- Plain walls invite us to hang mirrors, pictures or rows of family mementos. Once upon a time, walls were made of plaster over wood lathe and were finished by a piece of wood trim called a "picture rail" about two-thirds of the way between floor and ceiling, or "crown" molding. Hanging pictures was a simple matter of driving a light nail into the wood lathe or hanging heavier frames on a long cord from nails driven into the top of the picture rail. Today's wallboard and abbreviated wood trim pose new challenges to picture-hanging that are answered by new generations of hardware for use in home decor.
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The simplest way to hang a picture is with the simple combination pin-and-hook hanger. These hangers work for most light hanging but should not be used for fragile pieces or mirrors. The flat hook has one or two holes that guide a small nail on a 45-degree angle into the wall. The pin can be tapped into wallboard, wood or plaster. They use simple physics to distribute the weight of the hanging; instead of allowing the force to pull straight down, as a plain nail in the wall would do, the combination of pin angle and bracing of the hanger, "vectors" the force in two directions, splitting the load and spreading the weight of the pull, into and against the wall. This system works especially well when there is lath backing in which to anchor the pin because so much of the weight is vectored away from the plaster coating. Pin-and-hook picture hangers can be used on wallboard without pre-drilling, but a starter "pilot" hole is a good idea on plaster to avoid cracking when tapping the pin in. Large pin-and-hook hangers can be used to hang heavy pictures as reinforcement or when a wall stud happens to back the location where the picture will hang.
- Heavy pictures and mirrors require picture hangers that grip more of the wall than simple pin hangers. These anchored hangers dig into the wall or splay out behind it to strengthen the wall as well as spread the weight over a greater surface. Expansion anchors, used in wallboard or cement, are made of plastic or metal and are tapped into pre-drilled pilot holes, then pushed apart or pulled toward the wall by a screw or bolt, digging into the wall to anchor the hanger. Hollow wall anchors, called "molly" or "toggle" bolts, are inserted through the wall to open behind it, spreading both push and pull over a wider area. Both types reinforce the hanging surface and cover the pilot hole with a small circular plate that grips the face of the wall to steady the hanger.
