Adjusting Pictures?

[samaudio]

Hello,

Can anyone help me figure out how to adjust pictures/mirrors etc once I've hung them. Obviously if they are hung with string/wire you can easily straighten them to make them level, but I need to hang some paintings which have security fixings on them.

So, I use a spirit level to get a straight line, attach screws with rawl plugs or plasterboard fixings and then put the picture up. When I put the level back on it, I often find that it's not quite level, so how do I adjust for this? I've tried taking the picture off and tapping one side down a bit, but it messes up the plasterboard and what if I need to move one side down by 3mm or more?

Any help would be greatly appreciated. I'm sure there must be some tricks I don't know about...

Many thanks in advance.

 

[Porque223]

Shims. You might have to custom make them. Figure out ahead of time how much elevation you need by using your level, known sizes like drill bits and the formula for tangents.

 

[foxhole]

Shims. You might have to custom make them. Figure out ahead of time how much elevation you need by using your level, known sizes like drill bits and the formula for tangents.

Anyone translate this to English?

You just need to measure more accurately or using fixing that allow adjustment.

 

[Porque223]

Let's say the pic is out of level and by putting a 3.0 mm drill bit under one end of your 25 mm level the bubble is again centered. The picture fasteners are 35 mm apart.

You need to raise one end of the picture by 3.0 x 35/25 = 4.2 mm, the thickness of your shim.

Forget about tangents, it was overkill.

But sometimes level does not look level because of nearby molding or other lines - it's optical illusions.

 

[Dave54]

Drills can wander quite a bit from an original mark. If there are no slots for fixing to give a bit of wiggle I always mark a cross on the hole bigger than the drill so that I can see if it wanders as it goes in. Obviously the cross needs to be small enough to be hidden by whatever it is that's going on the wall.
"Level" is a funny thing as already said. I remember a job where the tiler had worked from a level, and it looked as if the tiles were way off level. The whole building, a caravan site wash block, was out!

 

[Porque223]

With stiff steel wire you may be able to make a type of hook that mates with both the wall fastener and the picture fastener, one or two centimeters long.
It will be difficult to make two of these exactly alike but if you leave a wire loop in each, this loop can be twisted together with pliers, a half turn at a time, and so make micro adjustments in the length of your coupling hook.
The loop sticks out at right angles to the long axis of the coupler.

 

[wotan]

use 'Nomore nails' and stick the picture to the wall )

Wotan

 

[big-all]

if your talking brick/solid walls and the picture isnt too heavy you can move the screw to the edge off the plug [between plug and wall] so you get a small amount off adjusment but at a reduced hold not to be recommended but should be ok on say a 5kg picture on 2 brown plugs and 40mm in the wall

 

[ladylola]

Any help would be greatly appreciated. I'm sure there must be some tricks I don't know about...

Many thanks in advance.

As already said sometimes using a spirit level can result in something looking "wrong" so don't feel you have to follow it. Instead get someone to help you and hold the picture against the wall until it looks right then mark it.