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- Brian Westover
- Find the studs. Once you've settled on the perfect spot on the wall, you'll need to find the studs to mount the bracket properly. Mounting your TV wall bracket to the studs provides the structural strength necessary to support a TV that could weigh anywhere between 30 and 100 pounds.
- Mark the hole position. Next you'll need to mark specifically where you plan to screw into the wall. Ideally, you will use a level to ensure that these marks are not only even between the two studs, but also to make sure that the amount will not be slanted.
- Double check the bracket position. With your marks in place, it's time to position the mounting bracket on the wall. First, place the bracket flat against the wall, lining up one screw location with the first marked hole.
- Drill pilot holes. Using a drill, you'll need to drill pilot holes through the drywall and into the studs in the proper positions.
How to Properly Mount a TV to a Wall: Step by Step - YouTube. Jonah Matthes. 95.6K subscribers. 1.9M views 4 years ago. In this video, we'll go over the entire process for mounting a TV to...
- 10 min
- 2M
- Jonah Matthes
- Overview
- What you’ll need (apart from a TV)
- What sort of wall-mount do you need?
- What is VESA? Why is it important?
- Where is your new TV going? And where will its cables go?
- Attaching the mount to the wall, and to your TV too
- Alternative: just throw money at it
- Get daily insight, inspiration and deals in your inbox
How-to
By Simon Lucas
published 13 September 2020
The DIY way
(Image credit: Shutterstock)
Chances are, your new TV screen is the biggest you’ve ever owned. The room you’ll be watching it in may be the same size as it ever was, though – so how best to position it? Wall-mounting is the obvious answer: it stops the TV occupying any floor- or shelf-space, keeping it well out of your way and ensuring you still have space for all your furniture. In the case of many TVs, like Samsung’s The Frame, it may simply look better on the wall anyway!
First things first: make sure you’ve the necessary equipment to get that nice new (and doubtless expensive) television onto your wall. You’ll need to have most, if not all, of these things to hand:
•Power drill, with the relevant drill bits. If you’re wall-mounting an especially large or heavy TV, it’ll almost certainly need to go on a solid wall, so masonry drill bits will be required.
•Stud finder. if you’re mounting onto a hollow wall, use your stud finder to locate the wooden studs that support it - you’ll need to make sure this is where your wall-mount is bolted. A stud finder should also help locate any pipes and/or wiring in a hollow wall.
•Tape measure – because you want to make sure the screen sits exactly where you want it to.
•Spirit level. Some brackets have them built in, but if yours doesn’t you’ll need a way to make sure your mount is level.
•Screwdriver, to attach the mount to the back of the screen. No worthwhile DIY ever took place without a screwdriver being involved.
Once you’ve got your tools together, you’ll need to buy the wall-mount itself. Occasionally new TVs are supplied with wall-mounts (LG’s swish new GX OLED series, for example), but in the vast majority of cases you’ll need to buy one separately. There are lots of different options for the best TV wall mounts out there, so here's what you'll need to think about.
You’ll have to choose between a few different mounting options. There’s ‘fixed’, which mounts the TV flush to the wall, with no gap and no movement of the screen. ‘Tilt’ mounts, on the other hand, allow a few degrees of up or down movement, all the better to fire pictures straight at your seating position.
It’s important to make sure your preferred wall-mount is compatible with your TV. VESA (Video Electronics Standards Association) established a reliable and widely-used mounting standard, and VESA mounts have measurements that indicate whether the holes in the mount will line up with the holes on the back of your TV.
Just measure the distance (in millimetres) between the horizontal holes and vertical holes on the back of your TV. These two figures are your VESA dimensions, and they’re also (probably) in your TV’s manual.
Before embarking on any drilling, decide where you want your TV to go. The box it came in is ideal for creating a template, so measure the screen and make a cut-out of that size. Then you’re not only able to decide where your TV should go, but you can mark where its corners will be and where the mount needs to go too.
Next, you’ll need to consider what to do with your cables. At a bare minimum, your TV is going to require two cables running to/from it – one for mains power and, if you’re routing all your video sources (TV, games console, Blu-ray player, what-have-you) through a single cable TV box or AV receiver, one to carry video signals. If all your sources are running to the screen individually, you could be looking at half a dozen cables or more.
If you only have a couple of cables to conceal, you might consider concealing them in some trunking. For super-neatness and discreetness, though, you’re better off creating a channel in the wall for them to sit in before you mount your TV. (Just be ready to call in a plasterer to tidy it up afterwards.)
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Now it’s time to fix the bracket to the wall. You know where you want the TV to sit, you know where the holes need to be, you’ve got your spirit level… and you can’t put it off any longer. That’s right: t’s time to start drilling.
Naturally, you’ll need a drill bit that matches the size of the mount’s bolts. If you’re drilling into a solid wall, it’s best to make a few ‘pilot’ indentations in the wall before switching to the appropriately sized drill bit.
With the first part of the mount fixed to the wall, the second part can now be fitted to the back of your TV. Your mount will come with a selection of screws, and because you’ve done your VESA homework there will be screws in the packaging to fit the holes on the back of your TV.
Now attach the necessary cables to the TV before joining the two parts of the bracket together. No matter how small or light your TV, this is almost certain to be a two-person job – so make sure you’ve some assistance before you embark on actually wall-mounting your television. Once the union between the two halves of the bracket is complete, tighten the fastening screws to hold it in place.
Of course, this is the hands-on, self-sufficient way of wall-mounting your TV. If you’re not absolutely confident in your DIY abilities, there are any number of professional services available to you – and they’ll almost certainly all provide their own spirit levels.
In the UK, checkatrade.com is an excellent resource if you want to pay to have your TV fitted.
In the US, yelp.com is an equally useful site – although you’ll need to search on a state-by-state basis, naturally.
Looking for TVs to wall-mount? Here's a selection of today's best deals:
Samsung The Frame (2020)
$547.99
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- When choosing a TV mount. Most flat screen TVs are made to be mounted, but make sure yours is before you shop for a mount. Look for “VESA” (Video Electronics Standards Association) on the manual or the TV itself, followed by a number like “VESA 75.”
- Proper TV height. I decided to mount a 42-inch TV in my bedroom above a credenza. So I purchased a full motion mount in case I wanted to pull the TV away from the wall and tilt the screen for better viewing.
- Find your studs. Next, locate the centers of the wall studs using a stud finder. The centers of the studs provide maximum holding power. Mark the location with a pencil.
- Position wall mount. Most wall plates let you slide the TV left or right a few inches, so the plate doesn’t have to be perfectly centered. But positioning the plate at the right height can be tricky.
TV mount: Obviously, to mount your TV to your wall, you need a TV mount rated for your model of TV. Check your TV manual for the VESA mount measurements and get a TV mount to match. And if you need help picking a mount, we’ve got you covered!
- 2 min
Jul 6, 2021 · With your TV hanging on the wall the way you want, you're ready to enjoy movies, TV shows, maybe some gaming. There's a definite cinematic feel to fixing a TV to the wall, a piece of DIY that is particularly suited to home cinema setups.
Mar 19, 2023 · A wall-mounted TV can look better than one sitting on a stand, and keep your family safe from a TV tip-over. Consumer Reports takes you through the DIY steps to wall-mount a TV.
