Mounting an LCD or Plasma TV

Sorry I have been away. As always projects ramp up and down which leaves me with more or less time to think.

I will be back and recommitted to share what I have been up to lately.

I have plenty of business improvement posts coming but I wanted to take the time to share my trials with getting my home new Toshiba Regza 42in TV on the wall above my fireplace. First of all any site which says "if you can hang a picture you can hang an LCD TV" obviously has never done it before. I am not saying that a less then tech savvy person cannot do it but it requires 2 people with moderate home and tech skills to accomplish this task with any speed and if your TV weighs more then 80lbs maybe 3 or 4 just for lifting.

I purchased the LCD TV online at a good price and a Mustang LCD mount along with it. The first and most important step is locating the studs in your wall. I used a decent stud finder, electronic which can detect electrical and depth of the stud on top of that annoying beep. If you dont' have one I would highly recommend that you buy one which tells you the center of the stud not just if there is one.

Check, check twice and then check again for stud centers and edges. Mark them on the wall and draw a line marking the left, right and center of the 2 studs you are going after. If you miss or end up skewed into a stud it can make the TV less stable. Now place your mount on the wall and use a level (or the built in level) to find where you have bolt holes that line up with your lines for the center of the stud. Mark these locations and take the mount down. Go get your drill and pre-drill at least 1/3-1/2 of the length of your bolts. Then have help placing the mount on the wall again. level and screw the bolts into the wall and if necessary tighten with a wrench or socket set.

Now that the mount is up place the corresponding brackets on the back of your TV, plug in any cables that will be impossible to reach once its on the wall then hoist it up there. That was the biggest challenge as 70lbs is not easy to lift above your head when its that awkwardly large.

Obviously if you are running power to the LCD on the wall get an electrician to do any power wiring and perhaps run your A/V cables as well so they are not near any electrical as this can cause distortion in your picture.

In all a fun project for the average do it yourself person. Be very sure that your wall can handle the load some plasma and LCD TVs can weigh 100+lbs and some will rip right out of the wall if not installed properly.

Good luck to all those who attempt this route.