Are you using the right picture hangers for the job?

If you decorate your space with original paintings, then you've probably spent a lot of money on art, and the last thing you want is for that treasured painting to fall off the wall and get damaged.

I say this from experience… during the Northridge earthquake in the 1990's an I had an oil painting fell off the wall and get damaged. Part of oil paint, about the size of a quarter, chipped off. Fortunately it was part of the background near the edge and I was able to repair it. But painting restoration and repair work is a tedious time consuming process (and expensive too). If the damage had occurred in a main focal point of the painting I would have had to take the painting to a repair specialist as my studio just isn't set up that kind of painstaking work. The lesson learned here is, its really best to learn how to properly display and care for art work so it can be enjoyed for generations to come.

So when a recent episode of "Deconstruction" on the DIY Network put various picture hangers to the test that caught my interest. Here's a brief summary with results from the show's tests.

The show tested the following different types picture hangers and here are their findings:

1. A nail and basic picture hanger - This is for very light weight items. If you are hanging a painting on canvas, don't bother. The reverberations from a door slamming in the house is usually enough to knock things off the wall.



2. Plastic expansive screw - This type of screw is used on concrete and brick walls, not drywall. Usually its rated to hold 20lbs of weight. In the show's test this screw hanging system failed at 60lbs.



3. Drywall anchor - This type of anchor is used with sheet metal screws and used in drywall or plaster wall materials. It held up to 80lbs of weight in their tests.



4. Molly bolt (also known as a hollow wall anchor) - These are used for anchoring in drywall or other hollow walls. The screw can be removed and re-inserted but the anchor itself can not be removed. In the show's test this style bolt held up to 130lbs of weight before failing.



5. Toggle bolt with wings - This one turned out to be the most secure bolt of all the tests on the show. It held close to 200lbs of weight before the picture fell to the ground. (This is what I use for large paintings.)




Keep in mind if you live in an earthquake prone area (like the West Coast of the U.S. or the near the New Madrid fault in the Midwest) not only is there sideways motion during a quake, but also vertical motion during the jolt. (Meaning it adds additional strain on whatever type picture hangers you use.) So its probably best to choose a picture hanging method that not only stabilizes the artwork to the wall, but bolts that hold a lot more than the actual weight of the painting or other artwork.

All of these items should be available at your local hardware store. I've included images and a couple links from Amazon to help illustrate the post.

Hope that helps!