Finding studs - Putting up skirting

yop

Guys,
I am putting up the skirting around the timber frame these days and am finding it hard to find stud.
I have a stud finder which cost me 60 euro but it finds shag all!!

Is there an easier way?
The centers are meant to be 400mm but I am not finding this is correct.

The Hill Billy

I wouldn't bet on finding the studs just by the recommended spacings. Try running your stud-finder in vertical sweeps along the wall. That way it will have a better chance of finding the plasterboard fixings along one of the battens.

You could also try tapping the wall to find the batten. It will sound more solid. When you find a "solid" spot - tap above & below it to make sure that you've found a batten & not a noggin.

A straight line down will give you a suitable spot for fixing the skirting boards.

Alternatively, you could fix them using bonding compound & dab them on. Or "No More Nails"?

TKK

Can you see the studs at the base of the wall before you put up the skirting board? If so just mark the centre on the floor.

noby

There's always the tried and trusted 'attack the wall with a drill' method. Use a small (3mm) drill bit, and drill a hole (below the level of the skirting, obviously) every inch or so until you hit a stud.Mark this with a pencil, then move along 400mm and try again. You'll know if you're hitting the stud or just drilling into plasterboard.

yop

Noby - This is what I have been doing alright, pain in the heed to be honest this as I have the whole house to attach skirting to!

How good is that no more nails?? Big expensive when I have skirting to put around a 2100 sq ft house?

No visible stud lines anywhere, tried the tapping method also, better solution but I was hoping there was a nak to it.

thanks

The Hill Billy

Do you know how thick the sole plates are in the stud walls?
If they are 2" - you could fix the skirts directly to the sole plates through the plasterboard. It would just mean that your nails may not be mid-skirt.

TBH - If you have to fix skirtings on every wall in the house you would probably find that No More Nails would be easier than trying to find every shagging batten.

If you can afford to build a 2100sqft house - a few tubes of No More Nails ain't gonna break the bank.

delly

No more nails should work a treat. The only side effect is that taking them off again at some point in the future being an unsavoury task. If you have a room which you may change to woodon flooring at some point in the future, then i would try and use the stud approach.

yop

Hill Billy - Fek off cup
Only messing, 2" alright but you have nothing supporting the highest part of the skirting and it is 8" high skirting so a lot to hang out!!

I might purchase few tubes of the no more nails alright, but I prefer the stud way

towbar

Slightly off topic but could that no more nails stuff be used to hold down battens for a wooden floor. Alot of pipes in floor not that deep and dont want to go nailing in the battens? How quick does it dry?

galwaydude18

yop do you want a hand with that skirting board? I have just invested in a dewalt cordless nail gun that would be perfect for attaching the skirting to the studded wall and architrave to the door frames? I'l scribe the skirting to the floors and at each corner as well using my chopsaw and good old coping saw!

To be honest my fav method be drilling holes until I find a stud then onto the next one and that should indicate your centers for the studs..

kadman

yop wrote:

Guys,


Is there an easier way?
QUOTE]


Hi Yop,

Yes, there is an easier way. Your panel layout plan should be fully dimensioned for every single stud on the perimeter panels. If its not your tf company can easily call up the plan, and auto dimension it for you, 5 minutes.

Although your studs are called at 400 centres, when you get to a window and have two or three cripple studs, this may throw off the continuous 400 spacing, depending on the method used by the designer. So the panel layout has all the studs on it, should be easy.

Kadman:)

noby

yop,

The one big advantage of going through the 'hardship' of finding the studs and nailing, is you can then use the nails as a guide to finding studs if you're hanging something on the wall.

yop

GalwayDude - Thanks for the offer lad, I have the architrave up and all the skirting cut but not completley attached as I am laying the floors so my biggest issue is finding the studs.

Kadman- I never even thought of that!! I have emailed them looking for these panel layouts!!

Noby.
That is an excellent point. I started last nite and I used the "drill finding method" and knocking, slow but I am making progress.

galwaydude18

yop if you need a hand give me a shout and I'l help you out to get the skirting scribed to the floor!

yop

Gentleman GalwayDude - Thanks for that. A blonde question, but when u use the word scribe, I presume u mean that the skirting will sit level on the timber or have I the wrong thinking?

galwaydude18

Ya sitting level with the floor!

The Hill Billy

Fair dues to you GalwayDude! The spirit of the Boards is alive & kicking.

Best of luck with the job Yop!

chuckles30

Thanks noby for the suggestion about looking at the skirting when trying to find studs for hanging stuff. Just have to hope the builders applied the skirting to the studs, but at least I will have an idea and can then do the knocking trick. I bought a stud finder, but it's a waste of space.

galwaydude18

Hill Billy wrote:

Fair dues to you GalwayDude! The spirit of the Boards is alive & kicking.

Best of luck with the job Yop!

That's what boards is all about! Community spirit!

The Hill Billy

Aw shucks, I'm filling up...

mick125

Can anyone tell me where to buy a stud finder in the Tallaght area.

Even though people are saying the are no good i still want to give one a try

rayjdav

Mick125,
Seriously they are a waste of time. Bought a dear one for my new TF extension for skirting etc. Ended up on hands and knees looking at sole plate markers in the end. And also, guaging off photos taken prior to slabbing for approx locations.
PS Fair dues for routing out this old thread.:D

gsxr1

I have away just used 400s or 600s , and went searching with a 100mm screw and screw gun . You are just messin with them toy stud finders. some timber frames have 600 centers on the exterior walls.

Watch for pipes!!!!!

mick125

Thanks for the info maybe i will give the stud finder a miss.

Zilog

The ol' stud finders need very precise calibration to work, I find. As much an art as a science.
What I've found handy is a combo studfinder/ metal detector. The metal detector can find nails or screws in the stud, just below the plaster skim surface. Scan left and right to find one, then up and down to find more and confirm it's a stud

crossmolinalad

Its alittle to late for u all but in my house we did it the dutch way
First we used plywood and over them we put up the plasterboards
We never have problems to hung things like curtain poles shelves pictures or skirting s on the walls