How to hang pictures without drilling or nails (and how much weight each system holds)

What you need

• Small spirit level or the level app on your phone
• Tape measure
• Soft pencil
• Masking tape for marking without leaving marks
• 3M Command Picture Hanging strips (medium up to 5.4 kg per set, large up to 7.2 kg)
• Tesa Powerstrips Large (2 kg per strip) or Tesa Powerstrips Poster for light prints
• Isopropyl alcohol and a microfibre cloth
• Command Metal adhesive hooks (up to 2.2 kg) for pictures with a cord

Step by step

1. 1

   Weigh the picture and look at the wall

   Put it on the kitchen or bathroom scales. Then look at the wall: it needs to be smooth (emulsion paint, tiles, glass, metal, lacquered wood). If it is gotelé, distemper that comes off on your hand, wallpaper or exposed brick, adhesives will not grip and you need another system.

2. 2

   Choose the system by weight

   Up to 1 kg: Tesa Poster strips or small Command. 1 to 4 kg: medium Command (4 strips) or Tesa Powerstrips Large. 4 to 7 kg: large Command, 4 to 8 strips spread out. Over 7-8 kg: steel nail, wall plug or rail. Velcro-style strips have two halves that hook together; they are the ones that let you take the picture down and reposition it.

3. 3

   Clean the wall

   Dampen the cloth with isopropyl alcohol (not glass cleaner or anything with silicone) and rub the area where the strips will go. Let it dry for a minute. It is the step most people skip and the reason the strips peel off after three days.

4. 4

   Prepare the picture

   Remove the wire or cord if it has one, so the picture sits flat against the wall. If the frame has a raised back, stick the strips at the points that touch the wall, in the four corners.

5. 5

   Stick the strips to the frame

   Join the two halves of each velcro strip, peel the backing off one side and press it onto the frame for 30 seconds. Four strips in the corners for any picture over 1 kg, even if the manufacturer says two are enough.

6. 6

   Mark the position and stick to the wall

   With the masking tape, mark where the top of the frame goes, at the height you want (the centre of the picture at about 150 cm from the floor is the gallery standard). Peel the backing off the other side, offer up the picture with the level on top and press each corner against the wall for 30 seconds.

7. 7

   Take the picture off and let it cure

   Pull the picture away from the wall from the bottom: the velcro strips separate and one half stays on the wall and the other on the frame. Press the wall strips again for 30 seconds and wait an hour, which is how long the adhesive takes to reach full strength. It is the other step nobody respects.

8. 8

   Hang and check

   Line up the halves of the strips and press until you feel them hook. Check with the level. If you have put it on a glazed terrace wall or in a bathroom, check again after 24 hours; heat and damp are the enemies of adhesive.

How much weight each no-drill picture hanging system holds

Manufacturers state the maximum load under laboratory conditions: smooth, clean wall, 21 degrees, no humidity. In a coastal home with walls that absorb moisture and terraces in the sun, work with half that figure if you want to sleep easy. These are the systems we use and what they hold in practice.

Mistakes that make adhesive pictures fall

• Not cleaning with alcohol. Paint has dust and grease on it even if you cannot see it. The strips stick to the dust, not the wall, and fall off within days.
• Hanging straight after sticking. The adhesive needs an hour to reach its strength. Hanging immediately is the most common cause of a fall on the first night.
• Sticking onto gotelé or distemper. Gotelé only touches the adhesive at the peaks, and distemper comes away from the wall with the strip. In 1970s-1990s homes in Valencia and Alicante, gotelé is the norm, so check. If you want to get rid of it, read how to remove gotelé popcorn texture.
• Using generic double-sided tape. Foam double-sided tape from a bargain shop lasts a day. Buy Command or Tesa.
• Sticking to terrace walls in the sun or in bathrooms with a shower. Heat softens the adhesive and damp lifts it.
• Pulling outwards to remove. The strips come off by stretching the tab downwards, flat against the wall, until the strip elongates and releases. Pulling outwards rips the paint off.

When to call a professional

If you have to hang a gallery wall of 10-20 aligned photos, a picture over 7 kg, a large mirror, or gotelé walls where there is no choice but to drill, it is worth having us do it. We bring a cable and pipe detector, wall plugs for every type of wall and leave it level in one visit. In rented flats, we hang with removable systems so you get your deposit back.

The price for hanging 5 pictures or mirrors is 45-70 euros, with a fixed price before we start. Longer jobs (full gallery walls, picture rails along a whole hallway) are charged by the hour: 35-45 euros for the first hour and 28-35 euros for the following ones. Payment on completion and 6 months written guarantee.

More detail in TV mounting, pictures and lights in Valencia and Alicante and in how much a handyman costs per hour. For heavy pieces, read how to hang a heavy mirror safely.

Tips for rented flats and coastal homes

In a rented flat, velcro strips are the answer: they come off without a mark if you follow the tab method. Keep the box with the instructions and buy spare strips, because the halves left on the wall cannot be reused once peeled off.

If you are going to hang a lot of pieces and want to move them around over time, a picture rail is the cleanest solution: it is screwed once just below the ceiling (ask the landlord, it is 4-6 small holes) and after that you hang whatever you like on nylon cords with adjustable hooks, without drilling again.

In holiday homes that spend the winter closed up, the humidity rises and adhesives suffer. A dehumidifier or airing the place when you arrive helps. If you come back to find an adhesive picture on the floor, do not reuse the strip: clean it, fit new strips and let them cure again. And if taking things down has left marks or holes from previous attempts, in how to fill holes in a wall we explain how to make them invisible.