How to measure for a 2 bend bay window

Transcript

This transcript has been edited for clarity.

Hello, I'm Richard from Made By the Forge, and in this video, I'm going to show you how to measure up for a 2-bend, or three-sided, bay window curtain pole. Let's start off though with measuring up and I'll show you exactly what tools you need for the job. You'll need a pen. You'll need something to record your measurements on, a tape measure. I like the five-meter tape measure because it's plenty long enough for a bay window. Three meters is a bit short, and then you need some small Post-it notes with the labels of the angles that you're measuring to. And you'll see I've got A, B, C, and D, and I'm going to stick these to the wall. Now we've come up with this way of making sure accuracy is a hundred percent.

Okay, so on a bay window like this, there are four points to consider. A, B, C, D. A, on the left, is where the end of the finial is going to be. B and C are the corners where it changes direction. And D is on the right-hand side where the finial needs to be. And you need to stick the Post-it notes in each location. I've already put A up on the wall, so let's put B, C, and D up. These are the points you'll measure to and this will improve your accuracy a hundred percent.

Okay, so this is point C and I'm sticking it right on the corner there because where the bend needs to be. So it has to be dead in the middle of the corner and at the height that you want the pole to be. And that's why we use Post-it notes because they stick and they don't leave a mark.

Okay, so just before we put D on the wall, which is the last one, I thought I would just very quickly show you how you're going to measure up. I'll put a little dot and a line on the Post-it note. Now you can either measure to the line or the dot, whichever is easier when you get the tape measure up there, but it's very important to measure to the same place every single time. I start my tape measure on this line here, or on the dot, you can see that's where I'm going to be measuring to.

So I thought it'd be handy for you to see exactly on paper what we're going to do when we get up the ladder and take measurements, because it's all very big up there and it's a lot easier to see on paper. If you look at this. So it's A to B, B to C, C to D, and the diagonal across from A to C, B across to D. And then the widest point, which is A across to D.

A bay window curtain pole will typically need two standard, one centre bracket and either two or four passing brackets. And the amount of passing brackets required largely depends on the size and the shape of your bay.

So this is the part where you need an assistant. So Nick's going to come in and help me get the measurements. I'll run through the measurements that we need so you can see exactly what we're doing. Let's get up and take the measurements.

When you do it, it's important to keep the tape measure level and tort. And like I say, make sure you measure to the dot on the labels that you've been shown. Points A and D can be put wherever you like on the wall. It dictates where the end of the finial is going to be within your bay. This customer has crumbly walls, so they can't put brackets on the wall, and therefore their A and D point is on the frame of their windowsill so they can screw into wood.

Okay, B to D 2222 millimetres and A to D is 2853 millimetres. Notice I haven't rounded up or down. I haven't rounded to 2850, because it was 2853. It's very important that you never round up or down.

Okay, so this bay window is what we call a two-bend bay. Your window may be a different shape than this. So go onto our website and then click on bay curtain poles and then scroll down a little bit and you'll see lots of different templates. And pick the one that represents the shape of your bay, and if you click on that, it will show you all the measurements that you need to take. And then just follow the principle with the post-it notes and the letters and the measuring.

Get all your measurements, pop them into our website, and it'll give you the accuracy. When you click off the box, it'll show you the accuracy. And if you have an accuracy of 10 millimetres or under, you are good to go. And then you can go ahead and place an order if you wish to.