Best wall stud finder

Looking for studs in all the wrong places?

We independently evaluate all recommended products and services. If you click on links we provide, we may receive compensation. Learn more. Jump to a Section. To find the best stud finders, we put 30 electronic and magnetic options to the test at our testing lab in Des Moines, Iowa.

Best wall stud finder

Knowing where your studs are is crucial for hanging up heavy items, like mirrors or mounts for flat-screen TVs. Some stud finders have other features, too, like deep scanning and AC wire detection. To test all the features, we put a selection of stud finders through their paces on a wall of our own making and walls in real homes. Magnetic stud finders work by waving the magnet along the wall until it catches on the fasteners that attach drywall to the studs. Since fasteners may be spaced over a foot apart on a single stud, it may take longer to locate one with a magnetic stud finder, but this is an affordable and simple option. If the builder missed the stud, so will the magnetic stud finder. In commercial construction, where metal studs are standard, you may find magnetic stud finders more useful. Most electronic stud finders work by sending out a signal from a sensor inside, then reading the signal that bounces back. Some also identify metal pipes or electrical wires. The most advanced stud finders use technology like ground-penetrating radar, which uses radar pulses to create a subsurface image. For most occasional home uses, like hanging pictures or bathroom mirrors, a magnetic stud finder will do the trick. Stud finders have their jobs cut out for them, given the many variables in wall materials and construction. While you may get definitive results in one case, you could be left scratching your head in another. Take everything with a grain of salt, and use the stud finder in conjunction with the placement of electrical and plumbing fixtures to figure things out.

Cons Wide detection area for live AC wires.

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Affiliate Disclosure: We may be compensated if you purchase through links on our website. Our Reviews Team is committed to delivering honest, objective, and independent reviews on home products and services. Stud finders are used to determine where the studs and fasteners in your walls are located. You can also check out our tools buying guide for more critical factors to consider when shopping for tools for your home. We found that customers who liked that this product thought it was multifunctional, saying that it gave them all of the tools they needed to hang items from their walls. However, we also noted that some customers said that it was cheaply made and only worked for some projects. We noticed that customers often praised this stud finder for its efficiency at scanning for the edge and center of a stud as well as its ability to detect studs in dense materials, such as double sheetrock.

Best wall stud finder

Hanson Magnetic Stud Finder. Equipped with two magnets, the C. Hanson is a basic, durable model that scans twice as fast as the rest. This finder gives a visible and audible signal when it locates a stud, but it scans a smaller area and is less durable than our main pick. The most accurate electronic stud finder we tested scans the wall in 13 places to display the entire width of a stud, and unlike the competition, does not require a fussy calibration process. In 30 hours of tests against five competitors, the C. Hanson Magnetic Stud Finder stood out for its reliability and accuracy.

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If your projects span both inside and outside the house, we've also tested a wide variety of outdoor and lawn care tools like the best pressure washers , best leaf blowers , and the best string trimmers to find which offer the top performances. Each object is tracked with lights that move with the device as you glide it against a wall, with red indicating studs and yellow showing live wires. Overall, we found that each stud finder was more accurate when dragged slowly across the wall as opposed to quicker passes. You may accept or manage your choices by clicking below, including your right to object where legitimate interest is used, or at any time in the privacy policy page. Stud finders have their jobs cut out for them, given the many variables in wall materials and construction. We noted that it could be inaccurate if we neglected to wait for the calibration to complete after turning the unit on. Show full specification details Hide full specification details. Best Drill Brush. The Bosch GMS had a steep learning curve, and we had to read the instructions several times in order to get accurate results, but we liked that the device required no calibration. We noticed many positive reviews on Amazon, so we tried the Tavool 4-in-1 Stud Sensor. The M90 was also wide enough to indicated doubled-up studs when we scanned around door frames and windows. Yes, stud finders can and do indeed find studs, but some detect other materials, too, like wires and PVC pipes. Why You Should Get It The unit was able to detect both metal studs and screws within wood studs through every type of surface we tested. The first pass of the stud finder was done in a slow and controlled manner.

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In This Article Expand. Sliding it up or down quickly confirmed additional hits, and the location and direction of studs. Sure enough, it worked. Franklin Sensors ProSensor T Hanson model also comes with a level, which allows you to ensure its point on the bottom is facing plumb straight down. The center-mark indicator notifies you when it is over the stud center in several ways: an audible tone, projected arrow on the marking spot, text indicator on the screen, and slanted bars denoting the strength of the reading. To combat this, scan above and below the point to ensure it continues to the floor or ceiling. The tool consistently found studs under drywall up to three-quarters of an inch thick in our testing. Key Specs Weight 5. Our tool reviews can help suss out the differences between the best drills , the best cordless circular saws , the best impact drivers , and more. We were able to differentiate between pipes and studs by toggling between stud scan and deep scan. It was accurate whether swiped quickly across the wall or slowly, though again, we recommend slow swipes for best accuracy. Then, we used them in real-world situations to find anything that might not occur in a "lab setting". Pressing the button on the side, we slid the Stud Sensor slowly along the wall, keeping an eye on the indicator. Pros Shows the full width of stud.