Blog.DoDesignDIY.com

Feature your pictures or hang your framed pictures in a mass display on an entire large wall with the minimum of holes in the wall and the maximum of flexibility. The secret is to install a master Main Rail that will support all of the vertical slats and pictures, held-up in turn by the wall studs. Secret number two is to use an overlooked, very inexpensive but very strong material: Steel EMT electrical conduit.

See the DIY section of our website (http:DoDesignDIY.com/) for more picture/photo and other projects, and view our other Blog postings.

Materials and Tools (ID= Interior dimension):
— Electric drill, 1/8 and 1/4 inch bits (and screwdriver bits), small hammer, saw, 3-5 heavy 2.5+” nails or a drill punch, wire-cutting pliers, hacksaw, plumb line with plumb bob, level
— One length of steel electrical conduit (EMT). This is steel pipe used to protect permanent electrical wiring. It comes in 10 foot lengths at Lowes, Home Depot, etc., and in 1/2″ ID (about $3), 3/4″ ID (about $6), and larger sizes. For this, use 3/4″ ID.
— Optional: One 10-foot length of PVC water pipe (about $5+) that will slide onto the size of conduit you are using, as snugly as possible. Remove the printed labeling using nail polish remover on a rag (lightly). Add this before drilling the screw holes.
— Vertical hang bars— These can be wood lattice strip (at least 1/2″thick x 1.5″wide). Buy as many as you plan to use, upto 8 feet long each.
— Scraps of 1.5×3 or 4″ wood (for hanger and spacer blocks), and of the lattice strip (See diagram)
— 3 to 5 PVC 1/2″ (ID) PVC pipe caps, which will served as standoffs. Use five if your pix are heavy and many.
— 3 to 5 #10 x 3 inch+ long round-head wood screws.
— One 1-inch x #8 round or pan head screw for each framed picture to be hung (See Cautions)
— Framed pictures, or stiff picture mats, or Dollar Store frames, etc.

Steps in order:
— Your structural Horizontal Rail conduit bar is to go 9 to 12 inches below the ceiling.
— Mark the horizontal Rail screw line on the wall using LIGHT pencil or a color chalk line using a string line and level.
— Find (the centers of) the wall studs along the line— This is ESSENTIAL: Wall studs are generally spaced at 16 inches on centers from the stud at the corner of the room. You can use a magnetic stud finder that detects the nails/screws holding on the wallboard. Or you can tap THIN 1-1.5 inch brads or nails into the wallboard very near the top of baseboard to find the studs with minimal damage, then use a string plumb line to mark the locations for your Horizontal Rail screws on the pencil/chalk line.
— Cut the Horizontal Rail conduit to the width of the wall or space you are using, minus 1/4 to 1/2 inch. Keep the Hacksaw blade vertical. Flip the cut end to the corner (to be least visible).
— Transfer 3 to 5 of the stud locations to the Horizontal Rail conduit (or to its PVC cover, if any). These must be more or less equidistantly spaced, starting about 3 to 6 inches from the pipe ends. Keep the two pipes in alignment by taping the ends together temporarily.

— Use a hammer and nail to dimple/mark the metal or PVC before you drill, to position the drill bit. Put a block of wood under the wood to protect your floor. Drill 3 to 5 1/4-inch holes in the Horizontal Rail conduit (with PVC cover on, if any), completely thru the pipe (and PVC). Keep the drill vertical so the holes are aligned (|) thru the pipe. Slide a #10×3″ screw thru each hole to keep all in alignment.
— Drill a 1/4″ hole thru the center of the end of each PVC cap.
— Put the 3 inch screws into the structural hang pipe and thru the drilled PVC cap (closed end to the wall), with about 1/4 inch of the screw point extending out of the cap.
— Using the 1/8th inch drill bit, partially predrill the wall stud (about 1/2″ deep) for each Horizontal Rail conduit screw hole just before you screw them into the wall in the following steps.
— Get some help. Screw the conduit into the first mark. Make sure the screw enters 90 degrees to the wall and that it bites into the stud. Leave it just a little loose for now.
— Move to the other end of the pipe, and set the screw point on that mark. Have your helper tell you if the pipe VISUALLY looks level compared to the corner wall, ceiling, etc. (the ceiling or walls could be ‘off’). THIS IS CRITICAL! When you’re SURE, screw it in and tighten it, then tighten the first screw.
— Move to the middle, have your helper visually check that to make sure the pipe is not sagging, screw it in tightly. Ditto for screws 4&5 if used. Test the Horizontal Rail; it should be very rigid. If not, add more 3″ screws into other wall studs.
— Now you are ready to hang the vertical bars. See the diagram and use wood blocks nailed and Elmers glued to the back of the Lattice Strip The verticals hang from the Horizontal Rail conduit and are not otherwise fastened to the wall.
— Hang each picture from a small round head screw driven partly into the Vertical Slats.
— See the diagram for further details.

Variations and Refinements:
— Instead of the PVC piper, cover the conduit with wide vinyl or cloth tape, by carefully painting it. Or sew a snuggish fitting tube of cloth as a pipe cover. Do this BEFORE you mount the conduit to the wall. Do NOT drill thru fabric— just ‘bunch it’ mid-pipe and expand/alter it after the screws are in tightly.

Cautions:
— Do NOT try this using butterfly or expanding wall fasteners— you will need screws securely fastened into the actual wall studs.
— It would be safer to use plastic glazing in the frames, not glass.
— Do not hang valuable frames unless/until you are SURE of the strength of your wall screw supports.
— If you need to remove the Horizontal Rail conduit to move, etc. use a small container of premixed wall spackle (white) and a putty knife (Lowes, Home Depot) to fill the screw holes. Touch up the paint it if needed, after its dry.

Questions, comments, suggestions? Comment on this posting.