Hanging a Picture

Monday, November 25, 2024

Hanging pictures is not my forte. They usually end up too low, too high or lopsided. That along with the copious, probably visible marks on the wall as I try and measure where to place the picture and too many holes as I make up for afore mentioned mistakes, usually sees my wife going in search of someone else if something needs hanging on a wall in our house.

All of this left us in a quandary over a picture that had been lying around our Alcácer house for good while. I wasn’t trusted, I didn’t trust myself, and we didn’t feel that we knew anyone else well enough to ask for help.

We knew where we wanted to hang the picture, but it just sat there on the floor beneath its new home, waiting for someone to step up and drill the holes.

Our plumber came by to work on our hot water tank. I mentioned the picture quandary to him. Did he know someone who could help? He offered to hang the picture when he came back to finish the current job. There was much gratitude from me, however after a long wait for his return, the finishing of the hot water tank and with that our picture being hung, started to feel very open ended.

We stared at the painting sitting on the floor…

Eventually frustration got to me. Enough was enough. Surely I could hang it? I convinced my wife that we could do it, and between us we started measuring out where the picture was to go. Wall markings were kept to a minimum. I made more than a couple of visits to the hardware store to find appropriate hooks and wall plugs, unsure as I was as to what was actually needed.

We were ready for the next step…drilling…

And we sat at this stage for most of the rest of the day. I was home alone for a good part of the afternoon and a few times almost reached for the drill.

…

It was early evening, we were both home, we decided that I should go for it. Didn’t our marks look just right?

The drill would only go so far. I had the wrong bit for a stone wall. Back to the hardware store.

Re-equipped, I started drilling again - was I going in straight? This time the drill’s power failed us. It was not sufficient.

I went up the road to see a friend who was knocking down a wall in his gym. Could he help?

Nelson loaned me more a powerful drill. It ran out of juice almost immediately. I went back to see him to return the drill and ask if he had a recharging station. Even better, he had a more powerful drill. It plugged into the mains, no charging issues to worry about. If this one wasn’t going to work, nothing would.

Back up the ladder and there was the thunder of the drill as it went into the wall. I was nervous what the drill would be doing to the wall of this old house, but at the end of it all all it did was drill two perfect holes. I pushed in the plugs, screwed in the hooks and hung the painting.

I will say it myself - it hung perfectly. I even got out a spirit level and sat in on top of the picture. The bubble sat dead center on the level.

I returned the drill to Nelson with much thanks and spent the rest of the evening, and the following days just staring at our handy work.