What is a toggle fixing and when do I use one?

Plasterboard is about 12mm of compressed gypsum. Nothing grips it well, so hollow-wall fixings work by reaching behind it and pulling against the back face instead.

Safety

What you'll need

• Toggle fixings rated for the load
• Drill and a bit matching the stated hole size
• Cable and pipe detector
• Screwdriver, pencil, spirit level

Step by step

1. Find the studs first.A fixing into timber beats any hollow-wall fixing. Studs are usually at 400 or 600mm centres. Only use a toggle where a stud genuinely is not available.
2. Know the three common types.Spring toggles have wings that snap open behind the board. Gravity toggles drop a bar. Self-drive anchors screw into the board like a large plastic screw and are the weakest of the three.
3. Choose by weight, not by feel.Self-drive anchors take a few kilograms. Metal spring toggles into plasterboard commonly carry 20 to 30kg. The packet states the figure and it assumes a straight downward pull.
4. Understand what reduces the rating.A shelf pulls outwards as well as down, which is a much harder load than a picture. Halve the stated figure for anything that levers away from the wall.
5. Drill the exact size stated.This is where most hollow fixings fail. Too small and the toggle will not pass; too large and it spins in the hole and never tightens.
6. Check the void behind before buying.Poke a wire through a small hole. A dot-and-dab wall has only 20 to 30mm of void, which most spring toggles will not open in — those need a short-arm or gravity type.
7. Thread the fitting on before inserting.With a spring toggle the wings sit behind the board and cannot come back out. The bracket has to be on the screw before it goes in, or you have to break it out and start again.
8. Pull towards you while tightening.Keep tension on the screw so the toggle stays pressed against the back face. Without it the toggle spins and the screw never bites.
9. Stop when it is firm.Overtightening crushes the plasterboard around the hole and the fixing loses most of its strength. Firm, then a quarter turn.
10. Spread heavy loads over several fixings.Four fixings at half load each is far better than two at full load. It also stops the board dishing around a single point.
11. Use a batten for anything really heavy.A timber batten screwed into two or more studs, then the item fixed to the batten. That is the correct answer for a TV or a heavy cabinet, not a bigger toggle.

Tips

• Match the drill bit to the packet, not to the screw. Hole size is what makes or breaks a hollow fixing.
• Test the void depth with a bent wire before buying. Dot-and-dab walls defeat most spring toggles.
• A stud beats every hollow fixing ever made. Spend two minutes finding one first.

Common mistakes

• Drilling an oversized hole — The toggle spins instead of gripping and the screw never tightens. The hole then has to be filled and moved, because a larger fixing in the same hole has nothing to bear on.
• Using a hollow fixing where a stud was available — A screw into timber is several times stronger and costs nothing. Hollow fixings are for when there is genuinely no stud.

If it doesn't work

Questions people ask