Find Studs Behind Siding

The edges must be nailed into a stud.

Find studs behind siding.

In theory the siding should be nailed at the studs. For solid cladding such as stucco or brick your best bet is to locate the studs inside the house and then transfer the measurements to the exterior wall. Shine a flashlight. To the best of my knowledge we won t see a stud by lifting siding unless the house was built about 1925.

Remove the section of siding at the elevation you plan on mounting the awning at. The standard space between studs is 16 or 24 inches although in some homes the distance between studs is less regular. Measure 16 and mark additional stud locations. Oh i just need to find a stud to hang this picture and fifteen holes later you re convinced the wall is held up by pixie dust and a wish because apparently there s no wood behind it.

A little light will go off or the finder will make a beeping noise when it finds a. If that s true and i wanted to hit a stud close to dead center i d probably make myself about a 6 long 3 32 diameter drill bit locate a stud from inside and bore a hole from inside out next to the stud. Walk very slowly along the exterior siding while holding the stud finder. For vinyl siding use a vinyl siding removal tool to unsnap the seal between two pieces of siding allowing you to see the nail heads.

This is not always the case depending on the installer. The best way to find a stud while working on on the outside whether brick siding or stone is to use an electronic stud finder. I found these answers on a different site. Use a metal detector to find the nails in the studs if you get dew on the house in the morning a lot of the time you can see exactly where the studs are when there is dew on the siding and it is just starting to evaporate it usually evaporates off the studs first since they are a bit warmer.

Once you find one stud it s easy to find the rest of them.