Best $40 I spent this month was a cheap laser measuring tool that caught a stud anomaly before I drilled

I grabbed it off a clearance shelf at the local hardware store in Austin, and it saved me from putting a hole straight into an old metal vent pipe behind the drywall, so has anyone else had a cheap tool actually do a better job than the expensive version?

3 comments

3 Comments

violag8010d ago

Stud finders detect wood, not plastic or metal vents so that's a lucky miss.

morgan.jason10d ago

Honestly, I used to think stud finders were just looking for anything solid behind drywall, vents included. This changed my mind completely, @violag80, because I totally would've been one of those people drilling straight into a metal vent thinking it was a stud. Ngl, thinking about the damage I avoided is a relief. Tbh, lucky miss is an understatement for how close I've been to that mistake before.

the_oliver10d ago

A metal vent? I'd have drilled straight through that thinking it was a solid stud too.