Hanging things on walls

Almost every failed wall fixing failed because the fixing did not suit the wall, which is a matter of identification rather than skill.

Identifying the wall

The first step and the one usually skipped.

Solid masonry — brick, block or stone — sounds solid when tapped and resists a pushed pin.

Drilling produces reddish or grey dust and requires a masonry bit, generally with hammer action.

Plasterboard on studs, common in modern construction and in partition walls.

Sounds hollow between studs and solid over them. A pin pushes in easily. Drilling produces white dust and goes through quickly into a void.

Lath and plaster, in older buildings.

Sounds hollow, and drilling encounters alternating resistance from the timber laths and voids between.

Dot-and-dab plasterboard, where plasterboard is stuck to masonry with adhesive dabs, leaving a void of a few centimetres behind.

This is common in newer buildings and catches people, since a fixing that grips only the plasterboard has very little strength.

The fixings for each

Masonry: a plastic wall plug matched to the screw and drill size, or a frame fixing for heavier loads.

The hole must be the right diameter and deep enough for the plug to sit flush.

Plasterboard, light loads: self-drive plasterboard fixings, which screw directly into the board.

Plasterboard, heavier loads: spring toggles or metal cavity anchors, which open behind the board and spread the load.

Anything genuinely heavy on plasterboard: fix into the stud, which is the timber upright behind the board.

Studs are generally at regular intervals and can be located with a detector or by tapping.

Lath and plaster: fix into the timber lath or, better, into the studs behind.

Dot-and-dab: use a fixing long enough to reach the masonry behind, or a specific cavity fixing designed for the situation.

Before drilling

The safety step.

Cables and pipes run in predictable zones — vertically and horizontally from sockets and switches, and around the perimeter of walls — and a detector should be used regardless.

Drilling into a cable or a pipe is dangerous and expensive, and detectors are inexpensive.

Where a detector indicates something, move the fixing rather than proceeding carefully.

The technique

Points that improve the result.

Mark the position and check it with a level before drilling anything.

For multiple fixings, mark them all, check the alignment, and drill only when satisfied.

Use masking tape on the drill bit as a depth marker.

Start the hole slowly and without hammer action to prevent the bit wandering, then apply hammer for masonry.

Hold the drill perpendicular to the wall.

And on tiles, drill through the glaze slowly without hammer action, using a tile bit, before switching to masonry mode for the wall behind.

Weight

Where judgement is required.

Fixing manufacturers publish load ratings, generally in the packaging, and these assume correct installation in the stated material.

Loads on shelves are cumulative and easily underestimated: a metre of books weighs considerably more than people assume.

Televisions, mirrors and cabinets should be fixed into structure rather than into board alone.

And anything above a bed, a sofa or a child's space warrants more caution than the load calculation strictly requires.

Picture hanging specifically

The practical guidance.

The conventional height places the centre of a picture at around eye level, generally between one and a half and one and six metres from the floor.

Above furniture, a smaller gap of fifteen to twenty centimetres reads as related rather than floating.

For a group, treat it as a single shape and arrange it on the floor first.

Two fixings rather than one keeps a picture level.

And for anything light on plasterboard, adhesive hanging strips avoid holes entirely and work within their stated weight limits.

Getting it level

The step that separates competent work from obvious amateur work.

Do not measure from the ceiling or the floor, since neither is reliably level in most houses.

Use a spirit level or a laser, and mark a line rather than trusting the eye.

For anything wide, use two fixings rather than one, which prevents the slow rotation that single-hook pictures always develop.

Measure the drop from the top of the frame to the taut hanging wire rather than to the fixing on the back, since the wire stretches when loaded.

And for a group, cut paper templates and tape them up first, which lets the arrangement be adjusted before any hole is made.

General information only, not professional advice. Always check for cables and pipes before drilling, and consult a qualified professional for structural or electrical work.