Tips on Drilling in Plaster Walls

Studs

• A stud finder device may work well on a wall with drywall, but it does not pinpoint the location of studs behind a wall with plaster. You may be able to approximate the location of the studs in the wall using a stud finder that penetrates further into a wall. Once you find one stud, you may estimate that the other studs sit about 16 inches apart from one another. If you are still unsure about the exact location of the studs, drill pilot holes in the wall using a small mason drill bit. If you feel the bit hit a pocket of air behind the plaster, this indicates there is no stud. If you meet resistance no matter how far you drill into the wall, you have penetrated a stud.

Drilling Technique

• When drilling into plaster, you cannot use too much force or else you risk cracking the plaster and having the hole you are drilling fall apart. This means if your drill has a hammer action, you need to not use it even though plaster can resist drilling at first. You must drill slowly at first, since plaster is slippery on the surface and the drill bit can skip across the wall, penetrating at the wrong point.

Painter’s Tape

• The old drywall may crumble or break apart when you penetrate it with a nail or even a drill bit, unlike newer drywall walls. The drywall’s outer surface is where the crumbling starts, since it cracks from the force of the penetration. To combat the plaster’s tendency to crack and crumble, place a piece of painter’s tape where you wish to drill into the plaster wall. The painter’s tape keeps the plaster together, rather than letting it crack apart and crumble. When you are done drilling, you then peel the painter’s tape from the wall without fear of the tape peeling off any paint.

Widening the Hole

• You may widen the hole you drill in a plaster wall if you need a wider hole to fit an anchor. Sometimes the largest drill bit you have available to you is smaller than the hollow wall anchor you need to use for hanging an object on the wall. In such a situation, you must insert a long and thin instrument that fits inside the hole you drilled, such as a knife or a screwdriver. Use the instrument to make the hole bigger by moving the instrument in a circular motion as you press against the sides of the hole.