How to hang a rug?

Question

Hi - I would like to hang an original persian rug as a wall hanging. It measures approx. 170 x 120 cm and weighs probably a bit over 10 kg. How can we hang this in a nice, solid way? I want to make sure that the rug does not get damaged / warped, say if we were to nail it to a board, that the 10 kg hanging off a few nails may pull the rug irrevocably. And how do we nail/screw the board on the wall without the nail/screws showing through the front of the rug? What kind of board would you suggest? We do not have any power tools (yet!) so could we order the required size board cut to fit by Bunnings? We want to hang it in the lounge, both as a decoration, and a bit of a sound buffer absorbing some of the TV sounds from going through to our son's bedroom. Would there be another material with accoustic properties that we could line the back of the rug with? It seems like such a simple thing but I keep coming up with more questions - you can tell, we are total DIY newbies! In your suggestion, please be as specific as possible, don't assume we know anything ... Thank you!

MitchellMc · Answer

I do apologise, @An1603; I thought you were on this side of the pond. It's a little thicker than I would like, but you do have the Expol Platinum Board R0.63 2400x1200x20mm Insulation. Adding that behind the rug would increase its sound-deadening abilities.

You might also like to check out this helpful article: How to soundproof your home. We also have a Best Advice article on How do you soundproof a bedroom?

Perhaps you might also like to have a read through these previous topics on a similar subject:

* How to improve soundproofing of a wall? by @Mark21

* How to sound proof the wall between two bedrooms in a rental? by @Christina2

* Soundproofing internal walls. by @Lucille

* How to create a soundproof temporary room divider? by @sugartweety10

* Soundproofing internal brick wall. by @antoallison

* How to soundproof a bedroom wall? by @ivanptr

I'll pass your feedback about the acoustic board on to our team.

Mitchell

An1603 · Answer

Thanks for this suggestion Mitchell. Sadly, the acoustic pinboard is not available in Bunnings NZ and from what I can see, would cost several hundreds from other NZ businesses. Perhaps you can convince Bunnings NZ to stock this ....? Definite market gap! Cheers

MitchellMc · Answer

Welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community @An1603. It's wonderful to have you join us, and many thanks for your question about hanging a rug.

Undoubtedly screwing through a rug will cause damage to it, and over time, that damage will worsen as the rug's weight pulls down on the screws. I suggest you clamp the top of the rug between a timber baton and the wall, as shown in the rendering I've created for you below. This will sandwich the rug and prevent having to put holes in it. Note that the screws only fix the baton to the wall and do not go through the rug. Another baton at the bottom will be used to pull the rug tight. I'd imagine this type of mounting wouldn't cause damage to the rug as its weight is spread along the entire baton. After the rug is mounted, you can use timber putty to fill over the screw heads to disguise them.

You could use this method but with the addition of an acoustic board behind the rug for additional sound absorption.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

Mitchell