Just realized my cheap stud finder was lying to me for months

I was hanging cabinets in my buddy's kitchen in Portland last weekend and his fancy Bosch unit kept beeping where mine said there was nothing. Turned out my $12 magnetic one from Harbor Freight missed three studs completely, so I screwed into drywall anchors where there was actually wood behind it. Now I'm redoing half the install and I feel like an idiot. Anyone else have a tool fail on them at the worst time?

3 comments

3 Comments

patricia_hill6010d ago

I screwed into drywall anchors where there was actually wood behind it" - okay but are the cabinets actually falling down or is this just a "now I know for next time" thing? Sometimes we overthink these little mistakes.

rivera.hannah10d ago

Have you tried just leaving the anchors in if they're not causing any issues yet? I had the same thing happen with some shelves and honestly just left the anchors in there, they're not hurting anything and the cabinets still feel solid. If it bothers you cosmetically you could always pull them out and fill the holes with wood filler before painting over it. But yeah, I learned the hard way too that drywall anchors are overkill when wood is right there lol.

mila_murphy10d ago

Wait does having wood behind drywall anchors actually mess with the stability that much? Ngl I always thought putting a screw into wood was better than relying on drywall but I guess the anchor gets all jammed up and doesn't grab right. @rivera.hannah's point about just leaving them in makes sense though if the cabinets aren't wobbling or anything. Tbh I used to feel like you had to rip everything out and start over but now I'm thinking a little overthinking never helps anyone. Honestly sometimes the best move is to just let it be and move on.