Beat the Clock (Full Version)

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candystripper -> Beat the Clock (8/16/2008 2:10:34 AM)

I have this clock I want to hang up in my townhouse. 
 
I live in this really cool housing association.  Someday I may post an Op about the place.  It’s interesting and odd.  Seems like few people even know it exists.
 
All the housing stock in the association was built around the end of WW II at the same time, and using the same materials and stuff.  'Cookie-cutter heaven'. 

I have no clue what the walls of the housing stock are.  It doesn’t seem possible they're wooden.  I know they are not raw brick or anything like that.  They are not lathe-and-plaster, either.
 
Why am I pretty sure the walls are not wooden? 
 
Because I can’t hammer a nail into any of the walls, and neither can anyone else.  The only way I know of to hang a whatnot is to use a power drill and drive a screw in.
 
Every last whatnot hanging my walls is held up by a screw.  After I first moved in, one of my friends and I had a ‘hang up all the whatnots day’. After we figured out nails cannot be driven into these walls, we also found that neither can teeny-weeny screws.
 
Whoever built this association had a serious hard-on fetish about wall strength, LOL.
 
Anyway, no one is around to do the power drill thing. I am definitely not a power-tool-operator kind of woman.
 
Given these 'facts', any creative ideas on how I can get the clock up on the wall?  It’s about as heavy as a photo in a large-ish 8” x 11” frame.
 
candystripper
 
P.S. In real life, the only ideas that would work would involve spending no more than about the price of a box of screws.  I already have several clocks hung on the walls. I like them as objects, and I like knowing what time it is whenever I want when I'm home, but not wearing a watch. 
 
(The no-watch thing is kind of related to this new habit I have of being as nakkie as possible, as frequently as possible....but I digress...LOL.)
 
So getting this clock up on a wall is mere frippery.



pahunkboy -> RE: Beat the Clock (8/16/2008 4:36:06 AM)

Illd like to hear this too.

I know the walls since I tore one out.  Plaster over slats.



thishereboi -> RE: Beat the Clock (8/16/2008 4:38:20 AM)

They make little hooks that stick to the walls for hanging stuff without nails. I bought mine at Home Depot, but most hardware stores should carry them.



pahunkboy -> RE: Beat the Clock (8/16/2008 4:44:31 AM)

I am into mirrors.I have several and heavy ones. there is no 2 by 4 to mount to.   rats!!



candystripper -> RE: Beat the Clock (8/16/2008 10:23:27 AM)

No idea yet what the mystery walls in my townhouse are made from, huh? 
 
I'll admit it: I posted the Op mainly out of curiosity.  I hoped someone might know.  I used to think I had lived with pretty much every kind of wall there was.

In reply to pahunkboy: 
 
I am 100% sure I've lived in dwellings with plaster-and-lathe walls.  I'd say they can be a little harder to pierce than walls made of drywall, but not by a whole lot.  For sure, you can pierce them with nails and a hammer. 
 
FYI, as to hanging heavy whatnots and studs: it's not 'entirely' true IME that heavy whatnots can only be hung from spots in the wall directly in front of a stud. 
 
If you go to the hardware store, to the aisle where nails, etc. are and look around, you'll find there are two or three different styles of screws or nails designed so you can hang a heavy object in other spots too. These specially-designed screws and nails might hold around 75 lbs. (They certainly won't hold up anything like 200 lbs, though.)  So you 'might' have more options about where you hang mirrors.
 
(Bet you're totally bumfuddled I knew something like that, huh?)
 
LMAO.
 
In reply to thishereboi: 
 
Thanks! That sounds like it would work just fine, if I can find one that will mate wth my clock. These mystery walls don't seem particularly slick or anything so that the adhesive wouldn't stick.  

I just need a tad more info.  Are you talking about what-all Scotch or 3M makes for use in hanging Xmas decorations?  Yanno, a plastic hook with something gooey on the back? 
 
If not, please describe them a little. I'd especially like to know what they're called.
 
candystripper
 



thishereboi -> RE: Beat the Clock (8/16/2008 10:47:35 AM)

Yea, I think the ones I saw were 3M. Not sure what they were called but some had hooks.



sblady -> RE: Beat the Clock (8/16/2008 10:59:09 AM)

Dammit Candystripper....

