Help with Hanging Curtains

I would suggest calling DPW (or housing). In Germany we also have cement/concrete walls. We were told that we could call housing and they would send someone out to hang items.
The worse they can do is say no. But while you are on the phone with them ask them for suggestions.

You will need a drill that can drill through cement and some anchors for the holes to hold the screws or nails. HTH

J.,
We are stationed in Germany and have the cement walls also. My husband uses a screw that has a sinker. He drills a hole in the wall and then put the sinker or the plastic piece int he wall, this then holds the screws that will hold the curtain rod. I know it works, because we just put up new rods ourself. The key is to have a good drill and drill bit that can go through the cement.

Hope it helps.
Take care.
Jenny

I have no idea, but is there a self help store there? There usually is when there is base housing. I would just go and ask them what to do.

You have a couple of choices...You can use a concrete drill bit or I've used the 3M hooks that stick to the wall. They have variuos sizes and I have used about 3 of the large ones to hang my curtains up. I haven't had any problems and they come off easy when it's time to move...no holes to fill!! The BX may carry them or you can find them on-line. (you can do a google searchfor 3M Command strips) They also have picture hangers!! Good luck

I'm not sure how it works there, but here if we call housing, they'll come and hang everything up for us. They would rather send someone else to do it than us messing up the walls.

Hey! J. I live in Incirlik too but you can go to Self help and request a hammer drill for the cement walls,screws and anchors. And you can ask your gardner to drill for you or your husband,I did myself. Also you can take your curtain to the Alli they will fix the coutain to fit the metal strip on the ceiling/in american or european style.
Have a good day.
I have a solution for you my friends can help you call her 6359 and she will come to your house.

J.,
My best advice is to use a cement drill bit (of appropriate size for the rod hardware) and drill into the cement. Then insert an anchor to secure the rod hardware into. It is tedious and frustrating but if you have no other options... you gotta do what you gotta do! ;)
Best of luck!

I had the same problem here at Aviano Italy with hanging the curtains. The BX sells in the tool department plastic hooks with a sticky backing.It is so easy and works great. They come in different sizes too. Hope it works out for you.

A.

We are stationed in Naples Italy, where the walls here are also made of cement. We have hung many curtains and what worked best for us was placing a small piece of masking tape over the pencil mark. Then use a masonry drill bit to drill a hole. Insert an anchor, a small piece of plastic, to hold the screw. Then use a screw to hold the rod. The anchors come in different sizes. A 5 or 6 should be good for curtain rods. The smaller size 4 is good for pictures. The drill bits come in corresponding sizes. When you are done carefully pull off the masking tape. It should help hold the plaster if there is any over the cement. Good Luck
A.

J.,
My family and I were stationed there from Feb 03-Feb 06. We miss Turkey so much (In germany now). The best thing to do is to go to the Alley and have the carpet people (Eckrems?) or a seamstress sew the little european hooks onto your curtains so you can slide them on the "tracks" in your house. It is inexpensive and will not affect the rod "holes" in any way so you can still use them in the U.S. We had a lot of curtains made when we were there, but in Germany we faced the same delimmea and I just have my new curtains sewn with the european hooks.
Get off the base and enjoy Turkey! It is a beautiful country!

When you get some advice, please let me know =) my husband and i have been here over a year and still haven't figured it out......
Welcome to incirlik and enjoy =)

~L.

Hi J.,

I would think that you should be able to drill the holes that you need for the rods with a bit made for cement that fits into your drill or cordless screwdriver. If they don't have them at the BX you can order them from Home Depot or maybe try a local hardware store.

Good Luck!

Have you tried suspenion rods from inside the window, or you can even tried shower curtain rods, that way nothing needs to be drilled into the walls.

We live in Germany and have the same problem. For most of the curtains we just used the tracks that were already there and bought some used curtains at the thrift store. Howeever to keep some of the heat and sun out on our biggest windows we hung our own blinds. You have to use a drill, and then you have to use the thickest anchors you can find. Even then the wall will sometimes crumble. We've done the same thing to hang some of our heavier art work on the wall, we have to use bigger anchors instead of just nails. I hope this works for you, I understand your frustration!

we're stationed in Germany, but the walls here are made of cement brick. We have to use an impact drill to get into the walls. Very likely that a neighbor or the self-help store will have one you can borrow/buy. They're worth the investment - anytime you need to hang anything onto the wall you'll need one.

Hi, we're not in Turkey, but in the Netherlands, where houses also seem to be built of concrete that is hard to get through. I used a masonry bit on my drill and drilled the holes a little bigger than needed, then used the little plastic anchors to fill the hole and allow for a secure fit for the screws. I've also used tension rods inside the window frames to hold up lighterweight curtains. Have purchased some at PXs, and some in the States. The great thing about them is there are no holes to fill when we PCS.

We live in Germany and have the same thick cement walls. They are such a pain but I know that there are special nails and screws that can work with them and won't bend in half. I think they might be called concrete nails i'm not sure but try your bx or bxtra. If not there then you may have to look around off base. I hope this helps!

Hi J.

We live in base housing in Okinawa, Japan and a cement house too! You need a hammer drill to drill into the cement walls. We ordered ours online and they shipped it to us. It works great on the cement walls. Self help here also has a few if you have self help. Well good luck.

sorry not sure how to hang the rods just wanted to say hey we share the same name and I used to be a J. H. lol

Hi-
I'm in Germany and have the cement walls as well.
You can call housing and have them come install them for you and it saves you the trouble of doing it your self and the cost of it. I had them hang shelves for me.
Hope this helps