I'm trying to mount a 50lbs cedar mantle over my fire place. Can't seem to finda wood stud behind the wall because my fire place has a stone facade. Anyrecommendations will be greatly appreciate it.

Oscar: Since this is a fireplace, I'm presuming it's an exterior wall and finding the stud locations from the other side will be equally difficult. In a case like this, about the only thing you can do is determine where they should be from a known stud location. If there is an electrical outlet or switch on that fireplace wall, take the cover plate off and see which side of the electrical box the stud is on. You know the studs will be on 16 inch centers, so you can measure off multiples of 16 inches to find the locations of the studs where the mantle is. Now, obviously, studs aren't always straight, and you may not hit one using this method, so drill your holes if possible into the mortar joints between the stones on the facade. That way, if you don't hit a stud, you can enlarge those holes an put hollow wall anchors into them to hold the mantle. And, when the time comes to remove the mantle you can remove the hollow wall anchors and fill those holes with brick mortar to make for a...

How do i find a wood stud behind a wall that has a stone facade?

Sep 28, 2013 21 Replies

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Silverfox 12 years ago

I am doing exactly the same as you are and am having the same problem finding a stud. I agree 16" oc is normal however my stud finder did find one stud, with some reluctance, and it was 17-1/2" from the corner stud. No idea why. Drilling holes through the mortar will work and you don't have to worry about patching, since I would assume you would drill in the location where the mantle will be anyway - which will of course cover the holes.

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danny 9 years ago

replying to Silverfox, danny wrote: Im doing something similar but its a log mantle, if I drill into the mortar and put in lag shields will that hold it, it weighs about 100lbs

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