How to Find a Stud Behind Ceramic Tile

By
Lee Wallender
Lee Wallender
Lee Wallender

Lee has over two decades of hands-on experience remodeling, fixing, and improving homes, and has been providing home improvement advice for over 13 years.

Learn more about The Spruce's Editorial Process
Updated on 11/25/23
Reviewed by
Deane Biermeier
Deane Biermeier
Reviewed by Deane Biermeier
Deane Biermeier is an expert contractor with nearly 30 years of experience in all types of home repair, maintenance, and remodeling. He is a certified lead carpenter and also holds a certification from the EPA. Deane is a member of The Spruce's Home Improvement Review Board.
Learn more about The Spruce's Review Board
Rack Attached to Tile Wall
Jan Olofsson / EyeEm / Getty Images
Project Overview
  • Total Time: 10 - 30 mins
  • Yield: Find two studs behind tile
  • Skill Level: Beginner
  • Estimated Cost: $5 to $40

It may be necessary to find a stud or a pair of studs behind a ceramic wall to hang a towel rack, mount a shower grab bar, determine where to add shower controls, or even something as simple as installing a soap dish. If you're familiar with finding studs behind drywall, locating studs behind ceramic or porcelain tile is more complex.

Tile walls are thicker than drywall. Tile walls may contain cement boards, uncoupling mats, various fasteners, layers of thinset, pipes, and metal studs. All of these things complicate the search. No single tool is perfect, but a combination of tools and techniques will usually help you discover the studs before long.

What You'll Need

Equipment / Tools

Read all the steps first to determine which of the following tools you need.

  • Painter's tape
  • Pencil
  • Dielectric constant stud finder
  • Magnetic stud finder
  • Ultra wide band scanner
  • Measuring tape
  • Handheld drill
  • Small drill bits (for pilot holes)
  • Long finish nail

Materials

  • Tile grout (if needed)

Instructions

  1. Dielectric Constant Stud Finder

    A dielectric constant (DC) stud finder is the type of battery-powered stud finder that you slide across a wall until a red light signals that there is a solid mass behind the surface, such as a wooden stud.

    Apply a strip of painter's tape horizontally across the surface. Above or below the tape, pass the stud finder across the tile surface from side to side. Go slowly.

    Whenever there is a positive alert, no matter how weak, mark it on the tape with a pencil. After making multiple marks, you may begin to see a pattern develop. Clusters of pencil marks will indicate the presence of a dense item below, such as a stud.

    Tip

    Dielectric constant stud finders alone do a poor job of locating studs behind tile as they are prone to returning a host of false positives when there is a lot of dense material in the area. But in combination with other techniques, they may turn up the studs.

  2. Rare Earth Magnets

    Rare earth stud finders are super-sensitive, powerful magnets that you can run across a surface in hopes of detecting a metal fastener underneath. Tile isn't secured by metal fasteners, but its cement board substrate often is.

    You may be able to detect a fastener if you are patient and slow. It's helpful if the substrate is unusually thin. This is a possibility since tile thinset often fails to extrude through the tiler's float at a uniform thickness.

    Warning

    Rare earth magnets can be dangerous. Keep magnets far apart from each other. Keep a magnet away from metal. Rare earth magnets can pinch or cut skin and even break bones.

  3. Pilot Holes

    Wall studs tend to be spaced every 16 inches on-center. Starting from the corner of the room, measure off 16 inches, and mark that endpoint. Now you have a rough idea of where a stud might be located.

    On-Center

    On-center means the distance from the center of one stud to the center of the next stud.

    One method of fine-tuning your measurement is by drilling tiny investigative pilot holes.

    1. Drill through the tile grout. Use a small bit to start. Be sure to drill deep enough to penetrate the grout and the cement board.
    2. Probe the hole with a finish nail to feel whether there is a stud behind the tile.
    3. Drill several more holes if necessary to locate the stud.
    4. When the nail meets with consistent resistance, you've found the stud.
    5. After you have located the stud, mark its position with a tag of painter's tape on the tile.
    6. Later on, cover up the holes with a touch of grout.

  4. Ultra Wide Band (UWB) Scanner

    For finding a stud behind drywall, a UWB scanner is pricey and excessive. But for thick, dense, or otherwise problematic materials like dry or wet concrete, floor heating ducts, or metal, UWB scanners are indispensable.

    Instead of searching for metallic fasteners, UWB scanners use radar technology and can find studs behind thick tile and other materials with surprising ease.

    Tip

    UWB scanners are powerful enough that at various times since their introduction, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has required that operators of UWB scanners register their devices.

    Borrowing or renting a UWB scanner is certainly an option if you want to have easy work of finding studs behind the tile. However, buying one is another matter; most DIYers don't handle enough large projects to justify the expense of a UWB scanner for their tool shed.