I have a lot of kitchens to install on walls with double drywall over metal studs. My Franklin Sensors stud finder is great for single drywall but is failing on double, I have been having to search for them with a screw and things aren’t really OC. What strategies are recommended for finding studs in such a situation?
Drywall – How does one find studs in double drywall
drywallstuds
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As Legion600 suggested, you probably have steel studs as furring strips. You need to be sure you are not hitting protection plates installed on wood studs.
These protect electrical or plumbing lines close to the stud face, and you must never attempt to drill through these. Usually, if you drill several inches above or below such plates, you will hit wood. If you are hitting metal along the entire stud length, it is not a protection plate, but a metal stud. Metal studs in this application should be fairly light gauge and easy to drill through. Protection plates are about 16 GA and are not easy to drill through.
You may anchor objects to metal studs. They are sturdy enough when finish sheathing is attached along their length. Do not use toggles, the hole required is too large. It's best to use a number of self-drilling screws that are barely long enough to engage the stud face material after passing through the mount and wall finish. This avoids damaging any lines routed through the center holes of the stud. You can also use self tapping screws into pre-drilled holes, but drill very carefully so as not to damage any underlying lines when the drill breaks through the face material, and again, use appropriate length screws.
From my research, it seems like snap toggles are highly recommended, and for your situation with metal studs, I think they would work since the approximate weight you are estimating is 60 lbs. Snaptoggles (aka toggle straps aka toggler bolts) claim to hold over 200 lbs in 1/2" drywall.
I have yet to use them myself, so it would be cool if another member here can comment on them.
How did your project work out? Did you mount your cabinets? I am looking for similar info as I also just moved into a high-rise building and my apartment wall has metal studs, so I researching solutions to mount my tv.
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Best Answer
The same way we find studs for single drywall.
Magnetic stud finder
Your drywall has to be screwed in properly. You will have vertical columns of screws. When the magnet hits something, go up or down a little, if it hits a vertical column - there is your stud. Since it is double drywall there would definitely not be skipping of studs so you should be able to mark everything in kitchen in a few minutes.