Thanks to modern technologies, we now have thin, almost flat TVs, which allowed us to make quite light equipment, even with a large screen size. A lighter TV – more options for choosing the installation location. So now you can hang it on the wall or ceiling, and not be afraid that the device will fall on your head. In the article, we will consider how to properly hang the TV on the wall, starting with choosing a place and fastening and ending directly with installation.
Choosing a place to hang the TV
You can hang a flat TV on the wall, or you can use a ceiling mount. The second option is less popular – the screen is too high. This type of installation is usually used in kitchens where the walls are occupied by cabinets. In all other rooms – bedrooms, living rooms – wall mounts are used most often. plates
Height
First, you need to determine the height of the TV set on the wall. This parameter is selected individually, and for different heights and different types of furniture, the height may differ. They proceed from the fact that it is convenient to watch TV if the middle of its screen is at eye level, and this is easier to determine experimentally.
- In the living room, you need to sit on a sofa or chair, looking in front of you to determine the height of the middle of the screen. It is approximately 100-120 cm from the floor level.
- In the bedroom, TV viewing is usually done from the bed. From this position, it is more convenient to look not directly in front of you, but slightly upwards, so you should not hang the TV too low. The average height of the TV in the bedroom is about 100 cm. We remind you once again that this is the height of the middle of the screen.
Distance from furniture
This option is not entirely related to the topic of mounting the TV on the wall, but without it, you can’t do either. The distance for comfortable viewing depends on the screen size. In fact, everything here is simple – there is a table in which the minimum and maximum values are indicated, you have to “fit” into these frames.
| TV screen size | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 32”
82 cm |
37”
94 cm |
40”
102 cm |
42”
107 cm |
50”
127 cm |
52″
132 cm |
||
| resolution | 625 (SD) | 2.5 | 3.1 | 3.3 | 3,4 | 4.0 | 4.2 |
| 720 (Simple HD) | 1.9 | 2,2 | 2.4 | 2.5 | 3.0 | 3.1 | |
| 1080 (Full HD) | 1.3 | 1.5 | 1.6 | 1.7 | 2.0 | 2,2 | |
| 2160 (Ultra HD) | 0.8 | 0.9 | 1.0 | 1,2 | 1.5 | 1.7 | |
Table – Minimum distance (in meters) from the screen to the viewing location depending on the diagonal and resolution of the screen
This table, by the way, can be used for another purpose – knowing the distance at which you will have a sofa or chair, to choose the diagonal of the TV.
Types of TV mounts
It is necessary to choose a wall mount for the TV after the TV is already there. On the back wall there are holes for installing fasteners. You will need the distances between them. After measuring them, you will know at what distance you need a suspension (this data is also in the passport). Some models of TV wall mounts allow you to change this distance, but not all. So you have to be careful.
What else should be paid attention to is the material from which the fastener is made. They are made of plastic and metal. Plastic ones are suitable for small and light models. Metal – for heavier ones. There are also combined models — made of metal, but with plastic parts. In any case, you should focus on the maximum weight that the fastener can hold. The weight parameter of the TV must be specified, along with the diagonal dimensions of the screen.
For fixed installation
If there is no need to turn the TV screen, it is better to choose a bracket for fixed installation. This option takes up almost no space, which allows you to hang the device almost close to the wall. There are models that allow you to hang the screen parallel to the wall, there are models with a fixed tilt.
The fixed bracket consists of two plates. One of them is hung on the wall, the other is screwed to the TV. One part has protrusions, the other has grooves. During installation, we cling to the grooves with the protrusions. Everything, the TV was hung on the wall.
The more the TV weighs, the thicker the metal should be on the bracket.
Inclined brackets
Mounting the TV on the wall of this type allows you to change the angle of the screen relative to the floor. In some cases, this is convenient – you can expand the screen for a clearer perception of the picture.
This type of fasteners takes up a little more space. Structurally, the models are very similar to the previous type, only one degree of adjustment has been added. Since the screen is usually tilted a little downward, the upper mount is made movable.
Inclined-swivel
The screen installed on such brackets can be turned both vertically (right-left turns) and horizontally (up-down). To ensure the possibility of such maneuvers, the screen is moved away from the wall at a fairly substantial distance, and this must be taken into account.
They are installed in multi-functional rooms, where there may be a need to rotate the screen. It can be used in the kitchen, in the office, in rooms where there are different functional zones. This TV wall mount is much more expensive because it uses complex mechanisms to ensure rotations.
In some brackets (fixed and inclined), a bubble level is mounted in the part that is attached to the wall. This is easier to navigate during installation, but if you have a good and proven level, check the accuracy of the installation with its help.
Choice of fastening
Perhaps it is worth starting with the choice of fasteners. Often, the TV wall mount is equipped with dowels. They are designed for the maximum weight that the bracket can hold, so they can be used. But they are suitable only for walls with normal load-bearing capacity – brick or concrete. Nowadays, walls are often made of loose materials, in which dowels do not hold and nothing can be hung on them. Such walls have their own fasteners.
For plasterboard
Special butterfly dowels are used for plasterboard partitions. They are plastic and metal. Since the TV still has a fairly solid weight, it is better to take metal dowels. The load that they withstand is much higher than that of plastic ones.
When a dowel is screwed into the installed plug, the plug “opens”, forming separate “wings” that redistribute the load over a large area. It is due to this that you can hang something on plasterboard.
But, even with such dowels, when installing the TV on a plasterboard wall, try to choose the installation height so that the upper attachment of the support plate hits the profile or beam to which the plasterboard sheet is attached. Otherwise, there is no guarantee that the plasterboard sheet will withstand the load.
For loose and hollow foundations
For hollow and fragile foundations, there is another fastening – chemical dowels. They consist of a capsule or ampoule with glue and an anchor or pin. For hollow walls, a mesh cylinder is added to this kit.
