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REAL LIFE
A New Angle on Mounting a Board
A straightforward commercial install becomes anything but.
by Wilmoed Sisson
The commercial job seemed pretty straightforward at the beginning: Install a 225-inch-wide board-mounted swag valance over a window/door wall, with traversing sheers underneath. Well, you know what they say about making assumptions.
When measuring the space, I noticed that the window and door frames went all the way from floor to ceiling, wall to wall. The only wall space available for support brackets was at the short ends of the board. That wouldn't be enough to support such a long treatment; I would have to figure out some way to add mid-span brackets.
A visit with the building manager revealed some limitations: I would not be allowed to drill into the metal window or door frames, and I could not use the suspended ceiling grid as a mounting surface. The only recourse was to climb a ladder and see what was above the suspended ceiling, and hope there were some available mounting points.
BEAUTIFUL SOLUTION
Luckily, there were five steel beams over the mounting area. However, the beams were at a 45-degree angle. How could I use these beams to hang the board?
The answer came through a Google search: beam clamps. These clamps are specifically designed to clamp to structural beams, and can hold several hundred pounds each. But they were designed for either horizontal or vertical hanging-not diagonal.
My engineer husband was enlisted to solve the problem. He came up with an elegantly simple solution: He cut through the threaded eyebolt to form a hook, then slipped a second threaded eyebolt onto the hook. The clamp would be installed on the angled beam, and the eyebolt would hang vertically beneath it. Slots were carefully cut into the ceiling panels to accommodate the bolts.
The system worked beautifully. On the job site, the clamps were installed and the board marked for the bolt locations. Once the bolt holes were drilled, the board was lifted onto the bolts and secured with washers and nuts. Before snugging the board to meet the ceiling, the swags were attached to the top of the board with Velcro. Finally, the panels were hung from the traverse rod, which was bolted to the underside of the board.
Welmoed Sisson, is owner of Sewing Seams Easy!, custom home window treatments and home décor; info@sewingseamseasy.com; www.sewingseamseasy.com. She is a Certified Window Treatment Consultant (CWTC) and Certified Workroom Profession (CWP) by the Window Coverings Association of America (WCAA).
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