Remember when a TV with a 32-inch screen was considered “big?”
That wasn’t that long ago. And yet, it’s become increasingly rare to find a TV that size in most American homes.
The average TV is about 47 inches these days, and as TVs continue to come down in price, that number is going to keep on going up. It likely won’t be long before 70-inch TVs are the norm.
For safety reasons, it’s important to hang up a TV and to use the right wall mounting tips when you own a TV with a huge screen. If you don’t do these things, you might put your TV, everything surrounding your TV, and even your family members and pets at risk if your TV ever topples over.
Here are some useful wall mounting tips that will help you keep a TV safe and sound when you have it in your home.
Begin by Buying the Right Mount for Your TV
Before you can even think about mounting your TV on the wall, you’re going to need to invest in a TV mount. And you’re going to find that there are lots of different types of wall mounts available for TVs.
Some of the most popular types of TV mounts include:
- Fixed TV mounts
- Swivel TV mounts
- Tilting TV mounts
- Full-motion TV mounts
You can pick the kind of mount that you like best for your home.
But more importantly, you should make sure that your mount is equipped to handle your specific TV. Some mounts won’t be able to support a TV that’s bigger than a specific size or more cumbersome than a certain weight.
Choose a mount that’s going to be able to keep your TV steady, regardless of whether you leave it flush against the wall or pulled out from the wall and tilted.
Find the Best Place to Mount Your TV on the Wall
After you’ve found the right mount for your TV, the next order of business will be to locate the best place to hang your TV up. This might be easier said than done.
In some cases, you might not have a whole lot of options for your TV. It’ll have to go on the one wall in your living room that has space on it.
But in other instances, you might be able to hang your TV in any number of parts of a room. You should look for a centralized location and plan to put the TV in a place that’s not too high or too low on the wall.
This will ensure that you’re able to see it from almost any angle in a room. It’s essential to test out a few different spots if you can to see which one will work best.
Locate the Studs in Your Wall Before Mounting Your TV
Any time you’re hanging up something as heavy as a TV on the wall, you always want to make sure that you use the studs in your wall to do it. If you attempt to hang a TV up without anchoring the mount for it in studs, it’s probably not going to be long before it falls.
You can use a basic stud finder to find the studs in the wall where you’re planning on hanging your TV. Locate two of them so that you can use them to attach your TV up securely.
Hang the Mount for Your TV on the Wall
Once you’ve found two studs in your wall, you can go ahead and hang up the mount for your TV. Drill pilot holes in your wall first before sticking your mount up on the wall and screwing it in.
After you have the mount in place, use a level to ensure that it’s not crooked. You could ruin your TV-watching experiences if your TV isn’t as level as it could and should be.
One of the best wall mounting tips is that it’s better to be safe than sorry when it comes to TV wall mounting. Double-check your work along the way so that you don’t end up having to take everything down later to level things out.
Secure the Mounting Plate to the Back of Your TV
At this point, your TV mount will be up on the wall, and you’ll be so close to hanging your TV upon it. But before you do that, you’ll need to secure the mounting plate for your mount to the back of your TV.
In this day and age, most TV manufacturers make it very easy to mount a TV on the wall. There will be holes on the back of your TV that are designed to help you secure a mounting plate to the back of it.
Consult the manufacturer’s manual for your specific TV to see how to attach a mounting plate to the back of your TV. It should only take you a few minutes to do, but it must get done right, so your TV doesn’t fall later.
Ask a Family Member or Friend to Help You Hang Up Your TV
After your mounting plate is attached to your TV, it’ll officially be time to put your TV up on the wall. Grab a family member or friend and ask them to help you lift the TV and put it into place.
The mount for the TV and the mounting plate can be connected once you have your TV in the proper position. Be very careful when combining the two, and make sure your TV is secure before you let go of it.
Consider Finding a Good Way to Hide Your TV Cords
One of the only downsides of mounting a TV to the wall is that it can make the TV’s cords look very messy. You should do something to try and hide them so that people focus on your TV screen and not your TV cords when looking at your TV.
Some people choose to cut a hole into their wall and hide their TV cords behind it. Others buy unique cord covers to keep cords out of sight.
Think about whether or not one of these options might serve as a good solution for your messy TV cords.
Use These Wall Mounting Tips to Hang a TV Up Today
Hanging a TV up on a wall used to be a big ordeal. But it’s never been easier to do than it is today.
Give it a try while putting the wall mounting tips found here to the test. You’ll find that hanging a TV up on a wall is a lot simpler than you might have thought.
Read our blog to find out other ways to improve the look of the inside of your home.