Furthermore, they are often skew and at a height or length not acceptable to everyone. This can also be said of many old buildings with antiquated metal or timber pelmets.

Perhaps residences should be available to buyers without any curtain tracks. Buyers might prefer to fit blinds, in which case the track would need to be removed.

This would also apply when an expanding security door fills the window reveal and blinds can only be fitted above it. To remove an old track is not all that simple, because the plug holes for brackets have to be filled, sanded and painted.

When curtains are required, there can still be problems with even a good quality and properly fitted existing track. It can be too short and fitted too low for your particular purposes.

For aesthetic reasons, many people want to run curtains the full width of a room from ceiling to floor, and particularly where there is a sliding glass door. Although somewhat old-fashioned, net curtains may also be required, in which case double brackets are necessary.

Save money

DIY'ers can save on curtain costs by fitting the tracks themselves. Unfortunately, building standards have deteriorated in recent years and there is a need to compensate on measurements. The general preference for curtain height is 220cm from the floor.

This allows a drop from 5cm below the cornice and 1 ,5cm above the track usually fitted about 13cm higher than the lintel's edge - to 1,5cm short of the floor. Since the cornice is seldom exactly parallel to the lintel's edge, a chalk line for the bracket fixings need not necessarily be perfectly horizontal. However, it must appear so to the casual observer.

To ensure accuracy in the positioning of brackets, pilot holes should first be drilled. Furthermore, their closeness to the ceiling should not be such that drilling is only possible at an awkward angle. The curtain tape can always be adjusted accordingly, provided that the draper is given an accurately drawn detail.

This should also include vertical measurements from track to floor at both ends, when they differ considerably on account of unevenness in the floor level With heavy curtains of large drop and width, the usual 1 m bracket spacing at both ends of the track should be halved.

Furthermore, at the coast, it is obviously very important that the brackets and fixing screws have good resistance to corrosion, for example powder-coated brackets. These also have an advantage over most plastic types in strength and don't become brittle from ultra-violet light.

Finally, choice of fabric, colour and pattern for blinds or curtains, is best made at home with samples examined under natural daylight conditions. Making a decision in the draper's shop without first colour-matching against your furniture and paint can lead to all sorts of marital problems!