RD-06Drill and fit the brackets — safety firstCables and pipes can run almost anywhere in a wall, not just in the usual safe zones, so use a detector and still treat the wall as live until proven otherwise — detectors miss deep cables, cables in metal conduit, and anything behind metal-backed plasterboard, and a metal stud frame can confuse a cheap detector further. Find your stopcock (usually under the kitchen sink) and check it turns freely before you drill, so you can shut off water fast if you hit a pipe. If you have any doubt, isolate the relevant circuit at the consumer unit first. Fixing method depends on your wall: into solid brick or block, drill with a 10mm masonry bit to 45-50mm depth and use a red or brown wall plug with a 50-60mm screw; into a timber stud, drill a 2-3mm pilot hole into the centre of the stud and drive in a 50-60mm wood screw; into dot-and-dab plasterboard, use a fixing long enough to pass through the 40-50mm void and bite into the masonry behind, not just the board; into lath and plaster, locate the timber stud behind the laths and fix into that, going slowly so you don't crack the old plaster. A metal stud alone will not hold a radiator — the weight and the constant flex as it heats and cools will pull a plasterboard or hollow-wall fixing straight out. If you have metal studs, fit a timber noggin between the studs at bracket height before boarding, or fix the brackets through to solid masonry behind if there is any. Never use a plain plastic wall plug or an ordinary wood screw in a metal stud — it strips straight through 0.5mm steel.