What Is The Best Way to Hang Pictures On Plaster Walls

By cleverly placing pictures, mirrors, or other ornamental accessories on walls, it can create a new look and feel in a room and help make it look ‘lived in’. They can also inject your personality into the room.

However, what starts as a reasonably straightforward DIY job can, if not done correctly, can turn into a disaster and the need for some emergency plastering work. So in this article, we’re going to take a look at the best and safest ways to hang pictures on plaster walls.

Table of contents

Top gun plastering

Patience & Preparation

As with any job around the home, patience and preparation are key to its success, and hanging pictures on plaster walls is no exception. So before you start, consider how many pictures you intend to hang on the plaster walls, the best height to hang them and the type of wall anchor you’re going to use.

If you’re planning on grouping several pictures together, one trick is to lay them out on the floor and see what they look like before you start trying to hang them.

What To Use When Hanging Pictures On Plaster Walls

Here at Top Gun Plastering, we often get asked these three questions when it comes to deciding which is the best way to hang pictures on plaster walls.

Do Command Strips Work On Plaster Walls?

In our opinion, command strips or any type of adhesive hanger are a great, easy and effective way to hang a photo frame or pictures on plaster walls without using plaster nails.

Typically most command strips or similar plastic anchors are best used for lightweight pictures weighing 2 kilos or less.

However, you do need to remember command or adhesive hooks or adhesive hangers are not designed to be used on a rough or an uneven surface, as this prevents the adhesive strip from making a solid bond with the wall.

Also, when it comes to using command strips or plastic wall anchors, it’s always important that you prepare the area where you’re planning to use them.

To do this, you need to select the location where you want to hang your picture and clean the wall surface with rubbing alcohol, as this will help to remove any dust and dirt that can prevent the command strip or adhesive hangers from sticking securely.

Once the wall is clean and completely dry, stick several command strips, adhesive square or double-sided tape to the back of the picture and press them firmly into place against the wall.

Then, check each command strip to ensure it sticks to the wall and your job is done.

How Do You Hang Something Heavy On A Plaster Wall?

When it comes to hanging something heavy on plastered walls, you need to remember that in most cases, the plaster, which has been made of several layers, is used only as a decorative wall covering. Although it hardens when it dries, it does have a tendency to crack and crumble when you try and hammer a plaster nail directly into it.

So when it comes to hanging something heavy on a plaster wall, there are a couple of ways of doing it; firstly, you can carefully drill a pilot hole into the plaster wall and then use a wood screw and a wall anchor or wall hook to secure your picture to the plastered wall.

Just on this point, always remember to never drill above or below light switches or plug sockets or any place where electric cables may be concealed if you’re unsure where you’re drilling, use an electronic tester to check before you start.

The other way to hang heavy pictures on plaster walls is to use a picture hanging system.

These hanging display systems work by fixing picture rails along the wall, and photos or pictures then hang from picture wire attached to the rail and are fastened with hooks.

Since the hanging wires can be clicked onto or slid into the picture rail wherever you like, you always have the flexibility of hanging and rehanging your pictures.

They also help to give a distinctive, museum-like look to any room in your house or office space.

What Are The Best Picture Hooks For Plasterboards?

When it comes to hanging pictures on plasterboard, you need to remember that it is a very soft material. Usually made of paper and gypsum, the drywall panels are very thin (typically 15 – 20mm) means heavy items, when hung, can easily pull out nails or screws used on the picture frame.

Thankfully there are some pretty ingenious (and somewhat scary-looking) screw-related devices to help get around this problem.

One word of warning, though: once in, these little blighters are hard to get out again, so make sure you put them right where you want them.

Spiral fixing (or rotor plug): available in either plastic or metal, these evil-looking things grip really firmly and are ideal picture hangers for plasterboard.

However, you need to remember not to over screw them; you need just enough force – otherwise, you might shatter the plasterboard. Once screwed in (using a drill), just insert the screw inside.

Spring toggle: (sometimes known as toggle bolts or molly bolts) can’t be screwed in; instead, you need to drill a hole in your plasterboard (say 8-10mm diameter) and insert (toggle end first).

Once in, the end of the toggle will spring out behind the plasterboard, meaning it can’t be pulled out.

You then pull it back, so the toggle grips the picture hook to the wall as you tighten the bolt. Spring toggles are probably the best types of anchors for securing heavyweight pictures or decorations weighing up to 25 kg.

Hollow wall anchors: can be used when you can’t find the wall stud; they work when screwed into a pilot-drilled hole, the central area of the cavity fixing is forced upwards on each side, creating an immovable plate that holds the picture hook as it is crushed up in the middle, these are perfect when you’re using brass hooks.

Top gun plastering

Talk To The Professionals.

Pictures and prints play an important role in home decorating for several reasons. Not only reflect and put your personality into the room, but they can also help as a solution to change the look and feel of a room by giving the illusion of height, width and length. However, they need to be hung with care.

So if you have any questions on the best way to hang pictures on plaster walls or any other plastering requirements, please talk to Kyle on 0402 621 023 or James on 0415 397 830 here at Top Gun Plastering or drop us an email attopgunplastering@gmail.com.

We look forward to hearing from you.