How To Find A Wall Stud In Wood Panelling

Your tape measure will have each 16 increment marked.

How to find a wall stud in wood panelling.

If you don t want to mess with the outlets you can drill a small hole 3 4 away from the switch box on either side to find the stud this can be done close to the floor to make the hole less noticeable use a level to accurately translate the location of the switch. One side of the electrical box for an outlet or a switch is typically attached to a stud. This means you will always find a stud header or footer on the top bottom or corners of walls. Any nails you find probably penetrate a wall stud behind the paneling.

Allow a 1 8 inch expansion gap in the corner. Measure the height and width of each wall you re covering to find its square footage. Place a wood panel against the wall in a corner with the base resting on top of the baseboard. I haven t owned a functioning stud finder in years because it s easy and more accurate to find them with a little basic construction knowledge.

If you see any then pull your 16 from. To install sheet paneling properly you ll need to know how many sheets you will need. If your paneling is tongue and groove place the groove. If you find such an irregularity in the mounting area you can be almost 100 certain it indicates a stud.

Turn off the power to the outlet or switch if you plan to remove the cover and look for the stud. Studs exist to hold up drywall on interior walls and wood sheathing on exterior walls. When looking for wall studs behind a wood panel wall look closely for colored nail heads in the grooves of the panels. To find the studs on horizontal t g paneling see if you can see the nails or nail gouge under near the tongue or if that fails then at the top of the wall possibly under a trim strip.

On a properly framed house o c stud spacing is pulled from one end of the house walls doors should not affect these. You can measure 16 over from the seam and that might be a stud especially if the furring strips are vertical. Divide the wall length by the width of your panel sheets to get the number of sheets you ll need.