I misread the title and thought I saw "Beat the Cock".  *sigh

I'll respond later after I re-read your post. [image]http://www.collarchat.com/micons/m16.gif[/image]



candystripper -> RE: Beat the Clock (8/16/2008 11:10:19 AM)

ROFLMAO.
 
'Beat the Cock', for the Love of Mike!
 
Maybe for 'Random Stupidity' I should write just such an Op  tongue-in-cheek style...but I have a ingrained mantra of 'never, ever hurt a cock' that would get in my way if I tried.
 
If I happen to get extremely bored anytime soon I'll give it a whack, LOL.
 
candystripper



sambamanslilgirl -> RE: Beat the Clock (8/16/2008 12:30:36 PM)

doesn't Billie Mays (that infomercial king) sell stuff that can hang things without noticable holes in the walls? i know 3M sells the putty stuff or stick on hooks (which comes off without tearing the walls)



Lockit -> RE: Beat the Clock (8/16/2008 12:57:18 PM)

I can't find the box to get the whole name, but I use these things called Monkey...?  They are a thin wire that you twist into the wall and can hold a lot of weight.  They are great!  No need for hammers, screw drivers, drills... you can actually twist them into the wall very easily.  I have some heavy mirrors and they hold them very well and believe me, if I didn't trust them, I wouldn't have my antique mirror on one!

I don't know what your walls are made of, but if you can drill into it, you should be able to use a Monkey hook.  When I first got them, I thought there was no way... and yet... they really do work!  You can get a package of four, for about three dollars and I got mine at Home Depot.  Good luck!



sub4hire -> RE: Beat the Clock (8/16/2008 2:00:24 PM)

Try cement for the walls.  The first house I owned had cement walls.  Ugliest walls you'd ever seen before to.  They textured them.

Anyway you need cement screws which is what you all used the last time you hung up stuff.

If you don't want the clock to fall and get broken...I'd get a neighbor to hang a screw for you. 



candystripper -> RE: Beat the Clock (8/16/2008 8:19:03 PM)

Well, it's a little hard to see how these mystery walls could be made of cement.  I mean, I know for sure it's not 'cement block' because there's nothing at all that looks like moutar lines. So, wouldn't it have to be poured cement? 
 
How would that work vertically?  I get how it's done horitizonally..I mean I could probably make a little cement patio if I wanted.
 
But to go up instead of sidewizes?
 
*Blank stare*  Totally having a blonde moment, sub4hire, LOL.
 
*hugs*
 
candystripper



TieNTeas -> RE: Beat the Clock (8/16/2008 8:48:29 PM)

Very possible that the walls are concrete.  They build wooden forms and pour the concrete into the form.  Common for basements in many areas.  And exterior walls.  When you drill into it, it should give you an idea what it is really made of.



igor2003 -> RE: Beat the Clock (8/16/2008 8:54:22 PM)

It "could" be concrete, and yes they can pour veritical walls by building forms of wood to pour the concrete into, then stripping the wood off once the concrete sets up.  But the fact that you can drive a screw into it...i assume without predrilling it... tells me it is more likely to be cinder block.  Why no grout lines?  Because they probably put a skim coat of concrete or plaster over the cinder blocks to hide the lines.  Is the electrical wiring run inside the walls, or on the surface on the outside?  On the surface in conduit it is most likely concrete.

Either way, if you want to hang things without drilling holes just go to the Home Depot or Ace Hardware or whatever and tell them your circumstances and see what they recommend.  I do believe there are several products available depending on the individual circumstances such as wall texture, weight of item to be hung, etc.



candystripper -> RE: Beat the Clock (8/16/2008 10:03:44 PM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: TieNTeas

Very possible that the walls are concrete.  They build wooden forms and pour the concrete into the form.  Common for basements in many areas.  And exterior walls.  When you drill into it, it should give you an idea what it is really made of.


*Duh*.
 
ROFLMAO.
 
Hey, thanks.  Most likely, the *puzzle of the mystery walls* has been solved.  It's a little-bitty *guttersnipe* of fun for me to finally know.
 
candstripper



crxmale -> RE: Beat the Clock (8/16/2008 10:06:30 PM)

Sounds like plaster to me.



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