Help me find ceiling beams/studs!!

[Chubbz]

I currently have 9 holes in my ceiling from my attempts at trying to find a beam or stud. I found one, and I tried to line it up to drill the second hole that I need, but 9 holes later, I cant find the effing thing. Ive been using a stud finder which works perfectly fine on the wall, but it seems to be lying to me on the ceiling. i just dont know what the frunkets i gotta do now, ive been trying for the past 1.5 hours to find it..

 

[SlickSnake]

Originally posted by: Chubbz
I currently have 9 holes in my ceiling from my attempts at trying to find a beam or stud. I found one, and I tried to line it up to drill the second hole that I need, but 9 holes later, I cant find the effing thing. Ive been using a stud finder which works perfectly fine on the wall, but it seems to be lying to me on the ceiling. i just dont know what the frunkets i gotta do now, ive been trying for the past 1.5 hours to find it..

Usually a light tapping on the ceiling should help. You can hear the difference in the sound when you are tapping on a stud. If you think the studs are running one way, try a different direction. You may be running into a cross support and not the actual ceiling rafter if that's the case.

 

[d33pt]

do you have attic access?

 

[Rumpltzer]

LOL!

Okay, if your stud finder works fine on the wall, then you should be able to figure out how far apart the studs are in your house (18 inches?).

Assuming that the stud spacing in the ceiling are the same as in the wall, and given that you've alread found one in the ceiling, the next ones should be periodic... right? No?

 

[WTT0001]

Depends on the house construction, in our house, there is a layer of 1" furring strips between the drywall and the studs. They run opposite to the studs so a studfinder wouldn't do a thing. The only way that I found a stud was to get in the attic and drill down

WTT

 

[bonkers325]

they should be the same spacing as your wall studs

 

[MikeyIs4Dcats]

if you have an electric razor, you can use it to tell where studs likely are

 

[Sluggo]

Ideally, your ceiling joists will be 12, 16 or 24 inches on center. there will be some oddball ones close to a wall or something, but you should have one of those 3 measurements.

 

[bctbct]

Usually 16" or 24" centers, unless you have a hip roof....they may have switched direction.

 

[Newbian]

If you are looking for a stud then look no farther...

Can't believe it lasted this long.

 

[IHateMyJob2004]

Originally posted by: bctbct
Usually 16" or 24" centers, unless you have a hip roof....they may have switched direction.

YOu mean 18" or 24"? I hope so. Rarely, you run into 12" spacing. RARELY.

The one thing i have learned is to use a nail and hammer for things like pictures. You can find hte edges of hte stud and exact center this way. And if hanging a picture, the extra hoels get covered anyways. Depending what is being done, the ceiling could be treated i na simlar manner.

Tired, not correcting spelling nightmare.

 

[mugs]

Are you sure they're running in the direction you think they're running? That would explain the studfinder not working.