Kelly at Brandts in Scottsdale had a client who wanted her traversing sheers to stack beneath her stationary side-panels. Here is the catch…she wanted the rods at the same height! Lucky for her we have had this request before……
Our solution was to fabricate a “double saddle” bracket and weld the short stationary panel rod to the bracket. This allows you to use only one bracket so the rings on the under rod can pass behind. This design has been installed successfully many times but we still recommend it cautiously due to the considerable torque-stress on the bracket. We asked Kelly if we could do a “ride along” so we could see this custom solution in action and she agreed. Well it’s a long story, but we ended up doing the installation ourselves. The original installer said he would feel more comfortable with a larger backplate so we promptly obliged (1 day with pickup and delivery). We cut off the 1″x5″ backplate and welded it to a 4″x 6″ backplate with 6 screwholes. It turns out that the installer was going on vacation and would not be able to return for a couple of weeks. We assumed that Kelly and the homeowner would prefer to not have to wait that long so we offered to do the install ourselves (cuz that’s how you win customer service awards), and yes, we were right, they accepted.
As usual we learned a few things at the jobsite… The installer was absolutely right about the backplate. We may have gone a little overboard with a 4″x6″ backplate, but unless you hit wood, the 1″x5″ backplate is quite a bit too small. One of the nice things about this design is that it is hidden so you can go big and beefy without aesthetic consequence so it was nice to have the extra heft.
I have not done a full blown intallation in ten or more years and whoa! I forgot how physical that “ladder yoga” can get! The bottom line though, is that the draperies are up and look great which = thrilled designer, and we learned some valuable things that will help us improve. It’s ALL GOOD!
We are always looking for ways to gather information that can help us be the best that we can be and we have discovered that “ride alongs” are a great way to do it. If you would like to help us out by inviting us to a Helser Brothers installation we would love to hear from you, thanks.
