A question on very flat / slim wall mounting

[Moadib]

I have a long, narrow hallway, and wanting to break it up a bit was thinking to put a panoramic print along one side. Breaks the expanse of wall up, and gives some visual interest.

Being narrow though, there's not a heck of a lot of room, so the mount itself would need to be very flat to the wall. Added there's a possibility a coat or sleeve might brush it, so it needs to be reasonably hard wearing.

I'm not an expert on all the printing / mounting options available, so wanted to ask people's advice. Most of the acrylic mounts seem about the right width, but 'stand-off' the wall a fair bit on a spacer (you mount the spacer to the wall, then the acrylic onto the spacer). I'd need something that went absolutely flat on the wall (and if it was even 5mm proud, the ideal would be with no very sharp edges which could catch). Aluminium seemed another option, but looked to have the same mount issues (mount slightly off wall).

The space is 1.5 to 2m long, so could be quite a long print, and I've no issues with a screw cover or two showing on top, just trying to see what the best option would be.

Many thanks for any advice & suggestion

 

[testbloke]

If you use a pro lab you will be able to get an acrylic mounted print or aluminium print without the hanging device as you require.
You can also get really strong tapes that. Will stop you having to use screws but if you take it down you will need to skim the walls as it won't come off easily.

 

[richh]

Are you able to put hanging hardware easily into the wall? If so, you might try a 'snap' type of duralumin gripper at top and bottom, fixed to a couple of masonry pins in the wall. Your photo could be printed on a waterproof plastic, as used e.g. by zip-posters.co.uk.

 

[Moadib]

Many thanks for the suggestions.

Actually the image we will put will probably not be one of mine, so in part will depend upon what it can be supplied upon. I do have freedom to put hardware into the wall. I'll look into aluminium and acrylic mounting. Of the two of those, which would be expected to give the thinner (flatter) finished position?

 

[gramps]

I've had aluminium and found there was a slightly sharp edge that would probably not be good in a narrow passage where someone might brush past.

 

[shreds]

What you haven't told us is:-

1. How wide is the hallway?
2. What direction is the 'traffic' past the picture....will all people walking past be heading for a door at the end or is there any offset which might lead people to veer towards it?

Most hallways have a mimimum width as defined by the Building Regs, which with Part M often means that they are designed to allow wheelchair access.

One other thing to consider is if the hallway is so narrow, can the viewer stand far enough away from the picture to effectively view it?

 

[Moadib]

Thanks for the note on the aluminium sharp edge - that's very useful to keep in mind!

The hallway itself is 101cm wide. In general people will be going through it heading to the front door, but it's also a place where coats and shoes are adjusted, so there's likely to be the odd flying sleeve. In my mind any image will be high enough (eye level-ish) that people won't bump it with shoulders or backside, but sleeves are an issue.

Space to stand back is an issue, and a good point to mention. Again here thinking is to have something that works in details rather than only as a whole - so even when closer to it, smaller areas can be appreciated. It's predominantly breaking up the space - the alternative is more than one smaller item, which multiplies my issue in terms of edges and mounts, but open to any options. As it is at the moment (vast expanse of blank space) it's very bland.

 

[shreds]

This is in a hallway space 0.98m wide but a bit longer than yours overall at 2.5m

No special fixings, just hooks and cord. The picture is at eye level but like yours it can be difficult to stand back to get a better perspective. No coats though under normal use, so no sleeves etc and at either end there is a projection of the wall of about 0.2m forcing people to keep away from the wall.

It's not an ideal position, but like yours it fills a blank space.