quote:

Originally posted by bendable:

https://www.amazon.com/CH-Hans...Finder/dp/B000IKK0OI

The Hanson is also what I would recommend.

I have found that a thermal imager works best.

I've always been wary of the magnetic ones because their use seems to assume the drywall guys actually got all the screws in the middle of the studs. Is that not really an issue in practice?

quote:

Originally posted by maladat:
I've always been wary of the magnetic ones because their use seems to assume the drywall guys actually got all the screws in the middle of the studs. Is that not really an issue in practice?

It's a very real issue. Take a look at unfinished drywall. There are screws and nails that are on the edges, missed completely etc. The magnet is also height dependent. If you need to place your new fastener higher or lower, you need to find two and hope they actually line up down the center. The Franklin sensors flat out work. They find both edges of the stud at exactly the height you need.

Most new construction that I see is metal studs, so the magnet reacts differently versus just hitting screw heads/nail plates. With metal studs you can tell when you're dead nuts on the stud.

quote:

The Hanson is also what I would recommend.

I've been surprised how well this works.

Thank you guys for the Franklin recommendation. I had come across them a couple years ago but didn't buy one and forgot about them.

I got one a couple days ago. Wow!

The slide-along-the-wall Zircon has always worked but it can be kind of fussy and slow.

The Franklin is awesome. Slap it on the wall and there's the stud.

quote:

Originally posted by maladat:
I've always been wary of the magnetic ones because their use seems to assume the drywall guys actually got all the screws in the middle of the studs. Is that not really an issue in practice?

Yep, big issue in practice. Apparently I'm one of the only people on the planet that uses my large drywall square to strike a line on the sheetrock at each stud location before moving the drywall into position on the wall. I even obsess over proper screw spacing so everything is perfectly uniform. But again that just my OCD driving me. And given I do very little drywall installation anymore, I doubt I'm likely to ever change my approach.