Sunday, September 9, 2012

DIY Stud Finder - I Know, Not Homebrew

Ok, so I know that this post isn't related to homebrewing, but I came up with the idea because of homebrewing so I figured I'd share.

A few years ago while putting up some baseboards I put a nail right through a water line (which homebuilder had WAY to close to dry wall) and I had water shooting into my bathroom. Calling a plumber on a Sunday wasn't cheap. Since then, I've been a little gun shy about putting nails in the wall where I suspect pipes may be. Well I just replaced all the floors in my house so I also had to replace all the baseboards. I debated going out and buying a stud finder but I didn't want to spend the money.

I then had the idea that maybe I could just use a magnet to find the nails in the studs. The stronger the magnet the better. Then the light bulb when off. I had the earth magnets that I took out of hard drives to build stir plates (yes, here is the homebrew connection). They worked perfect. I'd pass them over the wall and the magnets would have a strong pull to the nails in the drywall and just hang there.

So if you got an old harddrive laying around, take out the earth magents and you'd have yourself a free stud finder.

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