Finding Studs Without a Stud Finder

Detecting wood studs with a magnet. Yep, that's right!

Hello and welcome to Joe Shows How! Whenever you hang or mount an object to a wall, such as a book shelf or mirror, it’s best to drive the nail or screw into a wooden wall stud. But how do you know exactly where the studs are? Well, in this week’s video I’ll show you how to find studs with a magnet. Now you might be wondering how is that possible. A magnet can’t detect wood. That’s true, but it can detect the screws or nails holding the drywall to the wood studs.

So, all you need is a small magnet and a short length of string. Tie or tape the string to the magnet then slowly sweep it across the wall. As the magnet passes over a nail or screw, it’ll stick to the wall, indicating the location of a stud. It’s as simple as that, no electronics necessary. Just be sure to use a rare earth magnet, which is much stronger than standard iron magnets. Thanks for subscribing to Joe Shows How, and happy stud hunting!