Motorised Curtain Tracks, Specified and Fitted

The starting point is the curtain. Fabric, lining, fullness and drop give its weight, and the opening gives the run length. The track profile must carry the weight without bowing between brackets, and the motor must pull it with margin to spare. A motor working at its limit runs hot, wears faster and stops on a damp, heavy day.

We weigh what we specify rather than guess. For very heavy or very long runs, splitting the opening into two or more tracks, each with its own motor, is often better than one large system.

A wired motor needs a socket or fused spur within reach of the motor end, usually above the window or in the ceiling. In a new build or renovation, the electrician can run it before plaster and false ceilings are closed. In a finished room, the choices are surface trunking, chasing the wall, or a battery motor.

Access matters for the life of the system. In a recessed pocket, leave an opening at the motor end so it can be removed without breaking the ceiling. On surface-fixed tracks, make sure the motor end is not hard against a wall or beam that prevents the motor unclipping.

A motorised track must be straight and level along its whole length. Any dip between brackets makes the belt run unevenly and the carriers bind. Brackets are spaced closer than on manual tracks, and fixed into the slab, into backing in a false ceiling, or with resin anchors into laterite.

Ceiling fixing is the most common, because it keeps the motor above the window line and closes light at the top. Wall fixing is fine where the ceiling cannot take the load; the brackets then need enough projection for the motor head and the curtain's folds. Our ceiling curtain tracks page covers ceiling fixing in detail.

Aluminium profiles and sealed motor housings tolerate humidity well, but salt and fine sand settle in the channel, and over time the belt picks them up. The motor then works harder, gets louder and may stop short. A clean of the channel each season keeps the system quiet.

Use stainless screws and brackets near the sea, and keep motors away from where rain can reach them through an open window. In houses closed for the monsoon, run the curtains open and closed every so often — remotely, if the system allows — so the belt does not take a set and the carriers keep moving.

People often ask whether their existing track can take a motor. Most manual tracks have no belt channel, so the honest answer is usually no. Replacing the track with a motorised one costs more at the start but gives a system designed to work together. Where the existing curtains suit a motor, they can often be rehung on the new track.

Use the curtain rod and track planner on this page to check the length the track should run, including the stack each side. We then confirm the configuration and motor position on site.