If is that big, you should hang it by 2 hooks. Each hook about a 1/3 of the way in from the edge of the picture. Once the picture is hung, you now have a little leverage to play with to be sure it is centered.

Hmm, it has built on hooks to hang from on either end (it is a deep canvas picture). Do you mean ignite those hooks and try to center it on nails at the top of the picture instead? That could work. It's too late to try tonight (and I need to buy nails); but, I will try tomorrow. Thx!!! :)

I've had good luck with Ook picture hangers. We just had a very heavy mirror put up on the wall with two 50lb Ooks into drywall.

Since you said it's stretched canvas, what I'd run wire between those two hooks and hang it with two Ooks of appropriate weight.

Those hooks are for drywall, where they counterbalance (I think that's the word I'm wanting, anyway) on the backside of the board. If you hit a stud, which sounds likely, you just need to use a regular nail and screw. Fortunately, all you need for that is a hammer or a screwdriver. :) For lightweight pictures, I've used two pushpins on either side as well, depending on how the picture is rigged on the back.

Ok, so I splurged and bought a stud finder. It turns out I was not on a stud. I have tried to nail into other parts of the wall and can't get anything to go in more than 1/4 inch. What gives? I am beyond frustrated right now.

I have tried to nail into other parts of the wall and can't get anything to go in more than 1/4 inch. What gives?

Which side of the nail are you hammering, the pointy side or the flat side?

I'm here to help...

I'm beginning to suspect I have plaster walls. If that is the case what do I need to do to hang this picture?

For the low, low price of one plane ticket I can provide you with a very handy gal and unlimited enthusiasm for your LTCs.

I have experience in all sorts of WALL patching, hammering, screwing and nailing. :)

Which side of the nail are you hammering, the pointy side or the flat side?

The nails with the head on the other end are to used on the other side of the room.

Shiloh

Lol! I could really uses your expertise! I have just texted a handy family member who might be able to help. I HATE asking for favors though. I'm just desperate and have been contemplating throwing a hammer through the walls if that's even possible. It just should not be this hard to hang a stupid picture.

You will want to use Molly bolts. My plaster walls are old and brittle, so I am really careful not to make Swiss cheese of my walls.

Do you have to use a drill and if so do you need a special drill bit?

Molly bolts come in varying size. If the picture you are hanging is large and heavy, you will want a stronger anchor. Drilling makes the job easier and I'd advise it. If it is drywall and the item is light, you might get by with starting the plastic anchor with a nail and hammer, tap the screw into drywall.

We used a spade bit.

Plaster walls usually aren't too much trouble. There are some good YouTube videos on how to put screws into plaster. My office is a very old building, and we have slat lathe and horse hair. It's nearly impossible to get a nail or screw into that stuff beyond a quarter inch. For that, you will definitely be better off using a small drill bit and a plastic anchor. Standard drill bit should work just fine. Hope that helps you!

Pete

PS - return the stud finder and get your money back!

I pretend I'm a stud finder and I beep when when I see my honey.

In complete seriousness, go to your local, small hardware store (not a big box) and tell them you're hanging on plaster. They'll show you which anchors to use, and make sure you have all the tools to do it with. I day local because after 22 years in the business, and experience with both types of stores, I can assure you, there's a better chance that the person at the small store has hung more than a Corvette picture on a dorm room wall.

Thank you! I'm hoping my cousin with a drill can help out with this. I just realized my upper kitchen cabinets are mounted on the walls so there MUST be some way to do this. Hopefully I can use the advice from here to make it work. :)

No No No,,,, you've got it all wrong. What you really need is the hot looking guy next door to come over and help :-)

Seriously though.... maybe this might help
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hao2BlBvYTk
Make sure you measure on your other things you have already tried how far they are going into the wall, then get an appropriate length drywall screw. Do as one of the other people said and hang the picture on two hooks at the 1/3 points of distance on each end of the frame.

Ok, so I splurged and bought a stud finder. It turns out I was not on a stud. I have tried to nail into other parts of the wall and can't get anything to go in more than 1/4 inch. What gives? I am beyond frustrated right now.

Is the wall in question an exterior wall? In Florida, they're usually made of cinder block. I've had all sorts of trouble with hanging pictures in that stuff. My favorite screws for the job are called Wall Dogs. BUT if it is a lightweight picture, those Ook picture hangers are awesome because all they need is the drywall.

:)
3H

Does anyone have any experience replacing the glass in a sliding door? Ours shattered last night, its still intact, but a complete spider web. I taped both sides and am not going to use it to prevent it from coming apart. Now we are looking at the cheapest possible fixes. The door is shorter than standard so finding a used replacement is unlikely. We are thinking about getting a sheet of plastic from Tap Plastic and using that for the short term. Does anyone have any experience with something like this, or advice? How hard is it to rebuild a glass door?
Thanks!

[The door is shorter than standard so finding a used replacement is unlikely.]

What are you comparing the standard you mentioned? If it is a new door that you looked at for comparison then you may be wrong. Older doors may have been smaller than newer doors they make now. I found a sliding door at a place like Habitat for Humanity, it needed only minor adjustments to replace. Of course, it depends on how old your house is, also. I have an older home built in the 50's. Good luck.

