If my last couple of offerings can be an example, it seems I'm having a one-sided conversation with Linda Calliouette, one of my past editors. She seems to keep popping up as I update and re-edit myself. She'd be so proud.
This was a colulumn I wrote in response to her own inquiry about hanging pictures on plaster wall, and when I told her to use a stud finder, she knowingly responded that stud finders don't work on plaster walls.
Smart girl, that one.
If I'm going to be corrected, it might as well as be by someone so easy on the eyes.
So I wrote this and sent it to her.


THE OLD HOUSE DOCTOR

HANGING PICTURES ON PLASTER WALLS

(NEVER PRINTED)

Though today we may hang pictures on walls using those little hooks with nails driven directly into the drywall at enough of an angle to hold them, it wasn't always done this way. Houses built before 1930 often had picture rail nailed less than twelve inches from the ceiling, and it was from this that pictures were hung by special hooks that supported long wires that attached to the backs of the pictures.

This was done for a number of reasons, but mostly because the walls in older houses do not have drywall as an interior surface. They are composed of lime plaster spread on wood lath strips, and nailing into them can be problematic. Plaster does not hold nails as well as drywall driven at a steep angle, and many pictures in bygone days were much heavier due to more massive frames. Photos of turn-of-the-century interiors show the long loops of picture wire running from picture to rail, often up to six feet long. One of the handy things about using picture rail for its intended purpose is that it is relatively easy to move the pictures around. Plus there are no little holes left in the plaster.

Almost all homes from this era had picture rail, and if yours doesn't, it probably was removed or fell off. Picture rail was nailed to the studs with thin nails that sometimes pulled loose because of all those heavy pictures, so it is a good idea to reinforce existing rail if you are going to use it. And if you want to add more picture rail from somewhere it has fallen off, it's relatively simple.

You'll need a stepladder, a cordless drill with a #2 Phillips bit, and a deep-scan stud sensor. This electronic whiz tool isn't as cheap as the basic models (forty bucks as opposed to about fifteen bucks) and will pay for itself in stress relief from knowing where your studs are in the future. And even THESE have a hard time finding the studs, so be patient.

Using either a straightedge and a pencil or a chalk-filled stringline, establish the bottom line from each end of the existing picture rail and use your stud sensor to find the studs. Make small marks at the studs, then cut your new piece of picture rail to fit the space. You may need to cut the ends on angles to fit what's already there, but a hand-powered miter box can be purchased for less than eight dollars (minus the handsaw).

Simply screw the rail to the studs using 2 1/2" coarse-thread drywall screws (make sure to countersink them), and when you're done, go around the room doing the same to the existing rail. Spackle the holes, paint and caulk, and you're ready to hang hundreds of pounds of pictures.

It is always a good idea to pre-drill the screw holes with the rail in place, drilling through the plaster below. Plaster is brittle and may crack if this is not done. Use a high-speed steel bit with a diameter no more than 1/8 inch.

Picture rail is universal and can be purchased at Greenfield  Millworks on Counts Massie Road in Maumelle. It's the only place to find it in Little Rock. The special hooks that hang on picture rail can also be hard to find, but Besser Hardware on Main Street in downtown Little Rock usually carries them.

For those of you that want to hang pictures directly in plaster, use the same drill bit to drill your holes, but drill them downward at 60 degree angles and use 1 5/8" drywall screws through both plaster and lath. With the head 1/8" from the plaster, this will hold as well as anything.