I moved on to testing for repeat accuracy on a regular wall. The red arrow was right on the center of the stud and had I inserted a nail or screw at that point, it would have been dead-on.

As soon as I reached the stud’s center, the lines met in a “V,” and a lighted red arrow appeared on the wall above. As I slid the tool across the surface of the test wall, diagonal lines appeared on either side of the digital display to indicate the sensors were moving over a stud. I inserted a 9-volt battery, and the stud finder was ready to go. For those who need to find the center of a stud, either for securely hanging artwork or cutting the drywall along the stud’s centerline, the Zircon Stud Finder shines. At the end of the testing, I added up the scores for each stud finder and used them to categorize the tools based on their best use. I scored each stud finder on accuracy, ease of use, and screen visibility, and I recorded the scores on a rubric. In addition, to test for live wires, I ran the stud finders (the ones with wire-finding functions) over a section of wall in my home where I know electrical wires run. That allowed me to test the tools on the drywall while noting how accurate they were. I framed up a test board with several vertical studs and attached standard, ½-inch drywall to the bottom half of the studs. I wanted to create a test situation that was very close to the situation DIYers and pros face when trying to find hidden studs, so I built a facsimile of a stud wall.

Users rely on wall stud finders to pinpoint the location of studs concealed beneath the drywall because deciding how to find a stud can be difficult without one of these handy tools. To make this list of the best stud finders, each one of the tools I tested had to be highly accurate. Photo: Glenda Taylor How We Tested the Best Stud Finders

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