The first step in hanging a picture or artwork on a wall is to understand what material your wall is made of. Most walls are drywall or plaster. The dry wall is made of plaster, sandwiched between two pieces of paper attached to the wall posts. A plaster wall is formed by attaching a certain length of wood to the studs of the wall and applying several layers of plaster on the top. Gypsum is more common in old houses, and drywall is more common in new houses.  

Drywall is softer and thinner than gypsum wall, and nails can be nailed to drywall, usually without causing damage. Plaster is more brittle and may crack or chip, so you always want to pre-drill holes in the plaster before adding any hardware (such as nails, screws, or anchors).  

When hanging artwork, the best way is to find a stud to nail or screw in. Regardless of your wall type, studs can usually hold up to 100 pounds. If you cannot use studs, you need to use anchors and screws. If the anchor is not used, the screw will be pulled out. Each anchor and screw can bear a weight of up to 20 pounds, so if you are hanging more than this weight, you can use two anchor screws to support the weight.  

The type of anchor you use will depend on the type of wall you have. For drywall, you can use drywall anchors or toggle bolts. Drywall anchors are usually plastic, with a crack at the bottom that expands outward when you add the screw, thereby securing the screw to the wall. A toggle bolt is a type of bolt surrounded by metal hinged wings, folded in one direction to enter a pre-drilled hole in the wall, and opened once through the hole to support the back of the wall. This type of anchor can withstand a weight of 40 pounds.

Drilling holes in plaster requires a little more care and consideration. Regardless of the type of fasteners you use, and whether your fasteners enter the stud or not, you always want to pre-drill the holes. You can put a piece of tape on the plaster before drilling to prevent cracking. If you have not drilled into the stud, you will use anchors designed specifically for plaster, because plaster walls are usually much thicker than plasterboard, so plasterboard anchors may pull out of the plaster.

There are some plastic anchor options suitable for plaster called expansion anchors. Expansion anchors can be expanded to hold hard, brittle masonry, with a consistency similar to plaster. You can also order special plaster anchors, toggle bolts or Morley bolts. A Molly bolt is a bolt with a metal sleeve around it. When it is inserted into a pre-drilled hole and tightened, the sleeve expands, supporting it on the back of the plaster and the lathe.

We hope you enjoy this tooltip. Join us and get more interesting tips in our seminars!

Tool Introduction Workshop, November 20th, San Francisco Tool Introduction Workshop, December 11th, San Francisco

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Julie Peri is the founder and director of Dykes With Drills. https://www.dykeswithdrills.com/

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