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I drilled 2 large holes for mounting a flat screen in the bedroom. One hole is in a wood stud and the other is a metal stud. I will be renting out our apartment and will be taking the TV down and filling the holes and repainting walls. If I ever plan to move back into this apartment and mount a TV again in the same spot, how do I avoid not drilling in the same exact spot? Basically, I don't want to hit a portion of the same hole and create an even larger hole, making it very unsafe to mount a TV. Is there a way to mark the spot so that I know to avoid it in the future?

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  • Is this even a concern? Shouldn't it be obvious when installing a wall anchor that it is secure? (The screws don't strip when torquing them, and you should always load-test to at least 2x the use load.) It's probably more likely that you catch the edge of a stud or find a void where a knot was than to find the same hole again. Also, you could fill the hole with a mixture of sawdust and wood glue which would be quite strong and re-drillable.
    – Paul
    Aug 1, 2014 at 16:29

3 Answers 3

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Chip away the drywall over the hole and install a Stud Plate. These are designed to stop anyone from drilling into a wire that runs through a stud.

Patch the drywall. Next time, if you can't find the location, and accidentally drill in the same spot, you'll hit the stud plate.

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  • This stud plate idea is the best. Later to find where they are in the finished wall just run a strong magnet over the wall area.
    – Michael Karas
    Jul 29, 2014 at 4:45
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Why not just measure the height of your bracket and keep note of it, then next time mount it a few inches higher or lower so you don't risk hitting the same spots?

I suppose you could also plot the X,Y co-ordinates from a corner of the wall and mark those spots to avoid when you move back.

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Why not just leave the bolts (lag, I assume) in the holes, screwed in below the level of the wall; then patch the wall. You can find them with a magnet if you ever want to reuse them.

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