The stud finder lied to me, so I built a $30 finder board that never misses

Last week I was hanging cabinets and my $80 stud finder kept blinking on nothing. I got fed up and drilled a 1/8 inch test hole every 2 inches along the wall, took me 40 minutes to map the whole garage. Turns out the drywall had foil backing that messes with the sensor. Now I keep a scrap 2x4 with small holes drilled at 16 and 24 inch centers, I just hold it up and mark. Cost me maybe $30 in lumber and time, and it works on any wall I've tried so far. Has anyone else run into false reads with foil backed drywall, or is it just my luck?

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1 Comment

simon37813d ago

You ever tried a magnet on a string before? Foil backing throws everything off, but a cheap magnet finds the screws in the studs every time, no batteries needed. That 2x4 trick is solid though, gonna steal it for my shop.