Greater Lansing

TV mounting

A bracket holds because of what it is bolted into, not because of what it is. Studs sit at 16 inches on center and the screen almost never lands where the fixings want to be — which is why one wall is an hour and the next one needs blocking put in behind it. The second question is the cords, and that one has a rule in it most people are never told.

What is actually wrong

A TV bracket holds because of what it is bolted into, not because of what it is. Wall studs in a Michigan house sit at 16 inches on center, which means the screen almost never lands where the fixings want to be. Everything that makes one mount harder than another comes out of that one fact.

Drywall anchors do not hold a television. Not the plastic ones in the box, not the self-drilling ones, not several of them. A 65-inch screen is 50 to 70 pounds hanging on a lever arm, and on a full-motion arm pulled out and turned, the load at the top fixings is several times the weight of the set. Lag bolts into framing, or toggles into solid blocking, are the only two answers.

Above a fireplace is the job people ask for most and the one with the most going on. Masonry takes sleeve anchors rather than lags, a flush-fitted screen over a working firebox is sitting in the warmest part of the room, and the viewing angle puts your neck up for the length of a film. It is all doable and it is worth knowing before rather than after.

Hiding the cords has a rule in it that most people are not told. Low-voltage cable — HDMI, network, speaker — may be run inside a finished wall when it is rated for it. A standard appliance power cord may not, and the manufacturer says so on the cord. The legal way to get power up the wall without a visible lead is a recessed inlet-and-outlet kit, which moves the plug rather than the cord. Anything else is a hidden extension lead inside a stud bay.

Metal studs and plaster-and-lath each want a different fixing again. A metal stud will not take a lag at all, and lath is not structure. Older Lansing and East Lansing housing stock has plenty of both.

Where this stops

When it is not a handyman job

This is at the top of the page rather than the bottom because getting it wrong costs you a wasted visit. Insured, and no contractor license is claimed or implied — the Michigan residential builder license is not held.

No electrical license is held. A recessed power kit is a fixture fitting on an existing circuit; a new outlet, a new circuit or anything inside the panel is licensed electrical work, named on the quote and referred out.
A power cord will not be run inside a wall whatever the price, and that is not negotiable. It is what the cord itself prohibits, and it is a fire argument rather than a paperwork one.
The bracket is yours to choose and yours to own. We will tell you if the one you bought is wrong for the wall or light for the screen, but we do not warrant somebody else hardware.
No dish, aerial or satellite work, and no roof-mounted anything.
We do not pair, configure or sign into your television, your streaming services or your network.
If the wall will not take it safely, we will say so and stop. A mount that comes down takes the screen and the plaster with it.

The work itself

What actually gets done

Finding the framing properly, with a stud finder and then a confirmation hole where it will be covered, rather than trusting a reading through plaster.

Lag bolts into studs, or toggles into blocking added from the back where a stud is not where the screen has to be.

Fixed, tilt or full-motion brackets fitted — and the honest conversation about full-motion, because the arm multiplies the load and needs the better fixing.

Masonry and brick fireplace installs with sleeve anchors rated for the weight.

Cable hidden inside the wall using in-wall rated low-voltage cable, with a brush plate or a recessed box at each end.

A recessed power kit where you want the plug out of sight — the legal way to do it, rather than a power cord inside the wall.

Soundbars mounted under the screen on the same framing and leveled to it.

The screen leveled under load, not empty, and the cables dressed so nothing pulls on the ports.

Making good — the old brackets off, holes filled, and the wall left ready for your paint.

This work sits inside General Repairs, which carries the invoiced price bands for the trade with the sample size printed beside every figure.

Before you call anybody

Doing it yourself, and when that stops being the right call

Reasons to handle it in-house

Into timber studs, with a fixed bracket, at normal height, this is a genuine DIY job. A stud finder, a level, a drill and somebody to take the other corner, and a competent person is done in an afternoon.
The bracket instructions are better than they used to be, and a decent one comes with the right lags and a paper template.
You know where you want it and you can live with it a week before committing. Nobody is better placed than you to get the height right.
Surface trunking is cheap, paintable and takes twenty minutes, and nobody notices it after two weeks. Hiding cords inside the wall is the expensive half of the job and it is optional.

Reasons to bring somebody in

Anchors are where this goes wrong, and it goes wrong later rather than immediately. A screen held by drywall anchors can sit there for a year and come off in the second summer, and by then it is the TV, the wall and whatever was underneath.
Brick, stone, plaster-and-lath and metal studs all need a fixing most people have never bought, and the wrong one in masonry looks identical to the right one once it is in.
Power inside a wall is the line where DIY advice on the internet is actively wrong. The recessed kit that does it legally costs less than most people expect, and the alternative is a hazard you cannot see.
Over a fireplace, on a vaulted ceiling, or anything where you are working above head height off a ladder with 70 pounds of glass — that is two people and the right gear.

What it costs

There is no price list for this, and here is what actually decides the number.

The same three words describe a twenty-minute job and a two-day one. Rather than publish a figure that is wrong for one of them, here is what moves it — so you can work out roughly which end of it you are at before anybody comes out.

What is behind the wall. Drywall over wood studs is the straightforward one; plaster and lath, metal studs, brick and stone each change the fixing and the time.

Whether the screen has to sit where no stud is. Blocking added from behind, or a mounting board, is extra work and it is the difference between a mount that holds and one that eventually does not.

