Wall mounting your TV

[dave63]

I'm about to get a new TV (most likely the Sony 40EX503) which I will want to be wall mounted. How easy is it to install wall mounting brackets for this size of TV - is it something anyone can do or should one get a specialist in to do it?

 

[bigboss]

Wall mounting a TV............definitely get a specialist to do it. You don't want the bracket to get loose & send your TV crashing down!

 

[Anonymous]

if you have to ask , you probably need to get someone to do it..

 

[notaclue]

Not hard at all - as long as you know how to drill some holes. Be careful if you have stud walls as you need the right plugs, would recommend you get someone to help you to hold things in place etc. I installed my 40kg plasma on my own, not a good idea trying to balance it on your head while you plug it all in. Final thing is to think about what you are going to do with the cables, if they are going behind the wall then you need to really think through exactly what you need as you don't want to have to add others after the event.

 

[D.J.KRIME]

If you have good basic DIY skills and the right tools then it's really quite simple, most brackets come complete with a template for where the holes need to be drilled and are normally supplied with all fixings. But as mentioned above if you have a studd wall then you will need diferant rawplugs.

 

[scene]

If it's not a stud wall, but brick or block, you want to use expanding bolts...

 

[chris hollands]

Yea, i have no DIY skills but have succesfully put up a few plasmas over the years, the important thing is to make sure you use the appropriate fixings for the wall that it is being fitted to,even if it feels like your going overboard.Also dont put the TV too high as i did once and then have to do lower it ,leaving half a dozen holes obove the TV !! Have a friend to help lift it onto the bracket. Good luck.

 

[6th.replicant]

PLEASE be very careful if you're placing the TV above a fireplace in a property that is Victorian or older.

As a builder explained to me, chances are that a 100 or so years of log/coal burning will have perished the mortar between the bricks around the fireplace: as the mortar heats up, it expands, then the fire goes out and because it's very cold during the wee small hours the bricks/mortar cool down relatively rapidly, eventually the mortar cracks/crumbles; for the same reason, the bricks may not be actually attached to the plaster on your room's interior wall (in the vicinity of the fireplace).

Fast-forward to the 21st-century and you wade-in with your rufty-tufty drill to wall-mount a TV, and find that as you drill you're merely pushing the loose bricks out of their slots. Unfortunately, I speak from experience...

Thankfully, I realised what was happening after only a couple of bricks crashed into the grate, which was preferable to somehow managing to attach the fixings and the TV to the wall, only for the TV's weight to pull down the wall and chimney stack a few days/weeks later.

'Er Indoors was not amused...

 

[Big Chris]

It's not too hard. As others have already said, a good solid wall is the most important part.

I bought one of those universal wall brackets for about £100. It comes with loads of bits and bobs, and looks like an explosion at a Meccano factory, but once I understood what was what, it bolted together well.

I used medium - heavy duty expanding bolts. Rawl plugs and screws just ain't gonna cut it with large TVs I'm afraid. There were 5 holes in the wall plate, and I used all of them. Don't scrimp on number of fixings. A couple of quid on an extra pack of bolts could save you thousands of pounds in damages. Just remember not to go too nuts with the size of the bolts. They've got to fit through the holes in the wall bracket remember!

I also placed a chair with a quilt on right in front of/below the TV for the first night it was up, just incase the worst happened.

Couldn't have done too bad a job. It's been on the wall for over 2 years with no signs of movement.