One of the most common questions I get asked is, “Can TV’s be mounted onto stud or plasterboard walls?” and a common misconception is that they can’t which always makes me laugh as countries like the USA have almost exclusively wooden frame houses. With the right fixings and techniques TV’s are easily and safely mounted onto these surfaces, especially with the modern LED super light TV’s that are now on the market.
First things first, I would suggest starting with a mounting bracket that spreads the weight of the TV. For fixed mounts I actually usually use the Ventry B-Tech brackets which are a single bar, with mounting arms that hook over and feet at the bottom that really spread the weight of the TV.
Secondly not all plasterboard walls are the same. You have the stud walls which are plasterboard screwed into wooden studs and dry lined walls which are plasterboard literally stuck onto brickwork with an adhesive. For studs walls, you have a few choices you can find the studs and screw directly into them. This usually isn’t that hard, best way is to cut a small section out that will be behind the TV and physically measure where they are. Alternatively plasterboard wall anchors work very well, these are inserted into a drilled hole and then expand behind the wall like a spiders legs. The good ones are said to be rated at 25kg per anchor, although I would never trust them over 5-10kg, so put a few extra in. There are also products on the market like Grip-it which was on BBC’s Dragons Den. If the TV you are putting up is very large or heavy or will be installed onto a full motion wall bracket, it may be preferable to cut a hole in the wall and fit a section of Plywood to be screwed into.
For dry-lined walls it is usually simpler still, by knocking on the wall you can usually find the solid bits to fix into, if these are in different places to where you want to fix to. Just use longer screws and fix into the brickwork behind, be careful not to screw too tight though as you could crack the plasterboard. If the gap between the plasterboard and the brickwork is too big, you could use wall anchors or Grip-It type fixings.
So there you have it, all you have to worry about now is your cables!!