Pro tip: my stud finder was lying to me for months, here's the fix

I was hanging shelves in my garage in Columbus and kept hitting dead spots where the screws just spun. Turns out my cheap stud finder was picking up the outlet boxes and pipe strapping, not actual wood. A buddy told me to use a strong magnet to find the drywall screws first, then run the stud finder in a 2 inch grid. Now I mark the center from the magnet line and I have not missed a stud in 3 projects. Anyone else had a tool that just lies like this?

1 comments

Log in to join the discussion

Log In

1 Comment

simonp472mo ago

The magnet trick works, but the real issue is people trust these gadgets way too much in the first place. A stud finder is a helper, not a guarantee, same as a level from the dollar store. What nobody brings up is that new houses with metal studs or old lath and plaster will fool every finder on the market, no matter how much you spend. Your garage walls might even have fire blocking or horizontal bracing that throws everything off. Before you trust any tool, you should be checking what your walls are actually made of, then plan around that. Basically, learn to knock and listen for the solid thud, then use the magnet to confirm. That combo has saved me more time than any fancy device ever did.

3