One of the great things about owning a plasma or LCD television is that it is thin and light enough to be mounted to the wall. This will drastically reduce the amount of floor space a television takes up in your room and it will also make it easier for everyone in the room to see the screen. Mounting the television on the wall also helps to prevent children from pulling the television down off of an entertainment center.
There are a lot of different ways to mount a television to a wall. If you feel confident in your handyman abilities, then there is no reason why you should not be able to do this yourself. If you ever get stuck, every mounting kit comes with instructions to which you can refer. Always remember that you can hire a professional to mount your television if you would feel safer that way.
Choosing The Right Mounting Hardware
Your television needs to be VESA compliant to be able to be mounted on the wall. VESA is short for Video Electronics Standards Association and it is just a fancy way to say that the television follows the layout standards of universal mounting kits.
Check the back of your television to see if there are reinforced holes that look like they are laid out to accept a mounting kit. If you see the holes, then you are good to go. The kit you buy should be rated to hold the weight of your television. In most cases, you can look up the weight of your television online using the manufacturer and model number.
Choosing The Right Wall
External walls make mounting a television difficult because there are a lot of internal supports and extra obstructions in them. External walls also tend to have a lot more electrical wiring and plumbing that you cannot see. Your best choice is to mount the television on an internal wall.
You will want to put the wall part of the mounting kit on as many wall studs as possible. If you have metal studs in your walls instead of wood, then you will probably want to call in a professional. Each mounting kit comes with anchors that can be used in drywall or sheet rock, but you should use as few of those as possible. You want to mount your television on as many strong wall studs as you can.
Mount The Wall Plate
The instructions that come with the wall mount kit will outline exactly what tools you will need to properly mount the wall plate to the wall. In most cases, you will need a drill, a stud finder, a level and the template that came with the plate. Once you have your wall plate in place, then you can start to determine where you want to run your power and cables. Some people like to run a separate power outlet to the television and run the HDMI component cables through the wall to keep things looking clean. If you would rather avoid the major remodeling project, then the store you bought the mounting kit also has protective channeling you can use to hide your cables.
Put The Mounting Brackets On The Television
Your universal mounting kit will be adjustable, so it is okay to put these brackets on the television after the mounting kit is on the wall. Once the brackets are on the television, you can now lift the television and put it into place. Once you have the television brackets lined up with the wall mount, then you can secure the television into place.
In most cases, this kind of project can be done safely with two people. But having that third person around in case something starts to go wrong is an excellent idea.
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