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finding studs

brucet9 | Posted in Construction Techniques on July 15, 2008 01:34am

I’ve searched earlier threads but did not find the answer I need.

1951 house in So Cal. Stucco exterior, gypsum lath with very hard plaster inside, no insulation.

HO wants a mail slot thru the wall between the front door and a window about 37″ apart, so there should be at least one full stud bay. Mail slot would need 10″ minimum between studs.

Before ordering the mail slot, I looked for stud locations with little success. Zircon stud finder indicated studs 6″ to 9″ apart, but that thing often gives false positives even on drywall. A magnet could not locate the nails – probably too deep under plaster.

Short of the woodpecker method, does anyone have a reliable way to find studs through plaster or stucco?

Has the Bosch multi-detector proven to be much better than Zircons?

BruceT
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Replies

  1. Hudson Valley Carpenter | Jul 15, 2008 02:25am | #1

    I'm very familiar with that type/vintage of construction.  I'd give up on magnetic devices for stud finding on exterior walls (wire lath for stucco gives false positives) and use an 8d finish nail through the interior plaster/rock lath. 

    After all, you're going to be putting a fair sized hole in the plaster/rock lath which will require some refinishing of the surrounding area so what's wrong with starting with a few pin holes?



    Edited 7/14/2008 7:30 pm by Hudson Valley Carpenter

    1. brucet9 | Jul 15, 2008 03:24am | #4

      "...use an 8d finish nail through the interior plaster/rock lath. "Yeah, the woodpecker method was my next choice, but if I can't find a wide enough stud bay I'd have to patch the wall without doing the mail slot.BruceT

      1. Hudson Valley Carpenter | Jul 15, 2008 03:42am | #6

        Yeah, the woodpecker method was my next choice, but if I can't find a wide enough stud bay I'd have to patch the wall without doing the mail slot.

        I'm betting that with a 37" span, there will be at least one standard 16" (14" actual) bay in there.  Those guys didn't put in any extra studs.

        1. brucet9 | Jul 15, 2008 04:59am | #7

          "Those guys didn't put in any extra studs."That's why the multiple hits by the Zircon stud finder confused me. Now that I think of it, there is a soffitted overhang extension of the roof, with no post, over a 5x5 stoop landing, as well as a drop ceiling inside the entry. If that is cantilevered rather than just hanging from long rafter tails, there should be a beam pocket in the wall that could explain extra studs and odd spacing.BruceT

          1. Hudson Valley Carpenter | Jul 15, 2008 06:02am | #10

            That's why the multiple hits by the Zircon stud finder confused me.

            There's all kinds of metal in those exterior walls; metal lath, let-in braces, BX cables. 

  2. User avater
    xxPaulCPxx | Jul 15, 2008 02:45am | #2

    I take a piece of wire, like brazing wire or the wire used between joists to hold batts up, and bent it into a square bottomed "U".  Each vertical leg is equal length.

    Next, I drill a hole big enough for me to put the elbow of that wire through - like 1/2" should be enough.  I then rotate the U around until it hits something - like a stud.  I mark where the tip of the exposed leg is, then I spin it around the other way to get the second stop point... mark it again.  Connect the two dots and you have one face of the nearest stud to the hole.

    Rebuilding my home in Cypress, CA

    Also a CRX fanatic!

    Save the Whales! and Guns!

    1. User avater
      xxPaulCPxx | Jul 15, 2008 02:54am | #3

      Another way of doing it - with insulation or other matierial that blocks the turning of the metal U as I previously described...

      Drill that initial hole, then drill two holes sideways within that hole at very shallow angles.  Stick a long piece of straight hard wire through one way until it stops.  Mark the depth on the wire.  Pull it out, keeping the same angle you inserted it at.  Once you get the tip, measure your mark point to the wall.  Put the makr point at the hole, and pull it away to the same depth out you measured before.  The point of the wire will be where the stude face is.  Do the same for the other side.Rebuilding my home in Cypress, CA

      Also a CRX fanatic!

      Save the Whales! and Guns!

  3. User avater
    hammer1 | Jul 15, 2008 03:39am | #5

    Electrical outlet boxes are normally nailed to a stud or cripple. You may be able to measure increments of 16" from one. Nails often show on baseboard or other moldings. Studs often fall on the same centers as floor joists. Combine these in your detective work and you can often determine where studs are. If present, baseboard radiation is also nailed to the studs. Sometimes the sound from a finger rap can give you a hint, too. After looking at all these, you may have a better guess to start exploring.

    Beat it to fit / Paint it to match

    1. brucet9 | Jul 15, 2008 05:08am | #8

      "Electrical outlet boxes are normally nailed to a stud or cripple."Thanks, now that you mention it, there is an outlet on a cripple under the window. I can find the basic layout from that and see how it matches up to the beam pocket that I suspect may be in the first bay next to the door. (see post 107022.8)
      BruceT

  4. Jer | Jul 15, 2008 05:28am | #9

    xxPaulcp is a smart person. It's a no fail method.

  5. jjwalters | Jul 15, 2008 04:00pm | #11

    Use your right middle knuckle (the one that lifts your FU finger)

    Practice till you get good the pecking method .... then you don't need all the expensive gimmicks.

    When you think you found a stud......pull a shooter type 2 1/2 finish nail off the clip and tap in into the wall to make sure.........

    Old stud layouts are seldom true enough to measure..........

    1. Jim_Allen | Jul 15, 2008 05:00pm | #12

      In my experience, I often looked at rough frames that has extra useless studs. One of the most common areas that I would see them is in the foyer wall next to the front door. The reason has something to do with anal framers putting studs 16" oc, even when the layout stud lands in a space that is obiously less than 14.5". This condition occurred often in that wall because the door header was quite wide and there typically was a side wall intersection that broke up a stud bay span. Instead of leaving the "layout" stud out, the anal carpenter still puts one in because it's 16" oc.....even though it might be filling in a 12" space. Bob's next test date: 12/10/07

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