Choosing the right stud size for interior walls is crucial, considering factors like load-bearing requirements, wall height, and local building codes. Proper installation techniques and quality materials ensure sturdy and durable walls. Common stud sizes for interior walls include 2×4 and 2×6 lumber, with larger sizes like 2×8 or 2×10 for added support. Internal walls are usually defined as walls that divide rooms, as opposed to the insides of the external walls. They come in two distinct types: loadbearing and non-loadbearing.
In residential construction, wall studs and floor and ceiling joists are spaced 16 inches on center. On center (OC) indicates the distance from the center of one member to the center of the wall. To frame walls with 8-ft. studs, start with one stud at the end and measure between the bottom plate and the top plate. If pre-cut studs aren’t available, frame a taller wall to reduce drywall waste.
Metal walls are generally used for non-load bearing walls due to their better acoustical performance. Metal studs are typically 48, 70, or 92mm in diameter. Wooden studs are cost-effective, easy to install, and provide superior fire resistance, consistent quality, and pest resistance. Engineers pass this knowledge on to contractors, who typically use 16 to 18 gauge studs at 16″ off center.
For interior framing, choose a tight, straight grain pattern, typically made of spruce or Douglas fir. Most home projects use 25-gauge or light gauge metal studs for interior walls, but there are also lighter options available. Proper installation techniques and quality materials are essential for building strong and stable walls.
📹 Review the parts of a wall with rough openings- A mini lesson from TradeSkillsU.com Framing Course
This mini-lesson was pulled from our TradeSkillsU.com Wall framing course. If you want to learn more about wall framing, …
What are the 4 types of wall studs?
Wall studs can be classified into four categories: wooden, metal, engineered, and concrete.
What is the rule of thumb for wall studs?
To calculate the number of studs needed for a wall, multiply the wall’s total length by 0. 75, add three studs for every 90-degree corner, four for every 45-degree corner, and two for every intersecting wall. If the wall has openings over five feet wide, add an additional stud for each. If the openings are less than five feet wide, add two for each. Multiply the total count by 1. 15, factoring in waste. If 15 waste doesn’t fit, factor in an additional percentage.
Order extras to avoid delays when you lack material to cover gaps. When framing standard load-bearing walls, you will need a single bottom and two top plates. Multiply the total wall length by three and add up to 10 for waste purposes.
How thick should a wall stud be?
Studs are vertical load-bearing members used to support elements in walls and partitions. In exterior walls of one- and two-story buildings, studs are at least 2×4 inches, with a 16-inch spacing. In three-story buildings, studs in the bottom story are at least 3×4 or 2×6 inches, and may not exceed 16-inch spacing. They are arranged in multiples at corners and partition intersections for rigid attachment of sheathing, siding, and interior wall finish materials.
Nailing strips or metal clips may be used to back up interior finish at corners. A grademark identifies the species, grade, grading agency, and mill number, allowing the product to be traced to the mill of origin and establishing its structural properties. Most 2×4 dimension lumber is visually graded and marked with an ink stamp at the mill, ensuring the product’s strength for the application.
What size studs are in interior walls?
Interior walls are typically made of 2×4 studs spaced 24-inch on center, with non-load bearing walls having non-structural connectors. Advanced framing details are recommended to reduce thermal bridging and allow more insulation space. 2×6 wall framing should be specified at 24-inch on-center, rather than 16-inch on-center 2×4 framing. Designing wall lengths, heights, window and door sizes on a 2-foot grid can reduce framing members and materials waste. Compliance with codes and standards is essential for meeting national programs like DOE’s Zero Energy Ready Home program.
What is the most common material used for wall studs?
In the United States and Canada, studs are traditionally made of wood, with dimensions of 2×4 or 2×6. Today’s studs are 1. 5 by 3. 5 inches and are typically placed 16 inches (406 mm) from each other’s center. They need to be dry to avoid shrinking and twisting. Steel studs are becoming popular as a non-combustible alternative, especially for non-load-bearing walls and are required in some firewalls. In New Zealand, the required lumber size and spacing of wall studs are determined using NZS 3604 Timber-framed buildings table 8.
2 for load-bearing walls and table 8. 4 for non-load-bearing walls. Studs are the vertical members of a timber- or metal-framed wall, spaced equally to suit the dimensions of the covering sheet materials, usually 600 mm (24 inches) between the centers.
