Putting your TVs on the wall

[ez]

Who has done this recently and can you share the pricing? How do you like it? Where do you put all the boxes etc (cable, dvd) that go with the tv's?

 

[lorimay]

My son did it in his bedroom at our old house. I personally thought is was a pain in the butt.
My husband had to cut a hole in the wall for the wires to go into, then cut another one to pull them through at the bottom of the wall so they didn't show.
I think we paid less than $100 for the piece the tv goes on. He put the boxes on a small table directly under tv.
We are now shopping for furniture for the new house we are building and I am looking at long low cabinets to put our tv's on because my husband keeps talking about hanging them all. He said to me Saturday, "You really are trying to make it so I don't hang any tv's aren't you?"
I quickly answered, "Yep".
I hated the holes we made in the wall and I went crazy to fix them for our buyers, I felt bad to let them find holes when they came in.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

Lol I am just the opposite of ^ love them on the wall. FYI you don't have to put a hole in the wall, they make wire holders where you can neatly put the wires and paint it to blend in with the wall if you prefer. We had to do it that way in our sunroom because there was no "behind the wall" and it doesn't bother me at all. (And I can be OCD about that type of thing.) We also put a small shelf on the wall to hold the DVD player and cable box. If you live in a small house, it helps to have one less piece of furniture to hold the TV. As for pricing, costs of TVs have come way down, so they're fairly inexpensive now. And DH installed himself and just bought the parts.

 

[mnrose]

I am doing this in an exercise room we are finishing in our lower level. It's easy for us because we planned for it as we finished the room. The plug and all wires are in right behind where the TV will go. The device for hanging the TV I bought at Costco for $60. I think it would be much more of a PITA to do it in a finished wall, and would lead either to exposed wires, and cutting holes that would then need to be repaired.

 

[ozliz]

Hope I'm not hijacking the thread but on a related question what height did you all hang at? I have 2 crazy cats so have stuck with an old heavy tv as long as possible but need to upgrade soon. I expect I will want to hang tv at eye height when sitting but always thought it looked nicer to hang a little higher even though this is not ergonomically a good idea. I will have to fix the tv to the wall but will still want to use the old low line cabinet for the box stuff (dvd etc). I'm hoping this means that my tv can just sort of hover above the old cabinet so it doesn't look strange having it low where my neck will be happy. Without the cabinet there I think it would like weirdly low.

 

[IndyRnRfan]

I did ours in the basement when I finished it. Much easier when you plan for it. My mount was 5' off the ground centered. I made two bookcase areas next to the TV so the plugs are off to the side and hidden. We actually use them as shelves for our Disney photos so the cables and plugs are hidden. The mount was about $70 but you can get them cheaper. I had to get a bigger one for our 54" and screw it to a 2x10 behind the wall with lag screws. Love the look and the cables that are hidden away. However, I did get a sound bar and mounted it below the TV so we do have 1 wire that is visible to the TV but I don't care.

 

[tileman]

I did ours in the bed rooms was not hard just find the stud in the wall. I did put them near the power and cable box's that way I just need to add the box's behind the tv on the wall
and fish tape the other wires down to the box's below. Look nice and clean.

Here's what I used
http://www.amazon.com/Swiveling-Wall-Mount-Shelves-Shelf/dp/B00IUPHWYE

 

[indimom]

Both of ours are mounted to the wall. The mounts were about $40 to $80 based on the size of the television.

In the living room, the tv is mounted about five feet high. For the cords I bought the cover that you mount to the wall and match to your wall paint. (We have lathe and plaster walls so cutting neat little holes in the drywall isn't an option for us.) We had a taller bookshelf under the tv for the various boxes. Dh is now planning to build a metal and wood shelving unit that will mount to the wall under the tv with a tower section to one side. It's meant to house the electronics, fish tank, and lots of photos, books, etc.
We don't find the height to be too high at all. I guess because the room is big enough we're not looking 'up' at the tv in any significant way.

In our bedroom, the tv is about six foot high, we placed it where it would be comfortable for someone lying in bed to watch. We don't have any extra boxes for this tv. But, the cords are showing. I didn't bother to hide them because we're going to remodel that room anyway and we'll put the cords in the wall when we do.

I like having the tv on the wall. I doubt I'd ever go back to a standing television.

 

[minnie56]

We have 3 flat screens on 3 walls .. DH installed not sure they were that big of a deal? All wires were fished through the walls and the electronics are in the basement so the remotes ( and this is my layman interpretation!) function with the 'eye' signal on the tv.

 

[Tuffcookie]

My livingroom TV is on a swivel mount on the wall. I love that I can swivel it whatever direction I want. I have a cabinet underneath that holds the HD box, blu ray player, and dvds.

