Project description
Our school assembly hall has a stage nine metres wide and three and a half metres high, and the curtain on it is finished. The fabric has faded into pale stripes on the window side, the seams are splitting along the top, and the draw mechanism jams so badly that two teachers pull the cord together while half the curtain simply stays where it is. The hall works almost every week: assemblies, concerts, rehearsals, parent evenings, the first bell in September. I would rather replace the whole set properly than patch it for a fourth time.
What I expect from the contractor. Come and measure the opening yourself, including the height to the structural slab and the state of the existing fixing points. Offer a heavy matte fabric in a calm colour that does not shine under stage lighting and does not let the back wall show through; I want samples in the hall, under our own lamps, not a photograph. Calculate the fullness ratio so the curtain hangs in deep even folds and looks dressed rather than flat. Supply a draw track with a smooth run and a rope drive, sew side legs and a back drop to match, add a weighted hem so the panels hang straight, and finish the top with ties or webbing for hanging, leaving an allowance at the hem for later adjustment. The old curtain comes down and is taken away by you.
Safety is not a place where I will negotiate. Fabric for a hall full of children is bought only with confirmed fire safety, and I want the documents for that fabric handed to me together with the completion papers. The curtain is heavy, so the track and its fixings are calculated for the full weight with a margin and anchored into the structural slab, never into a suspended ceiling or plasterboard; show me those figures before you order anything. Work at height is done from a scaffold tower with fall protection, and we will close the hall to pupils for those days. The rope control must be routed offstage and secured there, so that a child cannot take hold of it and pull the mechanism down on themselves.
— site survey: opening, height to the slab, fixing points;
— heavy matte fabric with fire safety documents and samples to choose from;
— fullness calculation and panel layout;
— draw track with a smooth run and a rope drive;
— side legs, back drop, weighted hem, ties or webbing for hanging;
— sewing with a hem allowance and reinforced seams;
— removal and disposal of the old curtain;
— installation, adjustment of the run, care and cleaning instructions.
What I expect from the contractor. Come and measure the opening yourself, including the height to the structural slab and the state of the existing fixing points. Offer a heavy matte fabric in a calm colour that does not shine under stage lighting and does not let the back wall show through; I want samples in the hall, under our own lamps, not a photograph. Calculate the fullness ratio so the curtain hangs in deep even folds and looks dressed rather than flat. Supply a draw track with a smooth run and a rope drive, sew side legs and a back drop to match, add a weighted hem so the panels hang straight, and finish the top with ties or webbing for hanging, leaving an allowance at the hem for later adjustment. The old curtain comes down and is taken away by you.
Safety is not a place where I will negotiate. Fabric for a hall full of children is bought only with confirmed fire safety, and I want the documents for that fabric handed to me together with the completion papers. The curtain is heavy, so the track and its fixings are calculated for the full weight with a margin and anchored into the structural slab, never into a suspended ceiling or plasterboard; show me those figures before you order anything. Work at height is done from a scaffold tower with fall protection, and we will close the hall to pupils for those days. The rope control must be routed offstage and secured there, so that a child cannot take hold of it and pull the mechanism down on themselves.
— site survey: opening, height to the slab, fixing points;
— heavy matte fabric with fire safety documents and samples to choose from;
— fullness calculation and panel layout;
— draw track with a smooth run and a rope drive;
— side legs, back drop, weighted hem, ties or webbing for hanging;
— sewing with a hem allowance and reinforced seams;
— removal and disposal of the old curtain;
— installation, adjustment of the run, care and cleaning instructions.
Other / Miscellaneous Cash, Bank transfer
