These studs are made of fairly thin steel sheet, bent into a sturdy shape that resembles a two-by-four in size.Ĭan you detect a steel drywall stud behind ½” or 5/8” thick drywall? Yes, but you need a really powerful magnet. Some studs are made of steel sheet-metal instead of wood two-by-fours. Finding these tiny steel objects with a magnet is difficult at best. What about plaster and lathe construction on older homes? While the rough wood construction might have nails or tacks in it, they’re usually pretty far away from the surface of the plaster. If the wall’s construction uses only adhesive to hold the drywall to the studs, a magnet won’t help at all. What about if there are no screws? Then you’re out of luck. Once you find a stud using a magnet, hang a string from the magnet to help make the vertical line of the stud more obvious. Light the area well while working to highlight minor defects. If the wall has settled over the years, these hints may be more obvious. Electrical switches and outlets are often attached to studs, so look for studs on either side of outlets.Īlso look for imperfections in the drywall for hints about the locations of the screws. Start your search from one edge of the wall, and work 16” from there. Many studs are spaced about 16 inches apart. While magnets are usually helpful, the process is easier if you look for some underlying clues. Use magnets to help locate the screws in the studs, but also try to imagine the hidden structure underneath. You can also use bigger magnets for more strength, of course.Ī plastic coated magnet is attracted to the steel screw that's just beneath the surface, making studs easy to locate. The tape prevents this and helps it slide around smoothly. Neodymium magnets are made of metal which can make marks on the wall. If you’re not using a Plastic Coated Magnet, cover the magnet with a piece of tape before sliding it all around your painted wall. We’ve also used a simple D6C cylinder magnet, which is a handy addition to any toolbox. The plastic coated D8APC-BLK is probably our first choice for stud finding, since the smooth plastic finish won’t mark the drywall. Even better, you can leave the magnet stuck to the screw to mark the stud throughout your project. If you slowly slide a magnet along the surface of your wall, it will be attracted to the steel drywall screws that come up very close to the surface of the drywall. (There are always a few stuck to our refrigerator doors.) It’s a good size, easy to handle, and we usually have plenty available. We often use a strong XLTK-BLU magnetic thumbtack for this job. It can’t detect the wood two-by-fours, but it easily locates steel screws that hold the drywall to the studs. For a simple yet amazingly effective stud-finding solution, get a neodymium magnet. In many home projects, finding the studs hidden behind drywall can be a challenge. Steel screws are usually used to hold drywall to the wood studs hidden behind it.
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