I didn't open the wall to hide the cords/wires but they are behind the cabinet. Seeing cords bothers me too but I wasn't willing to put up with the mess to open the wall.

TC

 

[Disneychix]

Hope I'm not hijacking the thread but on a related question what height did you all hang at? I have 2 crazy cats so have stuck with an old heavy tv as long as possible but need to upgrade soon. I expect I will want to hang tv at eye height when sitting but always thought it looked nicer to hang a little higher even though this is not ergonomically a good idea. I will have to fix the tv to the wall but will still want to use the old low line cabinet for the box stuff (dvd etc). I'm hoping this means that my tv can just sort of hover above the old cabinet so it doesn't look strange having it low where my neck will be happy. Without the cabinet there I think it would like weirdly low.

I think my TVs are too high. I would opt for slightly above eye level. One is hung above a mantle so no other option but that height. I am used to it but lower would be preferred. The other tv is hung a bit higher because at this height I can see it from the kitchen, while I enjoy that it is not too comfortable when watching tv from the couch.

 

[rgf207]

I've mounted a bunch of TV's on the wall. It's not that difficult and doesn't require much skill. You can buy the wall plates at Lowe's for about $2 each and just cut 2 holes in the wall and run your AV cables through them. The mount can be purchased at amazon for about $40.

I also run a tap off my electrical box and run a new recessed electrical outlet up behind the TV next to the top cable hole.

This is very important. DO NOT run your power cable through the wall. The power cable that comes with your TV is not rated for use behind the wall and it is against code. This means that if there is ever a fire in your house, even if it wasn't caused by that specific wire, your homeowners insurance can deny your entire claim because it's against code

 

[sam_gordon]

As mentioned, you can get covers to hide the cables, or you can get cable "pass through's" (like this: http://www.amazon.com/Audiovox-VH64...3406858&sr=8-7&keywords=wall+box+pass+through). As mentioned, don't use the equipment power cables through the wall.

We have a 6' shelving unit to the side of our TV that holds all of our components. The cable goes to the side of the TV and into the shelving unit.

 

[xlxo]

Thoughts....

• wall mounted frees up floor space for walking or storage.
• safer for children as they are less likely to pull/knock the TV onto themselves. http://www.ctvnews.ca/health/more-children-hurt-by-falling-tvs-study-1.2585780
• some mount the cable boxes on the back of the TV to minimize clutter
• you can get a cheap wall mount... but a full motion mount that swings out means you can change the viewing angle. Also helps when trying to access the ports behind the TV.
• I live in a heritage home. While I like wall mounts in a hotel. I decided on a floor stand to minimize wall damage. http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_2?url=search-alias=electronics&field-keywords=tv+floor+stand
• I noticed some wall mounts have a shelf for a soundbar for better sound. Hope your wall is strong enough for all the weight.
• as mentioned.... seriously think about viewing height. Above the fireplace may be too high for someone seated. Tilting the TV helps a bit.

 

[nkereina]

We have ours mounted on the wall above our fireplace. We had an outlet installed above our fireplace for this purpose. We have a sound bar that sits on the mantle, and we did buy a wire cover to conceal the wires going down from the TV to the sound bar. We painted it the same color as the wall and it looks fine. You could do the same with your cable box and blu ray player if you have a mantle space or something underneath the TV you could set them on. FWIW, we do have the TV tilted downward and our living room is large so we made sure our sofa and chairs were situated far enough back that it wouldn't be too high for viewing and the TV wouldn't be too big for the room.

For our cable box and blu ray player, they are in the basement, just below our living room where the TV is mounted. The cords travel from the back of the TV inside the wall down into the basement. We bought a Logitech wireless remote that we programmed to operate our cable box and blu ray player so we don't have to have them nearby to change the channel, etc. The alternative option would have been to run the wires through the wall over to the corner of the room where we could have put a small stand to keep the cable box and blu ray player. If you don't want to run them through the wall, you could use a wire cover to travel the length of your molding or ceiling over to an area that's out of the way.

My parents have a TV stand that allows them to mount the TV at the top of the stand, and has shelves underneath for their boxes. It leaves a space on the top of the stand for whatever you want since the TV isn't sitting on the stand, and allows the height of the TV to be adjustable. Looks like this: http://www.bestbuy.com/site/whalen-...erry/8482006.p?id=1219339618920&skuId=8482006

 

[xlxo]

That reminds me.... some cable provider offers "wireless cable boxes". It means one less wire to the cable box!

 

[dotfurio]

DH hung our t.v.'s so I don't really know how all that went, although I will say I like the t.v. that's mounted with a movable arm so I can angle the t.v. different ways. We have cabinets under our t.v.'s and the boxes and accessories sit there.