What timber to use for internal stud wall?
The most suitable timber for a stud wall is simple, low-cost construction-grade carcassing timber, but treated timber can be used if desired, especially for outdoor areas and high moisture areas. The timber can be used for all parts of the frame, so it doesn’t need to be cut separately. The dimensions of carcassing timber are wide, suitable for various projects, but the length is the main difference in the studs, so it’s essential to cut the timber to size from larger pieces.
How do I know what studs to use?
The type of studs needed for a horse depends on the ground conditions. For hard ground, pointed studs are ideal, while for softer or slippier ground, larger or wider studs like dome, bullet, polo, and large conical studs are best. For wet and muddy ground, hybrid studs like sharp or conical studs are ideal. In British summers, where firm ground and short showers make the top greasy, sharp or conical studs are ideal. The type of activity also influences the need for studs, with horses travelling at faster speeds, jumping larger fences, or making tighter turns needing extra support.
What is the best material for studs?
Both mild and stainless steels can be stud welded, with steel being ideal for drawn arc and capacitor discharge stud welding processes. Medium or high carbon steels require preheating to prevent cracking. Taylor Studwelding offers low carbon, mild steel weld studs for these processes, with heat-resistant and corrosive materials available upon request. They provide threaded, unthreaded, and internally threaded studs in mild and stainless steels, suitable for various steel base materials like electro-galvanized steel, Zintec coated steel, and structural steel.
Which should you use for an interior wall stud?
Wooden wall studs are a common and less expensive alternative to steel studs, available in two dimensions: 1-1/2 in. x 3-1/2 in. (two-by-fours) or 1-1/2 in. x 5-1/2 in. (two-by-sixes). They are typically made of spruce or Douglas fir and are used in exterior and interior walls. Wooden studs are positioned perpendicular to the wall to provide strength and space for wires, pipes, and insulation. They are sandwiched between two horizontal boards called top and bottom plates, which are nailed or screwed to the studs, forming the complete wall frame.
Steel wall studs are growing in popularity in North America, costing about 30% more than wood but offering advantages such as being lighter, straighter, and offering more variation in length and width. They also won’t grow moldy or change shape as they dry, unlike wooden studs. Steel studs are fastened top and bottom into specially made tracks that hold them in place. However, cutting metal studs is more challenging than wood studs, as they require special snips or a metal-cutting chop saw. Additionally, metal studs are harder to install and less forgiving in tricky situations.
What is the best material for a stud wall?
In the construction of stud walls, the use of plasterboard sheets, sawn timber (4×2), metal studs, timber saws for timber frames, wood screws, wood glue for added strength, chalk lines or plumb lines, and optional wood glue for added strength is recommended.
What is the best wood for interior studs?
The best wood for interior framing is not a single type, but rather a combination of various lumber species. Some homeowners prefer oak, red cedar, pine, or spruce, while others prefer fir-larch or hem-fir. Douglas fir is a popular choice, divided into two species based on region: fir-larch in the west and hem-fir in the east. Depending on the custom home being built, multiple types of wood may be needed.
When choosing interior framing wood, consider its density, which refers to both strength and weight. It should be durable enough for the home and should be strong enough to withstand the weight and pressure of the project.
📹 I Built a See Through Wall to REALLY Test StudFinders
We tested a bunch of stud finders to see which ones perform best on all types of walls with all types of wires, studs and pipes …
As someone that mounts TVs for a living, my advice is do not rely on just one method! First I use a normal traditional stud finder and mark what it finds with tape, then go 16 inches to either side and try to find another stud (studs are 16 inches apart from each other in most houses), then after I have a couple of studs marked I use the magnet method and go up and down where I put my tape and try to find nails in the studs, and lastly (if I am still unsure) I will push on the wall and see if it moves any or if it is firm and unmoving. Also, metal studs are uncommon in houses, but you might run into them in basements of houses or commercial buildings. Oh and lastly you don’t need to worry about water pipes unless there is a bathroom or kitchen on the opposite side of the wall. If there is a bathroom on the opposite side of the wall, go slowly and be extra careful!!! If you run into something hard when drilling do not keep drilling but instead pull the drill out and if there is metal shavings on the tip of the drill bit then it is probably a pipe!
