How can I hear exactly where the studs are or are not in my wall by rapping?

In Australia the studs are 450ml apart, no idea about in the US. Knowing the standard width between studs would help you. John just demonstrated the difference in sound (not that different to my untrained ears I have to say!). You can get a stud finder from the hardware. That would be the easiest and safest method. Then you won’t be there rapping all afternoon… well unless you and Milo fancy getting into a bit of rap.

Forget the knocking. Amazon or any hardware store sells stud finders, a little device you slide across the wall that registers on its LED screen or with a light exactly where the stud is. They’re cheap.

@Pachyderm_In_The_Room Stud finders are what you give single women at their 40th birthday party!

In the U.S., stud spacing is usually 16 inches. The difference in sound is obvious if the walls are sheetrock. Not so obvious if the walls are plaster. Usually, light switches and receptacles are nailed to studs. If you take the cover plate off, you can tell which side of the stud the box is nailed to. Then measure 16 inches at a time to where you want to go. Sometimes you can see the nail/screw divots where the sheetrock mud shrank. Sometimes the nail/screw heads will attract dust particles and look like a dirty spot.

I use the knuckle on my middle finger. The hollow space has a more resonant sound.

You will also find studs to be doubled up at corners and at door and window openings, and when the corner-to-corner spacing isn’t an exact multiple of 16” (and it never is), then the odd closer spacings are at the corners and openings.

If all you want to do is hang something reasonably light, get yourself some of those plastic inserts for wall board and use them. Then you can hang things where you want, not just where the studs are.

I agree with the suggestion of getting a stud finder. If you can’t get one, here’s another option.
The studs are most likely on 16 inch centers. Look for a few nails in the wall already and then figure there will be a stud behind then. Then mark off 16 inches to either side. A neat way to do it is to take a string and mark it every 16”. When you do find a stud you will know where all the other are.

By the stud finder.

There is a stud finder app for your iPhone.

Here are some great tips for finding a stud in your wall.

Thanks, everyone. I do have several electrical outlets nearby and can easily remove the plates.

16” from center to center of the studs or from the edge? is a stud a standard width?

I am hanging several hospital quality grab bars next to toilets to give my knees a little respite. Therefore, I do need the studs.

I also have a handy person, who comes with his own stud finder, I am sure. (Note that I was very careful to put this question into General.) But I was curious. The more skills i develop, the easier it is to live here, with only Milo as a general factotum (and not a very effective one, either).

I have noticed many areas where there are slight rounded bumps on the walls; they must be the nails in the sheet rock. Unfortunately, in the areas that I am interested in, I can see nothing.

(@rooeytoo; I dont own an iPhone.)

It’s usually easiest to find the studs in the center areas of the wall. If you thump on the wall like you might on a watermelon in a grocery store you can tell more by feel than by sound, I think. As you thump areas with no stud, there will be some hollowness behind the sheet rock. As you approach the stud that lessens, until you find the very satisfactory solidity of “Ah, there’s a stud!” (Check corners and next to doorways, and you’ll know what the “there’s a stud” feel is.)

Yes, you absolutely need to attach a grab bar to studs.

The spacing is always center-to-center. Studs are typically 2×4 milled lumber, meaning the starting dimensions were 2” x 4”, and the milling removed some of the thickness as it took down the rough cut surface. Assume around 1–¾” thickness as a rule. (Some studs may be 2×6 lumber, but you’ll still be faced with the thinner thickness.)

If the studs are milled to the same width, and they usually are in modern construction, the 16 inch spacing will be the same whether you measure center to center, or edge to edge. When laying out plates to attach the studs to, it’s much easier to measure edge to edge.

The standard width of a 2x has been 1.5 inches for decades.

Oh yeah, I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention this: part of being a good DIYer is knowing how to fix the inevitable mistakes that you’ll make. When you think you’ve found the stud you want, use the smallest drill bit you have to drill a hole into the stud. If you find that you missed the stud, you can use the homeowner’s favorite fix: fill the hole with toothpaste.

Sometimes you’ll miss the stud by just a bit, less than an inch. You can then drill another hole or two or three in the direction of the stud. More often than not, the trim ring of the grab bar will hide the holes.

I’ve done a lot of remodeling (tearing out cabinets, etc). It’s funny to pull a cabinet and see the sheetrock full of holes where the installer was trying to find the stud. The cabinet covered the holes so no big deal. (Kitchens are notorious for irregular stud spacing.)

@gailcalled Have you installed a taller than standard toilet yet? They are wonderful for complaining knees.

