Hanging Pictures

A question from a new home owner.

What's the best way to hang pictures and artwork.

In the rental house we were just in the popular method seems to be a hammer and a rusty nail.

Surely there must be a way to drill small holes and screw in hooks that would cause less damage than nails.

Any advice and where to source?

Thanks

SunFan

Use smaller nails. They work fine, or you have to use plastic molley screws.

It really depends on the type of construction and wall finishing. Over the years, we have found using a drill, then a plug and a screw to work the best. Concrete nails can leave a big mess...but if ya gotta use 'em, put a small piece of PAINTER'S BLUE TAPE over the potential site before hammering and then remove it after the fact. If your walls are constructed like the rental house we just vacated, there will be a big mess anyway.
Your decision will probably depend of the weight of the art pieces as well...do you want it to be broken when it falls off the wall?

Picture hanging hardware is the best way...there is a little u with a sleeve for a very thin nail to go through at an angle. Available at any hardware store NoB. They are made to be small and hold great weights....and the thin strong nails do minimal damage...where to get them there is a good question though...and as said if the walls are cement, a drill and plug is probably best

taquete plastico ... if you want to drill a hole and insert a screw or threaded hook


http://www.homedepot.com.mx/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Product_10796_22018_16581

Just a word of caution if you don’t already know, you should try to leave a slight space between the picture and the wall. Sometimes these old brick & mortar houses retain a lot of moisture and can easily destroy your painting. We just used push-pins in the frame which keeps it about ¼ inch away from the wall.

Parker wrote:Just a word of caution if you don’t already know, you should try to leave a slight space between the picture and the wall. Sometimes these old brick & mortar houses retain a lot of moisture and can easily destroy your painting. We just used push-pins in the frame which keeps it about ¼ inch away from the wall.

That's a great tip Parker. Thanks.

When using a drill in a wall....try this to minimize the clean-up:

http://lifehacker.com/5620573/use-a-post+it-note-for-easy-post+drilling-cleanup

Thanks folks for all the great advice!

SunFan