This is a cool. But since you built the wall you may be somewhat influenced to pause to get the stud finders to detect something. It would be really cool if one person built the wall and another person who didn’t know the location of the studs tested the stud finders. Love the green wall effect though!
What a cool idea for green screen use! The thermal camera was something I hadn’t thought of too. One thing not mentioned in the article is the need for situational awareness. If possible, it pays to look in all unfinished areas (i.e. attics and basements) and observe visual clues (stoves, heating ducts, etc.) to develop theories about where services (pipes, wires and ducts) might be located. This knowledge combined with these crude instruments will help you make decisions about where to cut.
As someone who uses a stud finder daily I find the Franklin the most reliable, quickest, durable and cost effective. Short of an expensive scanner, it does find every stud but you need to have some common sense when using it. Btw, it works better if you push the button first then touch the wall. After you find one stud, touch it again appx 16″over while holding the button on and boom, there’s you next stud. You can mark an entire wall in seconds.
Very creative test set up and executed well. One thing I’ve noticed with a number of YouTube stud finder tests is that many of them move the device only in one direction and then say it is inaccurate when it doesn’t indicate “coming off” the stud precisely. Every stud finder I’ve ever used (admittedly only 3 or 4) all state in the instructions to move in one direction to find an edge and then to lift and move in the opposite direction to find the other edge.
Wow, you did a great job on this article! It is thorough,comprehensive, and informative. I install home and commercial surround sound systems and article systems. When you do it, for other people, in all types of building constructions you quickly realize that you can’t make mistakes about where to mount a component or snake wires. A lot of probing and thought has to be done to insure that you don’t drill into a pipe,wire,vapor barrier etc…. So I really appreciate your approach to the different scenarios in this article.
Using your different techniques is the way to do this job. Price should be of no concern when you factor in the cost to repair any damage. The endoscope is how I do stud finding as it shows me what is ACTUALLY in the wall. It’s also great for checking water drain pipes, sinks, utility tubs, sewer pipes, e.t.c. I also taped a cloth ruler to the endoscope to help me determine how far the scope is into the wall. As your article shows, the stud finders are a hit-or-miss proposition. I push a very sharp and robust sewing machine needle, with the depth of the drywall marked, into the wall to confirm the stud’s location.
Something I learned in trade school that greatly improved the accuracy of a $20 stud finder. Take the year the home was built, determine what the distance between studs was that year. Start in a corner where you know there’s a stud, and measure the interval out. Then verify with the stud finder. It isn’t 100%, but it really makes it easier to tell if it found a stud, or something like a water or gas line.
Great job! As you pointed out, all tools have their limitations – it’s important to know what they are to get the best results and interpret them. As someone who built our house, one of the best things I did was take photographs of every wall BEFORE the sheetrock went up. That way you can pull up the pictures and see where all the wires, pipes, duct work, and other things are inside. This has paid off HUGE dividends for me over the nine years we’ve been in our new home for performing minor renovations, some wiring, some plumbing, and other work that I do.
This makes me very happy that the walls in Germany are made out of stone and everything inside the wall like cables, pipes etc have designated zones called “Installationszonen” that are up to 45 cm from each side so that you can’t drill into them by accident. Our installation either comes from the top if the outlet is above the center or from below if the outlet is below the center, but it would never go from the top all the way to the bottom or even go horizontally in the middle of the wall, except if outlets are directly next to each other.
Loved your testing idemonstration, using thick paint wall, that way we know how it works and know which one’s work more accurate. I’d saw some of these toosl advertised with thin clean drywall. And we are know when we find the stud our wall already had paint and even many coats. Thanks for let us know.
When looking for a new stud finder I did a ton of research on what exists, but really it was randomly seeing the Walabot in a store. From there I looked into it and was sold. Builders like to tease me over it, but I can see when they’ve not installed a stud straight along with the true path of wiring. The Walabot also has a pro mode that just shows the raw data it tries to interpret. This lets you see even living things inside the wall. I’m not sure it was done during the testing, but the calibration of the unit must be done for each type of wall so that it can gauge the depth / thickness better. If that wasn’t done during the testing, then that could help explain any discrepancy in the results when changing wall type.
