On Feb 9, 8:49*pm, "WW" wrote:
wrote in messagenews:rvodh85g8nv7e0kgcc968vc4gc0r6dek6o@4ax .com...

On Sat, 9 Feb 2013 15:10:32 -0800 (PST), Greg Guarino









wrote:
On Feb 9, 9:58 am, Leon lcb11211@swbelldotnet wrote:
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.

ALTERNATIBELY, *Drill lots of holes to find your studs in a straight
line even with where the rail will go.

Cover all of those holes up with a 1x4 piece of wood to match the hand
rail, anchoring it to the studs you found. *Mount your hand rail to the
board you just used to cover the holes.

Funny thing. That idea occurred to me today while I was thinking about
something else. Delays really do increase the efficiency of my work
sometimes. I am seriously considering using this method.

Swingman suggested a 1/16" bit to find the studs. But I'm worried that
I may not have a sensitive enough "feel" for when I've hit a stud with
such a small bit and through thick plaster and wood lath. But a
decorative board to cover the holes seems pretty foolproof, which is
exactly the sort of method I need. Thanks.

* Drill with the 1/16 bit. 2 inched max depth. Sound the holes with a
3" pin. If it stops at 2", you are in a stud. If it goes farther than
2", you are not.

Brilliant idea. *I may find this for use sometime. WW

I agree. Simple and sure. I'll try it.