A weird trick for finding studs in a plaster wall actually worked

I was hanging some heavy shelves in my buddy's old house in Tacoma last month, and his walls are that solid plaster over lath. My stud finder was just buzzing all over the place, useless. I was about to start drilling a bunch of tiny test holes when I remembered something an old guy at the lumberyard told me years ago. He said to turn off the lights and shine a bright flashlight, like a work light, flat against the wall. The light casts shadows along the surface, and you can actually see the slight ridges and dips where the plaster keys into the lath strips, which run right to the studs. I tried it, and sure enough, I could trace faint vertical lines every 16 inches. Marked them with pencil, drilled, and hit solid wood first try. Has anyone else used this light trick, or do you have a better method for those nightmare plaster walls?

2 comments

2 Comments

avery_nelson5d ago

Oh man, I feel your pain with those old walls. My last place had the same kind of plaster and it was a total guessing game. That flashlight trick is a lifesaver when the stud finder just gives up.

the_brooke5d ago

My grandpa taught me that same trick in Seattle.