RT-08Fix the cistern bracket to the wallCheck whether your cistern has a wall bracket or lug for stability — most close-coupled models do. First work out your wall type: solid brick or block sounds dead when tapped, a stud wall sounds hollow. If it's hollow, run a stud detector or magnet along the wall to find the studs, then drill a small pilot hole — timber dust means a timber stud, fine grey swarf means a metal stud. Into solid brick or block, drill a 6mm hole 40-50mm deep and use a plastic wall plug with the screw provided. Into a timber stud, drive a wood screw straight into its centre. Into a metal stud, use a self-drilling metal-stud fixing — never a plastic plug or a wood screw, they strip straight through 0.5mm steel. Between studs, or into dot-and-dab plasterboard, use a toggle-type hollow-wall fixing rated for at least 5kg; on dot-and-dab, use screws long enough (typically 60-75mm) to also bite into the masonry behind. On lath and plaster, hollow-wall toggles can crack the old lime plaster, so find a solid timber lath or batten first, or fix through to the masonry behind if there is one. Cables and pipes can run almost anywhere in a wall, so use a detector but still assume something is there until you've proved otherwise. Know where your stopcock is before you drill, and if you're at all unsure what's behind the wall, isolate the electrics at the consumer unit first.