Fixing TV to a mysterious wall

Very good point, thanks.

... but an unreliable one that - depending on circumstances - may or may not work. 'tis usually better to make the effort to do something correctly once than to do the opposite and risk having to do it several times before giving up and either accepting the imperfect results or doing it correctly. Especially when attaching a heavy or fragile load to a structure.

Car body filler.

If you cant be arsed to remove some plasterboard, provide a secure fixing and replace...

You can skim it once its in there

Inarguably put.

Good points. I can be arsed, I'm spending time here to determine the most painless method. I'm impressed with the Rigifix system enough to take a punt. Although I understand there may be some cautionary advice on using this method.

Depends on the age of the property. My 1976 house has

The wall fixing plate of the full motion mount TV bracket is 30cm x

Cutting away the dot and dab and plasterboard and inserting a large piece of plywood with numerous fixing points, as has been suggested, may be a more realistic option. But, as I'm not quite the DIYer I was 40 years ago, I don't want to go to unnecessary extremes. Please advise.

What is the weight of the TV..?

I am afraid you are over thinking the issue. If you do decide to canibalise your plasterboard you will still be fixing your plywood with wall plugs and all you will gain is the ability to adjust where you place the ply in relation to the blocks and being able to fasten the bracket direct to wood.

All the dedicated fixings I linked to in a previous post have long wall plugs that despite the thickness of the PB and the gap behind it go quite deep into the blocks behind. They have metal sleeves that prevent the PB being pulled in when tightening the screws and also prevent the item being hung exerting a vertical force on the PB.

If your bracket has only one set of fixed holes to fasten to the wall and you feel you have hit a mortar line with a weak fixing then re-drill the holes slightly offset, filling a few holes is a lot less work than making a dirty big hole in the wall and making it neat.

As for getting into placing the bracket in one block or spreading it across several unless you have had some real bodgers of bricklayers the wall/block will not move. I think I would be more concerned in getting the TV placed in a sensible position so it is in eye-line when being viewed.

I repeat that I have used all three in various substrates and none have failed, the last being a radiator hung on a cinder block wall with tile backer board “dot & dabbed” on and despite giving it a good raunch it is still there.

Richard

It's a 55" TV that takes 2 oldies to pick up and carry. It's not just that though. The full motion bracket can be extended from the wall by 18", not that this is likely to happen, but the potential leverage effect on the fixings would be increased by doing so.

I've ordered the RigiFix 8m system you recommended. I'm just wondering how to use them most effectively and safely. I admit I am the belt and braces type, especially after seeing some of the Youtube horror stories on the subject.

I have a floor stand to hold mine.

I can't stand it.

This isn't how I'd do it, but this is an example of at least supporting the force of gravity, and using a VESA plate. This is a stand, with wooden uprights that go next to the VESA holes on this particular unit.

But a stand like that means not having to leave a sheet of ply up against the wall for vertical weight support.

A livingroom floor has a load limit (so many pounds per square foot), so you cannot use an infinite amount of ballast.

Some people are putting a TV up high, in an attempt to prevent young children from climbing on it.

A wall fixing would be easy... with a stud wall, studs every 18 inches.

With a ballasted stand, you get some control, but could still use at least one wall fixing for some security. As protection against rotating moment. A climbing child weighs a lot more than a TV set, potentially. Children are like animals, when it comes to "climbing potential". I ended up with a broken knob on my stereo back home, because of this. Hillary was summitting Everest, and had to put his "little" foot on the volume knob of the stereo on the way up, ruining it. I know what the potential is for the "climber type". They can make it to camp #3 and have the bottled oxygen strapped on when you catch them in the act.

Someone here (a Scotsman), built his own subwoofers. And for the cabinets with the speakers in, he used bags of sand in the bottom of the cabinets for ballast. And that helps prevent the sub from "walking" across a floor. It does not prevent your drink from falling off the top of the (vibrating) cabinet. Neither can a vase with flowers in it, sit on top of the sub. The vase would walk right off the top of the sub. You arrange the subs in the livingroom, then open the front of the sub, near the base, and fit the sand bags. I think it might have been three sandbags from the builders merchant.

The swing outward on this one, is presumably to solve the assembly order problem with VESA plates. In the extended position, you fit the screws on the VESA plate, then walk the stand back into its box. I don't see an obvious locking mechanism, to keep the TV against the wall though.

If you search for Rigifix 8M you'll find several discussions.

Given: the weight of the TV, the arm length, and the (remote?) possibility of a child swinging on it, I wouldn't feel confident unless I knew what I was fixing to. I would also want to make sure that the surface I was mounting to didn't compress along the bottom edge of the mount - but from the pictures it looks as if the Rigifix things are designed to have their outer end flush with the wall, so I presume that the mounting plate would just sit on them and compression wouldn't be an issue. If you wanted to check where you were proposing to attach the mounts then you don't need to cut the whole area out, only areas around the fixing points. FW(L)IW, a while ago I decided to wall-hang our TV and used a bracket with a long arm. I bought the most solidly-built bracket I could find and fixed it to the solid (wet plastered) wall with six long M6 lag screws (4 at the top and 2 at the bottom) into conventional heavyweight wall plugs. However, having done this I decided that our elderly LCD TV (which was a 2-person lift) was too heavy to be dangling so far away from the wall so replaced it with a modern one which weighs only a few kilos ... have you considered doing that?

Thanks for the very helpful advice from your own experience. I read what I could find on the forums regarding the RigiFix 8m fixings. Not too offputting, but some potential there for struggle and concern.

I also read that the max weights considered viable for wall mounting are around 35Kg. This 55" LG TV is stated to be 19.2kg. It did seem very heavy to carry. Maybe I should join a Gymn.

I'm going to use the simplest prescribed fixing method first, then swing on it. If that isn't reassuring enough, I'll get more elaborate.

Application & revue of various 'dot & dab' plasterboard fixings (17m 27s) -

Good video. Currently I'm working with the RigiFix 8m and the wall bracket that I've already purchased.