A toilet roll holder fitted to a tiled bathroom wall, along with the rest of the bathroom accessories.
It is one of the smallest jobs we do, and on tiles one of the easiest to get wrong.
The holder
This one is a traditional holder: a chrome plate on the wall, a white post, and a chrome arm that the roll hangs on.
The small hex key in the photograph is under the post. On a holder of this kind that is where a little grub screw holds it to its wall plate, so the plate is fixed to the wall first and the holder goes on last.
Through the tile
Fitting anything to a tiled wall comes down to the holes. A toilet roll holder, a towel ring, a robe hook and a shelf all go up the same way, a plate screwed to the wall and the fitting on the plate, and on bare plaster that is simple. Tiles are another matter. A glazed tile cracks if it is drilled like a plain wall, so the hole starts slowly with a bit made for tile, held still so it does not skate across the glaze, and the hammer setting stays off until the bit is through the tile and into the wall. The plug has to sit in the wall, not in the tile, or tightening the screw pushes on the tile and splits it. Before any of that the marks have to be right, because a hole in a tile cannot be moved, and the wall behind a bathroom tile can carry a pipe or a cable. We are plumbers and electricians, which helps when the question is what runs behind the tiles.
Why holders work loose
A holder that wobbles has usually been fixed into the tile, or into a grout line, and not into the wall behind it.
Every pull on the roll works at that fixing.
Drilled or stuck on
People ask whether a toilet roll holder can go on tiles without drilling. Stick-on and suction holders are made for that. A holder that takes a pull every day is better screwed to the wall.
Small bathroom jobs
Our bathroom page keeps the smaller jobs beside the full refits: swapping a toilet, changing a basin, refreshing tired grout and silicone. Fitting bathroom accessories is one of them, and it is quoted the same way as anything else. Another is a leaking shower tray, resealed.
Ring 07546 185778, say what needs to go up, and send us a photograph of the wall if you can.
