Wall Mounting an HDTV

[Octavious]

So I've had the sudden desire to mount my HDTV on the wall for a few reasons and it's brought some issues up that I'm hoping someone can solve. I've got the basic idea down behind mounting the TV, but I come to a snag (no pun intended) when it comes to wiring the cables.

I don't have any horizontal 2x4's to deal with in the wall so if I correctly mount the HDTV Frame on the vertical ones is it reasonable to use plates & set everything up in-wall ? I've seen some setups at RadioShack for plates and i'm trying to think through this and draw out a plan before doing any physical wall destroying on my own.

Also, I've found plates for Component, RCA, but I can't track down one for HDMI. I'm thinking I could set it up so the power cord on the TV is the only visable wire going down from the TV. Below I've got a glass/metal entertainment stand that i'm going to set up my consoles/surround sound on and bind the cables to keep everything looking well.

If anyone has gone through something similar or mounted their TV I would love to see pictures of the setup or any ideas that could help. I appreciate the help guys, help me out so I don't ruin my walls.

[jmc]

I can only help you out for the HDMi plate.....

http://www.monoprice.com/products/pr...seq=1&format=2

[Voltorb]

I'm unable to get pictures of my friend's setup, but what he did was make a hole underneath the Wall Mount for all possible wires that would connect to the TV and he made a hole on the bottom where his stand is. Bought extra long wires and routed them that way.

Covering the hole for when you move your tv shouldn't be a problem in the future since all you need is sheet rock, compound, sandpaper, joint tape, and nails...maybe some paint too >>


The other method is using Wire Mold, you can find some at home depot. It's basically a white plastic strip where you lay the wires and then snap the top piece to cover the wires. Here is their website:
http://www.wiremold.com/www/consumer/index.asp

[Octavious]

Oh Damn, it totally skipped my mind to use something like that. That would work a lot better, because as it turns out there is a horizontal 2x4 i'd have to drill through...It was lower than the blueprint said it would be. I'll definitly look it up man I appreciate the tip. Any goods recommendations for wall mount brands or are they all relativly decent?

[Voltorb]

jmcgarrell posted a link to www.monoprice.com . They sell some wall mount brackets, I personally have not seen or used theirs but from what what other customer reviews say they're pretty good. I know Bestbuy sells the Sanus & Init (house brand) them for $100+, you'd be surprised on how much employees can get them for. The price is really close to the prices from monoprice. Just double check on your TV's weight and read those customer reviews from monoprice and you can't go wrong.

I've ordered cables and such from them before and really never had any problems. Personally I would probably go 1 step up in bracket rating on how much weight it can handle.

[Octavious]

I thought so, I wanted to make damn sure it won't fall off and make me feel like an idiot. I've got the vertical 2x4s marked so I can make sure I mount it on something solid. I'm kind of weary about BestBuy. While I buy a lot of stuff from them, their employees are kind of idiots...and I know if I ask someone in the home theater area i'll get some retarded answer on what plates to get etc.

[Dalecia]

Just curious, how do you know where the studs are in the wall to mount? Do you use a tool to detect it?

[Octavious]

Yea, I have one of those electronic stud finder things from home depot. I can look up the name when I get home, but it's a newer brand I got it specifically for mounting my TV since I didn't have one to begin with.

[Voltorb]

Another one of my friend did it the poor mans way to find the vertical studs...He used a nail and a hammer but he would hammer the nail on the bottom of the wall...as close to the ground as possible. Of course he was banging the wall with his fist to estimate where the studs are first. I thought it was a nice alternative method. You can probably do this just to make sure the stud is there after using the stud finder.

[Elesirdur]

Horizontal studs don't really exist in 2x4 framing, but if you want to get a very secure mounting, you could install a cripple stud where you want the TV to go. Since it seems like you are going to be opening up the wall anyway, you could remove a bit more of the drywall to install a short cripple stud in between two of the vertical studs. Some strapping to secure it would be a good idea in addition to toe nailing the horizontal 2x4.

It's a good idea to ask at your local building shop what the hanging weight rating is for various thicknesses of drywall is; that will give you an idea of how much weight you can hang off your walls with just a drywall anchor, not fastening to a stud. If you don't know the thickness of your drywall it's more than likely either 1/4" or 3/8" for walls, maybe up to 1/2" if there are extra sound-deadening measures in place.

As for stud finders; yes they are pretty acurate these days, but it is always a good idea to take multiple readings. Most studs are hung with a distance of 16" on centre between them. 24" on centre may be allowed by your local building code for buildings like garages or a room that does not support a second story or heavy roof load. Therefore, if you can find one stud you just need to measure 16" on either side to find the next likely place for a stud.

[Octavious]

iirc, the drywall is 3/8'' since I had to deal with it when I fastened the shelving I use to hold my DVDs/Video Games. I mounted this simply in the drywall using some annoying ass type of sinkscrew. (I say annoying because I had to remove a few in my Dad's living room that gave me a hell of a time removing them with little damage to the drywall)

I've done my share of home repairs and home theater setups, I'm just new to mounting + routing together. I appreciate the help Elesirdur I'm definitly going to check that out too. I'd like to hang the mount on the vertical studs just to ensure some security with it. It's a 32'' LCD HDTV so it's not really the most heavy thing in the world either, i'm just afraid the drywall wouldn't hold.

I've been looking into the wall plates and I think I can do this easier than I anticipated since the wall I want to mount the TV on has a closet on the other side. I'm planning on making sort of a ...maintenance hatch more/less? If I can setup a little door with some hinges in the back of the closet, it could allow me easy work access to the wall while mounting.

[Elesirdur]

I really don't think that 3/8" drywall, even with lots of anchors, could safely hold up a 32" flat screen tv. However, if the mounting bracket you get spans at least 18" you should be safe to fasten to two studs. Therefore you would not have to rely on drywall anchors at all.

I think the in-wall wires is a great idea and honestly it should be really simple if you know there aren't any pipes or other electrical wires in your way. Just cut out two small electrical-box size holes for the input and output of the wires and use a fish tape (you can probably rent one for a couple of bucks at home depot or a hardware store that rents tools) If you are careful you probably won't even need to do any drywalling, but may need to do some digging around at a hardware or electrical store to find some appropriate boxes or wall cover plates to use for your application.

Edit: Just made a crappy diagram to depict what I was describing in the first paragraph.

http://i453.photobucket.com/albums/q...tvmounting.jpg