Wall-mounting a flat-screen TV?

Instruction Manuel' says "Do not attempt...hire a professional...." yada-yada. I'm not one for paying anyone to do something I can berkeley up myself. How hard could it be, right? (jinx)

What say yeeee?

berkeley a professional.

Manuel is a professional. I have had him do many things for me. Seriously though, it is very easy. Just make sure you find the studs in the wall.

It's not hard at all. The toughest part is putting the TV on the new wall mount and that's only because, depending upon the size, it could be heavy.

Presuming it's heavy and it's up high, with a wife to help guide you it's a no-brainer. I've done at least 6.

Obviously hire a professional.

I'll be right there.

SVreX wrote: Obviously hire a professional. I'll be right there.

Will work for cheap whiskey? C'MON DOWN! ...err...UP!

Yeah, seems pretty straightforward. I hang framed mirrors, art, etc., up to 4 X 6' pretty regularly, and with confidence.

So now that that's out of the way....

We have a bunch of damned cats, which is why the old dinky TV was in an entertainment center with doors that are closed when the TV is not in use. Unfortunately (not to look a gift TV in the mouth,) this one is 18 thousand times bigger than the old TV.

Last night, we did a test run with the cats, with new TV sitting on top of the entertainment center. Everybody seemed pretty cool.

Wake up this morning, and someone had tried to ride the top of it, and another someone pawed at the screen. Yeah.

Long story short: The tentative plan is to get 'er up on the wall, move the ent. center to the bedroom, and have a really, really, low cabinet for the seXbox, surround, etc. While I'm not necessarily opposed to fishing the very few cables through the wall, it seems like it'd be a PITA if we wanted to add more 'components' later.

Any thoughts on a good-looking, creative, CHEAP solution for hiding wires coming from the TV to the cabinet? Maybe an easily removable, contemporary wooden cover or something?

I hired Best Buy to do mine, because they also hide all the wires expect the power cable (apparently there's a Virginia law that says they can't). It was sort of nice to sit on the couch and watch them work.

Not particularly hard, just make sure you have a mount appropriate for the weight of the tv. also make sure the cable will clear on the back side.

I did mine myself nearly 3 years ago, including running a dedicated outlet behind the TV and fishing the cables through the wall (actually down one wall from the entertainment unit, under the floor and up another wall). If I had to do it again I'd hire Best Buy or similar. It took a full weekend of work. (The reason they wouldn't run the power wire through the wall for you is that standard power cable isn't properly fire rated to run through a wall; many do it themselves anyway - I chose to run a new outlet to have a dedicated circuit and to hide all the cables). Mounting on the wall is the easy part - attach one part of the mount to the TV, the other part to the studs on the wall, then hang.

If you're going to run cables in the wall don't worry too much about adding more cables later. Run a long cheap monoprice.com HDMI cable to the TV and then switch everything from the HT receiver, or a separate HDMI switch if your receiver doesn't do HDMI switching. Sound runs through the surround receiver or the HDMI cable. I have a spare HDMI switch kicking around somewhere - yours for shipping.

Surface mount wire covers. Available at Home Depots and Lowes everywhere.

Easiest solution would be to get BFTV a new friend in the form of a reciever with HDMI switches. That way, you only need the one HDMI to the TV, all the stuff for BFTV is hooked to the reciever, and you only have one cable+power running down your wall. But that's me, I look for excuses to buy crap I want.

I've never understood why the wall mount brackets are incredibly heavy. Way overkill, and I don't see why. A light aluminum unit would work just fine.

Can you operate a drill and a stud finder? If so, you are qualified.

I did mine a few years back, If I can do it, anyone can. Buy suitable mount, find studs, mark then pre-drill securing bolt holes in studs, attach mount to wall, attach tv to mount, wire up, grab a beverage and enjoy your new personal movie theater.

Obvious answer is to get rid of the cats. My dogs don't pay the TV any mind. One does eat my wifes underwear though.

So you're offering cheap whiskey AND cats who eat underwear to C'MON DOWN !?!

Wait a minute...maybe I'm confused.

Datsun1500 wrote: In reply to Greg Voth: Obvious answer is to get the wife to stop wearing underwear....

Or at least buy cheaper underwear.

This many posts and no one here referred you to Monoprice.com yet? Order up your flavor of nice mount and cables and everything you would need and use the money you save to buy some cord covers at your local box store.

My parents have a flat-screen they want to mount up. However, it will be mounted above an (unused) fireplace so that means there is some brick masonry behind the wall. What sort of extra steps do you guys propose for mounting the TV bracket?

oldopelguy wrote: This many posts and no one here referred you to Monoprice.com yet? Order up your flavor of nice mount and cables and everything you would need and use the money you save to buy some cord covers at your local box store.

Look up a few posts, you'll see my mention of monoprice 8)

Just wall-mounted my new 55" Sony LCD with a SANUS brand mount bought at Target.

It was easy. As long as you have a decent studfinder, a level, and a buddy to help lift it on there go for it.

RexSeven wrote: My parents have a flat-screen they want to mount up. However, it will be mounted above an (unused) fireplace so that means there is some brick masonry behind the wall. What sort of extra steps do you guys propose for mounting the TV bracket?

My TV is currently hanging above our fireplace with the wall mount attached to a 1x12 that bridges the chimney and attaches to the studs on either side with Spax screws. Mounted the mount base to the board, attached it to the wall, then painted it all the same color as the wall. When the paint was dry the TV went in place and you can't see anything behind it without actually climbing up and looking.

Thanks for the advice on the website! Great prices, and their live chat cust. service is awesome.

why not just get a tall stand for it? We use them all the time at the Casinos for when they want a Flatscreen in an area where there are no walls. The beauty of it.. the wires all run down the inside of the tube legs for a super clean look

mad_machine wrote: why not just get a tall stand for it? We use them all the time at the Casinos for when they want a Flatscreen in an area where there are no walls. The beauty of it.. the wires all run down the inside of the tube legs for a super clean look

How tall is "tall?" Our cats can jump pretty high.