FC-08Support heavy coving with the right fixing for your wallPlaster coving can slide before adhesive cures, so drive temporary support screws every 400-500mm along the top edge, to be removed and filled once set. Before drilling, sweep the line again and treat the wall as if a cable or pipe is there until proven otherwise — check your stopcock is working and isolate the circuit at the consumer unit if unsure. In solid brick or block, drill 6mm and use a wall plug with a 40mm screw. Into a timber stud, drive a 40mm wood screw into its centre; into a metal stud, use a self-drilling metal-stud fixing — never a wood screw or plastic plug, which strips straight through 0.5mm steel. Behind dot-and-dab plasterboard, use a 75-90mm fixing long enough to reach the masonry behind the dabs. On lath and plaster, avoid screws where you can — the laths crack easily — and rely on adhesive and extra support time instead.