Mounts: Tips for hanging your television
By: Charlie Schmuck
March 2, 2010
Okay, you just got your new flat screen plasma home and your buddies are already making plans to come over and watch the latest Blu-ray movie and eat all your frozen pizzas. The first thing you did before you bought it was determining the perfect spot on the wall to give you optimum viewing from the comfort of your sofa, but now reality sets in. How are you supposed to mount the TV? Hanging a TV on the wall is not a simple as duct-taping that sweet Star Wars poster that you got off eBay on the wall. We have installed hundreds of televisions for our clients and the key to success is to get the right mount. And for that, you need to ask yourself a few questions.
First, did you run your wires in the wall? Mounting a TV looks nice, but not if you have a bunch wires hanging down under the TV to your cabinet. There are two basic ways to hide wires: run them in the wall, or use channeling. Running wires in the wall looks the best, but requires some knowledge of what you will find behind the drywall- electrical wiring, insulation, even cannonballs. Channeling requires less installer knowledge, but you will have a strip of plastic running from your TV to your audio/video cabinet.
Second, what type of mount are you going to use? There are three basic flavors of on-wall mounts: flat, tilting, and articulating:
- A flat mount allows the TV to be mounted flat on the wall- just like a painting. This work best when the TV is mounted low on the wall, when you are looking straight at the TV. The advantage of a flat mount is that you can mount the TV extremely tight to the wall.
- The most common mount people use should be a tilting mount, this allows you to mount your TV higher on the wall, and tilt it down at around 15 degrees, depending on the mount. With this mount, you get the best possible viewing angle, however, the TV will stand off the wall 4” to 6”.
- An articulating mount gives you more flexible options: the TV can be pulled out one to two feet, twist it left or right, and even tilt down (on some models). These are mostly used in areas where you might be watching TV from different parts of a room, like in a kitchen. The advantage is obviously flexibility. However, when the TV is pushed back it will sit about 10” off the wall- this is necessary for the articulating arms. There are more expensive mounts that park the arms inside the stud bay of your walls, but they require a lot of labor to install, and should be done by a professional installer.
Here are a few tips for mounting your TV:
- Buy a mount with an open plate on the back. Remember, you will have power outlets and wires behind the TV, and not every TV has their jacks in the same places. The open plate will give you the most flexibility.
- Speaking of wiring, don’t get crazy with a mount that is 1” off the wall. You need room to sweep the wires back there, and if you don’t have the skills needed to install recessed plates and outlets, it will just cause frustration and tears when you are trying to hook up your TV.
- Get help. A 50” flat screen can weigh around 75 pounds. And you have to lift it up high, and connect all your wires while you lift it and put it on the bracket.
- Measure- at least twice. The mounting plate needs to be bolted into your studs. Most homes have studs that measure 16” apart (on center). Measure once, use a stud finder to make sure you are on both studs, then measure again to make sure.
- Get a level, but don’t marry it. Make sure you have an actual level to use, and don’t trust the little bubble level that some mounts have built in. We use a small 1 foot level on our installations, and this seems to work well. However, just because your mount is level that doesn’t mean your floor or ceiling is level. Once the mounting plate is installed, measure from each corner down to the floor. Even a ½” difference can make that giant plasma TV look cock-eyed.
There is more to mounting a TV on the wall than meets the eye. When looking for that universal bracket that promises to match any flat-screen TV, often at a lower price than the competing manufacturer- specified models, be careful. Saving money is great, but don’t forget about the value of the TV hanging in the balance. Most TV’s use one of several VESA (Video Electronics Standards Association) mounting patterns, the layouts that define the distances between mounting holes. Make sure that a universal mount will support your TV’s hole mounting pattern.
Unless you are absolutely confident at attaching the bracket to the wall, can find the wall studs, and understand the types of wall surfaces (brick, drywall, plaster, stone, masonry) - you might consider using a professional installation company.
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