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.

As dadiOH mentioned, I have been there, although I used crown molding to
hide an exterior wall alarm contact wire.