How do I remove a fixing without damaging the wall?

Almost all the damage from removing fixings happens in the last centimetre, when something is levered out rather than drawn straight.

Safety

Step by step

1. Decide whether it needs to come out at all.A plug cut flush and filled is invisible and does no harm. Removing it often makes a much bigger hole. Take it out only if you need the space or the wall is being replastered.
2. Use the screw as a handle.Wind the original screw back in three or four turns so it grips the plug but is not tight. Then grip the screw head with pliers and pull straight out. This is the method that works most of the time.
3. Pull straight, never lever.Rocking pliers against the wall crushes the plaster around the hole and turns a 6mm hole into a 30mm repair. Pull along the axis of the fixing.
4. Protect the surface if you need leverage.A thin piece of plywood or a metal ruler under the pliers spreads the load. Never bear directly on plaster or paint.
5. Push a stubborn plug through.In plasterboard, tapping the plug through into the cavity with a punch is cleaner than fighting it out. The hole then just needs filling.
6. Cut it flush in masonry.If a masonry plug will not come, snip or drill the protruding part flush and fill over it. It is behind filler forever and nobody knows.
7. Deal with hollow-wall anchors properly.Metal expanding anchors cannot be pulled out — they are deformed behind the board. Remove the screw, then push the body through into the void.
8. Handle spring toggles the same way.The wings are behind the board and stay there. Undo the screw and the toggle drops into the cavity, which is harmless.
9. Use heat on adhesive fixings.A hairdryer softens the adhesive on stick-on hooks and strips. Then peel slowly, parallel to the wall rather than away from it, or the paint comes with it.
10. Fill in two thin coats.One thick fill shrinks and sinks. Two thin applications, each allowed to dry, sand flush, then spot-prime before painting or the patch shows through.
11. Prime the repair before painting.Filler is more absorbent than the wall around it, so paint dries to a different sheen. A dab of primer is what makes the repair disappear.

Tips

• Screw back in, grip the screw, pull straight. That gets most plugs out with no damage at all.
• Pushing a plug into the cavity is almost always neater than pulling it out of plasterboard.
• Spot-prime every filled hole. Unprimed filler shows as a dull patch through the topcoat.

Common mistakes

• Levering a plug out against the wall — It crushes the plaster around the hole and turns a small repair into a large one. Pull along the axis, with something under the pliers to spread the load.
• Filling a deep hole in one go — Thick filler shrinks as it dries and sinks below the surface. Two thin coats stay flush.

If it doesn't work