Fitting Bathroom Accessories To Tiled Walls – Towel Rings, Toothbrush Holders, Soap Dishes Etc

Bathroom accessories often come in matching sets, and are ideal for adding those coordinated finishing touches to your bathroom’s makeover and providing useful functions.  Things like toilet paper holders and towel rings are usually attached to the wall on brackets, which are screwed directly to the wall.  Or the fixing bracket can be part of the fitting, which makes it easier to fit.  Before drilling any holes in the wall, take care to check for pipes and wiring.

A special method must be used to fit accessories onto tiled walls, to avoid damaging the tiles.  As with hollow or solid walls, you’ll need to use the right kind of screws and wall plugs for the surface and you’ll need to use a specially-designed tile drill bit that’s strong enough to go through the tile.  Take accurate measurements and make sure you drill the holes in the correct position, as they can’t simply be filled in and painted over like on plaster walls.

As a general rule, it’s advisable to fit your bracket in a central position, as the tile is more likely to crack the closer to the edges the hole is made.  Holding your fitting in your chosen position, use a felt tip pen to mark through the screw holes onto the tile.  Before you drill, cover the felt tip marks with masking tape – you should be able to see them through the tape.  The tape will help stop the drill bit slipping and scratching the surface.  Using a tile drill bit, make a small indent in the surface using a low speed, before increasing the speed to penetrate through into the wall.  If you can, hold a vacuum cleaner nozzle below the hole as you drill to stop dust going everywhere and prevent your grout and sealant becoming stained.

When you’ve made your holes, remove the tape and put wall plugs in the holes.  Position the fitting and screw it into place, using a handheld screwdriver so you have more control.  To maintain the waterproof surface of your tiles, put a tiny bit of silicone sealant on the end of each screw before you screw them in.  Lastly, you can screw the covering cap on to hide the fitting mechanism.  How this attaches depends on the design of your particular accessory – it will either have a grub screw or a threaded fitting.