At Harptree Woodworks we tend to be traditionalists when it comes to things like hanging pictures. Provided you check for pipes and cables beneath the surface of the wall you generally can’t go wrong using nails or screws – screws for masonry and nails for plasterboard. New-fangled things such as self-adhesive picture hanging strips really bring out the retro-grouch in me.
I realise that some people don’t get as excited as me by the prospect of using a drill, or are terrified of hammering a nail through a water pipe. I also know that most modern buildings are held together with vast quantities of sealants and adhesives, so there really should be no reason to distrust something as innocuous as a picture hanging strip.
Innocuous
But when a picture falls off the wall, dents the skirting board and miraculously doesn’t smash, my long-standing skepticism suddenly seems justified. Admittedly it wasn’t the adhesive which failed, it actually came away attached to a piece of paint and plaster. But I still found myself nodding knowingly and saying, “that wouldn’t have happened with a screw”.
Adhesive strip failure
Plaster / paint detached from wall surface
Scene of the crime – damaged skirting, paint & plaster flakes, picture fortunately survived
Finally – if you’re wondering why one of my pictures was hanging from a self-adhesive strip. It was already fixed to the wall by the previous owner of the property. That’ll learn me.
The Harptree Woodworks Blog 