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I'm trying to find studs along my wall and have been successful except for the wall corners which have me confused. I am using a magnet to find the studs which is working well. However, along the wall corners in my house the magnet attaches to the wall along the entire vertical length. It seems like there is a metal plate in these areas. I am not knowledgeable with construction and am wondering - is it safe to use the wall corners as studs? If so, do I need a particular type of drill bit to get through this? Do people generally stay away from these "wall plates"?

Thanks in advance for the help.

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  • Why are you trying to locate them? If they are metal studs, you're going to need the correct fasteners for the job. If they aren't metal studs, then you should absolutely NOT drill or screw where a magnet attaches.
    – Mazura
    Commented Jul 31, 2015 at 2:52
  • I have a string attached to the magnet to help locate the stud center as the string hangs down, so I don't drill anything into where there is already a screw to begin with. However the issue along the wall corners is the magnet attaches along the entire vertical length (floor to ceiling) and I was concerned about a metal plate of some kind being behind the dry wall.
    – Juan
    Commented Jul 31, 2015 at 3:21

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The outside corners of your walls have metal "drywall corner bead". (There's also paper and plastic.) Sometimes, though rare, there's metal bead in the inside corners.

The corner bead itself is relatively thin, but if you're trying to get through it, either with a drill bit or a screw, you'll need to push reasonably forcefully. If you don't, the bead can ride up the screw or bit, which will create a crack in the plaster.

Putting a screw into the last inch of a corner isn't a fabulous idea, though. Typically, there's 1/2" drywall, which won't hold a screw, and then the edge of the stud, which can splinter off and not be very strong.

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Unless it's a new construction home, it's unlikely to have metal studs. I think you're finding protection plates, covering wires or pipes, running through wood studs. That would be why you aren't finding all the studs to hold the magnet along their entire vertical lengths. Where you are finding it to hold throughout, is probably metal corner bead.

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