Wall-mounted TV

[timswifey]

My husband and I just ordered our first TV, to have them fix it to the wall for us is over £100 so we're going to do it ourselves but I'm nervous! Really don't want to damage the tv if we haven't fitted the wall mount correctly.

Please can someone set my mind at rest and tell me it's easy 😇 I have no experience of DIY beyond assembling IKEA furniture...

You will need a hammer drill, some big screws and suitable rawplugs. Not too daunting if you are used to diy but quite worrying if you might drop your tv.

It is not difficult but you do need the confidence to do it.

Do you have any family/friends/neighbours who could lend you the drill and oversee what you are doing?

We have a cordless drill - not sure what a hammer drill is (I know I'm hopeless). Going to ask a family friend to pop over to supervise I think. Thank you @PaulaSmith1 for your response.

My husband did ours and he's no DIY expert!

Also - a stud/pipe/wire detector might be an idea - just in case.

A hammer drill "hammers" into brickwork as it drills. I was assuming you are mounting on a brick wall rather than a lath/plaster internal wall, which may not take the weight depending on how big your tv is.

It might be a good idea to use a wooden baton (hammer fix that to the wall) then fix your tv panel onto that. Then, in future, if you upgrade your telly and the new one has different fixtures, you just swap those over on the baton.

Hi @PaulaSmith1 yes we have a stud detector 👍 it's the wall between house and garage so it'll be brick.

Thanks @LizzieMacQueen sounds like a good idea.

Family friend has agreed to come and show us how it's done, need to be able to do it ourselves as we'll be redecorating at some point so will have to do it again if the walls need skimming - right?

Thanks for replies x

Shouldn’t need to redo it if the walls need skimming. Just take off the bracket and leave the fixings slightly proud of the plaster, unscrew the fixings before plaster dries incase plaster is in the threads and reinstall once the plastering is complete.

But be aware if you install a tv on a solid wall the sound from the rear speakers will transfer Both up and down so to the room above and rooms adjacent.

Before I sound proofed my wall I could hear everything from my neighbours tv but not them talking etc. Can still just about hear it in my bedroom but not enough to annoy me. And they listen to the tv at a normal volume.

We've just had a TV mounted and paid the £100 to have it done (plus set up all relevant boxes etc)
Money well spent, but then neither of us are competent with a drill.

What size is the TV and what is the wall material - brick and plaster, or plasterboard? The main issue is to fix the TV securely and that will depend how heavy it is. The fixings you use will depend on the wall material, important to get these right.

@filka it's a 43" to be fitted on an external wall. Opposite side to the joining wall with our neighbours 👍

Yes @BreakfastAtSquiffanys I'm now thinking I might just bite the bullet and ask for it to be fitted for us... hoping they'll do it after delivery - going to call tomorrow and ask 🤞

It's not too big and going into a solid wall, so it's a straightforward job. It will need a spirit level to get it level, a hammer drill to punch the holes in the wall, rawl plugs and screws or bolts which should come with the TV mount.

If the wall is brick then you don't need a stud detector but you do need to check for cables buried in the wall, and maybe central heating pipes. Your stud detector may do this, but as a guide electric cables in wall almost always run vertically to/from sockets and switches; central heating pipes you can feel the wall will be warm.

But I sense that you are not confident to do this so I think it would be £100 well spent to get it done.

BTW there are several different kinds of wall mount. Some just put the TV flat to the wall, some allow it to be angled up and down, some allow it to swing away from the wall completely, though 43" is probably a bit too big for this kind.