I am planning to screw a long oak plank to a lathe and plaster wall but I need to find the exact postion of the studs. Just poking a drill bit in the wall shows me where there is some obstruction but that could be the lathe or stud. Equally I an told a stud finder will not differentiate between the wood of the lathe or the stud. The plaster is old and crumbling so dont want to bo too much poking around so is there any stud finder that could be used ?
Scanners
- Thread starter unionworkeruk
- Start date
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I'd recommend a slightly blunt drill bit (about 3 to 4mm). If it encounters a cable the cable is likely to move out of the way.
When you drill in to a lathe and plaster wall with a blunt bit and hit a lathe you you will feel bounce. If you drill into a stud, you won't.
When you drill in to a lathe and plaster wall with a blunt bit and hit a lathe you you will feel bounce. If you drill into a stud, you won't.
If you use a stud finder that detects metal you should be able to pick up a vertical line of bleeps indicating nail heads.
Depending on the width of your plank you can then make a decent sized hole, (finger diameter plus a little bit more), in a position which the plank will cover and poke you finger in to feel the upright stud. The next stud along should be around the 400mm, (16"), mark. Check with your stud finder and repeat hole exercise. If the hole is to the right of both studs then you can calculate where the rest of the studs will be.
Depending on the width of your plank you can then make a decent sized hole, (finger diameter plus a little bit more), in a position which the plank will cover and poke you finger in to feel the upright stud. The next stud along should be around the 400mm, (16"), mark. Check with your stud finder and repeat hole exercise. If the hole is to the right of both studs then you can calculate where the rest of the studs will be.
The stud finder will find the nail heads that hold the laths to the upright studs.
This should give a good indication of where the vertical studs run. Once you find a vertical run of nails you can drill a small hole either side and poke something in to locate the edges of the stud, or you can simply scribe a pencil line down the line of nail heads to give an approximate centre line.
Bear in mind though that some of the laths may meet end to end on a joist so there will be 2 nails side by side if the haven't been overlapped and single nailed.
This should give a good indication of where the vertical studs run. Once you find a vertical run of nails you can drill a small hole either side and poke something in to locate the edges of the stud, or you can simply scribe a pencil line down the line of nail heads to give an approximate centre line.
Bear in mind though that some of the laths may meet end to end on a joist so there will be 2 nails side by side if the haven't been overlapped and single nailed.
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Just found a stud finder that I can switch from wood to metal so can double check. I have room to experiment as the plank in two metres long and 40cm wide so any mistakes and mess while I poke around will be covered Then all I have to do is confrrm the width in a stright line to where it will be screwed in. Thanks for advice
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Deleted member 174758
If stud finders were so wonderful then every tradesman would carry one. They don't. The plain fact is they produce mediocre results on modern MF stud walling (which should be relatively easy) whilst on Edwardian and Victorian buildings they are often as much use as a chocolate fireguard - and that Includes the expensive "professional" models. Lath stud work is generally on16in (or sometimes 24in) centres in old houses so the best way to find out where they are is to look where the nails are on the skirting (the is often a tell tale shadow or bump) then apply the magnet or awl to the wall above.
I want to like them but have had too many false positives in the past. Hence I have never purchased one.
Luckily, to date I have only cut through one cable. Fortunately it was my own house. I was chasing out for a double gang socket for a wall mount TV. I cut through a lighting cable in a rendered party wall. There was no indication of a cable on that, the first floor, or the ground floor- had I looked in the attic I would have seen it, but I didn't think about checking. I guess a scanner would have been useful on that occasion though.
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EddieM
I've never been able to make head nor tail of stud / cable finder results, someone borrowed my professional Bosch DMF10 and never gave it back, they can keep it.
I was getting false readings with my Bosch when I first got it then discovered, (by accident), if I held the scanner in one hand and placed my other hand on the wall it dismissed the false readings. Contacted Bosch about this and they agreed it was the best way to use one. No reply as to why this wasn't in the instructions.
I used it on painted plaster walls, don't know how, or if, it would work on a papered wall.
I used it on painted plaster walls, don't know how, or if, it would work on a papered wall.
Just knock screwdriver in at intervals, it will go thru anything but stud and your plank will hide any damage .
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EddieM
Exactly same experience for me too, no idea why, still wasn't much use, so didn't bother with it in the end.
I used to always assume cables ran in the correct zones until I had to move a socket one day.
Isolated the socket, took the front off and removed the back box. As the room was going to be replastered anyway I just tugged the cable to rip it out of the wall. It ran off at 45 degrees across the wall to the top right hand corner of the room! This wall had previously held about 15 different sized picture frames scattered across the wall so I had been lucky in the past when hanging the frames. Now I check all walls before working on them.
Isolated the socket, took the front off and removed the back box. As the room was going to be replastered anyway I just tugged the cable to rip it out of the wall. It ran off at 45 degrees across the wall to the top right hand corner of the room! This wall had previously held about 15 different sized picture frames scattered across the wall so I had been lucky in the past when hanging the frames. Now I check all walls before working on them.
Screws into lathes can often pull tight .
Point taken but a 5mm screw will normally split the lathe and given that the lathe is about 6mm the screw will (normally end up spinning when you screw it in fully.
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