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locating wall studs

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charlie74

charlie74

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so the wife wants me to put a window box below our kitchen window. this box is quite large and will be pretty heavy when complete and so i thought that lag bolts would be the best way to secure it. our house has vynil siding which is easy enough to lift at the bottom to see what is underneath which i have discovered an aluminum foil covered insulation that has been tacked to the outside of the wall. my question as you have probably guessed is how do i locate the wall stud underneath? tapping for sound is pretty imprecise and i don't have much luck with stud finders (they don't even register when i am around ha ha!). do the studs generally line up with floor joists (sp?)? also, the window is just under 30" wide so would the builder have placed the widow/frame evenly on either side of the supporting stud? if so then that would make life much easier.
thanks in advance
c74
 
Depending on how your wall is constructed you may be able to use a small, thin phillips head screw driver or ice pick to <span style="text-decoration: underline">gently</span> punch though the wall. Start in a location where you suspect there may be a stud. The small holes can later be patched and painted over. Then, once you find one, make a series of additional small exploratory punches, to find the stud's center. Then, usually you can measure 16 inches from the center of that stud in order to find the centers of other studs on either side (and punch additional small holes where you think the center should be in order to verify). I have used this methid successfully in places where a stud finder would not work.
 
Hi Just go to your local hardware store and buy Uself a inexpensive stud finder. It locates and tracks the nails used to attach the lath or siding to the studs.--FWIW--Keoke
 
Keoke said:
Hi Just go to your local hardware store and buy Uself a inexpensive stud finder. It locates and tracks the nails used to attach the lath or siding to the studs.--FWIW--Keoke
Click to expand...

He said he hadn't had much luck with stud finders, which can happen depending on the construction of the wall, etc.
 
OPS! Prolly a magnetic Basil. He may have to spend a little more en get an infrared.They work even where old timers used chicken wire en tar paper for lath. A good magnetic should be able to see through venial and Ali. But the Ali may give the IR a bad time. OH!, I forgot to mention they have some moderine Laser models out now at about $50,00 and up but he may be able op rent/borrow one.---Keoke-
grin.gif
 
thanks guys, i do have a stud finder that i managed to use to locate the studs on the inside of the house. it is a fairly new house so it has 16" centers. now, since i have managed to deduce this so far, will the studs that i have located on the inside on either side of the window carry on in 16" centers underneath? even if the window is offset and unevenly distributed over the 16" center (if this makes any sense at all)?
you may ask why not use the stud finder to look underneath the window but the backsplash for the sink is directly beneath and then the rear of the kitchen cabinet backs against the wall and the SF does not penetrate the partical board making it useless under there.
thanks again
c74
 
Yes Charlie, I "think" the stud spacing will be consistent. However. I can unequivocally state that a SF that can not see through particle board ain"t worth sod.

I should have read this whole post in the first place. Basil warned me :laugh:

Yes lag bolts are the way to go. Also steel right angle brackets AR are then bolted to the studs which hold the window box. Additional screws go in to the bottom of the window box to hold it and allow you to center it under the window regardless of the studs location. Hope this helps ---Keoke
 
charlie74 said:
it is a fairly new house so it has 16" centers. now, since i have managed to deduce this so far, will the studs that i have located on the inside on either side of the window carry on in 16" centers underneath? even if the window is offset and unevenly distributed over the 16" center (if this makes any sense at all)?
Click to expand...
Well if you have 16" centers, it would have been a lot cheaper for the builder to center the window in between the studs and only cut the middle stud out. 32" center minus ¾" on each stud equals a 30¼" opening. Leaving an eighth inch on either side to fit the window. My bet would be that there is a stud floor to ceiling on either side of the window. Then again, I didn't build your house.
 
My method is to pound great, jagged, gaping holes in the wall and lay the studs bare for all the world (and my wife) to see AR AR AR AR (my Tim Taylor voice) hehehee.
SOunds like these guys have you on the right track, I just needed to add some mayhem.
 
This method works for me! :eeek:
 
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