This article describes how to avoid damaging a plaster wall or creating unwanted dust from drywall when driving a nail such as to hang a picture.

We also include a link to a catalog of different types of wall hangers and wall anchors, giving their features such as ease of installation, drilling requirements, removal ability, re-usability, and weight bearing or load capacity.

Drive a Nail into Drywall or Plaster Without Damage

Driving a nail into drywall or plaster is usually an innocent and trivial task, but on occasion, especially with an older plaster wall, there is some risk that when hammering in the nail, you'll damage the wall, causing a chunk of plaster to fall out and leaving an ugly crater.

To address these practical concerns we illustrate here our best practices when driving nails into plaster or drywall so as to avoid both unwanted dust and ugly damage.

For our readers who will enjoy pointing out that we're gilding the lily and that nobody needs to be told how to drive a nail into a wall, we say thanks, but quite a few readers have asked us about this, some expressing a worry that nailing anything into drywall in an older home risks "asbestos dust exposure".

Short answer for readers who ask: Is it safe to drive a nail into drywall that may contain asbestos? In general, yes. See our reader Q&A on this point below on this page.

Step 1: collect tools and materials

You'll need a hammer (for nails), and a suitable fastener or hanger and a bit of painter's tape or blue masking tape that will adhere to a wall without pulling off paint should it later need to be removed. (Photo above).

[Click to enlarge any image]

You may need a measuring tape and if you don't trust your eye, you can add a small carpenter's level to get your hung picture straight on the wall and to avoid arguments with your partner.

Step 2: choose the fastener

To minimize wall damage, hole size, and plaster or drywall dust fall-out, choose the smallest diameter nail or fastener that will be strong enough to support the weight of whatever you plan to hang on the wall. Picture hangers, such as the one we use in our example, are available in sizes that can hold up to 50 lbs. or more but again, it's best to use the smallest size adequate for your project.

Though there are other designs of picture hangers to choose from, in addition to the basic one shown here, the insertion of the hanger's nail, whatever the type, should follow the same steps 1-6 as described in this article.

For a modest glass-covered, wood-framed photo like the one you'll see below on this page, we chose a small 1mm diameter picture hanging nail, shown above.

The strongest support of this type uses a picture hook - below.

Notice that the picture hook forces you to nail the fastener into the wall on a "downwards" angle, giving better support and reducing the risk that the picture later pulls the nail out of the wall.

But for a light picture we might use just the nail alone - shown in the next photo, below.

Step 3: choose the wall location for the picture and thus the nail location, & apply a bit of painter's tape

Above: we measured the width of our photo to be hung so that we could figure the center of its frame top and then we chose the height at which we want the frame to hang on the wall.

We measured down from the top edge of the picture frame to the under-side of the picture-hanging hardware (wire or clip) so that we could figure how far down from the desired frame-top location to place our picture hanging nail.

There, centered on the intended location for our nail, we stuck on about a 1 1/4" piece of masking tape. The tape prevents unnecessary damage to a plaster or drywall wall and it can make later withdrawal of the nail possible, also avoiding wall damage.

Step 4: drive the nail

Gently tap the picture hanger nail into the wall at the measured location and at a downwards angle.

Step 5: check the result

Oops. The top of our blue tape shows above the picture frame.

We just need to lower the tape on the wall so that it won't show above the top of the frame.

Above: we pulled out the nail - easy to do by hand if the nail was driven just into drywall or plaster, not into wood framing - and then we simply moved our tape down a bit and pushed the nail back into the existing hole.

You might not be able to remove a nail and re-use the nail hole with the same diameter picture hanging nail if you'd not used that tape to keep the wall intact around the nail hole. Nerdy, but true.

Step 6: hang the photo

How do we hang on a wall heavier objects that need more support than a nail?

For types of drywall and plaster board fasteners that can carry more weight than a simple picture nail or picture hook

see WALL ANCHOR CHOICES

 

 

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Reader Q&A - also see RECOMMENDED ARTICLES & FAQs

On 2023-05-09 by InspectApedia Publisher (mod) - Is it safe to drive a picture nail into drywall that may contain asbestos?

@Anonymous by private email,

Yes, you can do that.

Thank you for the question, that I'd re-state for other readers as

Is it safe to drive a picture nail into drywall that may contain asbestos?

Consider that typical picture hanging hook nails are very small in diameter. Having hung pictures for many decades, in my opinion and experience, the amount of dust created by tapping in a picture nail is beneath the limits of detection.

In sum, I don't believe there would be a detectable asbestos hazard from simply driving a picture nail into a wall in normal, undamaged condition.

But if you're the least concerned simply use a damp paper towel to wipe up a little dust that falls.

TIP: to avoid any chance of damage to drywall or plaster walls of unknown condition and into which we want to drive a nail, first tape up a bit of adhesive tape, preferably blue, removable masking tape, to the wall over the spot where you're going to drive the nail.

Leave the tape in place, drive the nail, hang the picture. The tape should be covered by the picture and its frame.

Details on how to hang a picture while minimizing dust or wall damage from the nail will be available online along with this Q&A at

PICTURE HANGING TIPS (you're now on this page)

On 2023-05-09 y Anonymous by private email (mod)

I am writing to ask your recommendations for the following situation:

-If there a wall with confirmed asbestos in the drywall "mud" not the drywall itself, is it OK to nail that wall to hang a simple picture?

If so, do any special steps or clean need to be done? thanks

...

Continue reading at WALL ANCHOR CHOICES, or select a topic from the closely-related articles below, or see the complete ARTICLE INDEX.

Or see these

Recommended Articles

• ASBESTOS in DRYWALL
• ASBESTOS in DRYWALL MUD - TEST LOCATIONS
• ASBESTOS in DRYWALL TAPE?
• ASBESTOS in PLASTER - what about the use of asbestos in plaster walls & ceilings?
• DRYWALL, FIBERBOARD, PLASTER INTERIORS
• DRYWALL & GYPSUM BOARD COMPOSITION & HISTORY
• DRYWALL INSTALLATION Best Practices
• GRABRAIL GRAB BAR SPECIFICATIONS
• PLASTER ASBESTOS CONTENT
• PLASTER TYPES & METHODS in BUILDINGS
• WALL ANCHOR CHOICES

Suggested citation for this web page

PICTURE HANGING NAILS at InspectApedia.com - online encyclopedia of building & environmental inspection, testing, diagnosis, repair, & problem prevention advice.

Or see this

INDEX to RELATED ARTICLES: ARTICLE INDEX to BUILDING INTERIORS

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INDEX to RELATED ARTICLES: ARTICLE INDEX to ASBESTOS HAZARDS

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Citations & References

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