I've worked within the 18th century style homes for 17 years and know how they are built. I recommend finding a stud but it isn't possible to always get one with a smaller cabinet. A lot of plasters were reinforced with horsehair and are even stronger. It is at least 3/8" thick and embedded in plaster. The lath that the plaster is laid on is usually oak or chestnut. And I've swung from them, and I'm no lightweight. To contributor D: I've done cabinets this way on good plaster. Don’t be surprised to find 2 x 4's that are actually 2 x 4 and no round-over on the edges. The studs might be 16 '' center to center but it’s no guarantee in older homes. Find the stud with a nail and hang the cabinet on studs. As for chicken wire, I’ve never seen it in houses. It might be great for holding up a picture but not a cabinet. I always make sure I have positively located enough studs to secure a particular cabinet before I raise it. After you pinpoint the center of a stud, try to determine what the framing spacing is by measuring a logical distance like 16". If you hit chicken wire the bit should just deflect. I am sure this will work on plaster and lath too. When it goes deeper and is still drilling wood, that is a stud. I can tell when I am between them because the drill goes the same depth every time and then frees up. To the original questioner: When there is plywood sheeting behind the sheet rock (I won’t fasten a wall cabinet to sheeting either) I take a drill with a 1/4" drill bit and hunt for studs. The lath I have seen during a demolition seems like it was 1/2" thick by 1" wide if that. I did mess with plaster once in the 70's and it seems to me I had to use a carbide masonry drill. Isn't there usually chicken wire in the plaster? It seems like that would interfere with the stud finder. They do have stud finders that can penetrate the plaster walls and reliably find the studs - don't expect them to be 16" on center. You can also hunt for the studs with a screw where the cabinets will be hung, then put the cabinets up and the extra holes will be hidden behind the cabinets. The base of the plaster will be a split lath and there is a 90% chance of screwing into it. If the plaster is in good to excellent condition you can literally screw it anywhere. But thinking about it, I can just cut a section away behind the cabinet to figure out what's back there. My concern was being able to find them behind the plaster. I believe they still used wood stud framing 100 years ago. (Cabinet and Millwork Installation Forum) From there, you can either use a scope (some are less than $30), or just use a coat hanger to poke/feel around inside the wall, to locate the studs.I am going to be installing some upper cabinets on plaster walls in a 100 year old home. You can also consider drilling a single hole in the wall in a spot that will be covered by the mounting plate, once it's installed. That way, you may be able to see the studs but won't need to patch the walls. You can also usually remove the base trim, then cut or drill small holes above the base plate in the wall but that will be covered by the trim. Sometimes, you can remove the covers from one or more wall outlets, and be able to see where they are connected to a wall stud on one side. But there are often other ways to properly locate studs, without ripping a giant hole in the wall. Even wood lath can confuse many quality stud finders. If you have plaster walls with metal lath, you may find that no stud funder will really help you at all. All it takes is a Google search to find loads of videos and pics of TVs that fell off the wall, because of inadequate mounting. Drywall anchors are generally not good, for a heavy TV mount.
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