On 2/9/2013 8:16 AM, Greg Guarino wrote:
This is not really a woodworking question, but I figure someone here
can answer it.

My Dad is 92 and needs to grab onto things to climb the stairs. But
for a short section of the stairway in their house, there's no
sensible thing to grab.

Their house is plaster on lath if memory serves. Wood strips, I think,
not wire. [This is an ancient memory. My parents had a larger closet
made when I was a very young boy and I was allowed to bash away at the
plaster for a little while. I remember being disappointed when I came
back from school and found that the rest of the demolition had already
been completed. ]

Anyway, I have no experience finding studs in that kind of
construction. The walls are too rigid for me to just sound them out
with my fist. I don't own a stud finder, but I might buy one if it's
of any use in that kind of wall. I'm not eager to drill a series of
holes that I'll need to repair, and then match the paint. If it comes
down to it, I suppose I could remove the base molding and drill holes
at the bottom of the wall, but the molding is finished oak, and a
little complicated, and would be very hard to replace if an oaf like
me were to damage it.

Suggestions? I imagine I'd use oak railing parts from the Borg, by the
way.



Could you possibly get on top of the wall, from the attic, and locate
the studs from the nails in the top plate?