Spent $80 on a cheap stud finder and immediately regretted it

Tried to hang a shelf in my living room last weekend and grabbed a $8 magnetic stud finder from the hardware store. Ngl, it kept giving false readings and I ended up drilling three holes in the wrong spots before I gave up. Took it back and paid $80 for a nice electronic one from Home Depot that actually works with a deep scan mode. The first one cost me more in spackle and touch up paint than the tool itself. Anyone else have a cheap tool fail that made you lose a whole afternoon?

3 comments

3 Comments

simonp7620d agoTop Commenter

Gotta hard disagree with you here. Lol. Those $8 magnetic ones work fine if you know how to use them. You just gotta run it slow and steady across the wall and feel for the actual pull, not the little skips over drywall screws. The electronic ones are overkill for hanging a shelf, you paid for a deep scan mode you probably don't even need. Plus those fancy ones can mess up on textured walls or if there's wiring nearby, giving you false positives just as bad. Spend that extra $72 on a level and a good pencil instead, you'll save money and a headache.

kelly.charlie20d ago

Yeah but did the magnetic one actually snap onto anything solid before giving you the false read? I had a similar problem with mine where it would stick to the drywall screws instead of the actual studs so I ended up chasing ghost readings all over the wall. How deep was the scan mode on the cheap one you got - was it just a basic button or did it have actual settings?

parker_palmer4420d ago

Hey @kelly.charlie, did you ever figure out if that magnetic one was actually grabbing onto something solid or just teasing you with a screw? I ran into the same headache with a cheap magnetic model where it kept latching onto the drywall nails, not the studs, and I ended up pulling half the sheetrock off before I found out. I feel your pain on chasing those ghost readings, it's like the wall is playing games with you.