Spent 8 hours hunting for a stud that wasn't there on a kitchen remodel in Denver

Turned out the previous guy had nailed the corner bead directly to drywall with no backing, and I had to pull everything down and add blocking anyway, has anyone else run into phantom studs on older houses?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_amy3d ago

Spent more time than I care to admit chasing a stud that turned out to be a ghost in a 1970s ranch house. Ended up with a drywall patch the size of a dinner plate and a new appreciation for magnetic stud finders. Sounds like you got the full tour of someone's lazy shortcut collection. I've pulled down whole sections of trim just to find nothing but air and old nail holes behind it. It's always the older houses where the previous guy was like "eh, drywall anchors are for quitters." At least now you know it's fixed right, even if it took half a day of head scratching to get there.

alexk603d ago

Ended up with a drywall patch the size of a dinner plate" yeah I've been there. My trick now is to take a strong magnet and just slide it around the wall before I even pick up a drill. Catches the screws and nails in the studs without all the guessing. Saves me from patching craters later cause the cheap electronic finders lied to me again. That lazy owner shortcut stuff is everywhere in these old places, it's like people just assume nobody will ever need to hang anything heavier than a picture frame.

the_kim21h ago

Had a buddy @the_amy deal with the exact same thing on a 1920s bungalow, spent three hours with a crappy finder before giving up and just cutting a hole to see what was there. Found nothing but empty stud bays and a note from 1985 saying "good luck" written in sharpie.