Whether the cables go inside the wall. Surface trunking is quick; in-wall is cutting, fishing and two plates, and a recessed power kit on top if you want the plug gone too.

Fireplace and masonry installs, which take different anchors and more care about where the heat goes.

Full-motion versus fixed. The arm is more to fit, needs the better fixing, and wants checking under load.

Height and access — anything above a stairwell or a vaulted ceiling is a different setup.

How to get a real number

Somebody comes out, looks at it properly, and you get a fixed price in writing with the work set out line by line and the exclusions written down as plainly as the inclusions. Coming out to do that is not charged for, and neither is working out what is wrong. If something is found once a wall or a floor is open, it is priced as a written change order and you decide before the work carries on rather than after it is billed. Materials are supplied at cost with the receipt attached, first-time customers get 10% off labor, and labor carries a one-year craftsmanship warranty.

If this is happening right now

What to do in the next five minutes, and what happens when you ring.

Before anybody arrives

Measure the screen diagonally, corner to corner, and find the VESA pattern on the back — it is four holes in a square or rectangle, measured in millimeters. Those two numbers decide the bracket.
Decide the height while you are sitting on the sofa, not standing in the room. Most TVs end up too high, and above a fireplace is the most common version of it.
Take a photo of the wall and tell us what it is made of if you know. Drywall, plaster, brick or panelling changes the job.
Decide the cords question now rather than after: visible, in trunking, or inside the wall. It is the single biggest swing in the price.
If you want it over the fireplace, say whether the fire is used and what it burns. It changes the answer.

Call the business line

(517) 505-7135

Answered Monday to Friday, 08:00 to 18:00. There is no out-of-hours line and this page is not going to invent one — outside those hours, leave a message with the address and what is happening, and it is picked up in the morning.

On the call you get asked what is happening, what else in the building is affected, and whether it is still getting worse. That is how it gets decided whether this is our job at all — and if it is not, you get told that on the phone rather than after somebody has driven out.

No trip charge
No call-out fee or minimum
No diagnostic fee
No charge for a return visit

True across all 84 written quotes this company has issued. Most contractors in this market charge to turn up.

Or send the details

When the right answer is not this company

You can smell gas: Leave the building and call the utility from outside. Not us, and not later.
Water you cannot stop: Your main shut-off first, then a licensed plumber. Every minute of this one costs money.
Sewage backing up, or several fixtures at once: A licensed plumber with a camera. That is the shared line, not a fixture, and a cable down one sink will not touch it.
Sparking, scorching or a burning smell at an outlet or a panel: Breaker off, and a licensed electrician. Electrical work here is repair and like-for-like replacement, and this is neither.
No heat, or heating and cooling equipment that has failed: A licensed mechanical contractor. That trade is not offered here at all, and knowing that in one phone call is worth more than a visit.

Questions people actually ask

Can you mount a TV without drilling into studs?

Not safely with the anchors sold for it. Drywall anchors are rated for picture frames and light shelving, not for a cantilevered load that gets pulled and turned. Where the screen has to go somewhere there is no stud, the answer is blocking added behind the wall or a mounting board fixed across two studs — both of which are real fixings into real timber. Anything that promises a television on drywall alone is describing a mount that holds until it does not.

Can you hide the cables inside the wall?

The signal cables yes, the power cord no. HDMI, network and speaker cable rated for in-wall use can be run inside a finished wall legally. A standard appliance power cord cannot — the cord itself prohibits it and it is a fire risk inside a cavity. The proper way to lose the visible lead is a recessed power kit: an inlet behind the screen and an outlet lower down, wired as a fixed run, so the plug disappears without a cord in the wall. We fit those; anything beyond the fixture on an existing circuit is licensed electrical work and gets referred.

Is mounting a TV above the fireplace a bad idea?

It is the most-asked and the most-compromised position. Three things to weigh. Height: a screen above a mantel puts your neck up for the whole film, and a tilting bracket only partly fixes it. Heat: above a working firebox is the warmest part of the room and manufacturers set limits on it. Fixing: masonry needs sleeve anchors sized for the load, not lag bolts. None of that makes it impossible, and plenty of them are done — it just means the honest version of the conversation happens before the holes, not after.

What does TV mounting cost?

It depends almost entirely on the wall and the cords, which is why a flat price is usually a price for the easiest version. A fixed bracket into timber studs with the cable in surface trunking is at the bottom. A full-motion arm on a brick fireplace with the signal cable inside the wall and a recessed power kit is at the top, and is a different job rather than the same one with extras. Send a photo of the wall and say whether you want the cords out of sight and you will get a real number rather than a starting one.

Do I supply the bracket or do you?

Either. Most people already have one, and if you do we will tell you honestly whether it suits the wall and the screen before anything goes up. If you would rather we sourced it, it goes on the quote at what we pay for it — materials here are passed through at cost.

Send a photo of the wall

Send a picture of the wall, the size of the screen, and whether you want the cords out of sight. Those three things are most of the quote. Tell us what the wall is made of if you know — drywall, plaster, brick or panelling changes the fixing and the time. If it is going above a fireplace, say whether the fire gets used and what it burns, because that is a real part of the answer rather than a formality. Signal cable can go inside the wall; a power cord cannot, and where you want the plug gone too that is a recessed kit rather than a cord in a cavity. Anything past a fixture on an existing circuit is licensed electrical work, named on the quote and referred out. Coming out to look is free and there is no trip charge.

Get a Free Quote Call (517) 505-7135