Best way to hang pictures?

[Timothy Murphy]

What do people find is the neatest way to hang pictures on a plaster or masonry wall?

I usually use the picture hooks (available in all cheap stores) with a steel (or strengthened) nail which has to be hammered in. But these have the disadvantage that a piece of plaster often comes away with them if one tries to pull out the hook.

The alternative I've taken to is to use an ordinary hook screwed in with a very small rawlplug. If the rawlplug is pushed in a little below the surface it is easy enough if one takes out the hook to almost hide the spot with polyfilla or similar.

But what do the experts advise?

[Tim Watts]

There are tiny plugs made for cable clips - these would be ideal:

[charles]

If it's hard plaster, you're better off using one of the ones with 4 short pins - usually found in a white plastic finish.

[Chris Hogg]

Drill a hole with the smallest masonry drill you can find, probably

3mm, push a matchstick into the hole (or two matchsticks if the hole's on the large side) and break off the excess, and use the standard steel-nailed picture hook you've described above. In effect using the matchstick as a rawlplug.

[Timothy Murphy]

Thanks, that sounds like a good idea, I'll try it.

[unopened]

I'm not an expert.

In my opinion, the neatest way is from a picture rail. Once the picture rail is up, and you have the right rail profile and hooks that hang on the rail, you can place pictures wherever you like, and move them without needing to patch up or disguise holes.

Some people don't like picture rails, or the need to have visible wire or cord suspending the pictures, but "De gustibus non est disputandum".

Regards,

Sid

[S Viemeister]

+1

[John Rumm]

I like the so called "hardwall" hooks, which have three or four short pins in a plastic base that are hammered into the wall. They get a good grip, but can also be removed leaveing relatively little damage just by tapping the side of them a few times lightly with a hammer.

e.g.

[Tim Streater]

+1

We just had one of our rooms redecorated and had a picture rail added. It splits the wall decoration up nicely, too, with white for ceiling and down to the rail, and colour below.

[Bob Eager]

of-100/178098_BQ.prd

+1

I was going to suggest the same.

[Syd Rumpo]

I thought those were supposed to have a longer central pin knocked in first, and the three short peripheral pins were then used to tighten it up by compressing the surrounding plaster.

They do work quite well, but the body is a bit thick for a smaller picture IMO.

You'll have a hole to patch anyway, might as well use a small pin-plug as suggested by Tim Watts.

Cheers

[PeterC]

Sometimes the nail is slightly rusted in. Twisting the nail with pliers might break the 'bond' caused by the rust and avoid causing a hole.

[stuart noble]

Picture rails don't allow you to fix anything flat to the wall, which appears to be the fashion ATM. My old masters look better tipped forward slightly :-) Non-reflective glass is a must for anything you actually want to look at

[John Rumm]

Not the ones I have used... just the small pins.

You can get a small one where the "hook" actually is a spur that sticks out of the top - so they tuck behind the picture nicely.

Except the plug hole needs drilling rather than just hammering in.

[fred]

In article , stuart noble writes

Maybe not flat to the wall but vertical is easy if you space out the base with a couple of small pieces of polystyrene stuck to the back of the frame.

My oldee picture rail hangers only stand the frame off by about 10mm.

[JimK]

/We just had one of our rooms redecorated and had a picture rail added. It splits the wall decoration up nicely, too, with white for ceiling and down to the rail, and colour below. /q

Wot no cornice?!

Jim K

[Bob Eager]

Especially a nice cream cornice...

[newshound]

Me too!

[Chris J Dixon]

I use the crude but simple method: a pair of countersunk screws #8 or #10, with appropriate plug, and just enough left projecting so that it will snag the suspension cord or wire.

I don't change the "hang" very often, and have no fear of a heavy (and sometimes relatively expensive) item plummeting to earth if the plaster crumbles.

Chris

[John Rumm]

Looks good in rooms with tall ceilings... not so convinced in a modern box with only 7'6" to play with.