Can't find studs behind knotty pine paneling
 

Hi,
Total neophyte here. I'm trying to find the studs behind 60 year old tongue and groove knotty pine. Don't know how thick it is. I've tried 2 different electronic stud sensors and get seemingly random beeps and flashing LEDs. Tried both regular and deep scan settings. Is it hard for stud finders to peer through knotty pine? Will a fancy, expensive finder do a better job? Currently using $20 models. Tapping and listening yields nothing, as does my old magnetic sensor.

My wife is beginning to question my value around the house (maybe that's a good thing - keep her expectations low).
Any ideas?
Thanks

may be the problem is the surface is pine which is also wood... try to test your stud finder on regular drywall in one of your friend's house first see if it works... if it does... then it is the pine surface causing the stud finder unable to function... if it doesn't, then you can go get a better stud finder, mine is standley which is quite good, it is more expensive, but I got it from Ebay(new) around the same price as yours after shipping added, you will be surprise to get good deal from Ebay for things like that... such as $4.99 for a new Standley stud finder...etc. which is a small thing where not too many people chasing it...

Well it should be this simple. Buy a tape measure which is marked with studs. Start at a door way or where two walls meet and stretch the tape measure out you should be in the vicinity.

Ps. I think walls are built either 12 or 16 inches on center depending on what there carring. If i'm wrong one of the carpenters will correct me.

don't trust the 12 or 16 inches... I did my basement... I didn't follow 16 inches on all studs although many does... it changes on circumstances...

Could there be horizontal strapping with the vertical boards applied to it?

On a properly framed house, O.C stud spacing is pulled from one end of the house, walls/doors should not affect these. To find the studs on Horizontal T&G paneling see if you can see the nails or nail Gouge under/near the tongue, or if that fails then at the top of the wall, possibly under a trim strip. If you see any, then pull your 16" from there. On Vertical T&G there will be furring strips behind them, probably on 24" centers either from bottom or top plates. T&G is one of our specialties. Hope this helps

Reason to locate the studs?
Is this an interior wall or exterior wall?

Thanks all for your responses so far.

My sensors do work properly in other rooms where there is drywall.

So, if I understand correctly, an electronic sensor won't work to find the studs behind the vertical knotty pine because there's an air gap corresponding to the thickness of the horizontal furring strips between the paneling and the stud, right?

So, is there a good method for finding the stud behind the knotty pine? I want to hang a 100 lb. television. The paneling seems very solid. I wonder if I should even think about just screwing into the pine paneling and hope it holds.

Interior wall.

If this is an interior wall then I would go to the other side of the wall in the room adjacent to it. Hopefully, the opposite side of the wall is drywall. Find the studs on this wall, measure where they are and then correspond the studs with the measurements in the room with the knotty pine.

Your sensor may not work on the knotty pine if it is detecting the nails that are used to attach the knotty pine to the walls.

Find a receptacle. It will be nailed to one side of the stud. Then measure from there.

:thumbup: This is the best suggestion I found. It worked great for me. Even though this is not my original post. It answered my question. Thank you.

I'd do as N.Country mentioned and/or the receptacle idea. Look down at the baseboard to determine which side of the stud the rec. is nailed to.
Usually, baseboard is nailed to a stud but in your instance, they could've just nailed it to the panel board.
You can use a prybar and gently pull away some of the baseboard to see if you can spot where the T&G was face nailed.

Original post is almost 4 years old