Author Topic: Mounting TVs  (Read 4361 times)

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Offline romevi

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Mounting TVs
« on: Thu, 04 January 2018, 14:35:33 »
Mounting two TVs. Never mounted one before. Thought it would be easy but turns out our 110-year-old building has thick plaster walls so finding studs isn't as easy. For one of the TVs, I'm mounting a 55" onto a swiveling arm; would like to keep it in the general area where it is now (rearranging the furniture isn't any more ideal than how it is now), which is in the corner of a living room.
The trouble is I can find only one stud where I would like to mount it; can't find another where one is supposed to be. Even drilled a handful of holes but the bit is just going straight through with no resistance.

Was thinking of just mounting one side onto a stud and the other with toggle bolts. Is that sufficient enough?

Offline Waateva

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Re: Mounting TVs
« Reply #1 on: Thu, 04 January 2018, 14:48:13 »
Never mounted a TV, but mounted ur mam just fine.
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Offline sncbraxsc2

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Re: Mounting TVs
« Reply #2 on: Thu, 04 January 2018, 14:49:46 »
Never mounted a TV, but mounted ur mam just fine.

Did you mount with your swiveling arm?  I'm assuming y'all couldn't find the stud
« Last Edit: Thu, 04 January 2018, 14:54:23 by sncbraxsc2 »

Offline HoffmanMyster

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Re: Mounting TVs
« Reply #3 on: Thu, 04 January 2018, 15:16:55 »
Was thinking of just mounting one side onto a stud and the other with toggle bolts. Is that sufficient enough?

I have no experience with mounting TVs (heh, great thread for me to be giving advice in, eh?), but my gut tells me this is risky.  Might hold fine with no disturbances, but I'd be worried about all the stresses associated with moving the TV on the mount stand and such. 

Also, be mindful to not mount too high and hurt yer neck. 

Offline romevi

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Re: Mounting TVs
« Reply #4 on: Thu, 04 January 2018, 15:22:41 »
Never mounted a TV, but mounted ur mam just fine.

More


Was thinking of just mounting one side onto a stud and the other with toggle bolts. Is that sufficient enough?

I have no experience with mounting TVs (heh, great thread for me to be giving advice in, eh?), but my gut tells me this is risky.  Might hold fine with no disturbances, but I'd be worried about all the stresses associated with moving the TV on the mount stand and such. 

Also, be mindful to not mount too high and hurt yer neck.

That's what I'm also worried about. Considering where it will be located, the arm will be permanently outstretched to accommodate the size of the TV. I'm worried that, over time, it will collapse.
We got the TV during Xmas and the mount came a week later. We opened up both the same night and sorta regretted getting a TV that size with all the problems we were having. We just resorted to putting it on our old stand for now and try mounting it later. The TV is gorgeous (Samsung 4k), but we're just worried with little ones running around the home; they have a habit of putting hands all over everything.

Offline fohat.digs

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Re: Mounting TVs
« Reply #5 on: Thu, 04 January 2018, 19:06:22 »
Is there any chance of hanging it from the ceiling by chains? That might be less problematic, and no lever arm complication.
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And the attorney general of New York knew that Trump's property values were inflated because when it came time to pay taxes, Trump undervalued the very same properties.
It was all part of a very sophisticated real estate practice known as “lying.”
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Offline OfTheWild

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Re: Mounting TVs
« Reply #6 on: Thu, 04 January 2018, 21:21:13 »
Got a strong magnet around? You can usually find where the nails/screws are in the plaster/drywall by using a magnet. I've used an old harddrive magnet before.
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Offline romevi

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Re: Mounting TVs
« Reply #7 on: Thu, 04 January 2018, 21:28:25 »
Got a strong magnet around? You can usually find where the nails/screws are in the plaster/drywall by using a magnet. I've used an old harddrive magnet before.

Yeah, I've used a couple of stud finders; one electronic and one magnet. I've gotten different readings on both, even if I run them along vertically. So I decided to drill some holes and the bit just flew through.