- When installing the TV on the wall, a hole is drilled for mounting, and it is well cleaned. This is a very important point. The opening must be cleaned of all falling particles (you can use a vacuum cleaner). This is the only way you can count on normal adhesion (adhesion to the material) and good fastening ability.
- An ampoule/capsule is inserted into the prepared hole, a pin/anchor is twisted or hammered into it, and a dowel plug can be installed.
- Next, you need to wait until the adhesive compound hardens (about an hour), after which you can continue the installation work.
In the walls made of hollow bricks or building blocks, a mesh cylinder is first installed in the prepared hole. Then the capsule/ampoule is placed in the cylinder and all subsequent actions are no different. Why do you need a cylinder? It does not allow the glue to spread much, but ensures its percolation and adhesion with the adjacent material.
Is it possible to save money by using ordinary glue instead of chemical dowels? In general, it is possible without guarantees. Chemical dowels use an adhesive composition that provides adhesion to various materials, including plastic. Ordinary glue does not have such properties.
For thin walls
In some cases, the TV should be hung on a thin wall. Moreover, they are so thin that it will not be possible to install a fastener of the required length – it will come out from the other side. In this case, it is better not to take dowels or screws, but pins or bolts. Drill through holes, on the other hand, under the bolt cap or stud nut, place a wide washer. This will give good bearing capacity, even in aerated concrete or foam concrete.
So that the mount does not spoil the picture from the back of the wall, it can be “drown”. To do this, drill a hole of small depth – so that you can hide the washer and the cap/nut. After everything is installed and fixed, it will be possible to cover the holes with putty.
For thin walls with normal load-bearing capacity (brick) there is another way: to use a wooden bar or a strip of metal as a lining. This will help to install fasteners of normal length, and at the same time distribute the load more evenly.
Mounting the TV on the wall: step-by-step instructions
After you have decided on the place to install the TV, you need to check whether there is no wiring in the wall. This can be done using a wiring detector. Only after that you can start installation.
- We mark the place of installation of the support plate on the wall. We carefully check the horizontality of its installation – the slightest skew can cause the TV to fall.
- We indicate the places of installation of fasteners. No matter how many fastening holes there are, all of them must be moved to the wall, and the selected fastening must be installed in all of them. This guarantees the safety of your equipment.
- We drill holes, insert the selected fastener.
- We fasten the support plate by installing all the fastening elements. We check the horizontality once again.
- We install plates on the back wall of the TV. Mounts can be found in standard mounting holes. You only need to unscrew it, install the brackets and screw it.
- The last step is to hang the TV on the wall. It is better to do it together. Even if the screen is small and light, insurance will not interfere. With hooks on the plates, we cling to the corresponding protrusions.
That’s it, the TV mount is installed on the wall, the TV is hanging. You can turn it on. But this instruction for hanging the TV on the wall is suitable for fixed and inclined models.
There are only two additional steps for tilt-swivel brackets – you will have to remove the plate that is attached to the TV. This is usually one or two bolts.
Self-made mounts for TVs
As you have seen, TV brackets are not a complicated product. Especially those for fixed installation. Moreover, the price of some models (good quality, good metal) is quite high. To save money, you can try to make something similar using affordable and common materials.
From aluminum corners
The supporting structure for hanging the TV on the wall is made of four corners. Aluminum corners with a wall thickness of 3 mm were selected, the width of the shelf is at least 25 mm. Otherwise, it will be inconvenient to work.
You can also take steel ones, but they are more difficult to process – cut, drill – and the load from modern TVs is not so great.
Cut the corners at a distance between the mounting holes on the back of the TV with a margin of a couple of centimeters on each side. The most difficult thing is to make holes in the corners so that they exactly coincide with the mounting holes, and are also at the same level. This will allow you to hang the TV on the wall evenly.
On the pair of corners attached to the wall, you can drill holes arbitrarily. It does not matter. You can make two holes, you can make more. Depends on the bearing capacity of the walls. Two are enough for concrete. But you need to find out at what distance they should be placed on the wall. It should be such that the corners attached to the TV are either a little wider or a little narrower (by the thickness of the corner plus one or two millimeters for free movement).
Having set the corners, we circle the places for installing dowels, drill holes in the wall, insert plugs, but do not hang the corners yet. It is also necessary to drill holes in them, into which the fixing fastener will be inserted. To do this, we fold the corners as you will have them in the finished form on the wall, mark where we need to drill holes, make them (the diameter is small). Now you can install it on the wall.
Next, you need to connect the holes in the corners, insert fasteners into them. You can use bicycle spokes, bolts, pins, etc.
That’s all the self-made wall mount for the TV is ready, the TV is fixed and ready for work.
With minimal effort
In order not to suffer with holes, you can find mounting corners with perforation. You will need to buy eight of them – two for each mounting hole. Fix four on the TV, four on the wall. Next, we hang it, insert fasteners for fixation into the holes (usually small diameter bolts).
If such corners seem unreliable to you, you can find reinforced ones in stores. They are used to fix racks in frame construction, they are used to fix roof structures. So they withstand a significant load.
Swivel bracket made of pipes
This model allows you to turn the screen to the right, but you will need welding, a grinder, a powerful drill and a bending machine. But this mount will withstand even the heaviest TV. There is probably no need to explain anything here.
Required:
- Two steel plates – for mounting on the wall and the screen, in which holes for mounting are made at the corners;
- Two sections of steel pipe – larger and smaller diameter. They are selected so that the larger diameter freely “fits” the smaller diameter pipe.
- Eight bolts or pins.
Having some experience in welding, it will not be difficult to assemble all this, and the method of attachment to the wall is standard.