Hangings items on plasterboard

edinhome

Hello,

I've rummaged around here and internet and am getting confused about how to hang items on what I think is plasterboard. I'm not young so please be patient with me. I've just moved after 30 years and I think the internal bits of my walls are plasterboard - I tried hammering a nail in to hang a painting with and after two thumps it seemed to have nothing to go into and went all the way in.

I found that one can use rawlplugs to hang paintings on plasterboard but then I found a discussion where it said one can't. 

Are there rawlplugs suitable for hanging paintings with? Would I need to drill a hole first for the plug? I don't own a drill but I can get one.

Thank you for any help or advice you can offer, and apologies if you have found my thread about not being able to work the hot water. I'm a bit stressed by this moving business!

DullGreyGuy

edinhome said:

Hello,

I've rummaged around here and internet and am getting confused about how to hang items on what I think is plasterboard. I'm not young so please be patient with me. I've just moved after 30 years and I think the internal bits of my walls are plasterboard - I tried hammering a nail in to hang a painting with and after two thumps it seemed to have nothing to go into and went all the way in.

I found that one can use rawlplugs to hang paintings on plasterboard but then I found a discussion where it said one can't. 

Are there rawlplugs suitable for hanging paintings with? Would I need to drill a hole first for the plug? I don't own a drill but I can get one.

Thank you for any help or advice you can offer, and apologies if you have found my thread about not being able to work the hot water. I'm a bit stressed by this moving business!

What are you trying to hang? what sort of weight? 

A wall won't be just made of plasterboard, it could be a stud wall (wooden frame with plasterboard over) or dot & dab so block work with blobs of cement/adhesive which the plasterboard was stuck to etc. 

For a normal light photo in a frame then standard picture hooks like https://www.screwfix.com/p/easyfix-light-duty-picture-hooks-50-pack/7966P will be perfectly adequate. 

For something a bit heavier but not a full sized TV or massive mirror you can get various different forms of rawlplugs, most you need to drill but there are some self tapping ones like https://www.screwfix.com/p/rawlplug-self-drill-plasterboard-fixings-metal-32mm-100-pack/81139

For something very heavy there are different styles of fittings, again some are self drilling like https://www.screwfix.com/p/corefix-spike-no-drill-heavy-duty-plasterboard-fixings-20mm-x-60mm-4-pack/238tw which claims it can hold up to 50kg

Personally, if its something that heavy I'd be using more than one and if its something expensive then I would be looking for something that goes into the structural part of the wall but that will limit where things can be placed. That said, my TV has been on the wall for 7 years held by two plasterboard rawlplugs and even after an "accident", it didnt move an inch or show any damage to the plasterboard.

FreeBear

I've used these on plasterboard to good effect -> https://www.bmstores.co.uk/products/rawlplug-metal-self-drive-plug-and-screw-12pk-309374

A small screwdriver can be used to make the initial hole, and then another one to screw the plug in. If the supplied screw is too long, it can be cut down or a shorter one of a similar diameter used.

twopenny

I was the same when I moved.

If you don't know you don't know. People seemed to think things were obvious and then not instruct me.

How big or heavy are these pictures?

I've done all mine using picture hangers which you tap the nail in diagonally, the hole is that way so you can't go wrong.

They come in brass too and from most diy stores.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/100-Picture-Hangers-Hooks-Nails/dp/B01FT49XEA?th=1

But when I started I used Tacks or small nails. But stuck to small picutres

For something heavier I would use two of these spaced apart and put some small thin nails just underneath the picture frame where they don't show to be sure they are supported. Though to be fair that was/is mirrors.

Have you got a small hammer like this?

https://www.espares.co.uk/product/es1642915?utm_source=google+shopping&utm_medium=shopping&utm_campaign=google+shopping&gad_source=1&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIx5qV0tDDiwMVZpJQBh1J5w0lEAQYBSABEgKc0fD_BwE

I only found them last year and found they were much easier to use for small jobs and of course, not so heavy so you were likely to aim better

edinhome

Thank you to you all. I'll give these a go. Thank you again

Cairnpapple

I use a custom picture framer and he strongly recommends 'plasterboard hooks' which have a triangular piece that you push into the wall - often you can just push it in with your fingers. I don't know what brand he uses because obviously he buys them by the thousand but these look similar: https://www.diy.com/departments/taskar-push-in-plasterboard-picture-hooks-10-pack-/5060915421234_BQ.prd

However for small pictures I tend to use the type that DullGreyGuy linked to with the nail, because then if I choose to move the picture, the remaining hole is almost unnoticeable.

I am procrastinating on a couple of heavier hanging tasks where I was going to use a drill and rawlplugs so maybe if I get self tapping rawlplugs I might persuade myself it's not such a big task!

