How Do I Find Studs Behind Vinyl Siding

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.

How do i find studs behind vinyl siding. 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. The better way is to locate the edges of the osb sheathing. In theory the siding should be nailed at the studs. Use a metal detector to find the nails in the studs if you get dew on the house in the morning a lot of the time you can see exactly where the studs are when there is dew on the siding and it is just starting to evaporate it usually evaporates off the studs first since they are a bit warmer.

This is not always the case depending on the installer. The edges must be nailed into a stud. Measure 16 and mark additional stud locations. Vinyl siding must never be applied directly to studs without sheathing.

Some manufacturers of vinyl siding do not recommend the use of drop in backers with certain vinyl siding configurations. Grab yourself a siding removal tool and pull up the top section of siding i m fairly certain you ll find a video on youtube on how to use it. Here s a super simple old school way to find a wall stud without having to buy an electronic stud finder. I found these answers on a different site.

As an alternative installation of specific types of drop in contoured foam underlayments for various styles of vinyl siding are available. 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. It s easy and works great. 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.