I enjoyed your idea for a transparent wall but it also made transparent where your testing technique was flawed. You frequently passed the stud finders over the bracing between the studs and then you commented how strange or crazy the stud finders were behaving.. particularly evident was when you did that with the Franklin stud finder @ 14.15. You held the handle over the 2×4 brace when presumable the sensor is immediately behind the handle. In your article the handle was horizontal, riding right along the brace. Not that I am defending the tool, but you did similarly for the Zircon stud finder before that. You also failed to show how to calibrate the stud finders. Some, like the Zircon units, require a calibration (warm up) over a part of the wall that has No studs, otherwise they will give false readings. Misplaced Nails or screws in the drywall can cause that failure, too. I have the fancy Zircon unit and it has been known to go crazy if it isn` t calibrated properly, TO THE POINT OF SEEING STUDS WHERE THERE AREN`T ANY.
Did not expect to find a clever editing trick in my diy articles. Lovely trick. If you ever need to do this again, you can improve on it by using tracking markers. ideally you would place markers on both the unfinished wall and the finished wall. Makes lining up the images much easier (the process can even be automated). No need to go for the fancy stuff regular crosshair stickers would do the trick. You’d think the drywalls edges would be good enough but they are not always in frame. You need all 4 edges for a proper alignement on both axis. I could talk about properly lighting your green screen so you are easier to key out but honestly theres no benefit to accuracy. Great job and a clever use of movie magic for demo purposes.
07:56 LawLz! That took me way too long to get this… I mean to understand that this magnificent stud was checking the tool on an absolute SPECIMEN of stud to make sure they were working. I just thought it seemed kinda apparent that’s like expecting a light sensor to activate in the presence of the sun! 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂
If a stud finder can tell the difference between wood and metal then it is probably a simple radar which works by detecting density changes, and that is also why it has trouble with the transition between wall materials, as well as the low density plastic pipe. For Stud finders to work well, typically they need to be turned on at an area without studs or pipes. Since you turned on the stud finders at the place with a pipe you will not get good results. They also need to keep with the type of wall you initialized them with (turn them on). The flashing you got on the one stud finder was telling you there was an electrical wire behind the wall and not to nail/screw there. A neat demonstration, though I usually like to double check with the knocking method (use your hammer to tap on the wall and listen for the difference in sound where studs are).
The big nonmetallic pipes are invisible and no one should be surprised. The edges are too indistinct as is their density. Mistaking a steel pipe for a steel stud also isn’t surprising, especially if the pipe is close to the wall. Mostly, this demonstration shows you why should never demo a wall with a recip saw.
The magnet on the wall method is good. You should know the composition and usual framing methods of framers before drilling through a wall. Neve needed a stud finder. I would never rely on a stud finder. If you don’t know the stud finder isn’t reliable and just cut the wall open to see. Cheaper to cut the wall open than paying a plumber or electrician to fix your mistake.
Many of those units require you to start in an empty section of wall and then continue if you read the directions, often printed on them. They self calibrate when you hold the button as per the directions.. Even the bar LED one will tend to work well if you find an empty spot when you start. It was also clear a few times you were going over the horizontal fire breaks / supports if you had gone up or down it would have been easy to figure out what was there even with the dumber tools.
You gave that zircon m40 a bad wrap on plaster. I live in a plaster house and have 11 years experience finding studs in it. It is by far the best (only in plaster and lathe walls). Firstly when you turn it on it calibrates. So you must hold it in the same orientation you plan to sweep away from the wall for max sensitivity. If you find a stud but it’s wide like the metal stud. Recalibrate where you guess the metal stud edge is. This calibrates it to be less sensitive. Second the red leds is fine it doesn’t need to beep. It’s just an indicator on strength of signal. Third you were using the end of the blue bar. That’s spot mode. Hold the long edge vertically to the wall and sweep side to side. Then you get multiple nails at once For more signal and a wider sweep. The end bit is useful to pinpoint a screw in drywall. If you keep recalibrating as you get close to the head you can literally nail the center of the screw dig out the Phillips head and pull it out.
Interesting article. I have been using the cheap Zircon for several years and have learned to interpret it’s signals reliably. Sometimes you need to cover areas above and below the place you are interested. Metal studs always show quite wide but not as wide as a double wood stud. I still get fooled once in a while.
