8 min read
Wall fixings guide: which anchor holds in which London wall
Almost every failed fixing in London is the right screw in the wrong wall. A plasterboard plug in dot-and-dab holds nothing but a sheet of board with a void behind it.
This guide matches the five wall types you meet across London housing to the fixing that actually carries the load.
Find the wall before you drill
Knock first. A hollow ring with a soft, dusty drill feel is lath and plaster, typical of Victorian and Edwardian stock. A hollow ring with a crisp board face and a void an inch deep is dot-and-dab, standard in new build and refurbished flats.
A dull, solid note with red dust is solid brick. Grey dust and a drill that barely moves is concrete, common in post-war estate blocks.
Matching the fixing to the load
Lath and plaster carries very little on the plaster itself: the load must reach the timber stud behind it, or be spread with a proper toggle. Dot-and-dab needs a long fixing into the masonry behind the void, not a plasterboard plug in the board.
Solid brick and concrete will take heavy loads happily, provided the hole is drilled clean and the plug matches the bit. Concrete needs an SDS drill and a percussion anchor.
Why TVs come off new-build walls
A wall-mounted TV puts a lever load on the fixings, pulling the top ones outward. On dot-and-dab that lever multiplies against a 10mm board with air behind it, so short plugs shear the board face over a few months.
The fix is boring and reliable: long fixings through the void into the masonry, torqued properly, with the bracket levelled against the board rather than the skirting.
Questions
Common questions
Yes, but the fixings must pass through the plasterboard and the void into the masonry behind. Plasterboard plugs alone will fail over time because the TV's weight acts as a lever on the board face.
For anything with weight, the fixing needs to land in the timber stud behind the laths, or use a spreading toggle. The plaster itself carries almost nothing, which is why old picture hooks pull out with a chunk of ceiling.
Tap it. Dot-and-dab rings hollow with a crisp board face and a void of roughly 10 to 25mm behind it; solid brick gives a dull note and red dust when drilled. A pilot hole that punches through and then hits masonry confirms dot-and-dab.
A good spring toggle in 12.5mm board carries roughly 20 to 30kg in shear when the load sits close to the wall. Anything heavier, or anything that levers outward like a TV or a wall-hung cabinet, needs to reach the stud or the masonry behind.
Yes, with an SDS drill and percussion anchors. Concrete takes heavy loads well once the hole is drilled clean and the plug matches the bit. We scan for cables and pipes first, which matters most in post-war blocks with surface-chased runs.
More guides
Keep reading
- Hiring a handyman in the UK: the complete guideScope, legal limits, 2026 prices, vetting questions, wall fixings and a job-list method that gets more done in one visit.
- Handyman prices in London: what jobs actually cost in 2026Hourly, half-day and fixed job prices, with the London extras that quietly add to a quote.
- What a handyman can and cannot legally do in the UKThe real line between handyman work and jobs that need a registered electrician, gas or structural trade.
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