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  Best way to hang a mirror or painting        
 

When hanging paintings and mirrors the important thing is to make sure you use a fixing which is suitable for the WEIGHT you are hanging.
Hanging paintings is very similar to hanging mirrors the difference is usually that mirrors are often substantially heavier and so if it is a large mirror it will need some heavy duty fixings.

 

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Your paintings and mirrors should come with fittings already attached so you should only have to think about what to attach them to the wall with.

Most should come with a cord of string, metal or chain which is attached with d rings.

You'll need to select an appropriate hook (see types of hooks below)

 
   
 
               
To hang            
1 Measure the mid point of the picture and mark it. (I like to temporarily use a small bit of red tape)

Hold the picture up to the wall and decide the best spot. (you may want to measure and mark the wall if you want to get the picture right in the middle horizontally)
Height is a personal choice. I like to roughly get the middle of the picture at my eye level (I'm 5'10")

When you're happy make one mark on the wall with a pencil

 
                                   

SO, your one pencil mark gives you the position of the top and middle.

 

2 Turn the picture over and measure down from the top where the picture hook will sit. Hold the cord taught with the hook as this is how it will be when hung.

Transfer this measurement to the wall and mark down from your wall mark to give the exact position of the hook.

     
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Tip If you're hanging several pictures on one wall it's easy to get them perfectly
level with a laser level

 
       
         


Hammer in hooks
small picture hook medium picture hook

These are suitable for lightweight and medium weight items. You can use them in plaster or brick wall. For brick you'll need the ones which come with hardened steel pins. NB ORDINARY NAILS ARE NOT SUITABLE FOR BRICK

       
hardened pins
I recommend you use the steel pins with the black(hardened) shaft and large round brass head. These are good quality and will hammer into most surfaces except concrete.
If you find even these hardened steel pins bend when you hammer them in then you really do have hard walls. Try these hard wall hooks which are specially for very hard walls.

NB don't use these in plasterboard or brick unless it's for very lightweight items. With heavy items in a soft wall they may fall out!
  hard wall hooks
         
     

Smaller pictures may come with a keyhole fixing or a special serrated plate on the back.
These tend to be small used with light-weight items. Either hammer in a hardened
steel pin(as shown above)or screw and plug a medium size screw (eg 1.5 inch x no 6 screw.)

     
    keyhole fixing serrated plate
     
How to hang a large mirror
Strap hangers and j-hooks
                     

A heavy mirror may come supplied with strap hangers on each side. These can be a bit fiddly to hang as you need to get you measurements spot on. For these you'll need a pair of J- hooks screwed to the wall.

It's very important to get your j-hooks absolutely level (use a laser level), and ensure the space between them exactly matches the strap hangers.

How hang a heavy mirror

               
strap hanger   j-hook
               
Get the first hook up and use that to measure the exact distance across for the 2nd one then use your laser level to get them perfectly level.            
back wall
Tip If when you get the heavy picture up and it's not level, rather than adjusting the j-hooks you've screwed into the wall it easier to to adjust the strap hangers on the picture. Simply unscrew on and re screw. in the desired position
 
 
Mirror plates

Mirror plates are an alternative way to hang things. They come in several sizes and are often the best way to hang a mirror
Unlike items hung on a cord which will hang slightly off the wall at the top, with mirror plates the picture/mirror can be screwed flat to the wall.

The disadvantage with them is that you can see a little of them sticking out above the top.

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Flush plates                                

Flush plates are very useful as they will hold heavy items, but also are completely hidden. The disadvantage is that they are a bit fiddly to fit and you need to get your measurements spot on!!

They come in pairs which hook over each other. So you'll need two pairs. Attach two to your picture and two to the wall.

back of picture   wall