Use the compass in your phone bro it’s a magnet

My house was built in the 90's and has some on 16" and some on 24". Annoying.

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It's really not, because wiring (and plumbing and gas) go through the studs as well. It's unlikely they will hit something, but not impossible.

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Wrong. When wires go perpendicular to studs they go through them, at a depth that wall mount hardware could hit.

I use a neodymium magnet that I sweep slowly over the wall until it picks up a drywall screw.

Nail plates are only required if the hole drilled through the stud is closer than 1 1/4" from the face of the stud. So if it's a hole for one wire and it's centered on the stud, there won't be a plate.

Assuming there's no plate, a screw that is shorter than 1 3/4" won't hit the wire, but in this case OP is talking about a wall mount which likely has longer hardware. You'd be very unlucky to catch a wire, but it's not impossible.

I see plenty of good suggestions but what worked for me is using one of the existing holes I drilled that didn't hit a stud and taking a length of coat hanger and bending it, slide into the hole and rotate to find the stud.

There really wasn’t any sort of cohesive code requirement of any sort until 1950. What we (at least in the US) refer to as the International Building Code wasn’t even established until 2000.

It’s been pretty much a piecemeal endeavor since Ye Olden Time.

~EDIT~ Fat finger number correction.

None of these techniques work in my house from 1850. Best I can do is measure stud distances in the attic and work my way from the nearest window.

There might be wires to the side of the stud, but theres no wires between the stud and the wall, the stud is right up against the wall. As long as you're drilling into the actual stud theres no possibility of hitting wires.

Magnet(i use neodymium) on some tape, slide the magnet around once it gives resistance you have found a nail. stud should be there. Its the only way i can find studs in my house because in a previous remodel instead of ripping out the failing plaster/drywall they just threw up another layer in pretty much every single room.

If you got a powerful fridge magnet… drag that bad boy up and down the wall where you think a stud should be and wait for the magnet to give resistance. A strong enough magnet will catch on the drywall screws… then hope the drywall screws are actually in the studs

Mine is from 1850, interior walls are 18" on center, studs the wide way. Exterior are 14" o.c., everything is rough cut chestnut real 2x4, and sheds nails unless you drive dead straight; I think it's half petrified. Balloon frame.

Stud finder is useless, it's all plaster and lath, I'm still replacing knob and tube, slightly complicated by needing to work around the defunct pipes from the gas lighting the knob and tube replaced. I tore out some 1.5" drains that had an actual inside diameter of less than 1/2" due to decades of buildup.

And yet it still feels more solid than any modern house I've been in, the insurance company says replacement cost is 480k (sale price was 109k). 18" thick stone foundation.

I’m currently renovating a house with 19.2 OC main floor joists, 16 OC main floor studs, 24 OC attic joists and roof rafters.

The attic joists also simply meet end to end in the center over a non-load-bearing 2x4 wall with a single top plate, and zero headers in the doorway openings in said wall.

Point load, and a great many other pretty essential things, basically don’t exist.

Shockingly, it’s one of the straightest, most level and plumb homes I’ve ever worked on… which likely has a lot to do with the fact that it’s all rough cut old growth Douglas Fir. Beautiful lumber, and still really straight.

But yeah… it’s a 1920s house built by the original occupant. The client is that guy’s granddaughter.

You tap the wall with your finger. You'll hear hollow sounds when you're between studs and solid thumps when you are on the stud.

If you mark a couple that way, you can dial it in if you're not sure.

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That's not a guarantee either. Old work gang boxes can go anywhere, because they clamp onto the wall.

I've also seen fuckery like gang boxes screwed to box bridges spanning studs.

Personally, I just use my finger. You tap on the wall. Hollow sounds mean no stud, then it sounds more solid, and you've found the stud.

Remove all mulch.

Get some chicken wire and lay that down on dirt before gravel. Attatch the chicken wire to the edge of your shed frame. This will keep vermin out of shed, otherwise it will be the home to something.

have seen things that I'm pretty sure were spaced based on the hammer length. All evenly spaced, just at no interval that made any sense.

What are you trying to hold?

Those spring anchor anchors are good for 80+ lbs

Very carefully pull off a piece of the baseboard. You can cut a 1/4” - 1/2” channel where the trim will cover it.

Once you find them, replace the baseboard using a little bit of Liquid Nails.

Just be careful if the top has been sealed up with caulking/paint. Use a sharp razor knife to very carefully slice that along the top edge.

Feel your pain. 1933 house. Not a single square anything anywhere