5 Tips for TV Wall Mount Installation
You can (and should) take it upon yourself to mount your flat panel TV on the wall; however there are a few things to consider before setting out on this task.
1. Buy the Right Wall Mount for Your TV’s Application
Take a little while to reflect on how your TV will actually be used? Will it be used at different viewing angles? If the answer is “yes”, then you should probably be looking at swivel wall mounts so you can angle it toward your kitchen while you are cooking or toward the bathroom while you are getting ready in the morning if it is a bedroom TV.
Give due consideration to the layout of the room. If your TV will be mounted above eye-level, then a tilting wall mount is probably in your future. Planning ahead will help you get the most out of your viewing experience.
2. TV Wall Mounts are Made for Different Sized TVs - Get It Right
In my experience, the boneheads at Circuit City and Best Buy don’t know jack about mounting a TV on the wall. If you’ve read the content on this site, you know more than they do. TV wall mounts are now standardized in sizing and bolt options. You should get your TV wall mount from a reputable vendor like ArmorMount so that you can be sure that your mount fits your new TV. Having good customer service and a return policy is important. Picking up the phone when you aren’t sure is ok too. You don’t have to spend $200 at Circuit City on a TV wall mount that you can get from a good online vendor like ArmorMount for $75 or so. ArmorMount and other online vendors have great mounts, and you get better advice too - because that is all they sell. In fact, ArmorMount guarantees that their mounts will fit your TV or you get 100% of you money back. Click here to see what ArmorMount has to offer and what they give you for free.
3. Wooden Studs in Your Wall Make Life Easier
Make sure you know what is inside your wall. Wooden studs make the job so much easier. Metal studs make installations more difficult and require more thought and consideration on the approach you should take to mounting your TV. If you have metal studs in your wall, make sure you exercise extra care in getting the job done right.
4. Apartment Dwellers, Make Sure You Are Allowed to Put Holes in the Wall
Take the time or read your lease or talk to your landlord before you start the the wall mounting project. Banging on or putting holes in the wall of an apartment can get you into hot water with your landlord. Make sure you are allowed to put it on the wall before you invest in a wall mount or other tools. If you are not squared away on the front end, you could end up shelling out damages to your landlord or even get yourself evicted for breaching your lease.
5. Get Your Tools BEFORE Starting the Project
Once you start on wall mounting your TV, you don’t want to have to stop for an emergency run to Home Depot for a socket or Office Max for a desk grommet. Make a list of the tools and accessories you need the day before you plan on installing your TV on the wall. Look in your tool box and make sure you have everything. If not, go borrow that tool from your neighbor or make that run to Lowes.
Planning ahead will help you TV wall mount installation go much smoother. It will also help you while you are working on your project because you will have already planned your steps and you will know what is coming next.
Types of TV Wall Mounts
TV wall mounts come in all shapes and sizes. The large variety of wall mounts available can perform many different functions. Make sure you know what is need to fit your own personal space.
There are three basic types of mounts for mounting your flat panel TV on the wall. Below you’ll find descriptions how each of these types of TV wall mounts work and where you should use them in your house. Additionally, you’ll find links at the end of each description that takes you to ArmorMount’s selection for each type of mount. ArmorMount is a trusted and respected seller of TV wall mounts, who provide you with the best bang for your buck on wall mounts and accessories. By clicking on the ArmorMount links you can see images and specifications of particular mounts and hopefully get a better idea of how they will work in your space.
1. Low Profile TV Wall Mounts
Low profile mounts keep your TV close to the wall and hide unsightly cables quite well. The mount used in the TV mounting instructions here on TVWallMountGuide.Net features a low profile TV wall mount. There is a good reason for this choice.
In the room that this Samsung 42″ plasma TV was installed, the wall on which the TV was installed is at an angle where you can see down the wall from both sides of the TV. That is to say, there are no closed corners to this wall in the living room. When you walk in the front door, you see the TV from the side. With a low profile TV wall mount, however, you see very little of the TV and it really shows how clean the install shaped up.
