A question we often see is “Do stud finders work on plaster walls?” Well as a short answer, yes they do. However in this article, we will take a closer look at whether using an electronic stud finder is the best tool. Plus we will also look at a couple of other ways to gain the same results. These may be of interest if you have yet to purchase a stud finder.
Do Stud Finders Work On Plaster Walls?
When it comes to putting up some new shelves or hanging a heavy item, such as a mirror, you are going to want to know where the studs are located. This is because you cannot simply hang a heavy item, straight onto your plaster wall. The weight of the item may cause damage to your wall, or worst still, come crashing down to the floor. So finding wall studs is a must, if you are planning to fix items such as mirrors or new shelves to the wall. Of course none of us can look straight at a wall, to identify exactly where each wall stud is. By using a stud finder, will quickly enable us to find out where the wall studs are, so we can plan the hanging of our newly purchased item.
How Else Can I Detect Wall Studs On Plaster Walls?
Some people have reported that using stud finders can be a little problematic. Although this is usually in older properties. A combination of the plaster walls having a textured coating, as well as there being wiring within the confines of the wall, can be an issue. Both professional contractors, as well as DIY’ers have said that you can make your own stud finder, using a very basic construction. By simply using a refrigerator magnet and a piece of string, will enable you to detect the wall studs, due to the magnet identifying the metal nails on the wall stud. Tie a piece of string around the magnet, then allow the magnet to brush across your plaster wall. Basically you’ve created a lower cost version of a magnetic stud finder. Whenever the magnet detects the nails underneath the plaster, it will identify this to you – simply then mark off these points, so as to know where the walls studs are located. This is a simple hack that some people say provides very good results.
One other method of trying to locate wall studs without a stud finder, is by knocking on the wall at various points. As you knock on the wall in between the wall studs, you will hear a hollow sound. However as you knock on the wall where a wall stud is positioned, the sound will change to that which is more high pitched. A method which many people have tried, but it’s not the most reliable of methods in our opinion.
Final Thoughts…
Without doubt locating wall studs within plaster walls is a challenge, especially when it comes to older houses. In our opinion, using one of the best stud finders, such as a Zircon i520 will be certainly up to the job!