This is an amazing demonstration and appears to be unbiased toward hawking one brand over the others. I have had only Zircon stud finders for better than 20 years and I get exceptionally frustrated with their bipolar behavior of both false negatives and false positives, and then with the way they seem to sometimes just get frustrated and start beeping on anything. I just bought one of the Franklin sensors shown here and have found it to be a much better stud finder and also helps me ID where cables are. But still not perfect. I don’t know why, but I had not thought of the endoscope. I have an inexpensive one from Harbor Freight and I’ll have to try that to trace out a cable run I’m looking for to run an additional circuit to our master bathroom to power a heater. Hopefully then I can avoid tearing apart a whole wall and just have to patch some small holes. Too bad it can’t go in my attic for me and relocate a ceiling fan box that was mounted wrong (too high and not flush with the sheetrock ceiling) during original construction!
I have that same exact stud finder and I’ve found it to be excellent. You have to really make a few passes and verify with multiple hits but that’s because like when you first started you were on the cat so it couldn’t tell when a stud started. They can get a little confused, and they have two settings, sometimes you have to switch between the two. It’s also not meant to be used the way you’re using it. It’s meant to find the edge of the stud from an open bay. When you find the edge you’re supposed to stop, move over past the other edge and come back that way. It always helps to read the manual.
The beeping of the Zircon happens if you start on a stud (you happened to start on the blocking) and move away from it. It’s basically telling you to start from a different spot and try again. The blocking is also why you got weird readings on the one that shows the width. It would be nice if you clarified that the stud finders are really just obstruction detectors, despite the name, rather than calling it a false positive when it’s not a stud, which gives the impression that there’s something wrong with the device. I think that it’s more useful to state that not everything that’s detected is a stud, so it’s import to use other methods to confirm it.
Part of the problem is your methodology. If you are running your finder over a horizontal stud, you are going to get unreliable results. It’s fine if that’s what you are trying to show, but it didn’t appear that you took the horizontal studs into account when you were testing. Also, some of the finders don’t differentiate between material types. While I appreciate your work, it seem you need to improve your methodology and you need to be more aware of the features of the finders you are using.
best stud finder(with practice like musician), knock slowly move over til start to train ear from echo to thud(great for Sheetrock not so for hardboard. beginners need use tap of hammer. measure 12 16 24 tap build your accuracy. Father carpenter for 65 years, move so blazing fast across with so light of knock hit barely hear it and in less the couple seconds lay out studs have us cut area see his mark dead center, 100% 5/8 or half, most stumble on 5/8s and 12s (rare find even 16s nowadays but closer studs does change), as said Sheetrock as most houses so good to push self and learn be surprised what can do in months to year. But good thing, going off pitch and echo, so always find what press to the wall and no pipe give solid sound only a stud..not sure on metal but not a lot metal frames either. light hammer taps start for a beginner, one knuckle is the goal. only built about 20, 45 years on and off. No where close some in the day finding stud that way but good enough find most. Out in middle draw better, so top sheet middle of it be about 6 feet mark to tap across. Sometimes find better bearing then other places, use best bearing then you can measure out test it.
You used the Zircon metal detector device in sort of an incorrect way. You’re supposed to start out with the coil parallel to what you’re scanning and once you locate something that is metal you can hold it the way you demonstrated so that you can zero in on the metal piece. Also it will give false readings if you are not steady as you scan over something or if you rotate your wrist while pushing the button. It states these things in the instructions.
When they are beeping and blinking, it means it lost its calibration (that horizontal Stud can do that… so can pushing it on the wall harder once you get moving). Pick it up, and move over a bit and try again. Here’s a tip. When you find what you think may or may not be a stud, keep going. Studs are usually 16″ apart. Even if not, they are normally evenly spaced. Find a stud and it doesn’t match the pattern… probably skip that one.
@LRN2DIY When your stud finder is blinking, don’t panic like at 6:04 and 15:09. It’s telling you you’ve gone from thick to thin (started over wood, then off). In your case, you’re over fireblock and you actually got the expected result. You simply release the triggers, move over and scan the other way.