For More on Low Profile TV Wall Mounts - Click Here
2. Tilt TV Wall Mounts
Tilting mounts do just what the name implies - they can tilt downward for better viewing angles when mounting the TV up higher than eye level. These mounts typically tilt down about 15 degrees or so and the TV sets about 4″ (give or take) from the wall.
A rather popular trend is mounting a flat panel TV above a fireplace. While there are a number of considerations that go into such a project, the use of a tilt TV wall mount would work well over a fireplace.
For More on Tilt TV Wall Mounts - Click Here
3. Swivel TV Wall Mounts
Swivel mounts work well in a number of situations. If you’ve got a wall that doesn’t have an open corner where the side of the TV is visible, the a swivel mount is quite convenient. Swivel mounts also work well is offices, kitchens and bedrooms due to the flexibility of angling the TV for the viewing position.
For More on Swivel TV Wall Mounts - Click Here
Tools Necessary for Mounting a Flat Panel LCD or Plasma TV on the Wall
In order to properly and safely mount your LCD or plasma TV on the wall, you’re going to need some tools to make it work right and keep that expensive TV up on the wall.
Here’s the tools used in the project described by this guide:
- Power Drill and 3/16? bit
- Socket set
- Tape measure
- 2? level
- Hammer
- A few nails
- Utility knife
- Stud-finder (not used for this project, but some find these quite handy)
- Strong Friend
Gather your tools before you open the box and start into the process of assembling and hanging the TV wall mount. This way, you won’t be distracted by missing tools during your project.
Selecting a Wall Mount for Your Flat Panel LCD or Plasma TV
Don’t Get Suckered With High-Priced TV Wall Mounts at Retail Stores
Selecting the proper wall mount for your new plasma or LCD TV is an important decision. If you purchased (or will be purchasing) a television from a big box retail store like Best Buy or Circuit City, then the store probably carries wall mounts as well. Plasma and LCD TV wall mounts are high profit items for the big box stores. Best Buy, for instance, carries a variety of wall mounts for flat panel plasma and LCD TVs, but they charge $200-$400 for them. Don’t get suckered for these prices. The wall mounts that these big box retailers sell are the same quality that you pay a fraction of the price at less expensive online retailers.
Don’t Get Scammed By Lame Online Sellers
While you could go on ebay and find some really cheap TV wall mount, there is no way to know who you are actually dealing with or whether the ebay seller can deliver the right mount for your TV. Additionally, there are many fly-by-night drop shippers offering low priced mounts of unknown quality. While you don’t need to get ripped off by a retail store, you also want to avoid buying a piece of junk from some unknown seller or mount maker. In short, you should only purchase a quality mount from a reputable retailer and you should buy a reputable branded mount as well.
Buy a Flat Panel Wall Mount From a Reputable Seller at a Reasonable Price
As noted above, retail stores mark up the price of plasma and LCD wall mounts. Additionally, there are online sellers that market questionable products at cheap prices. So then, what are your options? There are a few reputable brands and sellers online that give you a quality mount without gouging you on price.
ArmorMount specializes in affordable flat panel TV mounts. Armor Mount’s Tilt TV Mount for 37-63″ Plasma & LCD TVs best seller covers the most popular size range of 37″ to 63″ flat panel TVs. Armor Mount also offers free 3-5 day shipping and a 100% money back guarantee. As a bonus, you can save some cash with the FREE HDMI cable that Armor Mount throws in with every wall mount that they sell.
For the price and service, you simply can’t go wrong with Armor Mount. You can view their entire selection of mounts on the ArmorMount homepage or browse by mount types:
Again, don’t shell out the ridiculous prices that Best Buy, Circuit City and the rest charge for flat panel mounts. Save a couple hundred bucks and get a mount that you know fits your TV for much less. For more information you can also visit our guide to Types of TV Wall Mounts.