A few weeks ago we bought a new Vizio 48” LED TV to replace our old 37” Panasonic model that gave up the ghost. We’ve had it sitting on its stand on the shelf of our entertainment center, waiting on a wall mount to arrive that I ordered from Walmart.com. (Click on photos to enlarge them.)
Our good friend Dick, a member of our evening cards group, is a woodworking genius, and agreed to build a custom mount for us. Over the last few days he was over a couple of times to take measurements. Here’s what he had to work with:
The hole previously contained a combination bookcase/TV mount. It was a heavy and ungainly thing that was purpose-designed by Carriage (the maker of our fifth wheel), and was not adjustable to allow for a TV larger than 40-42 inches. Also, it was very difficult to get to the wires that connect the components on the top shelves to the TV. The overall space surrounding the hole is large enough to fit our 48” TV in, but we had to give up the storage in order to install an appropriate mount. That was an easy decision.
Yesterday (Saturday) Dick came over to install the frame that he built. In this photo he’s installing 2x4 braces on the back side of wall of the entertainment center.
And here he’s holding up the frame to check the overall size and appearance. The frame is made of 2x4’s, with heavy duty gussets on each corner.
It wasn’t long he had the frame installed. It’s designed to swing out from the left.
No simple door hinges on this baby. He installed a 20” long piano hinge, which is screwed through the wall and into the 2x4 braces he installed behind the wall.
On the left side he installed two barrel bolt latches. One would work, but I like the security and stability that two provide. The blocks they’re mounted on are also reinforced by a 2x4 brace Dick installed behind the wall.
Here’s what the completed frame assembly looks like.
After this it was just a matter of aligning and installing the tilting wall mount. This is the model I bought. Only 22 bucks at Walmart.com, with free delivery to our local Walmart in Avon Park.
And voila, we have a beautiful, professionally-mounted TV!
We could have hung the TV a little lower on the mount to make it look more centered, but we wanted enough room on the shelf below for family photos. We also wanted to keep the three small speakers exposed. We haven’t used them since our original (very cheap) DVD player/receiver pooped out a couple of years ago, using instead the sound bar you see on the shelf. But who knows, I might want to get another surround sound receiver sometime in the future.
This shows how it swings out for access to the wiring. None of the inputs on the TV are covered by the frame or mount, so everything is very accessible. It’s so much more convenient than our old system!
I want to thank Dick for the super job he did. I love how he over-engineered everything. He could have used 1x4’s, but instead he made everything from 2x4’s, and used larger size screws and lag bolts than the minimum required. My participation in the project consisted of encouragement, and occasionally holding something in place for him. So it’s borderline whether or not I can say “we” installed it.
Some people may think our TV is too large for the size of our room, but trust me it looks awesome! Our viewing distance is about 8 feet from the screen, which is the perfect distance for a 48-50” TV.
Hope you enjoyed this little tour of our TV installation project. See you in a couple or three days.
9 comments:
your project looks amazing. . .job well done! And NO. . .that is not too large for the room. . .we have about the same size, and it is wonderful. . .
Tell Dick that he did a great job. Looks good.
Nice Job!!!
Looks great!
There's no such thing as a too large TV in any room!! I have a 55 in a small sitting room here in Az...
Looks great, I'll bet you could add shelfs on the back of the wood frame. Even removable ones in case you needed to access the wires.
That's an unbeatable price on that mount and, there's no such thing as a TV that's "too big".
I always say, " it is not what you know, it is WHO you know!" Especially, if they have skills. Tell Dick he did a Great job on the frame.
Wow! Great job! I don't think that your TV is too large at all, in fact, for me the bigger, the better. Seeing what you have done and what a professional job Dick had done! I am envious. Wish I could cultivate friends like that. I have a 50 inch TV sitting against a wall; your idea has inspired me to action.
Jeanmarie @ RVM Australia
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