Televisions have become thinner, but they haven't become as light as they look. A large screen still carries enough weight to tear a poorly fixed bracket out of plasterboard, and everything depends on four bolts you can't see once the TV is up. The good news is that mounting a TV is a genuinely manageable DIY job. It simply rewards doing things in the right order: choose the bracket, find the studs, decide the height, then deal with the cables.

Choosing the Right Bracket First

Resist the urge to buy a mount because it's cheap or because the box looks reassuringly big. The bracket decides everything else, including where the TV can sit and how close to the wall it finishes.

• Fixed mounts hold the screen flat against the wall. Cheapest, lowest profile, and the right choice if you always watch from the same sofa.
• Tilting mounts let you angle the screen down a few degrees. Useful above a sideboard or in a bedroom where you watch from a lower position.
• Full-motion mounts swing out and pivot. Great for an open-plan room or a corner, but they place far more leverage on the wall, so the fixing matters more.

Now check two numbers on the back of your TV. The four threaded holes form a rectangle — measure the horizontal and vertical spacing in millimetres. That's the VESA pattern, and the bracket must match it, or come with adaptor plates that do. Then look at the weight rating. Manufacturers state a maximum load, and you want headroom rather than a perfect match, especially with a moving mount.

Finding Studs Without Guessing

Plasterboard alone will not hold a television. It will hold a picture frame, a shelf or a mirror, but not a screen hanging a metre off the floor with a child or a hoover cable liable to catch it. You need timber behind the plaster.

1. Run a stud finder across the wall and mark both edges of each stud. The centre is the midpoint between the two marks.
2. Confirm what you've found. A thin bradawl or a 2mm drill bit pushed gently through the plaster should meet firm resistance in a stud and slide through easily in a void. Do this low down, where a small hole will never be seen.
3. Check the spacing. Timber studs are usually set at roughly 400mm or 600mm centres (16 or 24 inches). If your marks repeat at a regular interval, you've found the framing.
4. Before any drilling, sweep the wall with a cable and pipe detector. Behind a plasterboard wall there may be mains cables, water pipes or heating pipework, and a drill bit does not care which.

When There Are No Studs to Find

Plenty of homes throw up surprises. Dot-and-dab plasterboard is stuck to a solid wall with adhesive, so there's no cavity and no framing — you'll need masonry fixings. Metal stud partitions take specialist toggle fixings rated for the load. And in older Somerset properties, you may be drilling into stone, brick or cob, which behaves completely differently again and usually needs sleeve anchors or resin fixings rather than screws and plugs.

If your bracket lands where there simply isn't a stud, don't improvise with plasterboard plugs. Move the bracket, add a timber pattress fixed across two studs, or bring in someone who can.

Getting the Height Right

Ignore the height the previous owners used. Sit in your normal spot, relax, and have someone measure from the floor to your eye level. The centre of the screen should end up close to that line, or a little above it. Too high and you'll spend the evening with a stiff neck; too low and the sofa will block the bottom of the picture.

Bedrooms are the exception. If you watch lying down, a tilting bracket and a slightly higher position works better. Above a fireplace is the other classic mistake — it's often too high, and you should check the TV manual for guidance on heat clearance before committing.

Fixing the Bracket So It Stays Up

Hold the wall plate against the wall, check it with a spirit level, and mark through the holes with a pencil. Drill pilot holes slightly narrower than your bolts, keeping the drill straight. Then drive heavy-duty lag bolts or coach screws into the centre of the studs — not near the edges, where timber splits.

Tighten the bolts in turn rather than driving one home before starting the next, and re-check the level as you go. Lifting the television itself is a two-person job, no matter how confident you feel. Once it's on the plate, engage the locking screw or safety catch, and give the screen a gentle push and pull to confirm it's seated properly.

Hiding Cables Without Cutting Corners

A wall-mounted TV with cables dangling beneath it looks unfinished. Sorting that out safely is straightforward, as long as you respect one rule.

Never bury the television's plug-in power lead inside a wall. Flexible leads aren't designed to serve as fixed wiring, and doing it can be a fire risk and may invalidate your home insurance.

Signal cables are a different matter. Use HDMI and aerial cables rated for in-wall installation, chase a shallow channel or run plastic conduit behind the plasterboard, and finish with brush plates or a cable entry plate so the cables disappear cleanly. Leave a drawstring in the conduit if you might add cables later. Where you need power, fit a socket behind the screen, and have any new socket or alteration to mains wiring installed and tested by a qualified electrician in line with current regulations.

When It's Worth Calling Someone In

If the wall is solid stone, if the studs are in the wrong places, if you want a new socket behind the screen, or if the screen is simply too big and too expensive to gamble on, stop and get help. A handyman with a proper detector, a masonry drill and a box of the right fixings will have the bracket up and the cables hidden in an afternoon — and you'll spend that afternoon watching the television instead of worrying about it.

Photo: Walkerssk / Pixabay