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When mounting anything on a plaster wall there are precautions that must be taken to avoid damaging the plaster. In much older houses the plaster can be very easy to crack and crumble away causing major damage to the wall.

First you will need a good stud finder, preferably one that has a deep scan setting. You want to locate your wall studs behind the plaster and use these to mount your item or equipment. The weight of whatever you are mounting on the wall should determine the size of screw or lag bolt to use.

After locating the wall studs you want to drill a hole through the plaster in the center of the stud. The wall stud will be 1 1/2 to 2 inches wide so you want the pilot hole centered in that span. The drill bit should be a masonry bit at least as big around as the mounting bolts you will be using. If you are using a hammer drill do not use the hammer setting on the plaster. Just use the regular drill setting and don't force the bit too much. Use the highest RPM setting on the drill and let the bit do the work.

Most plaster walls have wood lathe strips between the plaster and the stud so make sure you are on a stud and do not mistake the lathe for the stud. Once you have bored through the plaster and have reached the wood stud then replace the bit with a regular metal boring bit that is a little smaller than the mounting bolts that you will be using and then bore straight into the center of the wall stud about a half inch or so and stop.

You want your mounting bolt to be long enough to go through the plaster and the wood lathe and then screw into the wall stud at least one to one to two inches. Some situations may have brick behind the plaster and if this is the case then you want to still drill carefully through the plaster and continue using the masonry bit to bore on into the brick. You must use a lead set anchor for this application so you want your masonry bit to be the exact same size around as the anchors you will be using.

Lead set anchors or drop in anchors have to be set with an anchor set and a hammer.  You just push the anchor all the way into the hole and then take the anchor set and insert it into the anchor and hit it with the hammer. This causes the anchor to expand in the hole to hold it in place. Depending on the item to be mounted and the weight of it, lighter items can be mounted using plastic anchors in the brick. Never try to set an anchor into just the plaster. Always make sure the anchor is all the way into the brick behind the plaster.

Another option when mounting into brick or a masonry wall is to use Tapcon Masonry Fasteners. These are anchor less screws that use a special sized masonry bit. You just bore a hole into the brick and screw the Tapcon fastener straight into the hole.