Advice on Hanging a Swag Lamp

Hi all,

I'm looking to hang a large lucite swag lamp from my apartment's ceiling but I have a few concerns (I'm not the handiest gal around). I've done some googling about how to hang a swag lamp (the site http://www.ergstore.com/hangaswaglamp.htm seemed to dumb it down enough for me), but I'm hoping you all might have some advice. (Forgive me if this has been covered before, but I used the search function and didn't find anything.)

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.

2. The ceiling is at a diagonal angle, so I don't know if that would also compromise its stability. Do you think it would put too much pressure on one side of the toggle wings? If yes, would it be better to try the other hanging method and screw the hook into a joist---assuming I can find one?

Thanks in advance for any help---I'm hoping to post pictures of my humble tiki abode when it's farther along.

[ Edited by: MauiRose 2010-06-11 21:00 ]

[ Edited by: MauiRose 2010-06-11 21:01 ]

Hi. If your lamp is the heavy type you may want to go with the screw in type of hook. this will make a smaller hole that you may have to patch in the future. Most joist are 16" apart on the center line usually. Measure 16" from the wall that follows the slope up and give a light tap with your fist. You should be able to hear wear the joist is. Pre-drill a hole just a bit smaller than the screw on the hook to help get the threads started and hang your lamp. 16" centers work here in MI. But older homes I have seen have joists 24" center line but the same technique should work. If all else fails you can buy a cheap stud finder at one of the big box store that will help locate the joist but I have never used one. Hope this helps out.

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 ]

On lath and plaster I've had good results with a "deep seeking" stud finder.

The pounding the wall/ceiling method can take a bit of practice to get an ear/feel for a solid object behind the wall. On a lath and plaster wall it can be trickier as those walls sound pretty solid where ever you bang (except for bits of plaster raining down in the wall space).

If you go with a screw-in you can get ones that have longer "stems" between the screw and hook part so the screw will be solidly anchored in the joist. Definitely pre-drill into any wall or ceiling for a screw-in hook.

Thanks for the helpful tips, everyone.

TikiTres--Good point, it might be drywall. I'm going to check with the landlord.