Computer nerd needs non technical help hanging pictures.

[Deathcricket]

It occurred to me today that there are some extremely talented "handyman" type personalities on this board. I figure at least one of you "owes" me for technical help rendered. If not I'll just owe you for the future, haha.

Ok, this is boggling my mind, keep in mind I'm not deft with my hands regarding these things. I want to minimize mistakes and keep this as "fool proof" as possible.:crazy:

I've been building this project I call a "resin wall" in the dining room. It's basically some paintings I like (Boris vallejo and Julie Bell) encased in a shiny hard resin (not scratchproof). I have 36 total, each plate is roughly 14" x 14 1/16th". Your first question might be why the extra 1/16th? Answer: I suck with power tools. It's actually not that noticable and I have the extra 16th is always on the width portion. I noticed too far into the project and didn't want to start over, hehe. So the goal will be to lay them out on the wall in a "grid like" pattern. 6 paintings wide by 6 paintings long. Spacing I was thinking 7" apart would look good but open to suggestions. I put a couple pics below for reference. Hopefully this all makes sense

Sounds easy right? I need to drill a 1/8th inch hole on the back of each one of these, in the exact same spot. Trying not to scratch these while laying them face down. I was hoping to do this on carpet to avoid scratching them. My tests on metal or concrete take me hours in repairs on the resin afterwards. Lotta sanding and buffing. The hole has to be in the exact center roughly 2-3 inches from the top. But it must be in the exact same spot on every one. Then I'm going to mount an EZ anchor in the wall and leave the screw head exposed 3/8 of an inch and slide the screw into the hole for mounting. Open to suggestions if this isnt the easiest way.Just thinking a single point of contact on the wall and direct center so the painting doesn't tilt left or right.

So because this is a grid pattern. If the paintings are not exactly the same height and distance from each other, it will be very obvious. especially given that I have 36 of these going up..

1. How do I get a hole drilled into each painting in the exact same spot on all 36 of these? How to I make sure it's in the exact center of each one of these. See fig "pic3" I was thinking of measuring corner to corner to get exact center then measuring a specific distance straight up with a level. Or I could just measure from side to side (green arrows) and then down a specific distance. But none of these tactics seems accurate enough for what I'm trying to achieve.

2. How do I mount 36 EZ anchors in a wall at extremely specific distances? I have a laser level and 8 foot regular level. But again, if these are off even by a little I fear it will look "screwy". It needs to be exactly the right height and width from the previous one. Standing on a ladder and "eyeballing" it doesn't seems like it will cut it. Which is my usually tactic when hanging a painting.

3. I should have figured this out before I encased them in resin. Again, rookie move on my part. They scratch pretty easy. I need to protect them somehow from getting damaged during this process...

Ugh.. Again, I'm sure this will be elementary for someone else. But this is literally boggling my mind. Thanks in advance for any help or pointers you can offer. I'm hoping some day to get my Man Card back with projects like these under my belt.

:bandit:

[Don]

Oh sweet, I'm not the biggest geek here. :phew:

[DiscGo]

Sorry friend. I agree that it is probably pretty easy for the right guy, but I am not visualizing it. I'll try and put some more thought into this later.

[denaliguide]

to find the exact center you are on the right track. in your photo you have drawn lines fron corner to corner and found that where the lines cross is the exact center. determine how far down from the top you want your hole. double that amount and mark the the side. then draw your diagonal lines from one corner to the mark on you made the opposite side. if you draw 3 inches down the side your center will be 1.5 inches from the top.

so to reiterate. if you want your center where it is in the photo you need to measure from the top corner down to the green line. double that measurement and put a mark on the edge. then draw a line from the upper corner to your mark. where the lines cross is the center you are looking for.

to do the grid i need more info. what is the distance that will be between each panel? will it be equal going side to side, and up and down? how wide is the wall you will put them on? will the grid be centered in the wall? how far up from the floor will the bottom of the bottom row be?

again you need to find the center of the wall. you need to decide how far up from the floor you want them to be, and how far down from the top. put marks at those respective points draw lines diagonally corner to corner to find the center of the wall. this is where you need to know you gap between the panels. you are going to have 3 panels either side of center. if you have a 3 in. gap and your panels are 14 1/16, your hole is going to be 8 17/32 left or right from your center line.

however if you hole is 1.5 in. from the top of your panel and you have a 3 in gap up and down between panels your hole will be 14 in. up from the side to side center line. going down your hole will be 3 in below your side to side line. i hope this is making sense.

additional holes will be 17 in. below or above the last one. and side to side will be 17 1/2 in. respectively.

i think the laser level will probably be the most useful. may be a two person job getting the grid on the wall.

anyway there is my thought process on how i would do it. good luck! no warranty is expressed or implied by the description given. remember spackle filler is your friend.