I’m just here because I saw a picture of the Wallabot tool. Anyway, I was absolutely floored at your demonstration with the green paint. One of the best demonstrations of stud finders on YouTube yet. Arguably, the best stud finder in my experience is the Wallabot. The code is open source, and has worked reliably for me. My only gripe about it is when it gets confused and shows the wire or pipe as sidewards. A number of things can be done to it which will make it much much better, like differentiating the difference between a pipe and a wire, as well as showing actual widths of ductwork, pipes, cables, etc. with the implementation of AI, all of that is possible
You’re using the zircon metalliscanner wrong. Use the broadside of the scanner to go left and right. Once you think you’ve found something, turn it the way you had it and go up and down to search for the individual nails in a stud. I have lathe and plaster walls and that scanner. It’s the only scanner that dependably works on the walls, but you have to read the directions to know how to use it.
What I’m taking away from this is to use multiple methods to verify your findings. Getting one of those little magnet ones for sure. I have one of the $20 zircon ones. As other ppl have mentioned, you need to start it on somewhere that doesn’t have a stud and then move over. If you start on a stud it’ll error because you’re moving from more to less dense. Takes some getting used to but it has worked well for me. It does help to already know what’s in my walls from building them.
Really good article. On the Wallbot I believe that you might have needed to recalibrate when the wall thickness is different or if moving to different materials. Like for example wallboard to shiplap or plaster to drywall. I the recalibration helps the software to sense and adjust to a different thickness.
I use two magnets to find nails in drywall. I put one high up and one low down on the wall. I then run a straight line from top magnet to the floor. Where the line passes the lowest magnet should be no more than 1 1/2 inches from the line. The point between the line and the lowest magnet should be on a stud even if one nail missed the stud. Of course you cannot be registering off a nail randomly driven. The two nails need to be within the tolerance of a 2 x 4 stud. I then use a stud finder to see if it agrees with the string method. Forgot to mention that I have a rare earth magnet three inches across and it is easy to find drywall screws when sweeping three inches of surface.
Saludos hermano soy mexicano tus articles están geniales soy trabajador instalo gas en casas nuevas y te encontré por un article de taladros soy fan de Milwaukee pero es genial que tu canal tiene la opción en español. Y me uní al canal porque quiero tener un amigo americano es genial nose cuantos latinos tengas aquí pero yo soy uno de ellos saludos bro desde Grenville S.C ojalá haya más reseñas de herramientas. Y opciones más fáciles. Es interesante también como es Estados Unidos como el article que explicaste del garage que está solo drywall y sin terminar muchas cosas interesantes en tu canal. Solo soy un empleado que trabaja una rutina diaria. Pero que también. Consume herramientas. Y busca lo mejor para nosotros LOS LATINOS QUE SE NOS FACILITE MAS EL TRABAJO ( sabes algo ….. yo veo los eventos de Milwaukee y la mayoría de los invitados soy americanos que están en oficinas gente que no tiene callos en las manos gente que no está bajo el sol diario. SeRIA GENIAL QUE EN ESOS EVENTOS DE HERRAMIENTAS QUE HACEN SEA GENTE QUE REALMENTE USA LAS HERRAMIENTAS EN TRABAJO DURO GENTE QUE COMPRA USA SE DAÑA Y VUELVE A COMPRAR. LA MAYORIA DE LOS LATINOS CUANDO COMPRAMOS HERRAMIENTAS EN HOME DEPOT O EN LINEA O DONDE SEA. NO NOS IMPORTA QUE NOS HABLEN BONITO O QUE CUIDEMOS LA HERRAMIENTA. JAJAJA SE HIZO PARA USARLAS EN TRABAJO RUDO. y no se si lo sabes pero el mayor CONSUMIDOR ES EL LATINO. porque gastamos en maza osea mucho. Solo como ejemplo en las cadenas de supermercados casi los LATINOS son los que más cargamos muchas cosas.
I have the original Walabot, and it works great. Sure it has a few flaws, but it is ten times better than the magnet type or any other style on the market. I’ve had mine for a few years now and it still works fine. As for the lath and plaster, you need select concrete wall and it will change how it works. I have heard that they are working on an even better model and are supposedly calling this one the pro version. Regardless, I am a pro and use mine all the time and as stated before, it works. Is it perfect? No, but I still give it an A to A+, especially compared to everything else. I also have a small camera/scope but typically use that for leaks or other situations like finding items that fall behind/under furniture or inside walls, etc. Also, when looking in walls, if possible, you can remove the switch or plug plate instead of making a hole.
