First of all, I would love to say "wasupi!" since this is my first post. Looks like a dependable forum! Since I know nothing about carpentry or anything about home improvement(s), I would love to let you know that if you ever have any computer issues, that I will be happy to help! Having said that, I will now continue to the actual question I have about my walls... lol...

I live in an old apartment house, and in this apartment, I have walls that look as if they have "geso" or "art plaster" on it. They are pure white (as would be expected from a landlord), and when I drive a nail into one of the walls, I ALWAYS end up basically breaking the nail or bending it to a dysfunctional state. Upon closer examination, I have come to the conclusion that the walls are "plated" with some sort of metal sheeting. Could any of you help me understand what this is? Why do they have this? I can come up with various reasons why they utilized such a practice, however it is something I have to know more about because I need to figure out a way to mount something on the wall that weighs about 5.5-7 lbs via either standard nails or some other means. I'm beginning to think that magnets are the way to go! HA!