Post #535735 by TikiTres on Sat, Jun 12, 2010 6:34 AM

On 2010-06-11 20:59, MauiRose wrote:

1. The ceiling is plaster (not sure of the age of the apartment, but I don't think it's all that old) so I'm a little concerned about its stability.

Are you sure it's plaster and not painted & textured drywall? If it is plaster, it's a lot tougher to find the joists to screw into. A stud finder won't work. Plaster is normally installed over metal lath or wood lath both of which prevent a stud finder from working properly. How heavy is the lamp? If it's 10 pounds or less, a toggle ("molly bolt", etc.) will work fine and you don't need to worry about locating the joists. You normally don't have to look for a joist unless you're hanging something heavier, like a ceiling fan. Don't worry about it being an angled ceiling, that won't affect the functionality of a toggle at all.

[ Edited by: TikiTres 2010-06-12 06:35 ]