Specific Fixings Required

Compressing metal cavity fixings (aka Hollow Wall Anchor on Screwfix site) are the best choice for this.

The plastic fittings are a bit feeble for this job, maybe apart from the soap dish.

I prefer the wall anchors because you can undo the bolt and the base of the fitting remains in place. You can also adjust the bolt in and out if you need to do so to hang the fitting on the screw with a slot.

The hole is quite large, but with most of these fittings, the fitting hides the fixing.

.andy

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In message , Andy Hall writes

One thing to take care with in this situation is that the fixing is pushed through the tile into the wall. Otherwise it may crack the tile.

Yep. One trick is to make a slightly bigger hole in just the tile. Alternatively, a plastic washer under it will also do the trick.

.andy

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I take the point with the plastic type of fixing (even then, if it must be tricky to get it through and yet not drop into the cavity. Surely metal cavity fixings have a portion which has to stay on the surface of the tile, passing through to the body which is compressed behind the plasterboard.

Chris

Snip

I was kind of wondering what to do about the little "teeth" that are supposed to dig into the plaster surface

Phil

Two layers of tiles and a layer of plasterboard are way beyond what hollowalls will manage. You need to try to get into the backing studs or use a fixing which will cope with such depth. Something like the Fischer plasterboard plugs which are very tolerant of substrate depth will be much better.

When I've used these fixings on tiles I've simply bent the teeth flat with the rest of the flange. Works fine.

If you use long ones, they are fine - I've done it.

They have the advantage of reuseability.

The plastic ones?

The trouble I've found with any of the plastic ones is that they are not man enough for anything heavy. A soap dish might be OK, but a towel rail with wet towels....??? Recipe for a hole in the wall, broken tiles.

Another option is to use spring toggles with longer bolts than supplied if necessary. If a nut and washer are threaded on them and then the toggle pushed through the hole, it is possible to arrange a length of projecting thread plus bolt head for hanging things on b yt ightening the nut against the washer and surface of the tiles.. It is fiddly to do this, but very secure.

.andy

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