Whether you’re hanging a picture or thinking about adding a door, finding hidden wall studs is no easy task. There is of course the method of thumping on the wall, but this is not very accurate and there is a lot of room for error. If you’re dealing with a big improvement project, you’ve got to know how to easily find hidden wall studs with a great percentage of accuracy. So, let’s get started on two easy ways to get this done.
1. Purchase a stud finder.
Even if you only use it occasionally, a stud finder will pay for itself with just one use. These can be purchased at any hardware or home improvement store and are usually priced at less than $100. Today’s models use a variety of different electronic techniques to help locate hidden studs and will provide you with an exact position for any stud in any wall.
When you can’t afford to be wrong by a few inches, this is probably the best solution. They are a little expensive, but you’ll be saving money by using the proper position for hanging pictures, cutting in a door way or avoiding electrical wires. For those that are interested in DIY but don’t have a lot of experience, this is a vital piece of equipment that is well worth the money.
2. This next method is one used by a lot of people, but it does require a little bit of effort.
If you have plaster walls, you can locate studs simply by putting a nail in the wall every few inches by the baseboard. When you run into the stud, you won’t be able to just push the nail in. While this is a pretty accurate method for locating studs, not many people want to put a dozen holes in the walls while they try.
If you simply do not want to purchase a stud finder, this is an easy but destructive alternative. We do not recommend trying this technique in walls where this is electrical wiring, simply because it is all to easy to stick your nail in the wrong spot.
3. Here’s an old fashioned method that gets the job done when you’re in a pinch.
Grab a flashlight and dim the lights in the room. Now, hold the flashlight sideways on the wall, so that the beam is illuminating the entire section of wall. Look carefully in the wall for any signs that framing nails may have been used. You should be able to see some dents or depressions where this occurred.
This method is incredibly time consuming and may not be accurate. For example, the dent you think is from a framing nail may just be an old dent in the wall. When you need accuracy, the single best solution is a stud finder. You can always look for them during special sales if you’re trying to save money. However, it is money well spent, at least in this situation.
Originally posted 2008-10-06 05:21:00. Republished by Blog Post Promoter
Related Posts -
The Basics of Drilling 5 Buying a Drill: A good basic style electric drill is going to have a 3/8 inch chuck and VSR or variable speed reversing capabilities. Such a drill should be able to accept bits that have shanks up to the 3/8 inch point, and it should also allow you to control...... -
Gutted! By Lawrence LaRose If you’re thinking about buying an old house to restore, stop right now and buy this book. It is the absolute epitome of what you should not do, and it may even make you change your mind. Anyone interested in home improvement horror stories will love this book, and there...... -
Buying Guide for a Stud Finder A stud is an upright piece of wood that is used to create the frame of your home. Most people really do not ever need to deal with these studs, but when you want to anchor an oversized mirror or picture frame or a piece of furniture such as a...... -
How to Keep Home Repair Costs Down There is nothing that hits the wallet as hard as when you have a home improvement project. The most important thing on the home owner's mind is how to minimize the costs of the project. The balance that needs to be maintained is how to reduce the cost of a...... -
How to Install a Garage Door Opener Having a garage door opener makes life a lot easier and it can add safety features to an existing door. There are numerous kinds of opener and more kinds of doors, but for the sake of brevity, we're going to cover installing a garage door opener that mounts on the......
Related Websites - Personal Finance Haiku Contest Make Your Nut is currently hosting a contest on Personal Finance Haikus. The winner gets $20 and some link love. Anyway here are my entries:Refinance your homeUse it to pay off your debtBrokers must eat too. Open a brokerage account Invest your earnings Wall street needs your money. The US......
- Brooksley Born's story: Fighting Wall Street, Rubin & Greenspan was a Bad Career Move If you've never heard of Brooksley Born, you're not alone. I followed the markets fairly closely in the late 1990s while this political battle over regulating the derivatives market was underway, and I honestly can't remember hearing anything about it. Like most people, I was probably too caught up with......
- Untapped Riches: Never Pay Off Your Mortgage--and Other Surprising Secrets for Building Wealth by Susan Cutaia, Anthony Cutaia and Robert Slater On the surface, this book seemed like the ideal read. It has a strong premise of how to create multiple streams of income using debt leverage. That is a great premise and one that we follow and put into practice every day. It was such a disappointment that this book......
-
Walking on the Great Wall of China It really is hard to describe just why the Great Wall is so "great". Unfortunately, my post can not even begin to do justice to the experience of standing on the Great Wall. I could share facts like the Great Wall has been designated as one of the new...... - Sunday Money Madness Welcome to a new edition of the Sunday Money Madness roundup. I hope you enjoy this light bit of weekend reading. Debt | Debt Leveraging: Cash Money Life presents 10 Ways to Pay Your Debt Off Faster. College Loans: Not Always Good Debt at National Payday explains. What do you......
- Electrical Solar Home Improvement
- Framing Guns Brad, Nail Staple Guns Air Tools Tools Home Improvement
Categories:
Handy Man, Walls
Tags:
1 comment so far ↓
Another option when purchasing a stud finder is the Bosch DMF 10 Zoom – it will indicate wooden studs as well as megnetic or non magnetic metal such as water pipes and live wires. It’s extremely easy to use with its high resolution LCD display
Leave a Comment