CR-03Choose the right fixing for your wallFor genuine dot-and-dab, use a long fixing that passes through the plasterboard, bridges the air gap, and grips the masonry behind - a dot-and-dab specific fixing (such as a Fischer Duopower or Duotec long plug) works best because it also grips inside the board if the dab gap is deep. For solid brick or block with no gap, use a standard wall plug and screw sized to the load. For a timber stud, use a wood screw driven into the centre of the stud, not into the plasterboard skin. For a metal stud, never use a plastic plug or wood screw - it will strip straight through 0.5mm steel. Use a self-drilling metal-stud fixing or a toggle-type hollow-wall anchor rated for the weight instead. A coat rack loaded with wet coats pulls outward as well as down, so a metal stud alone often isn't enough - if you find one where the fixings need to go, fit a timber noggin between the studs or fix through to the masonry behind. For lath and plaster, don't use a dot-and-dab style anchor - it can crack the old lime plaster. Locate the timber lath or joist behind with your test hole and screw into that, or use a longer fixing into solid masonry if there is any behind the laths.