How Do I Find Studs Behind Vinyl Siding

To the best of my knowledge we won t see a stud by lifting siding unless the house was built about 1925.

How do i find studs behind vinyl siding.

In theory the siding should be nailed at the studs. This is not always the case depending on the installer. It s easy and works great. For solid cladding such as stucco or brick your best bet is to locate the studs inside the house and then transfer the measurements to the exterior wall.

For vinyl siding use a vinyl siding removal tool to unsnap the seal between two pieces of siding allowing you to see the nail heads. Remove the section of siding at the elevation you plan on mounting the awning at. Then you can check for studs however you like drilling test holes etc. The edges must be nailed into a stud.

As an alternative installation of specific types of drop in contoured foam underlayments for various styles of vinyl siding are available. I found these answers on a different site. Vinyl siding must never be applied directly to studs without sheathing. Here s a super simple old school way to find a wall stud without having to buy an electronic stud finder.

Some manufacturers of vinyl siding do not recommend the use of drop in backers with certain vinyl siding configurations. If that s true and i wanted to hit a stud close to dead center i d probably make myself about a 6 long 3 32 diameter drill bit locate a stud from inside and bore a hole from inside out next to the stud. The better way is to locate the edges of the osb sheathing. Oh i just need to find a stud to hang this picture and fifteen holes later you re convinced the wall is held up by pixie dust and a wish because apparently there s no wood behind it.

Sadly you can t always rely on the nails holding any type of siding to indicate where the studs are but if it s vinyl over plywood the plywood nails should be a good guide.