How to find studs in wall for tv mount?

What can be better than enjoying the weekend watching your newly bought flat-screen television and chilling at the house? It sounds mesmerizing, but you must be wondering about how to find studs in the wall for TV mount, right? Well, finding studs and anchoring the heavy appliances like television on them is essential to ensure the installation is rigid and not causing any harm to the structure. Installing the TV on the wall is not only a matter of drilling holes and setting up the equipment. To help you find studs in walls to ensure you are installing your long-cherished flat TV rigidly, we are offering here the ways of finding studs for TV mount. 

Finding Studs on Walls

Have you brought your long-cherished flat-screen TV and need to find the studs on the wall to fix it accurately? Installing television may seem overwhelming if you fail to locate the studs beneath the wall. Are you still ignorant of what studs are actually? Studs are the framing of a house set up vertically and get connected with other timbers that build the frame of a home and are liable for carrying the perpendicular load particularly. You have so many choices to pick from while finding the studs underneath the wall of your house. Different ways may differ from each other in budget and accuracy. 

The ways you can find studs include:

  1. Traditional way
  2. Using a stud Finder
  3. Using iPhone

Let’s get an in-depth overview of the ways of how to find studs in wall.

1. Finding Stud in Traditional Way

You can smoothly locate the studs of your house if you have been present throughout the process of constructing the building. People who only buy the house may find difficulty in detecting studs unless they are experienced enough. If you are familiar with building construction projects, for instance, a construction and structural engineer, finding studs in a wall is a matter of minutes for you!

2. Findiing Stud using a Stud Finder

The most common and widely used method of locating studs beneath walls, be it a plaster wall or drywall, is using a stud finder. No matter if you are an expert or not, you can determine the studs using these sensors very efficiently. A quality stud finder is accurate, can cover a wide range of areas and ensures the process is precise and smooth. 2-kinds of stud finders are:

  • Electronic stud detector and
  • Magnetic stud detector

3. Using an Electronic Stud Detector

Electronic stud finders include the sensors that operate based on the variations of dielectric constant with the width of the wall and the reading changes when the detector is close to the studs. It includes an LCD or LED display to exhibit the values. With a quality device, you can use it to locate metal or wood studs, live AC wiring, or objects like pipes or nails. 

To locate studs in a wall with an electronic sensor, you have to:

  • Determine the height: First, mention the height of the wall where you want to fix the TV and locate the studs. 
  • Calibrate the device: Once you have determined the position of the TV to install and find the studs, you have to calibrate your electronic detector. Position the device on a random wall having no studs underneath and activate it. You will then get the indication of whether the device is calibrated or needs to be moved here and there.  
  • Locate and Mark the Studs: Now that you have calibrated the electronic stud finder, you have to run it against the wall. An electronic stud finder that supports the edge-finding feature will notify you when it detects the edges of a stud. Mark that point, and if required, recalibrate the device. Run the sensor backward in the direction you have determined the first point, and you will get another edge 0.5 or 1.0 inch farther. A quality stud finder having a center-finding feature will locate the center of the stud for you. Otherwise, do your calculation and find the locus. 
  • Confirm Stud Locations: To ensure you have located the stud accurately, you have to determine a few more points on the marked stud and determine the position of nearby studs following the above process.  

4. Finding Using a Magnetic Stud Detector

Its operating principle is pretty straightforward and based on the magnetic strength to determine the position of metallic objects like metal studs, nails, or metal pipes. Unfortunately, you cannot find live AC wires or non-metal objects. They cannot work well on a thicker plaster wall. Though they cannot indicate the edges or centers of studs or do not equip digital displays, they are cost-effective and handy in detecting studs. To get accuracy, you can use other methods along with a magnetic stud finder. 

Are you thinking about how to find studs in wall with a stationary magnetic stud detector? Here is the process:

  • Determine and mark the height and position of the TV you want to fix. 
  • Run the device along the wall, and you will feel the electromagnetism where there is a stud. 
  • You can sense the force has become lessened if the metal studs are located deep beneath the wall. 

4. Stud Finding Using Sound

Do you not want to spend money on devices to find studs? Do not worry, as you still have free options like locating studs using the sound it makes when you knock on the wall. 

For determining studs using the sound method, you need to:

  • Make a fist of your fingers and knock along the surface of the wall. 
  • If you come near a stud tapping on the wall, you will hear a high-pitch, solid, and sharp sound. 
  • A cross-section where a stud does not stand will generate a low-pitched rumbling sound.
  • You can use a 12, 16, or 24 inches tape, start from a corner of the wall you need to fix the TV, and knock on the wall at these distances to locate the studs using the solid sound.  

6. Using an iPhone

Using your iPhone is another free option to locate studs or metal objects underneath the walls of your house. The built-in 3-axes magnetometer of the iPhone comes in use to find studs. To utilize this magnetometer feature, you need to install a stud finder application from the Apple store. 

To use n iPhone as a stud finder, you have to:

  • First, open the application and move the device gently against the wall you are scanning for installing the TV mount.
  • The magnetometer of your iPhone is situated at the top-right part of the device. Hence, keep that part at the right angle to the wall. 
  • If the magnetometer of your iPhone detects a stud underneath the drywall, specifically, it starts notifying you with sounds depending on the alert system of the application you have installed. 
  • The device may keep notifying you with louder sounds and alert systems when the device can locate the exact position of the stud or metal objects. 
  • If the application has a light-bar notifying system, you will notice the light-bulb will stick in a particular position. 
  • You can reset the magnetometer by taking the device away from the determined metal object.  

Frequently Asked Question (FAQ)

Now that you have gathered much knowledge on how you can find studs in a wall for TV mounts, the time has come to enlighten you with the frequently asked question about this fact. Thus you can get a better understanding and make the process of installing a TV mount precise and accurate. 

Q: Can you hang a TV wall mount without studs?

A: Yes. With the increasing use of flat-screen television, hanging a TV has become more convenient and straightforward nowadays. Though you can hang your TV on drywall, it’s better and more sturdy to hang it on studs. But if the decor of your living space doesn’t allow to install TV mount on studs, you can install it without studs using:

  • Anchors
  • Molly Bolts
  • Toggle Anchors
  • Ceiling Mounts
  • Mounting Plates

Before placing the TV mount straight to the wall, consider the wall condition and the weight of your device. 

Q. Can you wall mount a TV on one stud? 

If installing the TV mount on the center of the wall is not an issue, and you want to fix it in any of the corners of the wall, then yes, you can mount a TV on a single stud. But for installing in the center of the surface, you need two studs to wall mount a TV. 

Q. How far apart are studs in the wall?

Studs act as the framing element of the wall and ensure the heavy appliance you have anchored on the wall is fixed and sturdy. If you are not an expert in finding studs beneath a wall and in hassle thinking about how far apart you can find studs, we are offering you a precise answer. The gap estimated between the centers of 2 studs is about sixteen to twenty-four inches. 

Q. Can you mount a 60 inch TV on drywknow?

Yes, you can if you are sure that the drywall is in its best condition and it can withhold the weight of the costly appliance. But no matter what fastener you use or whether the wall can take on the weight, you should never put your precious equipment in risk and always use studs while installing a TV mount. 

Q. Can I use my iPhone as a stud finder?

As we have already mentioned, your iPhone can utilize its magnetometer and act as a stud finder. But remember, you only can find metal objects like metallic nails, studs, or pipes with a stud finder application installed in your iPhone. 

Final Words

Finding studs and installing heavy and costly appliances like a TV on studs is essential to ensure the equipment gets fixed rigidly. The above overview we have gathered here would help you to know about how to find studs in wallfor TV mount and install it with precision.

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