet" which pulls a steel stem out of the hole deforming what is on the other side to complete the riveting.
I magnified the red circled item many times and it does seem to be a hex socket.
Your observation that it is a threaded screw may indeed be accurate.
Finding the right sized tiny hex wrench, sometimes referred to as allen wrenches, can be a challenge. They are available in metric (MM) and SAE (inch) sizes. Ones which are too small would rotate freely and ones too large would not fit. So unless you have the perfect fit, it likely will not work. I have seen the metric ones in increments of 0.5MM so we are talking very small differences from one to the next. And if all you have are the SAE ones, they will likely not give the proper fit.
The suggestion from Sweetchrysanthemum above to use a tiny bit of putty or clay to form an impression may be able to confirm the shape and an estimate of the size you need.
posted by tronec at 11:21 AM on May 5, 2022
The green circled item seems to be a rivet (factory installed). This would be the appearance of what are known as a "pop rivet" which pulls a steel stem out of the hole deforming what is on the other side to complete the riveting.
I magnified the red circled item many times and it does seem to be a hex socket.
Your observation that it is a threaded screw may indeed be accurate.
Finding the right sized tiny hex wrench, sometimes referred to as allen wrenches, can be a challenge. They are available in metric (MM) and SAE (inch) sizes. Ones which are too small would rotate freely and ones too large would not fit. So unless you have the perfect fit, it likely will not work. I have seen the metric ones in increments of 0.5MM so we are talking very small differences from one to the next. And if all you have are the SAE ones, they will likely not give the proper fit.
The suggestion from Sweetchrysanthemum above to use a tiny bit of putty or clay to form an impression may be able to confirm the shape and an estimate of the size you need.
posted by tronec at 11:21 AM on May 5, 2022
By the way, have you looked at the brace on the other end to see if the screw there might not be similarly stripped.
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 2:25 PM on May 5, 2022
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 2:25 PM on May 5, 2022
Best answer: The red circled thing is almost certainly a rivet and not removable if you only have 2" clearance. The green circled thing is probably a hex grub screw that unscrews, then the rod and bracket slide off the part of the bracket that stays attached to the wall. You'll just have to use trial and error with a set of allen keys to find one that fits, then loosen it (probably don't need to remove it completely) and slide the square part of the bracket away from the wall to remove it. You may need to loosen the grub screw on both brackets, then use two people to slide the rod and bracket out.
posted by dg at 7:17 PM on May 5, 2022
posted by dg at 7:17 PM on May 5, 2022
Response by poster: Thanks everyone. The putty tricked helped me understand that I needed the tiniest imaginable allen wrench to get the grub screw out. Y'all are magical geniuses and now I have clean curtains because of it.
posted by late afternoon dreaming hotel at 2:51 AM on May 9, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by late afternoon dreaming hotel at 2:51 AM on May 9, 2022 [1 favorite]
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posted by congen at 7:39 AM on May 5, 2022