Rented apartment with drywall - best fastener options to hang stuff?

[DouhetSukd]

I just moved into this new high rise apartment and I'd like to hang some stuff up. Mostly a few small paintings, but also a few heavier (6.5 pounds/3kg) masks off the walls.

Anything wrong with the walls when I move out will obviously be my fault, because the building just went up and I am the first renter. So I'd like to minimize my visible exit damages to the drywall.

I have written down the paint color codes from Benjamin Moore for the building, so I think I can touch up stuff when I leave.

Any suggestions as to what type of fasteners to use? And best ways to fix things up when I leave? I've owned a house and am moderately savvy about repairs.

In fact, let's extend the question all the way up to what adhesives to use for my kids' posters. Ideally, I don't want my landlady to have any excuses to bill me a repainting job.

Cheers

[bill allemann]

Check out the little hooks where a nail goes through the hook and into the wall at a 45 deg angle. They are cheap and in every hardware store, and hold much more than you might think. Do not use the adhesive products. They leave a nasty residue, and will probably cause the loss of some damage deposit.

[George]

Forget about those "easy release" stick on hangers that have a tab that you pull that is supposed to release them. I had someone who rented an apartment of mine and used them all over the place. When they moved out they tried to release them and only one came off cleanly. On the others the adhesive had penetrated into the drywall paper.

You might also check if your lease allows you to "fix things up".

[me]

do you mean these..... Hercules hooks?

[hchickpea]

A 1" x 2" frame with a pegboard/cork/fabric insert could be wedged between floor and ceiling using furniture leveling bolts. Stuff hung on it would leave no marks at all on the drywall behind it.

[RickH]

Any hangar that makes a hole is better than an adhesive hangar, a hangar hole is very easily repaired later with single wipe of drywall compound. While an adhesive hangar, when removed, will tear the drywall paper off and that is very hard to hide/fix later when you are moving out. Use the hangar that is appropriate for the weight of the object. For example if the painting has a glass front, use a molly bolt or mushrooming bolt. If a small picture is light then just use a plastic anchor and screw. If its real light use a thumbtack or brad hook.

[Chris Friesen]

I suggest either of these:

?c=1&p=52367&cat=3,40914,50630&ap=1 The first comes in a range of sizes and uses finishing nails to support up to 75lb, the second is a single item that supports up to 50lb.

As others have said...small puncture marks are easily hidden, but adhesive-based methods are hard to fix.

Chris

[DouhetSukd]

Thanks for all the tips so far, this is quite helpful.

I think I am going to look into the finishing-nail based hooks. Cleanup-wise, they seem a safer bet than the big plastic-anchored stuff and I don't need that much holding power.

When I was talking about adhesives I was talking about posters only - i.e. using two sided scotch tape or so to hang posters and papers up on a wall. Not about adhesive-based hooks to hang up stuff up with. I am pretty sure any glue strong enough to hold up 6 lbs will also rip out the wall's paint when it leaves, regardless of claims by the manufacturer.

Btw, is it just me or is there a real lack of furnishing books for renters? Many of us will live in rented accommodations for years and may want to tweak them a bit.

Yet, all the books I've seen assume:

a) you have tons of space to play with. b) you own the place so you can rip it apart. c) you have tons of money so that, in addition to a. and b. you can afford super-duper custom furniture if you do want to save on space.

I had Sarah Susanka's Not So Big House book and its floor plans looked more like Not So Small House to me. Still, she at least tries to be realistic.

[Norminn]

Adhesive hangers are not reliable and are likely to damage the wall. Scotch Tape is a bad idea - difficult to get the adhesive off. For plain posters and small picture frames (up to 8x10), straight pins work very nicely. Get them at fabric store or where they sell sewing supplies. They sometimes bend, but if driven in at an angle will hold nicely and leave very little defect when removed.

[willshak]

These have been around for a long time before Hercules hooks.

[willshak]

Then there's the old reliable Thumb tacks.

[Barbara R]

Saw an ad for these over the weekend, and wrote it down. Hope someone has tried them.

Barbara

[Shawn Hirn]

Just use some nails and screws, then buy a can of spackle and a putty knife when you get ready to move and patch the holes. Really. Its no big deal.

[Logan Shaw]

I don't know that you have to minor nail holes in the walls when you leave. There's such a thing as normal wear and tear, and I'm fairly sure that hanging things on the walls is part of that. It might very well be that provided you don't leave any holes bigger than a small nail, you wouldn't really need to do anything to repair it.

I suppose it's possible that a particularly picky landlord would try to ding you for that, but as I understand it, that would be fairly non-standard in the industry.

- Logan

[Al Bundy]

[e-mail] wrote in news:1188324376.187316.151510 @r23g2000prd.googlegroups.com:

The place will probably be repainted anyway depending on how long you live there. Yea, you're renting. But you are allowed to live there ya know. Part of that is hanging things on the wall, walking on floors wearing them, using the crapper, etc. All is just a matter of reasonable care.

Holes in walls are indeed easily fixed if you have the touchup paint.

Tapes, although not recommended for hanging anything other than a poster maybe, do leave sticky crap on the wall. That is EASILY removed with Goo Gone available just about anywhere.

[jJim McLaughlin]

SNIP HAPPENS

Buy the paints *now*. Buy a quart of each that you need. Dollars to doughnuts in three years when you move the formulations for colors you have so carefully written down will have changed and the same color, by the same manufacturer, will no longer be available.

Don't open the paints, just store them, preferably upside down so the can lids are on the bottom.

And realize that when you do go to do touchups, the paints on the wall will have faded and oxidized a bit, and while the paints you stored will be the closest match you can get, the match will not be exact due to the ageing of the paint on the walls.

[Mark]

Not sure where you are at, but some places require the landlord to paint if the place was occupied more than 6 mo or a year, and minor damage is expected. Go ahead and use nails or screws - carefully.

If there is wallpaper, I've used a utility knife and cut a small 'flap' where I was putting the nail. Fold the paper back carefully so you don't damage it, and put your nail or screw only thru the drywall. When you remove the nail, patch the whole carefully with spackle (I've even used white toothpaste to fill small whole -dries pretty hard and doesn't shrink all that much!). A dab of glue under the flap of wallpaper and you're as good as new.

[Shawn Hirn]

The paint will have probably dried up in the can and the landlord will likely repaint with recently purchased paint anyway upon the tenant moving out. Really, this is no big deal. If the OP has doubts, just read his lease or ask his landlord.