OT: Best Stud Locator?

If you have access to a FLIR, like I do :), one can simply take pictures of the walls and know where most things are! I've done it, it works well for seeing just about what you'd expect to find in a wall and maybe somethings you never expected to see :) You just need to know what you're looking for using it

Jamie

Ha "without compromising strength". Do they also suggest use of use 1/4" sheetrock too? It won't compromise strength.

I can see somebody and their ladder falling though an entire wall made to such crappy specs.

And, what the heck is wrong with the streetwalker on 5th and Main?

OK; the "better" of the 2 types i have seen is basically the capacitive type; Zircon "StudSensor 2 (TM)". Pat 4,099,118 "A portable sensor adapted to be moved along a wall to indicate a change in the dielectric constant of the wall thereby to signal the presence of a wall stud within the wall." Have seen 2-3 brands counting this one.

I have a zircon from 25 or 30 years ago and it works just fine. It lights up when I get to one edge of the stud and unlights 1.5 inches later when I pass the other edge.

I wouldn't assume blueprints are right.

Except that since you're doing it blind, you don't notice if there's a knot in the rafter right there. U-bolts for me.

Cheers

Phil Hobbs

You don't know the first thing about structures, and why am I not surprised , you're an ignorant little lightweight nobody. And being a mindless unskil led helper laborer working part-time on residential construction in no way shape or form constitutes "building experience" any more than a ditch digge r can call himself an excavation engineer. You're a complete pretentious li ttle unimpressive nothing of a non-entity.

P.S. All your little numbers are wrong.

That's only true in the backwater areas where backwater scum like you live, it is not true of areas where the people in the trades are "educable."

I have one of those, I think it must be called a 'NEWS' as it has those letters printed around the circumference.

Cheers

Any idiot who leans a ladder against drywall deserves to fall through it.

Apparently you're unaware of the defective fastener hardware on the market. The fastener of choice for a blind connection would be a lag bolt. The withdrawal strength is huge:

p= 8,100 x G^3/2 x D^3/4 x L in the inch-pound system, where:

p= pounds withdrawal force

D= bolt shank diameter

G= specific gravity of structural wood at 12% moisture content

L= length of bolt thread penetration into the wood

This of course assumes a properly installed bolt using drilled pilot hole and tightening torque. The joist will give way before the bolt lets go in most cases, and if you use multiple bolts, the whole house will come down before they let go.

It's amazing how much smarter Wikipedia makes people when they don't give attribution.

You put up your monkey bars your way, and I'll do it mine. And if I can't spot a cracked U-bolt, it's my own lookout. Cracked posters, I can spot without even seeing them. ;)

Cheers

Phil Hobbs

That's like asking for an attribution of F= m x a .

Good luck finding that 6" u-bolt you will need to wrap around that 2 x 4 st ud. If you get on the top side maybe a threaded rod would work better for y ou. In any case, you're going to end up with a mess, use fasteners way more expensive than needed and spend half the day doing a 10-minute job.

And there's always that 'rhythm' pattern broken up some where, just where you plan on placing the nail.

I can buy bolts like that at my local hardware store, about two blocks from my lab.

Don't they have hardware stores where you are?

Cheers

Phil Hobbs

You do understand I'm talking about this gizmo:

This table is reproduced all over the place.

Sorry. It's a side effect of being a part time real estate speculator.

They're the approximately 2x4" or 2x6" vertical braces that hold up the walls and ceiling. They are usually made from wood, but can also be made from bent steel sheet metal. The structure inside the walls is called platform framing (NOT balloon framing).

All the drywall in this area has been 5/8" since about 1970. There is some 1/2" drywall in older buildings. The local lumber yards don't even stock 1/2" drywall any more. I've never even seen 1/4" drywall.

With 1/4" drywall, just leaning on the wall will probably cause it to crack. Ok, let's do the math: Worst case is where the ladder ends up in the middle of the 24" span, and where one rail of the ladder delivers the full load. I'll assume a 30 degree angle between the ladder and the wall. For a 180 lb person, near the top of a 6ft ladder, that's a maximum of 90 lbs of force on the wall, 1ft from the edge or 90 ft-lbs. Looking at the above tables, I find: thickness Min flex perpendicular inches strength ft-lbs 1/4" 50 1/2" 100-110 5/8" 140-150 Therefore, the ladder will probably destroy the 1/4" drywall. The load is safe for 1/2" but too close for comfort. At 5/8" an approximately 30% safety factor for worst case is good enough. Note that real drywall ladders have a flat plate attached to the top of the rails to distribute the load instead of concentrate it.

Incidentally, I have only a little drywall in my house. The rest is a mix of t&g strips and plywood wood paneling.

You aren't illegal, I presume, either. They can't even get the joists the right side up, these days.

But you did snip what I said to Bloggs, and repeated what I said to Bloggs.