Non-damaging wall hooks for framed pictures

September 10, 2005 2:02 PM

Non-damaging wall hooks for hanging framed pictures

I am a university student and have four small (that is, maximum 35cm on any side) framed pictures I would like to hang on my wall. Of course, this is forbidden by the residence authorities due to wall damage. I know of sticky hooks and such, but has our gee-whiz atomic space age produced any wall hooks that are as non-damaging as possible and will hold up a weight of 2-4kg?

I've talked to my don (RA) about using nails and asked him about perhaps signing some sort of form where I would promise to follow the camper's code and use spackle and paint to leave it as I found it. He suspected the residence authorities would respond with a no, but promised to follow it up (I live in a turn of the century house with 9 other guys). Any advice & solutions about hanging framed pictures or getting permission in similar situations would be much appreciated.

My room is wonderful, but I don't want posters and I don't want bare walls.

posted by Gnatcho to Home & Garden (12 answers total)

These will hold 2kg.
These look like they hold a reasonable amount of weight, but for some reason the page doesn't say how much.
The large and jumbo hooks on this page will hold 2.25(or 2,25)kg and 3.4(3,4)kg, respectively.
posted by cerebus19 at 2:16 PM on September 10, 2005

You can try hanging the pictures from wires hanging from ceilings. if your ceilings are white you can just spackle them before you leave. I have seen these kind of stuff in many home design shows on TV
posted by flyby22 at 2:17 PM on September 10, 2005

My experience with sticky hooks is that a) they are prone to falling off the wall at the slightest provocation or change in humidity; and b) if they do deign to stay up, they will destroy the wall anyway by peeling the paint off in a huge chunk when you attempt to remove them.

I haven't tried these, but perhaps some kind of super-duper suction hook is the answer?

(The more times you type or read the phrase "suction hook," the more terribly perverted it seems.)
posted by hilatron at 2:17 PM on September 10, 2005

given the "turn of the century house" statement, any chance there is a picture rail that you overlooked?
posted by misterbrandt at 2:31 PM on September 10, 2005

I had a similar problem and discovered the magic of ook nails and hangers.
posted by CunningLinguist at 3:04 PM on September 10, 2005

I mean, they make a hole, but it's tiny and the hangers are super strong.
posted by CunningLinguist at 3:04 PM on September 10, 2005

3M Command adhesive picture hangers are the way to go. They hold up much better to humidity than other sticky hooks and pull off clean.
posted by amber_dale at 3:08 PM on September 10, 2005

hilatron's suction hooks won't work on a painted wall; it's not smooth enough. Glass or painted metal, yes. Painted plaster, no.

Also beware of fake versions of those hooks. To actually work, the post that the hook connects to must pass through the hard plastic cup that the hook levers against, and attach to the soft rubber cup. On the fake ones, the post is part of the hard cup, and the levering does nothing to the suction cup. The fake ones are available all over the place, and you can't always easily tell they're fake through the wonderful modern packaging stuff comes in now.
posted by Kirth Gerson at 3:36 PM on September 10, 2005

I've had pretty good experiences with the 3m command adhesive pads talked about in the first post.
posted by sdis at 7:40 PM on September 10, 2005

I'd like to second the OOK suggestion. The nails are quite thin and you nail them into the wall at an angle. The "hook" hardware takes most of the brunt. I've used the 75 lbs one with a very heavy object and there was 0 wall damage--other methods would result in some minor hole enlargements and the like. Not the ook.

Wonderful product.
posted by missed at 8:43 PM on September 10, 2005

Do you have crown moulding? (wood trim up by the ceiling.) Then moulding hooks are your answer.
posted by availablelight at 12:21 PM on September 11, 2005

Another vote for 3m command adhesives, I've never had one fall off, and I've never had one damage paint.

I don't think any of the pictures I've ever stuck up were as heavy as 4kg though.

A friend used their cable tidies to great effect as well. (I'm not anal enough for that sort of thing though, I don't mind tripping over cables snaking up halls and through doorways. In fact, I quite enjoy it.)
posted by The Monkey at 4:25 AM on September 12, 2005