Nail and screw detector?

[Ian White]

Can anyone recommend a nail and screw detector that won't be fooled by foil-backed plasterboard? I'm hoping to find the heads of the steel fixing screws, which protrude a board's thickness forward of the foil.

Any recommendations based on *practical experience*, please?

[The3rd Earl Of Derby]

Impossible? perhaps if you explain in a bit of detail as to why you want to find nails/screws someone could come up with an idea?

-- Sir Benjamin Middlethwaite

[Ian_m]

Just use some strong neodymium magnets (I used 4 off 1/2" x 1/8" from Ebay or

a rod magnet might have been better) they stick on the screws. I removed the kitchen/study ceiling, cleanly this way, last weekend. Use the magnets to find the screws, expose the heads using a screwdriver (or other appropriate tool), remove 1/2 the screws per plasterboard sheet, score along 1/2 of sheet and pull down. Sheet breaks cleanly in half, minimum mess and easily handled.

[Steven Campbell]

Brilliant tip. Cheers

[Ian White]

Yes - brilliant!

I need to fix shelf brackets to the wooden studs underneath, but had forgotten to mark the centres on the floor before the plasterers came. However, I do know that the studs are accurately vertical, and the plasterboard screws are accurately on the centre-lines.

All right then... old pair of headphones... crunch... small ceramic magnet... scan delicately across wall... magnet sticks to wall over screw head, exactly as advertised... mark... scan up and down... mark... mark... good vertical line. Next stud, etc.

Excellent - thanks, Ian!

[Ian_m]

Oh you might want to wrap insulation tape round magnets as:-

1. The nickel coating leaves marks on emulsion paint (not a problem if removing).
2. The magnets are prone to shattering if they say "jump" to something ie screwdriver used to remove screws.

[Ian White]

Thanks for the warnings. The magnets I used weren't prone to either of those problems (probably because they were nowhere near as strong as the ones you used) but it's best not to find out the hard way.