Hang That Plasma Flatscreen

Equipment and Materials for Flat Screen Installation

Tools: Drywall Knife, Stud Finder, Level, small blade Handsaw, Drill w/ Screwdriver bits, Ratchet Socket set, Drywall Trowel/Putty Knife, Chisel, Hammer, Sanding Block, Dust Mask (for drywall dust), Gloves (for handling insulation), L Square ruler.

Materials (All available at The Home Depot): Drywall Compound (small pre-mixed bucket), Drywall Tape, stud mounted Cable Receptacle Boxes.

Cables: I got at least one cable for each connection available on the TV and added a couple extra. Ended up with several sets of RCA AV, Component video, HDMI, even a computer VGA cable, as my TV supported it as an input.

Mounting Bracket: VMA42-60 Wall Mount, Swingout Arm Wall Mount, made by Vizio (http://www.vizio.com). This bracket can extend the TV 2 feet away from the wall, and tilts up and down for any necessary viewing angle.

Combined expense for materials & equipment about $150, most of which went towards cable costs (HDMI).

FIND YOUR STUDS

Using a Stud Finder you can locate studs behind your drywall so you can mount your flat screen tv. If the _center_ of each stud aligns with your bracket, you are set, otherwise like in my case, they were not spaced correctly to make everything center with the mounting hardware, so part of the drywall needed to come down add studs. This also had the advantage of allowing for a stronger installation, and routing the cables while the wall was opened up.

A Drywall knife was used to cut out enough room to install new studs.

DRYWALL DEMO

Drywall Removal. Make sure you have a drop cloth. A face mask might be a good idea too. Be careful of any electrical wires.

Since I'm adding studs, the existing insulation needs to be cut for reuse between new studs. Mask, wear it.

INSTALL NEW STUDS

Added extra studs, with 'L' Brackets top & bottom for extra strength, stuffed in the cut original insulation.

RUNNING CABLES

Cables needed to be run to move TV signals behind the wall to a side receptacle box where the Cable box, DVD Player, Video Game Console or other equipment can be to connected to the TV. I bought at least one of each cable connection available on the TV and added a couple extra.

REPLACEMENT DRYWALL

Since the cables need to be routed through stud mounted boxes, the position of each box needs to be cut out of the replacement drywall. I measured from all sides to arrive at box positions and outlines.

Once the box positions are measured, drill a hole in the center of each, and the _inside_ corners to make cutting the boxes neatly easier.

Using a saw with a thin blade, I cut out spaces for the cable boxes from my replacement drywall sheet, staying well within the outline of each to allow for a snug fit when the drywall is installed. The extra can always be shaved off as needed.

Pulled cables through replacement drywall sheet, and pushed onto the cutouts. I started out with drywall a bit larger than the space and trimmed here and there to ensure a good fit. Did I mention wearing Mask when messing around with drywall?

TEST MOUNTING

I chose a flat screen wall mount bracket that can be pulled 2' from the wall, and tilted up & down. Its heavy, glad I added the L-Brackets to the new studs. Two 250 Lb guys hanged on this thing fully extended, it does not budge. Good idea here to test mount with a Level, before applying drywall tape and compound.

DRYWALL TAPE AND COMPOUND

Used drywall tape to cover the gaps between replacement drywall and the original wall. Drywall compound seals it up. Made sure to cover the screw holes that were drilled to test the flat screen mounting bracket earlier. Also you really don't want go crazy applying too much drywall compound or you will regret it later when it dries. Gotta sand off the extra drywall when it dries, until the whole wall is uniform and smooth. Almost time to go old-school tube TV & temporary dresser stand.

Ideally you could just repaint the area where you were working but unfortunately in my case, the fresh paint looks different, so I had to paint a larger area to make it blend in.

All done, the 42" flat screen TV with its new swing out extending mounting bracket above the bedroom fireplace and ready to enjoy. Hopefully this look at what I did will be of use when you hang that flat screen yourself.