I tried thumping the wall and invariably miss the stud. I went to the hardware store and bought an electronic stud finder for about US$9.00 and a 9 volt battery. That saved nail holes in the wrong place and gave me a good anchor for the shelves I built. If you are just hanging pictures you can get picture hangers with a built in nail and it doesn’t matter where you hang light loads.

@bossob: Can you send me more info about taller-than-standard toilet? I do shudder, however,to think of purchase and installation costs and mess. My plumber is already sending one of his kids through college on my business alone over the last ten years.

But it does make sense to do the research.

My handyguy drilled an extra hole when he was installing stair rails; I tried using Tom of Maine’s toothpaste as a filler but it never dried. So I substituted temporary dental filling glop and filed it down with an emery board when it finally died.

@Ron C. I know how to hang a picture; these require studs

I googled ‘taller commodes’ and grabbed the first link Kohler calls them ‘Comfort Height’.

Not to fear, they are normal toilets, just an inch or two taller. Install is no different than any other toilet.

Once you become accustomed to them, sitting on a standard height toilet feels like you’re sitting on a kids’ size toilet! Mine is about 1.5 inches taller, and just that little bit extra height made a world of difference for my knees.

@bossob:I’m too rushed now to read the link carefully, but the cost did seem very high. My friends who have had knee replacements have used $75 donut shaped booster seats that they simply placed on top of the existing toilet.

Gotta run. I’ll check back later.

@gailcalled I expect that the grab rails do require a stud. I see that they come in 12, 16, 24, and 36 so all you need to know is the distance between the studs and if the is a stud where you need the rails. I suggest you go to your local hardware store and get a stud finder. The tap method is likely to put you at the edge of a stud instead of the center.

@gailcalled Toilet booster seats! What do they sometimes say about reaching a point in our lives where we begin to regress back towards childhood! J/K

It might make sense to try a donut booster to see if it helps. If it does, you could upgrade to a taller toilet, and if not, you wouldn’t be out as much cash.

Re; the simplest way, as I now think about it, of finding a stud finder is to call the stud and have him come over and find whatever he needs to find, if you get my drift.

My house, built in 1986, has studs 16” apart and sheet rock.

@bossob: How tall are you? 1.5 inches doesn’t seem like very much.

Booster seat

I have friends who can lend me this seat for a try-on. One advantage is that I could raise all three toilets in the house without a colossus plumbing rehab.

My grandma had a booster that fit over her toilet and it had arms/bars on the side. There are several different styles that do this, all one piece. Hers was similar to the extra wide tall-ette shown a few down on the left on this page.

My brother bought a house that had one of those added height toilets. It felt very strange. First of all, it was natural to sit down too hard because you hit the seat before you were expecting to. Secondly, we discovered that anyone under 5’6” would have dangling feet. I personally prefer my feet to be on the ground! He said he was getting used to it but it took a while.

I caught your hint about the question being in general, but I see, eventually you couldn’t control yourself and had to make the stud to find the stud comment, heheheh!

^^^ I very deliberately chose General to fend off the usual suspects, but enough time has now passed for me to cast the first stone, speaking of mixed metaphors.

I now carry a tape measure in my purse for checking out various toilet set-ups in public facilities. I have to find a handicapped stall and see whether the toilet is elevated.

I always have a tape measure in my purse. I measure everything. LOL. I have a cute one with my school mascot and it is actually a key chain.

Sam’s Club has the comfort height toilets for $89. Sam’s Club.

@gailcalled I’m 5’11” and I never would have guessed at the difference either. They just don’t look that much different sitting side by side in the store.

@JLeslie There’s just something appealing to me about a woman with a tape in her purse! I’m always borrowing my wife’s when we go shopping together.

MY stud finder is coming on Wed. with his stud finder for a look-see. Then i can order the correct sized grab bar, and then blame the stud finder if I pull a wall down.

(Having a skilled and experienced person do the work makes me feel very calm, however. Singlehandedly he has practically rebuilt my house.)

AWW just discovered this post and can’t recommend “Stud Finder” which, if its label is visible, is a great laugh getter at house parties. But the linked stud finder article shows another way with magnets.

Also, you can sometimes see a slight concavity in the wall where the drywall has been pounded into the stud, or conversely a slight bulge where the stud sticks out more than the plaster. Look at 16-inch intervals.

As said above a stud is a 2×4 although very rarely you can have double studs [2 2×4s]—note on milled size from carpentry forum:
I’ve seen 2×4’s vary in size on the same stack from the yard,from 1 3/8 to1 5/8 and 3 3/8to3 5/8.—-I usually go with 1 9/16×3 9/16 when adding them together.

I’ve been away from fluther too long

They are 16 inches apart. I always can find an indention in the sheetrock (nail) and measure from there. You can also buy a little gadget that finds the stud for you.