Whether you are making some minor drywall repairs, or hanging a heavy mirror overlooking the dining room table, it is necessary to know where those hidden wall studs are located. Why? Well, there are many reasons that make wall studs an imperative component in your home’s structural makeup.
Continue reading to learn what you need to know about drywall studs, including some fantastic home hacks to locating them without using any equipment.
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What You Need to Know About Studs
The primary purpose of walls studs is to hold up drywall on interior walls, as well as, wood sheathing on exterior walls. This is good news for you, and the first trick to locating wall studs, because it means that you can always count on finding a stud at the top, bottom, or corners of walls. Furthermore, it is good to know that the average spacing used for wall studs is 16 inches on center, and seldom greater than 24 inches on center. In fact, the actual lumber dimensions of 2×4 wall studs are 1.5 inches by 3.5 inches.
Now you have some basic information about wall studs, you are ready to learn some tips and tricks for finding them without using any stud finding equipment! Here’s how:
⇛ Wainscoting and Trim
Look at the trim in the room to determine where those wall studs are hiding. Trim is generally nailed to wall studs, so you can confidently assume that a wall stud exists behind the nailed parts of crown molding, base boards, and shoe molding.
⇛ Electrical Boxes
Most of the time, electrical boxes are connected to one side of a wall stud. So if you can locate any nearby light switches or electrical outlets, you will likely find wall studs too. At least one side of a switch or outlet will be connected to a wall stud.
⇛ Windows
If your room has a window, you are really in luck. Wall studs are present on both sides of windows. You can perform a knock test to determine where the support is, or use the 16” on center measuring approach to determine where the studs are located.
⇛ Wall Corners
As mentioned, you can determine the location of wall studs by measuring from the corner of the room. If wall studs are typically 16” on center, you can use this as a basis to begin your search. Keep in mind that not all rooms are perfectly divisible by 16, so it is likely for a stud to be less than 16 inches from one corner of the room.
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