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How-to: Wall mounting a LCD or Plasma

The Home Theater blog has a good post on how-to wall mount a LCD or Plasma.

Wall mounts are kind of funny -- most every screen you see in ads and in commercial spaces are likely wall mounted in a very clean way, but when you get yours home you'll quickly realize how much of a pain it is to do and requires some real knowledge of construction and electrical techniques. A wall-mounted screen without hidden cabling is kind of an eyesore and I can't help but look at my TV over the fireplace and the jumble of wires below and wish I found someone to do a clean job on it. I tried a local electrician and they had never done one and couldn't really give a quote on what it might cost.

I figure with the ubiquity of cheap plasma and LCD screens, perhaps a cottage industry of installers will pop up to help people hide their TVs in the next few years.

by Matt Haughey May 31, 2006 in How-To

Comments

I mounted a small flat screen on a wall during a recent kitchen remodel and it wasn't too bad - I cut holes for low voltages boxes and just snaked the cables through the wall into a cabinet below. Putting a TV over an existing fireplace would likely be a lot harder because the fireplace construction will cause issues. Snaking wires, either AC or low voltage, is always a challenge and something is usually in the way. Sometimes it's easier to just open the wall, run the cables, and then fix the mess you made. I might do it for a friend, but you couldn't pay me enough to do it for a living ;-)

Posted by: Michael at May 31, 2006 3:06:29 PM

You should have checked out the following site.

http://www.cedia.net/

Posted by: Daniel at May 31, 2006 6:49:54 PM

As far as I was aware it's a very bad idea to put a TV up over a fireplace due to the heat being generated and the inevitable damage this will cause to a plasma or LCD display.

Personally it just seems like an unreasonably high viewing angle.

There does tend to be quite a number of people who do custom installations for home theater. Check out some local audio and home theater stores and ask if they either do installations themselves or if they would know of anyone who does. Considering that the tiny town I live in has at least two places it shouldn't be too hard to find.

Posted by: Belgand at Jun 1, 2006 6:28:41 AM

The average home fireplace will not product enough heat to damage your TV. If you are unsure check the operation temperature in the manual. Next place a thermometer over the mantel where the fireplace will be. You will notice that the temperature is 10 degrees (maximum) above the room temperature. This is not high enough to damage your TV. I have had my plasma mounted over the fireplace for two years. I use my fireplace frequently during the winter. No issues.

Posted by: Wendell at Jun 1, 2006 4:02:37 PM

We hired a sub-par contractor to install 3 flat panel TVs and it was awful - including sheetrock damage - So almost 90 days later and about 1350.00 in cost for two contractors - We have want we want.. I don't know if I will ever have an TV hanging on a wall again..unless we can get the same guy who finally did it properly.

-Jon

Posted by: Jon Sterling at Jul 6, 2006 4:11:27 AM

Not to blantantly drop a link or anything, but I'm always curious about where the tech and knowledge base on this issue stands. I wrote a blog post over at http://mountaplasma.blogspot.com back in April when there was nothing out there as far as how-to's go. I think I learned a lot and have some knowledge to pass on for folks wanting a properly wall-mounted TV. If you'd like to pass the link along, I'd be happy to oblige with Q&A. I'm not a professional installer, I'm just a guy that wants things done right and figured it out on my own.

Posted by: Wes at Oct 5, 2006 1:52:13 PM

If you planing to put TV on the wall then you should consider to put it over the fireplace!

Posted by: Matt at Sep 6, 2007 11:38:42 AM

If you planing to put TV on the wall then you should consider to put it over the fireplace!

Posted by: Matt at Sep 6, 2007 11:41:25 AM

I need to put my new TV over the fireplace in my house... it's just the best overall place for the room. However I have concerns about mounting it permanently on that wall as I don't want to damage the flue or anything in that wall. I don't particularly care for aesthetics as it's kind of a rumpus room. What I would really like to do is find some sort of rack that would hold a large flat screen with supports to the the floor instead of the wall. Some sort of metal rack that would stand on either side of the mantle, simulating a wall mount but movable. I am surprised nobody makes something like this.

any Ideas?

Posted by: CS at Oct 7, 2007 5:28:23 AM

Don't skimp on the contractor side... Go down a screen size if it means you can afford a better installer... You'll thank yourself later.

Posted by: orangedrone at Mar 3, 2008 10:52:01 AM

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