Walls, mounts and cables

How much does TV mounting cost in Northwest Georgia?

How much does TV mounting cost? Around here it usually runs $280 to $600+ for a mounted TV. The wall, the mount and how the cables are handled decide where in that range you land, and work inside the wall belongs to a different trade.

What a mounted TV usually runs in Northwest Georgia

Expect $280 to $600+ for a mounted TV. Most jobs land inside it, and bigger ones go past the top.

It isn't a quote for your house or anyone's price list. Use it to check a quote: a number far outside it deserves a question, and the answer is usually the wall, the mount or the cables.

Don't read the low end as a small TV and the top as a big one: the wall and the mount move the number as much as the screen does.

Why is the range so wide?

Because mounting a TV can mean a drywall wall in a living room, or it can mean a heavy screen on a brick fireplace surround. The same words cover both jobs.

Four things stretch it: the weight and size of the set, the type of mount, the wall behind it, and what happens to the cables. Whether the mount comes with the job or is already in your hall closet matters too.

That last one is worth asking about directly. A quote that includes a mount and one that doesn't can look identical on paper.

The wall decides more than the TV does

A drywall wall with studs where the bracket needs them is the straightforward case. The fixings go into wood and the set hangs from the framing. Where the studs miss the bracket, the answer is a plate fixed across two of them, and finding them properly comes first: a magnet finds studs better than an electronic finder.

Steel studs, the plaster over lath in Rome's older houses, and masonry each want different fixings and more care. Brick and stone are slower than wood, because every hole is drilled with a hammer drill and fitted with a masonry anchor. A fireplace surround is often exactly that, and the screen sits higher there than most eyes want.

Where cables stop being a mounting job

Cables that run down the face of the wall in a painted cover strip, or get tidied neatly down to the console, can be part of a mounting job. How you want them handled changes the work, so say which when you ask for a number.

Cable run inside the wall, and an outlet behind the screen, are their own trade and not part of a mounting job, and which jobs need a licensed trade draws that line.

Mounting it yourself, up to a point

A modest TV on a fixed or tilting mount, on a drywall wall where two studs line up with the bracket, is a fair homeowner job. You need a level, a drill, a way to find both edges of each stud and a second person to lift the set.

Buy the mount to fit the set. Its rating has to sit comfortably above the TV's weight, and the hole pattern on the mount has to match the four holes on the back of the screen. Check both before you open the box.

The job stops being a good homeowner one when the set is heavy, when the mount is a full-motion arm, when the studs don't land, or when the wall is plaster or masonry. A swing-out arm puts the whole weight of the set out in front of the wall, which asks a lot of every fixing. Those are the cases where getting it wrong means a repair to the wall.

Three answers to have before you ask for a number

A quote you can rely on takes three answers: the screen size and weight, a photo of the wall the TV is going on, and what you want done with the cables.

The size is on the back of the TV or in its manual, and the weight is on the spec sheet. The photo should show the whole wall, including any fireplace, window or corner nearby. The cable question has two honest answers: tidied on the surface, or inside the wall, which is a different trade.

Add whether you've already bought the mount. If you haven't settled on a height, we'd do that first, because a mount hung at the wrong height is a second set of holes in your wall.

To put a number on your own wall, start with TV mounting.

Questions that come with this one

Is the mount included in a TV mounting price?

It depends on the quote. Some assume you bought the mount and some supply one. Ask which, and ask what weight the mount is rated for, because a mount rated under the set's weight fails however well it's fixed.

Does mounting above a fireplace change the price?

It can, because the surround is often brick or stone, which takes more time and different anchors than studs. Settle the height before anything is drilled, since a screen over a mantel often sits higher than is comfortable to watch.

What if I want every cable hidden?

Cables tidied on the surface can be part of a mounting job. Cable and power inside the wall are their own trade and not part of mounting.

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Other things worth knowing

How to find studs, and why a magnet beats the electronic finder

An electronic finder reads density and gets fooled. A magnet finds the actual fastener, which is the actual stud.

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When a job needs a licensed trade, and when it does not

Some trades are licensed at any size. What is left turns on job size, and repair sits under that line.

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Which wall cracks matter, and which do not

A hairline over a door frame is the house moving. A step you can feel across a crack, or mortar cracking in stairs, is a different question.

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Why a list of small jobs costs less per job

The trip is a fixed cost either way, so the way to spend less on small jobs is to stop calling them in one at a time.

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Got one of these on your list?

Describe what you are seeing. You will get a straight answer on whether it needs doing now.