With the Zircons, I find that if I accidently turn it on and start on a stud by chance, it doesn’t pick it up. I often will start in a few different places from both directions to narrow down where the stud actually is. I like the low-tech magnet trick. I have some good neodymium ones i want to give a whirl later.
The one thing that I’ve found with the Walabot is that they don’t work well or at all on medium to heavy textured walls. Not sure on the latest generation, but their first generation said it will not work with textured walls. Overall great article, and I don’t trust one method, usually use a decent Zircon and then a magnet, and finally test a 1/16″ hole. Partially drill the hole and push it, once you feel resistance through the drywall it’s 99% going to be a stud.
I need to wall-mount two computer monitors, a “Floating Entertainment Center Shelves” unit, and one TV. I watched a few articles, read a few reviews and ended up getting a Zircon StudSensor L50. Do you have an opinion on this product? We recently purchased a house and I’m the one who has been doing a lot of DIY projects because my space is the garage. I could use all the advice you can give me in getting these mounted in the best and safest way possible thanks LOL
How to find studs 1 learn local building codes. 2×4, 16inches on center is pretty typical 2 understand framing. 10ft wall of 2×4 with a 16in on center code tells you where studs should be more or less. But keep in mind you don’t know what side the 16 on center starts. But with windows and doors the framing can shift. 3 understand that power receptacles and switches have to be attached to studs. Just walking into a room and seeing the corners of the walls, the placement of doors, windows, and outlets, you should know where the studs are. To be sure, use your knuckle or the handle of a hammer to lightly tap on the wall and listen for hollowness. An outlet/switch can be on either side of a stud, so start there.
Great article. One thing though – the Walabot DIY is an evolution from the original product which was intended to be used in “experimental” Maker projects. The reason for the expense is it is a custom microwave emitter array. Think of it as “ground penetrating” radar and you won’t be far wrong. I suspect one of the reasons you had difficulty with your multi-layered wall (brilliant concept that with the green screen) is that the “calibration” routine is there to analyze the signal and set the threshold to a reasonable baseline thus “filtering out” the drywall but still responding to the “signal” of the anomalies – wires, studs, pipes, etc. Going to a thicker wall means the threshold is now too low allowing only high peaks to make it through. Kind of like my old days in radar where we had a measurement called MDS – Minimum Discernable Signal, that which is the smallest signal that could be recognized given the noise. Hope this helps to explain why the calibration is so important to get the most accurate results. (no I’m not associated with them – I do have the DIY as well as the original product). api.walabot.com/
Great work, thank you! So close… Just not ready to pull the trigger on the Walabot. For $189 it shouldn’t be missing 4 inch PVC pipes and metal studs. Comes across as classic business thinking… “We’ve got it 80% the way there, it’s new and novel and we can slap a huge price tag on it. Get them out the door before a competitor makes one that can consistently ID PVC pipes and metal studs!”
As a first-time homeowner, I have mapped out where all plumbing and gas lines run throughout the house, starting from the basement up. I know what to expect for the most part so I can avoid a major repair bill. Still, I will use the scope camera and a stud finder to figure out what’s inside a wall that I’m suspicious about. If all else fails, I just carefully cut out the drywall and know for certain what I’m dealing with cause drywall is cheap, and patching is easy. I don’t trust any of the electrical runs in my house as I’ve found too many WTFs to have any faith. That said, I will do the above whenever I need to deal with any walls with electrical. Slowly but surely, I am also mapping out all the walls with electricals so I’ll know where everything is located.
I know this is an older article, but I have the nicer Zircon, and what I found was its actually pressure and ANGLE sensitive. like if I was pressing it on the wall and pressed more down with my thumb than my index finger, it would change its findings. if you don’t press down against the wall very flush and with the right firmness, and for the whole pass with consistency, it’s very hard to find things. I find that basically once it alerts, I use that as a general area to then go slowly and carefully over that area making sure I am holding it very flush and equally pressured. and it works great then. But you can test that and see for yourself especially with this set up for testing. place it even over a known stud, then slowly rock the pressure without moving the tool, back and forth, and you will watch it ‘swing’ the results around. don’t hold it firmly enough, and you won’t even see the stud you know you are on top of.
