TV Wall Mounting in North West London

What is your wall made of?

Usually one of five things, and each needs a different fixing. A pilot hole tells you a lot: red or grey dust and firm resistance means brick or block, while white dust that stops after a short way means plasterboard. Pre-war partitions are often lath and plaster, where neither the plaster nor the thin timber laths will hold a screen on their own.

• Solid brick or block: masonry plugs and screws, or anchors rated for the load, set into the brick rather than the mortar joint
• Timber stud with plasterboard: coach screws into the studs; if the studs are in the wrong place, a timber or plywood pattress fixed across them
• Plasterboard on dabs over masonry: long fixings through to the wall behind, sized so the board is not crushed against the gap
• Lath and plaster: locate the timber studs and fix into them; the plaster itself carries nothing
• Metal stud: heavy-duty cavity fixings rated for the weight, or a pattress, since screws into thin steel can strip

How much weight can the fixings take?

Work from the weight of the TV plus the bracket, then allow for leverage. A flat bracket holds the screen close to the wall, so the load is mostly straight down. A full-motion arm can hold a screen half a metre out from the wall, and when it is pulled out, the top fixings are being levered out of the wall. That is the case most worth over-specifying. Check the bracket's rated load and its VESA pattern, the square of threaded holes on the back of the TV, against the TV's manual.

Then check the fixing manufacturer's rating for your wall material. The lowest of those numbers is your limit. We will not hang a large screen on an articulating arm on plain plasterboard, and we will tell you before the visit if your wall needs a pattress.

How do you avoid drilling into cables and pipes?

We scan the wall and keep out of the zones where hidden cables are allowed to run. BS 7671 sets out those zones. A cable buried less than 50 mm deep should run within 150 mm of the top of the wall or of a corner, or run straight up, down or across from a socket or switch. In a wall 100 mm thick or less, those zones carry through to the other side where the accessory's position can be worked out.

So the riskiest places to drill are in line with a socket or switch, and close to the ceiling or a corner. Behind a TV the socket is often exactly where the bracket wants to go, so we offset the fixings or confirm the cable route first. Pipes have no equivalent zones. Heating pipes often drop vertically to radiators, so a detector reading is checked against the layout of the room.

Can the cables be hidden in the wall?

The low-voltage leads, such as HDMI and aerial cables, can usually be run inside a hollow stud wall through two cable plates. The mains power is the part to get right. We do not push a TV's plug-in lead through the wall and leave it buried, because a flexible lead is not made to be concealed in a wall cavity. The clean answer for power is a new socket behind the screen, fed from the existing circuit and wired by our electrician to BS 7671. Outside a bathroom, adding a socket to an existing circuit is not notifiable building work under Approved Document P.

It still has to be installed, tested and certified to BS 7671, and you get a Minor Works Certificate for it. Where a new cable is chased into solid plaster it must sit in a permitted zone, and a cable buried less than 50 mm deep needs 30 mA RCD protection. If the circuit has none, that changes the job, and we will say so before we start. On solid brick, slim surface trunking painted to match the wall is the simpler choice, and it leaves nothing to make good later.

How high should a TV be mounted?

Put the centre of the screen at about seated eye level, roughly a metre off the floor in most living rooms. Higher than that and you spend the evening looking up. In a bedroom, a higher position with a slight downward tilt suits watching from bed. Above a chimney breast is the most requested spot and usually too high for a sofa. If the fire below is used, heat rises straight into the screen, so check both manufacturers' guidance first.

Which bracket do you need?

Choose by how you watch. A fixed bracket holds the screen flat and suits a room where everyone faces it. A tilting bracket angles it down when it sits higher than ideal. A full-motion arm swings the screen towards a kitchen or dining area, but needs the strongest fixings. Match any bracket to your TV's VESA pattern and weight.

Mounting a TV in a rented home

Tenants should ask the landlord in writing first. Most tenancy agreements treat drilling as an alteration needing consent, and you may have to remove the bracket and make good when you leave. Landlords who let tenants mount their own TVs should agree the wall and fixing method in advance, since a bracket ripped out of plasterboard is a bigger repair than four filled holes.

Between tenancies we take brackets down, fill the holes and photograph the wall before and after. A TV left on a stand where children live should be strapped to the wall; RoSPA recommends anti-tip straps for this.

What changes the cost of mounting a TV?

The wall and the cables, more than the size of the screen. A fixed bracket on sound brick with the leads in trunking is short work. A full-motion arm on a lath and plaster partition needs the studs found and possibly a pattress built. Concealing cables inside a stud wall adds time, and a new socket behind the screen adds electrician's time and the certificate. If you have several screens, shelves or a soundbar, send them all at once: they go on the same visit.

Certificates and defined jobs are a fixed price confirmed before we attend; repairs are charged by the hour, with the rate and an estimate confirmed before we attend.

Where we mount TVs

We mount TVs across Harrow, Kenton, Stanmore and Edgware, and also in Wembley, Kingsbury, Queensbury, Pinner, Wealdstone, Hatch End, Mill Hill, Hendon and the nearby areas. The local housing changes the job more than people expect. Interwar semis around Kenton and Queensbury often have lath and plaster partitions. Chimney breasts in older Harrow and Stanmore houses can be soft brick behind the plaster. Newer apartment blocks around Edgware and Colindale often use metal stud walls and plasterboard on dabs.

Handyman Services by area: A handyman in Harrow, A handyman in Kenton, A handyman in Stanmore, A handyman in Edgware, A handyman in Bushey, A handyman in Colindale, A handyman in Hendon, A handyman in Mill Hill, A handyman in Northolt, A handyman in Northwood, A handyman in Pinner, A handyman in Ruislip and A handyman in Wembley.

What we will not do

We do not install aerials, satellite dishes or wall-mounted projectors on ceilings we cannot fix into properly. We will not mount a screen on a wall that cannot carry it, or above a working fire where the manufacturers' clearances do not allow it. We will not bury a plug-in power lead in a wall. If you want power behind the screen, our electrician fits a socket and certifies it. Setting up streaming services and tuning channels is yours.

Why people trust us

• Electrical or plumbing items on the list go to a registered electrician or one of our plumbers, on the same visit where we can
• A walk-in office on Kenton Lane, not a serviced address
• A written specification, so you know what is included and what would count as an extra
• A time slot rather than a morning-or-afternoon window
• Work photographed before and after, and reported
• We tell you when you do not need something we sell

We are building a review profile under this name and would rather show you none than borrow someone else's. Ask us for references from landlords and we will put you in touch.

Official sources

• IET: Requirements for cables concealed in a wall or partition, a brief overview (BS 7671 zones)
• IET: Change to requirements for RCD protection of cables concealed in walls or partitions
• GOV.UK: Approved Document P, electrical safety in dwellings (2013 edition), notifiable work
• RoSPA: Flat-screen TV safety advice

Last reviewed October 2026 by EliteShires Property Services.