AB-07Drill safely and choose the right fixingCables and pipes can run almost anywhere behind a wall, not just in the usual safe zones, so use a detector and still treat the wall as live until you've proved otherwise. Find your stopcock, usually under the kitchen sink, and check it turns before you start, so you can shut off the water fast if you hit a pipe. If you have any doubt, isolate the circuit at the consumer unit before drilling, and turn off the stopcock before cutting into anything that could carry water. For a timber stud, use a wood screw driven into its centre. For a metal stud, use a self-drilling metal-stud fixing or a toggle-type hollow-wall anchor — never a plastic wall plug or an ordinary wood screw, both strip straight through the thin steel. For plasterboard between studs, use a toggle or hollow-wall anchor rated for the blind's weight. For dot-and-dab plasterboard, use a fixing long enough to pass through the plasterboard and dab and bite into the masonry behind. For solid brick or block, drill to the plug's stated depth and diameter and use a wall plug with a screw. For lath and plaster, drill carefully to avoid cracking the lath, and use a plasterboard-style fixing seated firmly in solid plaster.