Wall art, pictures, shelves, portraits, and other home decors beautify the walls as well as the home too. These articles come in two categories light and heavy.
The lightweight article you can easily hang to the drywall but the main problem is how to hang heavy pictures on drywall. But do not worry we came here with the solution to your problem.
Actually, drywall made up of gypsum material is very brittle, that’s why you can damage drywall very easily.
If you have any sharp edge tool then you can screw it to the drywall by your hand then it easily goes into the drywall by applying a little pressure. But this doesn’t mean that we cannot hang the heavy article on it.
So again the same question comes to mind, Can we hang heavy pictures on drywall? then the answer is…
Yes, definitely we can hang heavy articles to the verticle drywall as well as you can also tile over drywall, do you want to know how to tile over drywall, then read this post can you tile over drywall in the shower, now how to hang heavy pictures on drywall.
If you want to hang a heavy mirror or any heavy article onto your verticle drywall then it is possible by just following the 7 easiest steps.
Do you want to know which are these 7 steps, so that you can hang heavy pictures easily on the verticle drywall?
Here are these 7 steps, for how to hang heavy pictures on drywall
- Tools required
- Decide the location of the picture
- Figure out where to place the drywall fastener
- By using the double point load
- By using the stud (if applicable)
- By using the best fastener
- By giving them support
So let us see these 7 steps one by one,
How To Hang Heavy Pictures On Drywall: 7 Easy Steps
By using the above steps we can easily hang the heavy pictures on drywall very easily.
Step 1: Tools Required
The following tools are required for hanging the heavy pictures on drywall,
1 | Measuring Scale Ruler |  | ||
2 | Measurement Tape |  | ||
3 | Drill Bit |  | ||
4 | Drill Machine |  | ||
5 | Level Gauge |  | ||
6 | Stud Finder (if required) |  | ||
7 | Pencil |  | ||
8 | Painters Tape |  | ||
9 | Drywall Anchor Fastener |  | ||
10 | Toggle Cam Bolt (if required) |  |
Step 2: Decide The Location Of The Picture
First, you decide the location, where do you want to hang the picture.
Although it’s simple to hang the picture, there are 2 main tricks to getting it right to the placement and using the right type of hanger.
The rules of thumb are to hang arts so that, the center of the picture is about 60 to 62 inches from the floor or roughly eye level for a smaller frame.
You can eyeball the height by holding up the picture make a light pencil mark or use a piece of painter’s tape to mark where the top edge of the picture frame will go which is shown in the below image.
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Step 3: Figure Out Where To Place The Drywall Fastener
Hanging a lighter or smaller picture can be easier on the drywall. Now figure out where to place the drywall fastener.
Flip the picture hanger over and measure from the top edge of the picture to the picture hanger, which is the spot where the fastener will go.
Here it’s 2 inches, transfer that measurement onto the wall by measuring the same distance down from the mark which you already did on the wall which is as shown in the below image.
Now place the picture hanger on the lowest point of the wall which you just marked and attach the fastener to the wall.
Hanging a larger or heavier picture can be trickier on the wall. Marked the centering height of about 60 to 62 inches from the floor.
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To find the picture center, measure the height of the picture and divide that number by 2, for example, suppose the picture is 40 inches high so we made the mark at 20 inches.
Second, figure out where to place the wall fastener with a wire hanging, stretch it out as if it was hanging and make the mark and measure from this spot to the center mark of the picture.
Here it’s 8 inches, so we do measure 8 inches up from the mark on the wall as you already did and that’s where we will place the fastener. So drill to this place with the help of a drill machine.
At the time of drilling, the dust may spread anywhere so you can use painter’s tape just below the drill to avoid the dust or you can check the best way to clean up drywall dust.
Step 4: By Using The Double Point Load
When there is a load acting on a single point then that load is called a single point load. The load may be your picture, wall art, portrait, or any home decor.
When there is a load acting on a double point then that load is called a double point load. So whenever you apply a heavy load without stud on the drywall then try to use double point load.
If you use a double point load then your load is divided into two points and because of this, drywall can easily bear the heavy load without stud.
Now figure out where to place the drywall fastener again for the second picture hanger. It is the same as we discussed above in step number 3.
The only difference is that you have to measure the horizontal distance between the two picture hanger and this same distance you have to mark it on the drywall too.
After marking check it with the help of a level gauge whether it is correct or not if not then correct it so that your picture looks good.
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Step 5: By Using The Stud (if applicable)
Well, first we understand what is the stud and where is it located.
Stud is a verticle wooden or metal beam situated behind the drywall for holding the drywall firmly with the help of nails or screws.
For more details, you can also check the image given below.
Now the question will be coming to your mind How will I find out the stud which is behind the drywall?
How Will I Find Out The Stud Which Is Behind The Drywall?
For that, we have three simple methods.
A. Knock on the drywall to find the studs. If you hear a hollow sound then there is no stud. So you have to keep knocking at different places of the drywall until a solid sound is heard.
If you heard a solid sound then you will come to know there is a stud.
B. You can use a magnet to find out the stud because drywall is held by stud with the help of nails or screws. So whenever you will move the magnet over the drywall then your magnet will stick to the nail then you will come to know there is a stud.
C. Use an electrical stud finder. When you move this device over the drywall then this device will indicate you there is a stud with the help of light blinking or any alarm.
