How should I hang a picture on a tile wall?

[emmaliminal]

I need advice on how to hang a framed picture on a ceramic-tiled wall in my bathroom. I'd rather not drill a hole in the tile if there's any alternative. I tried a stick-on adhesive hook similar to this one that was supposed to work for that weight (one pound) on that kind of surface (nonporous), but it spontaneously failed after about a week -- the picture crashed and the glass broke. There’s no crown molding to suspend from and I don’t want to just prop up the frame on the back of the toilet; it needs to be at eye level for standing users of the toilet.

It's this classic poem, superimposed on a cheerful pastel sketch of this monument (emphasizing the sprays of water and with a bunch of butch WWII-era sailors), in a fancy fillet-mat frame like this (only in bright gold and with more curlicues). I put it together immediately after hearing the poem in 1999 and it’s hung in our bathroom ever since... until we moved here and the evil tile thwarted it. So you see why it's important.

[gotpasswords]

Wow. They still sell those wretched paste-on hooks? About all those ever stick to is old wallpaper.

Give a 3M Command hook a shot. Those things will stick to just about anything.

Be sure the tile is perfectly clean before mounting the hook. Any oily residue, fingerprints, soap scum or ant footprints will interfere with the adhesive. Clean the wall, then scrub the target area with regular rubbing alcohol - you don't want the scented or moisturizing variety for this - just plain old antiseptic alcohol. Let it dry, then put up the hook per the package directions.

If that doesn't work, Plan B is to get a small carbide drill bit and drill a hole for a hook. If the grout lines are wide enough, drill through the grout rather than a tile - it will be easier to patch in the future

[Solfy]

Originally Posted by gotpasswords

Give a 3M Command hook a shot. Those things will stick to just about anything.

Be sure the tile is perfectly clean before mounting the hook. Any oily residue, fingerprints, soap scum or ant footprints will interfere with the adhesive. Clean the wall, then scrub the target area with regular rubbing alcohol - you don't want the scented or moisturizing variety for this - just plain old antiseptic alcohol. Let it dry, then put up the hook per the package directions.

Especially the part on the directions that say not to put any load on the hook for about an hour.

I've had great luck with these on tile (except that time I didn't pay attention to not loading the hook for an hour).

[emmaliminal]

Originally Posted by gotpasswords

Wow. They still sell those wretched paste-on hooks?...
Be sure the tile is perfectly clean before mounting the hook. ... scrub the target area with regular rubbing alcohol ...

It was actually a clear plastic sticky thing that *said* it was designed for nonporous surfaces, found in the hardware store right next to the wet-to-stick wallpaper type ones. Its instructions said to clean the tile with rubbing alcohol, so I did. It also said to wait an hour before loading, so I left it overnight.

Originally Posted by gotpasswords

...Plan B is to get a small carbide drill bit and drill a hole for a hook. If the grout lines are wide enough, drill through the grout rather than a tile - it will be easier to patch in the future

ooh! Good idea. I wouldn't have thought of aiming for the grout.

I'll look again for little 3M jobbers. First time around, the store didn't have any small-enough ones in stock -- what they had would have stuck out too far from the wall as well as have showed above the frame.

[Carson O'Genic]

You can use a bit of 5 minute epoxy. Clean the tile with alcohol, let dry. Won't need too much. The 5 minute type will set while you hold the hook, so plan the work.
A potter friend uses this to adhere custom tiles on many vertical surfaces, including tile, so I'm sure it will support the weight.

[ZenBeam]

You could try drilling between the corners of four tiles. There should be enough room between the tiles for a small hole. Find a nail that fits snugly, or if only a little loose, glue it into the hole.

[gaffa]

Or you could put the hook in the wall above the tile, and suspend the picture via mono-filament line. This is a technique used in a lot of galleries that don't want to constantly re-finish walls. They have a rail where the wall and ceiling meet, and use mono-filament (fishing line) or cables for heavy pictures. I don't recommend drilling into the grout, as a tile is likely to pop off, and that is a way for moisture to get behind the tile.

[emmaliminal]

Originally Posted by gaffa

Or you could put the hook in the wall above the tile...

Sadly, there is no "wall above the tile" -- the tile goes all the way to the ceiling, which is some kind of cardboardy suspended acoustic crap that won't hold a hook strong enough to support a large spider.

Originally Posted by gaffa

I don't recommend drilling into the grout, as a tile is likely to pop off, and that is a way for moisture to get behind the tile.

Rats. Do you say this out of experience, or from speculation? There isn't much moisture happening right there as the toilet is well away from the shower, and I would seal the nail hole with something to keep it from slipping anyway, so I'm not sure that's a serious problem. But the popping-tile thing would not be good.

[Nava]

My mother's kitchen includes about half a dozen large plates hung on the wall; all of them are held by straight-angle hooks; most of these are plugged into "those plastic things" which may or may not be called "cleats" in English; all the holes are done in the cross where four tiles meet. None of the tiles have any damage.

The biggest plate is about two feet across, thick porcelain. That thing probably doesn't weigh a ton but it feels like it when I'm hanging it blindly after washing, let me tell you!

[gaffa]

Originally Posted by emilyforce

Rats. Do you say this out of experience, or from speculation? There isn't much moisture happening right there as the toilet is well away from the shower, and I would seal the nail hole with something to keep it from slipping anyway, so I'm not sure that's a serious problem. But the popping-tile thing would not be good.

Experience. Look at how a twist drill is made - the portion behind the tip is designed to carry material away from the cutting head, and can pull a tile off. I'd go with the epoxy if you don't anticipate ever wanting to remove that hook. And the 3M product is, like most 3M products, excellent.

[emmaliminal]

Well! The hardware store didn't have small 3M hooks again, and the clerk had no idea whether or not they would get more anytime soon. So I took a risk and drilled a teeny, tiny hole in the grout with a hand-powered crank drill, going verrrry slowly and gently and carefully. I didn't place it at a four-corner spot because that would be drastically off-center and weird-looking. No tile damage! Yay! With my lightest hammer, I verrrry gently drove a very small-gauge finishing nail through the hole and into the backing board. I sealed the hole with a bit of clear hot glue, to protect the grout and exclude moisture. The frame does not have glass anymore -- I took out the broken stuff and replaced it with lightweight plastic from a dimestore frame -- so it is no longer a safety hazard even if it falls, plus it only weighs 10 ounces now.

My pro-pee poem plus picture is in its proper place! Props to you peeps!