Ceiling Studs?

Sharp10r

So I have to place a hook in the ceiling to hang about 200 lbs. from. Do ceilings work like walls where I use a stud finder? I am woefully ignorant of this sort of thing. We're on the first floor of an apartment complex too. Thanks!

AtomBomb

It's hard to say. In some ceilings, like the ones in most of my house, it would work. Keep in mind that my house is a single story unit with a slanted roof built in 1958. However, especially in a multi-floor apartment complex, there are many other methods of construction where this would not work. There could be steel, concrete, who knows. Hopefully you already have something else that is mounted to the ceiling, like a light, or a ceiling fan, maybe a bathroom vent. I would remove and examine that to see how the ceiling is constructed.

If you do end up having wood studs, I would drill very tiny pilot holes to figure out where true center on the stud is. Most of the stud finders I've used just give you a vague idea.

What are you hanging?

PorkChopSandwiches

If you could, I would brace it across several of the ceiling joists. If you have attic access, wait for a cool day and do it from above. 200 lbs is quite a bit. The last thing you want is a very large hole in your ceiling or, even worse, to break one of the joists in your ceiling.

Edit: Ceiling boards are called joists.

PorkChopSandwiches

Basically what you might want to look into is something like this. The one linked only holds 150 lbs.

http://www.galesburgelectric.com/store/product.php?productid=2258

Newton

If your building is normal wood frame construction, you will have wooden joists every 12"-16". What I would do is mount whatever you are hanging (which I am assuming is some sort of sex swing), to a section of 2"x4" and then mount that across two ceiling joists to help distribute the weight a little more. A stud finder will help you find the joists, but be sure to verify this by drilling some small pilot holes like AtomBomb suggested. With this much weight, you want to be sure you are in the very center of that joist.