A mounted TV is one of the cheapest upgrades to a living room, and one of the easiest to get wrong. Three decisions matter more than the mount you buy: height, wall type and where the cables go.
Getting the height right
The centre of the screen should sit roughly at eye level when you are seated — usually 100 to 110 cm from the floor for a normal sofa. Most people mount too high because they copy what they saw above a fireplace. Above a mantel, a tilting mount is essential, otherwise you are looking up at the screen all evening.
Wall type changes everything
- Wood studs: the standard case — lag bolts into at least two studs
- Steel studs: need toggle-style anchors rated for the load, never wood screws
- Concrete or block: sleeve anchors and a hammer drill; common in PEI basements
- Plaster and lath: older Charlottetown homes; the plaster carries no load, the lath and studs do
Drywall anchors alone should never hold a TV. Even a 43-inch set puts significant leverage on the wall, and the failure mode is the TV pulling out of the wall face-first.
Hiding the cables
There are three options. A surface raceway painted to match the wall is the cheapest. An in-wall cable pass-through kit runs the HDMI and power behind the drywall and is the cleanest look on an interior wall. On an exterior wall, in-wall routing is harder because of insulation and vapour barrier, and a raceway is usually the better call.
Before the installer arrives
- Decide where the receiver, console or soundbar will live
- Make sure there is a power outlet within reach or plan for one
- Clear the wall and move furniture back about a metre
- Have the TV unboxed if you can lift it safely — otherwise leave it
We mount TVs across PEI on every wall type, including concealed cabling and soundbar brackets, and we clean up and take the packaging away.