I'm not sure why your general contractor told you that there were no studs behind the lath and plaster wall, but I would be inclined not to ask him any more questions. There have to be studs back in there, lath and plaster is not structural. You can find them with a stud-finder device(electronic), or you can drill holes. They should be on 16 inch centers.

Probably didn't want to be bothered I'd guess.

Thank you for a more reasonable answer.

Thanks brickeyee. I will try the stud finder 1st and if that doesn't work I will go to town with the drill. I really want that potrack.

I love GW. Here I have 2 very thorough answers for free, while the guy who is getting all my life savings is no help at all.

Hi,
Depending on the weight of the cookware and the structural integrity of the plaster, you may get by with a wall anchor of some kind. Like a molly, so-called.
If your home is of mid-century vintage, and has wire lath and hard cement plaster, essentially interior stucco, you are in business. OTOH, If it's 200 year old horsehair and clay over lath which has the nails pulling loose, you'd better find those studs. In my case, the older part of my house has the stud cavities filled with brick (nogging), interior heart pine sheathing (horizontal 1x12's) and finally lath & plaster. So I can screw into any part of those walls and find anchorage.
Casey

I haven't done it, but I have also heard of people hammering very thin (but long) finish nails to probe the walls for studs. It could be tricky though because if you hit lath you might be fooled into thinking it's a stud. Just knock the house down and start over! :)

i've found the best way to locate studs in my lathe & plaster house is to use two stud detectors. different companies stud detectors work slightly differently, so you can confirm the location before you go drilling/hammering. Make sure that you move the stud detector perfectly horizontally for best results. If you move up/down it'll detect the lathe. If you move left/right it'll see through the lathe to the studs. I've got a +98% success rate doing it this way.

I think this answer solved my dilemma. There's so much wood behind my wall it seemed impossible to find a stud with a stud finder. However, if I carefully find the space between the lath vertically, I can then find the stud horizontally. It seems to work. Is that what you meant? Am I being naive, smatthew-gw?

You don't have to find the gap between the lath. When you set the stud finder on the wall and press the button, the first thing it does is take a baseline reading. It's looking for changes in that reading. You need to keep the sensor moving horizontally so the only change it will see is from the stud. You'll get a few false readings, but keep doing it - working both ways (i.e. left to right, and right to left) and when it beeps put a piece of tape or sticky note on the wall. Pretty soon you'll see the outline of the stud start to emerge.

Thanks.

When you do determine where you want to put a hole to catch the stud, do not try to just hammer a nail through the plaster. If you try that it will usually cause a break in the plaster surface about the size of a quarter and you will have a divot around the hole. It can be easily filled back in with plaster, but that is more work than you want have just to hang something up. To be safe you need to pre-drill all holes in the plaster, including small holes for a picture hangar or nail.

Bruce

I'll be hanging a closet system. I was going to put tape up as well as pre-drill all holes. Fortunately it will be in the closet and I won't be looking at all my mistakes every day.

The simplest way is to knock on the wall until it doesn't sound hollow. This might only get you to within a few inches of the stud. An electrical receptacle might give you the location of one stud to sue as a reference point.

To use a detector you must determine if the lath is wood or metal. Your contractor should know or you can tell by removing an electrical box cover plate.

If it is metal lath you might be able to use the trial and error method but if the material is sound you can use moly bolts that are inserted in a drilled hole and expand when you tighten them.

If it is wood lath a stud finder will sometimes work but it may be fooled by the inconsistent density of the plaster and the additional density of the wood lath but its worth a try. Be aware that there might be horizontal or diagonal bracing in the wall.

It may be possible to search for the nails that attach the wood lath to the studs either with a detector that has a metal mode or one that is designed to detect only metal. Zircon is a good brand.

Another way to find the nails is with a small magnet. There are small magnetic stud finders with a pivoting magnet that dips when over a nail. You can also hang a small magnet from a string.

Its odd that your contractor wouldn't be willing to do this for you.

Sorry. I confused things by posting my own problem on someone else's post. I don't have a contractor. I moved into a pre-war co-op in the Bronx. The stud finder I bought doesn't work on my walls. Trial and error will be my guide. Then patching. Thanks everyone.

May be able to find a nail or screw put in a stud with a magnet stud finder

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Master-Magnetic-Stud-Locator-96564/203613181

Franklin Pro Sensor is probably the best stud finder out there if it can penetrate the lathe, I dont have lathe but I got this sensor and it is the easiest one I have ever used, worth every cent.

http://www.amazon.com/ProSensor-710-Franklin-Sensors-Precision/dp/B0064EICKG/ref=lp_553280_1_2/191-2411885-2206323?s=power-hand-tools&ie=UTF8&qid=1430244749&sr=1-2

You need a very good stud finder due to the density of the old plaster walls.

Sometimes it's better to look for the nails than the studs. Old lath nails had decent size heads, and a rare earth magnet has enough power to grab them through plaster. There will also be finish nails in the baseboards that go into studs.

Anyone trying to find studs on old lathe & plaster walls, get yourself a decdecent magnet. run it up and down the wall, side to side unti you fell it pull. this will indicate a nail head. from here, move the magnet up until you find anither nail head while marking each spot as you go.. afterwards you will have marked out the studs behind the old lathe and plaster wall. no drilling required, no messing patching up holes, no messing around. you can thank me later.

Outer walls don’t always have studs, sometimes it’s just plaster over brick. But you definitely can hang heavy stuff by drilling into the brick.