BLACK+DECKER SF100 Wood Stud Finder

One of my best toys. My house is a confusion of studs. This is so helpful hanging my quilts and pictures. It's worth the purchase, especially if you are a handy lady.

Good item

This is a review for the Black & Decker SF100 Wood Stud Finder. First let me say - this is a very basic tool and definitely a top ten for the home handyman. It's a simple device, no extra bells or whistles - it simply detects something behind the wall. The only downside is the black felt pads on the back of the device are cheaply dyed and can leave faint marks on your white drywall. A simple solution is to lightly dampen them and blot them until they're mostly dry. Then let them rest on a few paper towels to air dry (felt pads facing down). That should help get some of the excess dye to drain down into the paper towels and not on your walls. For best results, don't use it until the pads are 100% dry. Other than the streaky black felt pads, this tool works very well. Use a little common sense when you're working with it and try to steer clear of wiring that may be detected (rarely) by accident. Make sure if you find a stud at 5', that you find that same stud at 4', 3' etc. It will help minimize false readings. Batteries are replaced at the bottom of the device (The black panel under the words "Stud Sensor"). On a personal note, although you may be tempted guys, don't turn it on in front of your wife and then point it at yourself while saying, "Hey look, it found a stud!" - you will only get a sad shaking of the head at best or at worst she may steal it from you and head for the bar. You have been warned. A final note - be aware the packaging for these is ridiculous - it's hard plastic that's been heat sealed and clamped all the way around except for the base, which is folded. To open, don't do what I did by trying to slit open the bottom to get an opening to tear the whole thing apart. My knife slipped (cutting away, like you should) and my finger dove straight down into the hard, freshly cut plastic...which proceeded to act like a really sharp knife and slice my finger open. Instead, be wise and take it out to your work bench, lay it flat on the table and cut the thing open - with safety scissors, preferably. Overall, the cut was a small price to pay for a great product. Be safe out there building a better you.

Awesome product. This stud finder is not going to disappoint. This stud finder is able to give an honest and accurate reading. I tested this stud finder when having to mount a TV mount to the wall in my son's room. This product did not go off until it came across a stud, and the moment you went past that stud the light would go off. This product also alerts you to when there is a stud by beeping when it comes across one. I appreciated that fact as I found myself having to look down as I navigated my son's room while attempting to find the studs. I haven't had a chance to use this stud finder again, but I will be shortly. And feel confident in that this will be there ready to work without issues.

We also live in an older house, where hanging pictures it not a problem, but I purchased this so that I could loacte wall studs to securely attach anti-tip furniture straps to protect our toddler. I tried several times over any given area of wall, and could not get a repeatable reading. It detected studs where there was none and missed some completely. I ended up placing the dresser between 2 windows so I knew there were studs there. Recently tried it again in a different room where we have doors that slide into the wall. I discovered that I could see into the wall in the 1/2" gap by the door, and I could determine the actual location of studs (almost 3 " wide) with a measuring tape. This stud finder was still just as clueless.

I got this on a deal for like $16 bucks. I'll admit it's better than knocking on the wall over and over to find the stud. It's sort of temperamental, sometimes it finds the stud, sometimes it thinks it finds the stud. Maybe I'm using it wrong, but it doesn't really come with instructions so you just gotta wing it. I did find the studs after a few failed attempts. So I guess it was worth it.

I purchased this for my sister who had just purchased a home and was complaining that she could couldn't find any wood in the walls. At first she told me not to buy it she didn't need it. I knew that she had never seen one and when she got it, she tried tried and was OMG it actually works and has been thrilled ever since. I made sure that it was a quality brand that she would trust, thank you so much for the quality product and always your excellent service

Makes finding a stud easy, even for those of us who are not trained in building.

Great small stud finder. Works well, obviously not as well as the more expensive, bigger counterparts. But it is great for finding mounting studs, and for small repairs.

This is my first experience with this type of tool, and the accuracy seems slightly off. It could have been user error, but I tried to follow the instructions and missed about one stud out of five on my first attempt.

A decent stud finder. I used it when I was wall mounting some TVs. I'm sure there is probably some more high quality products out there, but the price for this was very reasonable and it works pretty well.

I'm a tool nerd, and this handy little stud fibder was the perfect little tool. Bought this to help install TV wall mounts. I <3 new tools! It is easy to use, has light and sound indicators (I'm visually impaired so the sound indicator helps).

Edited: I bought a painting yesterday and tried to use this again, well my husband did. Still doesn't detect, complete waste of money... Wish I had held onto packaging to return. Really disappointed. I threw away money, as this is going in the garbage. Really hard time with this, my boyfriend is the handy one really hard to find studs. Knocking on the wall to find wood beams works as well as this device. I'm quite surprised from Black n Decker, a company I otherwise respect.