In this way, you got the stud here.
For objects about 15 pounds or heavier it’s always best to anchor your fastener into the drywall stud.
If you can’t you will need a heavier duty fastener. So figure out how heavy your picture is! if your picture is about 15 pounds or heavier then you must use a drywall anchor fastener.
If you use the stud for hanging the picture then you can use a nail for light-duty pictures, and screws for the heavy-duty pictures.
You can not use drywall anchors when you are using studs, because some drywall anchors expand behind the wall to prevent your picture from scuffing the wall. But if you want to use drywall anchors then you can use a metal anchor.
Step 6: By Using The Best Fastener
The right fastener depends on how heavy an object is and what you are anchoring into. Use a small nail to hang a light object with a D-ring or sawtooth hanger on the back of the picture.
A hook-type fastener works best for the light object with wire hangers.
For objects about 15 pounds or heavier it’s always best to anchor your fastener into the drywall stud.
If you can’t then you will need a heavier duty fastener, to figure out how heavy your picture is so weighting your picture.
Some anchors spread out behind the wall to brace against more surfaces. You pre-drill a hole into the wall using a drill bit smaller than the anchor.
Then tap the anchor into the hole as you tighten a screw into the anchor it expands behind the wall, to prevent your picture from scuffing the wall.
Here we discuss some of the best fasteners used for hanging the heavy picture on drywall or how to hang heavy pictures on drywall.
Hollow Wall Anchor (Molly bolts)
It is a good fastener using for heaviest duty fixing. Its load-bearing capacity is 85 lbs (38.55 kg), you will find this capacity over its pocket.
During one of the load test, we found its almost reach to its capacity. This hollow wall anchor fixing comes in a variety of sizes from 4*32 mm to 5*65 mm.
But the size that you use really depends on the thickness of the drywall and how much space you have behind the drywall.
If you have got a double thickness of drywall you want to use one of these longer fixings but in most homes, drywall is likely to be single thickness so 5*52mm hollow wall anchor fixing will be absolutely fine so for this fixing, we need a 10mm diameter drill bit.
Again as with the hollow wall anchor fixing you need to make sure there’s enough space behind the drywall for the fixing to be able to be fully inserted if you haven’t got enough space behind the drywall then you have to use a smaller anchor bolt 4*32mm.
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Note: For this hollow wall anchor bolt you need a setting tool for fastening this anchor bolt.
Spring Toggle Bolts:
It is a better fastener using for heaviest duty fixing. Its load-bearing capacity is 70 lbs (31.75 kg), you will find this capacity over its pocket. During one of the load tests, we found spring toggle bolt exceeds its capacity.
This spring toggle bolt comes in a variety of sizes like 5*50mm. Here 5 mm is the diameter of the bolt and 50mm is the height of the bolt.
But the size that you use really depends on the thickness of the drywall and how much space you have behind the drywall.
If you have got a double thickness of drywall you want to use one of these longer fixings but in most homes, drywall is likely to be single thickness so 5*50mm spring toggle bolts will be absolutely fine. So for this fixing, we need a 40mm diameter drill bit.
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Note: One thing about these fixings is one’s you have installed inside the drywall you can’t then take it out, because the fixing will fall off so put whatever bracket you want to put in advance in this case.
Toggle Cam Fixing:
It is the best fastener using for the heaviest duty fixing. Its load-bearing capacity is 100 lbs (45.35 kg), you will find this capacity over its pocket. You don’t have to drill any holes, it drills its self.
We notice there’s a couple of little arrows on the head of the bolt so make sure that arrows are in verticle direction when you tightened the bolt.
During one of the load tests, we found Toggle cam bolt exceeds its capacity. This toggle cam bolt comes in a variety of sizes.
But the size that you use really depends on the thickness of the drywall and how much space you have behind the drywall.
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So you can use any one of the fasteners for anchoring the heavy picture to the drywall.
Step 7: By Giving Them Support
For heavier objects, it’s always best to anchor your fastener into the drywall stud.
But if you can’t or you don’t then you will need to use drywall anchor bolts as well as support on the bottom side of the heavy article, picture, wall art, or mirror.
Means support both sides (left & right) under any heavy article so it sustains a long time. In this way, you came to know that how to hang heavy pictures on drywall.
After finishing your work you need to clean the dust over the drywall if you want to know how to clean the drywall then read this post best way to clean up drywall dust.
Final Wording
Here we learned so many things like which tools we required, how to set the position of the pictures, how to figure out anchor position, what is a stud, and if we do not use stud then how to hang heavy pictures on drywall,
As well as, if we use stud then how to hang heavy pictures on drywall and the selection of the best drywall anchor so here we learned all these things. In this way, you came to know that how to hang heavy pictures on drywall.
Bonus Tip: Drywall mud areas have been primed, why this is so important is because nothing really sticks to drywall mud, so it is very important to prime over the skim coated drywall before proceeding.
If you want to drill down then visit this post painting drywall without primer.
We hope you understand well and may this article “How to hang heavy pictures on drywall” will help you to make your home more decorative. if you want to be tile your drywall then visit this post Can I tile over painted drywall.
If you have any questions, suggestions or tips then type it in the comment section. We welcome your tips, questions, and suggestions.
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