Hey everyone! I am going to be attending Alabama Fall of 2015 and will be living in Ridgecrest South. I’ve been recently reading that they only allow you to hang items with nails or push pins (limit 4 holes per room) but I really would like to hang more than 4 items in my dorm. Are command strips ok to use? It’s just for some really lightweight poster prints. Thank you, and Roll Tide!
Command strip are perfect for lightweight poster prints.
So they won’t be upset if I use command strips instead?
Residents aren’t supposed to use command strips in communities without block walls. There’s a list somewhere on the housing site. UA Housing isn’t going to charge you for a normal amount of nail or push pin holes even though it says four. You will be charged for damage to the walls from the command strips or excessive nail holes.
Thank you! Do you know around how much the charge will be? And what it considered excessive? Sorry, just curious!
Only UA Housing could tell you that.
Some people have successfully used command strips in the suite-style buildings. But we don’t recommend it! It can easily pull off chunks of the drywall, in which case, we’re talking about more than a touch of paint.
Here’s the link to our current damage charges: http://housing.ua.edu/pdfs/DamageCharges2013.pdf
These may change over the summer, but this will give you an idea of the damages.
Hope this helps,
Janine
Thank you so much! 
I never had any damage using command strips, the key to a successful removal is to firmly grap the strip while holding the hook and pull down straight, stretching as far as it can go (it can stretch quite a bit) till it disconnects from the wall. It is a technique that works, do not pop off the strip or try to wedge it up, just pull down and down till it cannot stretch any farther.
Another dorm trick is to hang a study cord between two nails and then use clothespins or binder clips to pin photos/notes/light posters to the cord. Only two holes required.
Following the directions is important, but high humidity will also determine the likelihood of damaging the walls during removal.
FWIW, I had read that about command strips, but during the Bama Bound presentation last week, someone who I think was the head of housing (and was at least giving the official spiel about housing at one of the parent sessions) specifically suggested using Command Strips, and just instructed the kids to know the proper way to remove them without damaging the walls. So, as far as I could tell they are probably OK, but just be aware that if you rip the wallboard by yanking them instead of properly releasing them, you’re on the hook for damage.
Don’t use off-brand, cheap command strips! Also, most of the walls will already have way more than 4 holes in them, so I use existing holes to put push pins in without doing any damage. Just report the fact that your room came with the holes at the beginning of the year if that’s the case for you!
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