Can't Find a Wall Stud
Hey guys, I want to hang a flat screen TV but I’m having trouble locating the studs. It needs to hang on the inside of the street-side wall (front wall) between two windows about 4 feet apart. I’m using a Zircon i65 which is finding studs on other interior walls – is it possible there…
Hey guys, I want to hang a flat screen TV but I’m having trouble locating the studs. It needs to hang on the inside of the street-side wall (front wall) between two windows about 4 feet apart. I’m using a Zircon i65 which is finding studs on other interior walls – is it possible there are no studs here? I got a bunch of seemingly false positives but nothing, well…solid. Short of cutting a slice out of my wall to find the studs, any thoughts? Mopar? Tinkers? Bueller??? Tks.
Thanks guys! I actually found them, using an electrical outlet as a reference point. It turned out to be sheetrock rather than plaster, but there was a significant amount of spackle and or skim, etc over it (crappy gut reno job when the abandoned brownstone went coop in 1986). One stud was 8 inches from the window (by the outlet) another was 7 inches in from the other window. Then 16 inches in from both were studs (with about 16 inches between those). I used the old “drill multiple holes with a 1/16 bit” method and found them after a few tries. I really appreciate the advise, esp re: using a mounting strip, which I was planning on using anyway for added support.
Thanks again!
Jesse
I would excavate the wall at the screen footprint. There might be a stud or just something to slap the plaster on. It is possible if you are against brick, the sleepers on the brick aren’t trustworthy for a $2000 tv.
For a handrail I removed a bunch of plaster and lathe and then used double anchors and Hilti epoxy to attach two layers of one foot blocks of 3/4″ ply to the wall.
Hanging a TV Mount will require repair to the wall if you ever move, or move the TV so chip away.
PS
I recently opened a bathroom wall for reno and was amazed at what I saw at the other side. Toggle bolts that hadn’t fully opened. Screws that caught the edge of the stud. Nails narrowly missing copper pipe.
Every time I work on a room and get to see studs I put up masking tape and marker in measurements on thr studs and then take digitals of them. Years ago I used to marker in the studs at base board level, knowing I could always remove the baseboard to peek. I wrote down the measurements but wasn’t so good at finding them.
is this an old masonary house? it is an exterior wall, correct? and the stud finder is working on interior walls.
In many old homes, including mine, the plaster was thrown right up against the brick. My house was built in 1928. The houses a few blocks away were built in the 30’s and they framed the walls out.
Now, they did not put the plaster to brick in all of the old houses. Many of the houses in Brooklyn that have wood panels around the windows also have a wall that is framed out apart from the brick exterior wall.
In a modern house with framing or an old house that has been renovatd, it is easy to tell if the walls have framing becuase you knock on them and know they are sheet rock. Knocking on plaster is a bit decieving as it is so hard; one can not tell wether it is put on lath and frame or directly to the brick.
Steve
Most old homes front walls are constructed from older, unplaned framing, so they could fasten the window frames. On this rough framing may very well be lathe and plaster (assuming your dwelling has never been gut renovated).
I would recommend that you plan to mount mounting strips on the wall, that will be covered by the flat panel, so these strips won’t show.
Use 5/4 poplar or pine, as 1 by is too flimsy, 2 by is too thick. At the height of the metal brackets (where you have decided you want the TV) make a series of 1/8″ drilled holes every inch or so until you strike solid dtud. if there is lathe and plaster, the stud could easily be 1.25″ beneath surface.
Mark clearly right on the wall, the left and right sides of each stud. Tou can use a 3″ roofing nail (thinner than common) or anything else long and narrow to feel back there. then use a minimum 3″ decking screws to securely fasten the 5/4 strips to the wall.
Once the mounting strips are secured, you canfasten your metal brackets anywhere along the wood strips, covering them if you have laid it out correctly. Probably discard the supplied screws that came with bracket, and fsten metal to the wood with #10 or #12 pan head screws 1″ that you must pre-drill, maybe 1/8″ diameter.
The above method you can also use to hang a heavy mirror, etc. It allows you to securely fasten to multiple studs, in a way that ain’t ever gonna come off.