ThisIsWeird

Cairnpapple said:

I am procrastinating on a couple of heavier hanging tasks where I was going to use a drill and rawlplugs so maybe if I get self tapping rawlplugs I might persuade myself it's not such a big task!

Don't use normal 'rawlplugs', the plug type designed for solid walls, but - yes - the self-tapping kind outlined in DullGG's thread above are excellent for quite heavy loads.
DGG's whole thread nicely outlines the three main types available, in increasing order of strength.
For small/medium lightish picture frames, then even the one-pin type of hook you linked to should do. You can even fit two, side by side (distance depending on picture frames width) for a simple way to add more strength, and anti-picture-wobble!
Plasterboard can be astonishingly strong, capable of holding heavy loads. That strength depends largely on the paper layer either side being as intact as possible, as it holds the plaster core together. So the secret to the most successful fitting is to damage the paper layers (and plaster, for that matter...) as little as possible.
So, hold pins steady, and tap in accurately. If you knock a pin sideways, it'll be compromised - tho' still likely ok unless too bad.
Ditto with screw-in fixings - nice firmish steady push as you screw them in, but not silly so as to burst through the back layer. Make sure the cutting edge has time to actually cut through. Once the fixing is nicely cutting through, and the thread is catching in the plaster layer, then ease off the pressure slightly as it cuts through the other side - let that back paper layer be cut through too. 
All these fixings are great for static loads - pictures, hangings, etc, - but you need to take extra care if the loads are given regular movement - say shelves that have objects dropped on them, or TVs which are re-angled. Any movement in the fixing will soon loosen them... They need an eye kept on them - re-tightened as needed, and even given a coat of PVA before reinsertion, so as to help bind the plaster core.

edinhome

ThisIsWeird said:

Cairnpapple said:

I am procrastinating on a couple of heavier hanging tasks where I was going to use a drill and rawlplugs so maybe if I get self tapping rawlplugs I might persuade myself it's not such a big task!

Don't use normal 'rawlplugs', the plug type designed for solid walls, but - yes - the self-tapping kind outlined in DullGG's thread above are excellent for quite heavy loads.
DGG's whole thread nicely outlines the three main types available, in increasing order of strength.
For small/medium lightish picture frames, then even the one-pin type of hook you linked to should do. You can even fit two, side by side (distance depending on picture frames width) for a simple way to add more strength, and anti-picture-wobble!
Plasterboard can be astonishingly strong, capable of holding heavy loads. That strength depends largely on the paper layer either side being as intact as possible, as it holds the plaster core together. So the secret to the most successful fitting is to damage the paper layers (and plaster, for that matter...) as little as possible.
So, hold pins steady, and tap in accurately. If you knock a pin sideways, it'll be compromised - tho' still likely ok unless too bad.
Ditto with screw-in fixings - nice firmish steady push as you screw them in, but not silly so as to burst through the back layer. Make sure the cutting edge has time to actually cut through. Once the fixing is nicely cutting through, and the thread is catching in the plaster layer, then ease off the pressure slightly as it cuts through the other side - let that back paper layer be cut through too. 
All these fixings are great for static loads - pictures, hangings, etc, - but you need to take extra care if the loads are given regular movement - say shelves that have objects dropped on them, or TVs which are re-angled. Any movement in the fixing will soon loosen them... They need an eye kept on them - re-tightened as needed, and even given a coat of PVA before reinsertion, so as to help bind the plaster core.

OK. very helpful. They are glass framed paintings. Max size A2 but quite heavy. 

I need to watch my pressure I think. My build-yourself chest of drawers was going very well until I did the whole 'darn, just force the blinkin thing' with a plug and it went through the side of the chest. Other than that, I'm quite proud of myself. I used my drill quite a bit without any disasters.

Lesson learnt on the pressure thing!

Thank you again.

Grenage

Hollow wall anchors are excellent for putting weighty items on plasterboard.  Best used with a setting tool.

casper_gutman

One caution for hanging pictures on plasterboard: there are many different kinds of plasterboard fixings on the market which have arms that grip onto the back of the plasterboard when you tighten a screw into them. Don't be tempted to drive a screw in partway and leave it protruding to hang a picture, as the arms wouldn't have engaged properly and the fixing could pull out. You have to use a screw to fasten some kind of hook onto the wall, then hang the picture on that. I'm thinking of things like these Plasterboard Wall Plugs HDF 10mm x 28mm 100 Pack - from Screwfix.

ThisIsWeird

Good point - yes, some fixings need to be kept screwed up tight for them to grip properly
The self-screwing rawlplugs mentioned earlier should be fine - the screws can be undone after they are in place.