Apartment Decorating

January 19, 2005 9:00 AM

HardwareFilter: I recently moved into a new apartment and would like to hang shelves, pictures and paintings. Unfortunately the walls are all stone (cinder block w/ a small bit of plaster on top). How can I hang these things without putting tons of holes in this rock?
posted by OpinioNate to Home & Garden (17 answers total)

If you have plaster at the top, you could drop a line of metal wire from a picture hook at the top.

The metal wire would have a catch or small bolt at the end to grab the picture frame.

If the metal wire is painted, it could look aesthetic and you wouldn't need damage the rock underneath.
posted by AlexReynolds at 9:19 AM on January 19, 2005

Can you ask your neighbors? I assume they would have faced the same problem.

Also, googling "hanging pictures cinderblock wall" turns up this and also this.
posted by CunningLinguist at 9:20 AM on January 19, 2005

Depending on how heavy the things you would like to hang are, there are a few different ways to go: Masonry bolts, Machine-screw anchors, maybe even a masonry pin (make sure to get a masonry fastening tool if you go the masonry pin route).

Depending on your experience/comfort level with firearms, a .22 caliber nail gun would work very well - it will reduce the number of holes from mistakes caused by banging away with a hammer.
posted by mlis at 9:32 AM on January 19, 2005

Sorry the links I posted did not make it through - if you email me I will send them to you.
posted by mlis at 9:34 AM on January 19, 2005

I'd suggest installing a picture rail around the top of the perimeter of the room and hang things from that.
posted by Specklet at 9:39 AM on January 19, 2005

I would caution you to check with your landlord before you make any holes in the walls.

3M makes an ahesive picture hanger for up to 5 lbs. I think you're out of luck for the shelving.

Once again, check with your landlord first.
posted by Juicylicious at 9:42 AM on January 19, 2005 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: Many thanks for all the helpful suggestions. I think probably the adhesive is the way to go for pictures. I had hoped there was something I was missing - like some magic hardware accessory.

Not being able to hang shelving makes me sad, though. I just can't go around punching holes in the walls without losing a security deposit.
posted by OpinioNate at 9:49 AM on January 19, 2005

Response by poster: Also, AlexReynold's idea is particularly ingenious. Thanks for that.
posted by OpinioNate at 9:50 AM on January 19, 2005

I'm moving too and spending all my time mentally decorating. For cool shelving, delicious coughed up this this morning.
posted by CunningLinguist at 9:52 AM on January 19, 2005

If you are willing to sink a few holes, Elfa shelving is designed around having a long hooked plate that runs horizontally near the ceiling and is screwed in every so often (probably 32" on-center, but I'm not sure); you hang vertical shelving standards off that. I imagine you could also use it like hangar-moulding and hang pictures from it.
posted by adamrice at 11:21 AM on January 19, 2005

actually, a friend of mine made shelves with heavy wire running from the ceiling to the floor. it requires eyebolts in both the ceiling and the floor to anchor the wire. basically, you thread the wire through the shelves, which are anchored to the wire with bolts. it was pretty nice.
posted by crush-onastick at 11:26 AM on January 19, 2005

There's a specialty fitting that you can find if you look in a well-stocked hardware store: You counter-sink threads, and then screw in a long bolt with a flat top that's maybe 3cm across and coated with nylon. What you can use these for is to put them on the end of several 2x4s, and then un-screw the bolt portion to wedge the 2x4s between the ceiling and the floor. It's strong enough that you can then attach regular old shelf hardware to the 2x4s, and off you go.

I constructed bookshelves using this method that held up for years and left no trace of anything when I finally took them down.
posted by Daddio at 12:25 PM on January 19, 2005

The adhesive picture hangers work well, and there are some that are rated for more than five pounds. A magazine I just read (think it might have been Scientific American) just did a test where these physically broke before the adhesive gave out, at something like 32 pounds - not that I'd recommend pushing the limits, since they sometimes damaged the walls when they finally failed. But still. Should work fine for most pictures.

As for the shelves, I recommend that you look into the possibility of using spring mounted tension poles for your shelf supports. These work like shower curtain rods on end, and require no drilling into the walls. A very quick search on spring mounted tension pole shelves turned up a few possible products, so a more carefully considered search should do the trick.
posted by Man O' Straw at 1:23 PM on January 19, 2005 [1 favorite]

Don't scrimp, go with the 3M adhesive pads. If you can, buy pads, not rolls of tape. Avoid the "Magi-stik" or whatever off-brand you come across.
posted by Jack Karaoke at 1:28 PM on January 19, 2005

Along with pictures, you can also hang shelves.

There are also minimal impact shelving systems, shelf track (the A item in the picture at the top) for example.

I wouldn't be as worried about your landlord as everyone else here is, but it is a concern. You might just live with uber cheap ikea storage shelves, wall mounted shelves can be just as ugly and expensive...
posted by Chuckles at 1:55 PM on January 19, 2005

Response by poster: Many thanks from everyone who contributed ideas. This is more than I hoped for, so I'm sure I'll be able to work something out now. Cheers!
posted by OpinioNate at 2:03 PM on January 19, 2005

Also check out Lee Valley for all sorts of stuff.
posted by five fresh fish at 2:22 PM on January 19, 2005