My handyman skills are very rudimentary. I haven't done the do-it-yourself thing very often. I have a power drill and know how to use it, and have used some other basic tools like hammers, wrenches, screwdrivers, etc., and that's about it. Most people here are probably much more skilled than I am. Nevertheless, I've just moved into a new apartment and would like to put up some shelves on the walls. I've seen it done before, but have never done it myself. I have the brackets, the planks, the screws, the carpender's pencil, the leveler and the power drill all ready to go. However, on the first step I'm running into difficulty. I'm having trouble locating the studs behind the wall. I tapped across the wall with a hammer, listening to a tone change. I heard low-pitched thuds until I got to one point where the pitch went higher. I thought that must be where the stud was. Wrong. I hammered in a thin nail to see if I struck wood, but it went in too easy and when I pulled it out, the nail was coated from head to end with plaster dust. What am I doing wrong? What do I listen for to hear where the stud is when tapping with the hammer? Or is there some better way to find the studs? I don't want to keep driving in test nails and end up mucking up the walls. I know this is elementary stuff for most of you and appreciate any suggestions you can offer. I also wasn't sure if this walls board were the right one for this question. If this should be on a different board, please let me know and I'll post it there. cheers, Tom

I have just moved into an older house with plaster walls. I am preparing to hang my pictures, small decorative shelves and curio shelf and have been warned against causing the walls to crack from the place of the nail/screw all the way down to the floor. Is there a way to hang my shelves that require screws without causing the walls to split? Please help as I have never encountered this problem before in any other house I have lived in that had plaster walls.