Offline OfTheWild

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Re: Mounting TVs
« Reply #8 on: Thu, 04 January 2018, 21:43:28 »
well the next step would be to cut out a strip i guess if you're not opposed to doing a little patch up work. I've done this for more complex in-wall wiring jobs... you basically just cut a 20" strip out of the wall maybe 4-6" thick... a bit past the studs on either end (16" spacing) and then you have plenty of room to pull wires and such. When you're done you just screw the strip back into the studs and then apply your spackle and tape. Sand and paint. If you want some additional stability you can add a piece of wood behind in the center and screw into it as well.
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Offline nugglets

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Re: Mounting TVs
« Reply #9 on: Thu, 04 January 2018, 22:01:34 »
If you've already drilled holes, get one of those cheap scope cameras for your phone from Amazon and just find the stud behind the wall visually.

Offline _rubik

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Re: Mounting TVs
« Reply #10 on: Thu, 04 January 2018, 22:09:50 »
My immediate response is that if you can find one stud, the others will have to be either 16 or 24 inches to the left and right. So, you can make a fairly educated guess. That being said, if the house is really 100+ years old, I'm not sure if the builders followed that standard.
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Offline fohat.digs

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Re: Mounting TVs
« Reply #11 on: Fri, 05 January 2018, 08:49:14 »
Got a strong magnet around? You can usually find where the nails/screws are in the plaster/drywall by using a magnet. I've used an old harddrive magnet before.

Yeah, I've used a couple of stud finders; one electronic and one magnet. I've gotten different readings on both, even if I run them along vertically. So I decided to drill some holes and the bit just flew through.

On an old-fashioned plaster and lathe wall, the lathe is likely to have been steel and it would be magnetic all around.
"It turns out that for a decade, whenever Trump wanted to get a loan, or make a deal, he would inflate the value of his real estate. For instance, suggesting that his 11,000-square foot penthouse was a 30,000-square foot penthouse.
And the attorney general of New York knew that Trump's property values were inflated because when it came time to pay taxes, Trump undervalued the very same properties.
It was all part of a very sophisticated real estate practice known as “lying.”
- Jon Stewart 2024-03-28

Offline romevi

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Re: Mounting TVs
« Reply #12 on: Fri, 05 January 2018, 09:22:42 »
Got a strong magnet around? You can usually find where the nails/screws are in the plaster/drywall by using a magnet. I've used an old harddrive magnet before.

Yeah, I've used a couple of stud finders; one electronic and one magnet. I've gotten different readings on both, even if I run them along vertically. So I decided to drill some holes and the bit just flew through.

On an old-fashioned plaster and lathe wall, the lathe is likely to have been steel and it would be magnetic all around.

Yeah, that's what I was thinking, too. I keep getting readings in places I'm also positive there are no studs.

Offline Waateva

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Re: Mounting TVs
« Reply #13 on: Fri, 05 January 2018, 09:52:33 »
Got a strong magnet around? You can usually find where the nails/screws are in the plaster/drywall by using a magnet. I've used an old harddrive magnet before.

Yeah, I've used a couple of stud finders; one electronic and one magnet. I've gotten different readings on both, even if I run them along vertically. So I decided to drill some holes and the bit just flew through.

On an old-fashioned plaster and lathe wall, the lathe is likely to have been steel and it would be magnetic all around.

Yeah, that's what I was thinking, too. I keep getting readings in places I'm also positive there are no studs.

You sure the stud it's picking up isn't you?
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Offline OfTheWild

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Re: Mounting TVs
« Reply #14 on: Fri, 05 January 2018, 09:57:33 »
Some of the old houses in New England look like this... and then they literally scraped plaster over it. You should still be able to find the nails though.
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Offline fanpeople

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Re: Mounting TVs
« Reply #15 on: Fri, 05 January 2018, 10:14:41 »
Every time i look at something old, I can't help but to think about how the person that created whatever it is, is now dead.