TR-07Drill and fit the wall bracketsCables and pipes can run almost anywhere in a wall. Sweep the area with a detector, but still treat every mark as if something is behind it. Find your stopcock, usually under the kitchen sink, and check it turns before you drill. If you have any doubt at all, isolate the electrics at the consumer unit first, and make sure the water is off at the stopcock if you are drilling anywhere near pipework.
Into a timber stud, drill a 3mm pilot hole in the stud centre and drive in a wood screw at least 40mm long. Into a metal stud, use a self-drilling metal-stud fixing or a toggle-type hollow-wall anchor rated for the weight — never a plain plastic plug or an ordinary wood screw, both strip straight through 0.5mm steel. A metal stud alone will not hold a full towel rail safely if anything pulls or leans on it; if you have any doubt, fix into a timber noggin between the studs or through to solid masonry behind. Into solid brick or block, drill a 6mm hole 40-50mm deep and fit a wall plug sized to your screw. Through dot-and-dab plasterboard, use a fixing long enough (60-75mm) to pass through the board and adhesive dabs into the masonry behind. Into lath and plaster, drill slowly to avoid cracking the plaster and fix into a lath or noggin with an appropriate toggle fixing.