hanging pictures on a plaster wall

You want the plastic screw in anchors that are designed for drywall but should work well with plaster. They are rated to hold 50lbs each in drywall. Otherwise you would want to use a toggle bolt, as the nail and clasp will fail unless you are talking about very small, lightweight pictures.

I've used the plastic screw in anchors with success on plaster walls but discovered you first have to drill a hole about the size of the anchor body or the anchor will crumble and pull out the plaster instead of screwing into the wall. Tom.

For small pictures:

I pre-drill with a small diameter drill (1/16") thru the plaster & wood lath.

Then I use 16gage brass brads.

For larger pictures I use the same technique but a larger nail.......preferably brass or SS (I don't much care for rust)

cheers Bob

Subject: hanging pictures on a plaster wall

The plaster will be about 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick, laid over 1/4x1 1/2 inch lath, with spaces in between. I drill a pilot hole at an inclined angle - the angle of the picture hook nail - but use a bit that is smaller than the diameter of the nail attached to the hook. I drill several holes a half inch apart in a vertical line till I know from the wood shavings and "feel" that I have hit a lath, then pound the oversize nail into the hole, spackle the woodless holes. Works great, and won't work itself loose, as it can if you drill and hang the picture between the laths..

Here's another method that looks good in an older home w/ higher than average ceilings.

Thanks to everyone for all the suggestions. It will be a picture hanging weekend, so I will let you know how it goes!

You've obviously never tried to hang anything on a plaster wall.

Standard nail and clasp will work just fine. Put a piece of wide cellophane or masking tape on the wall first and nail through the tape. Then peel the tape away. This reduces the possibility of cracking the plaster.

Yep, that's the way. Helps also to use a sharp nail. Hardware stores and The Despot sell some pricey brass hangars that have sharper nails than the standard cheapo variety.