Hang pictures on a cob/stone wall

Hanging things on walls built with natural materials generally requires different techniques from a modern build, and sometimes a bit of pre-planning.

We are at the stage of our build where we are rendering the walls with cob and we know the layout of the rooms. As such, we are comfortable to start deciding where the picture hooks will be.

We could have done this whilst rendering the wall which would be a bit stronger and easier, but this technique is just as effective.

You will be using a piece of wood as a surface to drill in the picture hooks, and you will need to embed this in to the wall.

So first up, chip a hole in the wall the size of the wood that you plan to put in.

Next, place your wood to see it fits. As you can see I have put in screws at the sides, this helps to stop the wood falling out of the wall. I have also put in a screw which will protrude from the wall as you continue to add the final layers. This screw can either tell you where the wood is, of even be used to hang pictures itself.

Now wet the wall and the surrounding area

Apply a handful of wettish cob and work it in to all sides of the hole

Now wet the wood and cover that in cob too. I used some hay in this mix to bind everything together around the wood

Now cover the wood and surrounding area with cob, really working it in, slapping the wet cob to work it in to all the gaps and make everything strong.