How to Wall Mount a TV
Securely mount a flat-screen television to wood wall studs using a bracket kit, ensuring proper height, level alignment, and safe load-bearing anchor points.
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🧰 Required Tools & Equipment
- ✓ Stud finder
- ✓ Bubble level
- ✓ Cordless drill and drill bit set
- ✓ Socket wrench set
- ✓ Tape measure
- ✓ Pencil
- ✓ Phillips screwdriver
📦 Materials & Supplies
- ✓ TV wall mount kit with hardware
- ✓ Lag bolts and washers
- ✓ Painter's tape
⚠️ Safety Checkpoints & Warnings
- • Scan for live electrical wires and plumbing pipes behind the drywall before drilling.
- • Never mount a heavy television solely into drywall anchors; lag bolts must penetrate solid wood studs.
- • Always use two people to lift and hook the television onto the wall plate.
📋 Step-by-Step Guide (6 Steps)
Locate and Mark Stud Centers
Run the stud finder horizontally across the desired mounting zone to detect the left and right edges of two adjacent wall studs. Mark each edge with painter's tape and a pencil, then mark the exact midpoint between the edges. Verify standard 16-inch or 24-inch center-to-center spacing using your tape measure.
- • Painter's tape strips on wall with vertical pencil lines marking the center of two distinct studs.
- • Marking only one edge of a stud instead of finding both edges to calculate the true center.
Align and Mark the Wall Plate
Hold the metal wall plate against the wall at your chosen viewing height, lining up its mounting slots with your center stud marks. Place a bubble level directly on top of the plate and adjust until the vial bubble rests centered between the indicator lines. Mark four pilot hole locations through the slots onto the stud lines using a pencil.
- • Wall plate held horizontally with level bubble centered and distinct pencil crosses visible in the slot cutouts.
- • Letting the plate shift out of level while reaching for a pencil to mark the holes.
Drill Pilot Holes
Select a drill bit sized slightly smaller than the core diameter of your lag bolts, excluding the threads. Drill straight into the marked pencil locations at a 90-degree angle to the wall to a depth matching the bolt length. Confirm solid wood resistance and check the drill flutes for wood shavings upon extraction.
- • Clean, circular pilot holes with visible wood shavings ejected around the entry point.
- • Drilling at an angle, causing lag bolts to enter crooked and bind against the metal bracket.
Fasten Wall Plate to the Wall
Align the wall bracket over the drilled pilot holes and insert the lag bolts fitted with flat washers. Drive the bolts into the studs using a socket wrench, alternating between top and bottom bolts to apply even pressure. Place your level across the plate before full tightening to make micro-adjustments, then torque down firmly until flush.
- • All lag bolts fully seated tight against washers, plate pressed flat against drywall with level bubble centered.
- • Overtightening with an impact driver and stripping the wood threads inside the stud.
Attach Mounting Brackets to the TV
Lay the television face-down on a soft, padded surface like a blanket or sofa cushion. Align the two vertical mounting brackets with the VESA threaded screw holes on the back panel, ensuring the directional arrows point toward the top edge. Fasten the brackets using the correct length machine screws and spacers provided in the mount kit.
- • Vertical brackets parallel to each other, centered vertically on the TV back, and firmly fastened without wobble.
- • Using screws that are too long, which bottom out and crack the internal TV display panel.
Hang and Lock TV to Wall Plate
With two people, lift the TV by the outer frame and guide the top hooks of the TV brackets onto the upper rail of the wall plate. Gently lower the bottom of the TV until the lower bracket catches the bottom rail. Tighten the bottom safety locking screws or pull cords from underneath to prevent the TV from sliding or lifting off.
- • TV securely hooked onto wall plate, level horizontally, and locking safety screws fully engaged beneath the rail.
- • Letting go of the TV before verifying that both left and right bracket hooks are fully seated on the rail.
Credit: inspired by an original tutorial by Home Network — watch the original on YouTube.
Don’t have everything?
- No Socket wrench set? Impact driver with appropriate hex-head socket adapter
- No Stud finder? Strong neodymium magnet to detect drywall screws along the stud line