A retired framer in Boise showed me his trick for finding studs with just a finishing nail.

Elizabeth Black · 2026-04-05T12:00:06.461856+00:00

He said to tap the nail lightly along the wall until you feel the pitch change, then mark it, which saved me a ton of time on a trim job last month (and saved the drywall from my usual probe holes).

nathan_webb3mo ago

Yeah the bent paperclip story is wild, I had a buddy who hit a pipe doing that same dumb stuff.

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butler.mark5mo ago

Ever hear about the guy who used a bent paperclip? My buddy tried that and ended up poking right into a wire, which was a whole thing. I mean, maybe the simple nail trick is the way to go.

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nathan_webb5mo ago

Yeah, but that nail trick only works if your drywall is hung right. I've been in houses where the tap test gives you a stud every eight inches because the hangers went wild. Then you're just making a bunch of tiny holes for no reason. A cheap stud finder from the hardware store picks up the screws in the drywall, so you know exactly where the framing is. Why guess when you can know for ten bucks?

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