No one ever wants a center bracket. It’s a fact of life for drapery professionals. It would be fantastic to make our draperies as wide as we like without worrying about brackets! But we can’t ignore this because the law of gravity has to kick in somewhere, resulting in droopy drapery hardware and unhappy clients.
In drapery hardware size does matter…
There are several ways to handle the challenges that come with extended spans, beginning with the rod itself. Helser Brothers offers the heaviest gauge hollow drapery rods available in the industry. This thicker wall gauge makes the overall rod stronger and less likely to bow or bend. The larger the diameter of the hollow rod, the stronger the rod will be. For example, a 2″ rod will go much farther than a 7/8″ rod between the brackets.
Strangely, solid rods are less strong and actually have shorter bracket-to-bracket maximums. When you think about it, solid rods weigh more, which explains the difference.
What is a Bracket-to-Bracket Maximum?
The bracket-to-bracket maximum is the distance you can span between brackets before your rod will droop or bow. It is an important consideration in specifying any drapery hardware. That is why we include it in our price list and ordering guide. There is no one-size-fits-all distance that works for every diameter and type of rod. The chart below shows all of our rods and the bracket-to-bracket maximums for each.
There are two numbers for each size. One for light weight treatments which are considered to be sheers, or unlined medium weight fabrics, and casement type fabrics. The second number is for heavy weight treatments which are considered to be lined and inter lined, extra long, or in upholstery weight fabric.
Bracket to Bracket Maximum Chart*
*We stand behind all of our products and will replace any rod that does not perform as specified in our Price List and Ordering Guide.
The Best Solution.
If a center bracket is impossible, you need to increase the size of your rod to accommodate the distance you need to go. If you can’t increase rod diameter, stay tuned, our next few blog posts will talk about our many “Bracket Hacks!”