CRF Services Ltd

Picture hanging and heavy mirror fitting

Picture hanging sounds like the simplest job in the house, until a large mirror starts to lean forward off its fixings or a gallery wall ends up with frames at six slightly different heights. CRF Services Ltd hangs pictures, mirrors and artwork around Rochester and Medway, usually as part of a list of small jobs. The focus is on two things: fixings that suit the wall and the weight, and a layout that looks deliberate.

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Know the wall first

Every fixing decision starts with what the wall is made of. A quick tap, a look at an existing hole and sometimes a small test drill tell you which one you have.

Plasterboard on studs: hollow, sounds dull, cavity fixings or into a stud
Solid brick or block: plugs and screws sized to the weight
Lath and plaster: older houses, fragile, best fixed into the timber behind
Tiled walls: drilled with a tile bit, fixed into the wall behind the tile

Heavy mirrors

Large mirrors are the heaviest thing most people hang, and the most dangerous if they fall. Rather than relying on a single picture hook, a heavy mirror is hung on two fixings or a French cleat, a pair of interlocking angled battens that spread the load along the wall and stop the mirror tilting. On plasterboard, the fixings go into the studs where possible, or into heavy duty cavity fixings rated well above the mirror's weight. Over a fireplace or in a hallway, the height is checked so the mirror is useful, not just decorative.

Gallery walls

A gallery wall works when the gaps between frames are consistent and the group has a clear centre line. The layout is planned on the floor or with paper templates on the wall first, then each fixing is marked and levelled. Mixed frame sizes are aligned along a shared top or bottom line, or grouped around a central piece. Using two hooks per frame stops pictures going crooked every time a door is shut.

Lath and plaster and older walls

In Victorian and Edwardian houses, walls are often lath and plaster: thin timber strips with lime plaster over them. Drilling into the plaster between laths can crack and loosen it, so heavier pieces are fixed into the timber studs behind, and light pictures can hang from a picture rail where the house still has one. Older houses also have more hidden pipes and cables, so a detector is used before drilling, and runs directly above or below sockets and switches are avoided.

Shelves and TVs

The fixing principles for shelves are covered in the guide to hanging shelves on plasterboard, so they are not repeated here. Mounting a television, where cables and brackets come into it, is covered on TV mounting.

Booking picture hanging

Picture and mirror hanging is part of handyman services and works best combined with other small jobs. The cost depends on the number of pieces, their weight, the wall type and whether a gallery layout needs planning. Send photos of the pieces with rough sizes and weights, and of the walls, through the contact page.

This work is part of our Handyman Services service.

Common questions