[accadacca]

What he said. :haha: Computer nerd here, who used to be a carpenter. If I was there I could teach you, but its damned hard to explain on the interwebz. We need a technical writer... :lol8:

Ah hell I'll give it a go. I would use these. They come with little tiny nails to attach to the back of your picture. You could use a string line to make sure you are level or better yet a chalk line. Then put your 4 ft level on the line to make sure it is level before you start. Make the line for each row line up with these rear anchors that you'll be attaching to the back of the pictures. These anchors also give you a little wiggle room.

34171

I would use the anchors in the top middle or the plastic ones to the right.
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[accadacca]

I don't think you need to use that diagonal exercise. I would measure from the top on both sides and draw a line across the back. Then measure from the side to find the center. Divide by 2. Yadda, yadda...

Then center the picture frame doohickeys on that line and nail them on. :popcorn:

[Pelon1]

I would try and talk you through it too, but I had a beer already and am not in the mood for mental masterbation:naughty:

[Deathcricket]

I don't think you need to use that diagonal exercise. I would measure from the top on both sides and draw a line across the back. Then measure from the side to find the center. Divide by 2. Yadda, yadda...

Then center the picture frame doohickeys on that line and nail them on. :popcorn:

Thanks! I should have mentioned this earlier. I did use the little alligator looking mounts you mentioned before. But it really bugs me having them not flush mounted. So i was using the white EZ anchors you posted bottom left. And then just going to drill a hole that holds them in by friction. plus I have 36 of these and making sure each paining has 2 nails in back mounted perfectly the same height. But the little bit of "wiggle room" you mentioned would totally make it worth it...


Denali, I will totally write up a response to your wonderful post tonight after a get off work and can make some measurements and be accurate. Yours will take a little time though, standby.. :)

I just got off the phone with Deeps and he had an idea of mounting them all to a masonite backing in a grid pattern. Then mounting the entire masonite thing on the wall Andy Warhol style.... Hmmm I'm going to play with this and see what I can get.

[DOSS]

Ok.. here is the deal.. make this really easy..
go get some masonite from home depot (just a small piece) and use some scrap wood for the 4 edges.. and make a template that you can lay over your pictures and drill your hole in the same place every time. - DONE

now for your grid on the wall..
1st find all of the studs in the wall and mark them - if you go drilling holes for hangers and get halfway into a stud you may end up off a little bit and it sounds like that would just piss you off :)
2nd why don't you go the template route again. you know you want them exactly 36 inches apart yada yada - think 3 points of contact if possible .. drilling through the template in both instances will help alleviate the tool user error.. the pattern on the wall itself.. that is on you ;)

[accadacca]

Yeah, going to be very hard to make everything exact if you want them flush mounted.

[Deathcricket]

:nod:

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Special thanks to Deeps for the concept idea call last night. I realize now my original idea had too many "loopholes" I could not pull off. Like how to a center all the pics on the wall. How do I get them flush mounted? The list goes on and on. Coupled with my poor execution skills this would have been a complete disaster.:cry1:

So he came up with this, my side notes are in blue. Sorry about my bad penmanship. I was frantically taking notes as we chatted, hehe. Anyways, build everything in one unit like a huge picture. Mount some "cleats" to ensure everything is perfectly level. And add a nice walnut "picture frame" type border. Then hang it all on the wall at once..... Viola!

Couple hours with a brad gun nailer, table saw, and a couple screws it will be finished. I'm going to build a "3D model scale" in Alias tonight to work out the kinks in my head and get the color scheme down pat. I have 24 more resin plates to make, and it occurs to me I can change the border colors up a bit. Again a nod to Andy Warhol type mosaics that were more random. The border will tie everything together nicely I think. :)

Thanks again to everyone who posted!! You guys rock. I really liked your template idea TooeleCherokee (http://www.bogley.com/forum/member.php?17869-TooeleCherokee) especially since that would ensure a hole in the same spot every time. But this other solution solves so many problems. Like putting the cleat at the top of the painting ensures it will be perfectly level every time. I can build it from the bottom up to ensure everything is square and level. I can lay it flat on the ground to ensure nothing gets scratched.

Ya????

[Deathcricket]

I would try and talk you through it too, but I had a beer already and am not in the mood for mental masterbation:naughty:

Haha! Nice meeting you at Family Fest this weekend BTW. Hope to see ya again.