You used the zircon metaliscanner incorrectly… you only used the “precision” mode. You need to start with the wide search mode and then use the precision mode to zero in on the signal. You can also didn’t do any on the fly signal calibration which is crucial when you have multiple metal objects near each other. It works very very well when used correctly. Read the manual and follow the steps detailed in it and you will get much better results.
The reason for limited success with the Zircon metaliscanner is that you were using the end of the sensor, which is for pinpointing metal location. If you place the length of the sensor tube to the surface, it will give off a proximity alarm more reliably, then you can pinpoint the target with the end. I use this tool regularly for denailing reclaimed lumber and it rarely fails. I do agree that the Zircon studfinders are highly unreliable.
Perhaps a better term for the devices would be wall sonar. Ironically I think the Hart one I have from walmart is probably the best I’ve used in houses where I can’t just look at the walls with the correct lighting angle and see either drywall warp of just straight up the joints and screws because they only got single mud.
I attempted to install wall anchors on a plaster wall and drilled into a metal sheet and I think there might be electrical wires behind it. I bought a Franklin Pro Sensor X990 that is giving me mixed results on the wall. The Zircon M40 might be beneficial. Have you tested the Zircon M60c? I would like a tool that can detect AC and metal objects accurately since I know the electrical wires to the wall switch and outlet were run down the wrong stud and cut across to get to the devices.
Let me preface this by stating that I don’t need a stud finder, I already know where I am. For me, living in a brick and concrete house, I use my stud finder more to find stuff hidden in the wall as opposed to find studs in the wall. I have a Bosch green model, not sure which. The most important things I learned about a stud finder/wall scanner is that it’s important to get one that can tell ferrous and non-ferrous metals apart. Drilling into rebar isn’t funny, but drilling through a water line is a much bigger headache. So being able to tell the difference between steel and copper is useful. If your wall scanner can find electrical wires in the wall, it helps to have something of a night light or similar plugged into the outlets on said wall. It doesn’t have to be much, but it’s easier to find the wires if there’s actually power flowing. And if it detects that the entire wall is made of electrical wire, put your other hand on the wall, because it might get thrown off by you capacitively coupling to earth or to the device itself. Also it’s good to know how “deep” the thing will scan. I was testing a wall in my girlfriend’s apartment and I couldn’t figure out why it seemed to have a loop of non-ferrous metal in it. Yeah turns out it was detecting the hoop on the wheel of the wheelchair on the other side of the wall. And last but not least, these things in general don’t work well on walls with insulation on them if you’re scanning from the mylar foil side of the insulation. The thin metal foil will confuse the ever loving crud out of a wall scanner.
I recently bought a Franklin sensor because a have an older home with lath and plaster walls, and have to install a hand rail. It gave me a lot of false readings, so I had to drill small holes to find many of the studs. It was supposed to be the top of line in stud sensors, but needless to say it really wasn’t much better than the Zircon that I also use. Looks to me like there is no exact finder that’s close to being as good as the manufactures claim.
Super useful and informative article concept. Poor execution. This article is easily 10 mins longer than it needs to be. Im 2/3rds of the way in, and got to that point by fast forward through 2/3rds of that…. but cant watch anymore. For starters, the finders being green is actually really helpful as we can see the indicators directly vis-a-vis what’s behind the wall. Again, very cool article. Thus, we needed edited highlights demonstrating capability, not your running commentary while performing the experiment, which is a meandering run-along-sentence by the very nature of the experiment being performed for an audience -again, cool experiment, so please dont misconstrue my criticism of this article. Case in point, the Franklin… You’re showing us your running commentary about “not know what it’s doing” yet we can see the finder is running along blocking. I hope you re-do and upload this article…. cause someone else is gonna do it right then get all the views, thus all the bling bling & sponsors.
My home is 95% Plaster walls and it makes renovating a nightmare. I don’t have lathe, I have something called backerboard or peg board. It’s essentially drywall with divots in it to hold the plaster. It’s terrible to work with. I have a standard stud finder and a Walabot and the Walabot works better at times but usually the standard finder is better. Plaster just makes those tools unreliable in most instances. edit: When using the Walabot, you have to calibrate when you change wall types. It will perform better. If you calibrate on 1/2″ Drywall it will struggle with anything thicker. You need to calibrate it on the new surface.