HOW TO HANG IT
Brett Deacon from Picture Hanging Services explains:
What does Picture Hanging Services do?
We professionally install all types of artwork – corporate and residential – and we specialise in collages. We also offer a gallery hanging system, primarily used in art galleries, hotels and some homes, where the artwork can be changed around. Why should one have pictures hung professionally?
We start off our service with advice on the layout of your pictures, because there can be many factors involved, including light, damp, ventilation and security. Our hanging is safe, secure and does not cause excessive damage to your walls. We are equipped to hang the heavy and difficult stuff in any hard-to-reach places too.
If one really wants to hang it on one’s own, what is the best way?
Don’t try to design a collage or set of pictures as you hang them on the wall. Rather design the layout and do the calculations and measurements with the works on the floor and then transfer those numbers to the wall.
Screws or nails into the wall?
Hilt is are fine for small, lightweight items such as certificates, but they should not be used for hanging heavier works because they only penetrate through the plaster and not into the brick.
Masonry nails are fine to use but should be drilled in for a snug fit – and at a slight angle, not just hammered into the wall. If you just hammer anything into a wall, the wall construction material has to be displaced somewhere and this is where cracking, bubbling and bulging will occur. If you drill it in, this won’t happen.
Alternatively, use rawl plugs and screws. Drill the hole with the correctly sized drill bit as indicated on the rawl plug, using a masonry drill with a hammer function. Before you drill, it is a good idea to use an electronic wall detector or sensor to test the area you intend to drill to make sure there are no electrical cables, water pipes, conduits and so on in the wall.
• Picture Hanging Services (021) 790-2604, picturehanging.co.za • In Joburg, we recommend Bié Venter of Bié cc (083-728-5606) for artwork installation and maintenance.