Our house was built in the 30's, has some interesting additions and a very low ceiling where the door is. The total opening is only 72 inches high, the off the shelf doors are made for an 80 inch opening. I am going to ReStore (Habitat for Humanity) on Wednesday, but the last few times I've been there I only see hugely tall doors. I think if we just replace the glass with plastic I'll need a piece 67 3/4 inches. But I'm guessing as to how much is cased in the frame.

I'm going to go ahead and post to freecycle too. Maybe I'll get lucky.

If you can, try to pull, pry or otherwise loosen a piece of the trim/frame/glazing that secures the window in the door-frame. If you can measure how much glass is covered by that trim/frame/glazing, then you can pretty well guess the covered dimensions are the same all the way around. And you will have an idea about the practicality of removing the old window, and mounting a new one--or if you might need to Disney Engineer a way to do so. :o

YMMV, and invariably will...
Connfederate (BS, Mickey Mouse Engineering with honors, Disney University circa 1977)

If the door with the broken glass is the same size as the other glass door you can do on that one what Confederate says and measure the glass to get the measurement. You only need to do that with one side of the glass. This will give you the amount of glass inside the frame & glazing. 1) Measure the inside width of the door (from the side of the frame where glass goes into it to the other side of frame where the glass goes into it) 2) measure the overall width of the glass 3) subtract the inside width of the frame from the width of the glass 4) the remainder is the amount inside the frame. (typically 1/2 to 1 inch depending on door size). Do that for both width and height. You can order a new piece of glass from any glass distributor but make sure it is tempered. Tempered is what makes it spiderweb like you have. It is a safety feature to prevent large slabs of glass from slicing you in half if it were to break while you were near it. Another option is to take the frame in to the glass shop and they can measure it for you. One thing to remember is that the measurement has to be accurate because tempered glass cannot be cut down to fit.

When replacing the glass make sure to not rip the glazing (rubber stuff around the glass). You will need it to replace the glass, unless you want to buy new. You will need a rubber mallet to gently tap the frame onto the glass (after putting the glazing around it).

Thank you both for your advice. I ended up taking it to a local glass shop and they are going to it for me. It'll will be under $200 - ouch, but doable. We were worried that it would cost twice that. Normally I'd try to do it on my own, but the glass was broken to all the edges and the minute I tried taking it apart I knew it would be impossible to keep it together. In the past when we've had to replace window panes there is usually more breakage before we are done. I'm paying to spare myself more damage. The good news is the new stuff will be tempered and the kids won't be able to break it so easily. Now I need to find some nice window decals...

This board has been really quiet! We are starting the new year off with some much needed interior painting that I cannot get to myself. Unfortunately my dominant hand and wrist are currently out of commission and getting PT. Arthur Itis is visiting me and I am not happy about that. Something had to happen since I am not able to lift 1/2 gallon of milk, so paint brushes and rollers are currently a no-no; haven't even tried carving lately.

My favorite painters gave me an estimate on Friday, and they are planning to arrive at 8:00 AM tomorrow!! Holy cow! We spent most of the evening moving and hiding stuff in the attic and taking down window treatments on the 2nd floor. Good for us that I just want to keep the same classic paint colors. In fact, the background on this winter carnival text box looks much like our bath and extra bedrooms color chip.

If all goes well, it should be done in 3-4 days. THEN, I will carefully examine everything before putting stuff back in to the old closets. What a job, moving my craft stash from closet to attic! At least the access is from the same room.

So, folks, what are your new or ongoing projects you hope to finish this year?

After turning 1/2 our basement into a finished laundry room last year, I am taking it easy this year. I am currently building myself an 8 ft. workbench with 6 drawers under the bench and a lower shelf for tool cases. The only other thing we want to do this year is dismantle the wooden fence we have in the back yard. It is starting to fall apart and it is no longer needed.

One very expensive project for our rental condo. New sliding glass doors and hurricane proof (Cat 4) windows. Was supposed to be done this week, but they screwed up and brought the wrong style windows. So now we have renters coming next week until April. So April it is....

Next year, maybe kitchen and bathroom remodeling for our house. I haven't thought too hard on it, since we WERE going to use the company who is putting in the sliders and windows. Now re-thinking that.

We need warmer and dryer weather to continue our flood water retention plan around our house. We started it after the devastating floods of Hurricane Matthew in October when we received some relatively minor flooding damage compared to many in our community who are still today unable to occupy their homes.

Our goal is to build gardens around the entire perimeter of the house with decorative block retention walls two feet high. That height along with the slope of the yard will keep out a flooding of up to four feet of water. Matthew delivered us about three feet of flood waters and that was just enough to seep into the house which was helped by joy riders in large pickup trucks.

The biggest problem is trying to decide how to secure openings for doorways. We don't want sandbags because at our age lifting those are a pretty big problem. So more thought is going into that part of the project.

two-fold, continuation

Finishing the basement--just needs the kitchenette area done, maybe different furniture and of course, those little homey touches

Concurrently serious decluttering, reorganization and deep cleaning.