# How many holes can I drill into a wood stud?



## Lostintyme (Feb 26, 2012)

Hello Lumberjocks.com,

I am very new to the "woodworking" scene. I'm more of a computer kind of guy. Recently, I mounted three 23" monitors to wall studs (1 monitor per stud), but I went in blindly and the project came out looking different then I would have wanted it to look (the mounts are not level with eachother, and the result being monitors up to 2" higher then the other ones).

Each mount took up four 3/16" drill holes per stud. *My main question is, will it ruin my wall if I make another four 3/16" holes per stud on the same stud, but in a different location (higher/lower)?*

Thank you! Any help will make my week. Pictures are available if needed.


----------



## HamS (Nov 10, 2011)

The flip answer I immeditately came up with when I saw your post headline was "It depends on how much you want the stud to hold up. four 3/16 holes in a stud are the equivalent of cutting 12/16 or 3/4 of an inch from the stud. probably not a big deal at all. If the holes are lined up vertically with each other it only counts as 1 cut for 3/16. If you wnat to be sur, either leave the screws in or fill the holes in the stud with a 3/16 dowel, I would not worry at all about it though as electricians and plumbers routinely drill 7/8 or 1 in holes in studs and think nothing at all about the structural impact. A 2×4 stud can support an amazing amount of weight in compression, a douglas fir 2×4 can support 11,600 lbs. If you take away twosquare inches of that with a 1 inch hole it is still able to support 8,700 lbs.


----------



## ShipWreck (Feb 16, 2008)

You would be surprised at how many holes are in the studs in your walls already. They are punched out for electrical wires,plumbing, and hvac. A 3/16" bore is not going to hurt anything…..even if it is a load bearing wall.
Just make sure you drill your next set a couple inches higher or lower to void having that particular area of the studs being chewed up with more drilling.

Always use a level.


----------

