Hanging a wooden artwork: which fixing for which wall

A sculptural work in solid wood weighs more than a framed print. Where a frame with glass stays around two kilos, the same size in solid oak or wengé quickly reaches a multiple of that. That calls for a fixing that suits the wall it hangs on.

Below is how to determine in two minutes what kind of wall you have, which plug belongs to it, and why every piece from the atelier ships with a french cleat.

Start with the wall

Knock on the spot where the work will hang. What you hear tells you almost everything.

• Hollow and light in sound: a plasterboard wall on a timber or metal frame. Common in new builds, attics and closed-off chimney breasts.
• Dull and solid: brick, sand-lime block or concrete. The strongest base there is.
• Soft, with almost white drilling dust: aerated concrete. Feels solid but is porous and needs its own plug.
• Plaster: a layer of one to two centimetres over masonry. That layer carries nothing itself, so the plug always belongs in the masonry behind it.

Brick, sand-lime block and concrete

Here it is simple. A nylon plug of 6 or 8 millimetres with a matching screw carries a wooden work with ease. Drill with hammer setting, keep the drill square to the wall and blow the hole clean before tapping in the plug. With old, soft brick choose 8 millimetres and drill without hammer setting, so the brick stays whole.

Mind the plaster

Measure the thickness of the plaster layer with your drill and add it to the length of the plug. A plug that stays half in the plaster works itself loose over time.

Plasterboard and stud walls

Two routes, the first by far the strongest.

Screw into the stud. Behind the board there is a timber or metal stud every forty to sixty centimetres. Find it with a stud finder or by tapping carefully: where the sound turns dull, there is a stud. A screw that bites into it carries the work as if it hung on solid wood.

Cavity fixings. If no stud lands where you want the work, choose a toggle or metal cavity fixing. The load rating is on the packaging and ranges from roughly ten to twenty-five kilos each on standard 12.5 millimetre plasterboard. Always use two, far apart, so each point carries only half.

Aerated concrete

Use a plug made specifically for aerated concrete, with a coarse thread that grips into the material. Drill without hammer setting here, otherwise the hole becomes too wide. A standard nylon plug pulls loose from aerated concrete over time.

Why a french cleat is included

Every piece ships with a french cleat: two battens with an angled cut that hook into each other. One half is already mounted on the back of the work, the other you screw to the wall.

That system does three things at once. The weight is spread across the full width of the work instead of one point. The work sits flush against the wall, which matters for relief because the shadows then fall true. And after hanging you can still slide the work horizontally, so it ends up exactly centred above the sofa or mantelpiece.

Level the wall batten. The rest follows.

At what height

Museums hang at eye level, with the heart of the work at around 145 to 150 centimetres. That is a pleasant guideline for an empty wall in a hallway.

Above a sofa or sideboard a different measure works better. Keep twenty to twenty-five centimetres between the backrest and the bottom of the work, so the two belong together. For width: about two thirds of the width of the sofa looks calmest.

Light is half the work

A sculptural work lives on shadow. Grazing light from the side, from a window or a spot angled at the wall, reveals the depth. Light falling straight on makes it flat. So turn a spot a quarter turn rather than aiming it straight.

What comes with your work

Every piece leaves the atelier with a french cleat, a certificate of authenticity and transport-proof packaging. The exact weight of your size and wood type is shared in advance, so the right plug is in the house before the work arrives.

In doubt about your wall? Send a photo and the size you have in mind to the atelier, and I will think along.