<p>I am more handy than your average woman, but there are so many things I don’t know how to do! I am trying to mount a 39" TV to my bedroom wall. It seems easy enough, but the bracket for the mount requires studs on 16" centers and mine are 24. The bracket is only about 18 inches so it won’t reach. If I were to screw each end of a horizontal piece of wood (1 x 2?) into the studs, then screw the mount to the 1 x 2, would that be strong enough to hold it? The TV only weighs about 25 lbs. Could I use a thinner piece of wood? I don’t want it to stick too far out from the wall. </p>
<p>I bought the wall bracket and TV at Sam’s Club about 30 miles from my home, so it is not convenient for me to return it. However, I’m not sure the sound on the TV is very good, so I may end up returning it anyway, but I would really like to make this bracket work. (I do not have the HD box hooked up yet, so not sure if that’s the reason the sound seems a little fuzzy.)</p>
<p>I don’t see why that wouldn’t work, although I’m really surprised that the studs are 24 inches apart. Must be really old house. i think 16 inches has been the standard for a very long time.</p>
<p>I would do the two horizontal 1 x 2s as you suggest and then use long screws on the bracket that go all the way through the wood into the sheetrock behind the wood. That would tie the bracket, the wood strips and the sheetrock all together.</p>
<p>If you wanted to go thinner, maybe use a square piece of 1/2 inch plywood (24 inches by 24 inches) screwed to the studs the same way that you were going to mount the horizontal strips. Or, you might be able do do it with those old fashioned adjustable shelf metal brackets (the metal part that screws to the wall):</p>
<p>Two (or three) of those might work instead of the horizontal wood. As long as they are anchored to the studs, you could still run additional screws into the sheetrock thru all the holes metal strips that will provide additional strength.</p>
<p>16" has been the standard for 2x4 stud framing for a long time.
If your house has 2x6 framing, the builder may have spaced them 24" on center.
So-called “advanced framing” uses this approach to allow for more insulation with less thermal bridging.</p>
<p>The ideal would be to have blocking inside the walls anywhere you need to hang heavy objects. Presumably you don’t want to remove drywall to install new blocking. Your approach should work fine. I’d probably use 1x3 or 1x4 supports, not 1x2s. The plywood square idea sounds good, too. In any case, I’d want it anchored to the studs on both ends.</p>
<p>The house was built in 1978 and it’s an exterior wall, so it probably does have 2x6 framing in that wall. At first I was dismayed that this was not going per the directions on the box, but after I have slept on it, I realize it may work out better after all. The studs are not in the center of where I want to place the TV so by using a 30" long 1x6, I should be able to center the TV in the spot where I want it. I just needed you tell me that it won’t fall off the wall if I install it this way! I will be sure to anchor the wood to the studs in several places. Thanks.</p>
<p>The neighbor’s wall mount used a sheet of thick plywood, I assume so that they could adjust the height as well as horizontal position of the mount.</p>
<p>I would not recommend relying on the sheet rock. I can’t even keep towel rods fixed using those moly bolts - the Sheetrock is too old or weak or per punctured. Now if someone could advise me on an answer for that problem… I can not shift the rods horiz or vertically any more. Maybe I should just cut out a strip of drywall and flush mount a wood strip for fastening? Sigh.</p>
<p>TreetoLeaf, that’s one possibility. Or you could put blocking where you need it and patch the dry wall. Or another option is to attach a decorative piece of wood to the studs and then attach the bar to that. You might make that wood part of a chair rail running around the whole room.</p>
<p>I rip into drywall all the time for various things. I think you (and Treetopleaf) should consider this. This is especially true when you’re going to have something covering the patch spot so you don’t even need to do a perfect job of patching. If you remove a section of drywall you can add a 2 x 4 brace (or pair of them horizontally) between the 24" studs and then put a piece of drywall over the section you cut out, tape the joints, apply joint compound, texture that wall to match the existing wall, and paint to match. You can make it easier and quicker if you’re careful in cutting the section out so you can just re-attach the removed section of drywall. It’ll be a perfect fit. You still should tape the joints and apply joint compound although since you’ll have it covered with the TV you can get away with not taping them - just applying compound and texturing along the seams, but if you ever decide to remove the TV from that spot you’ll likely have small cracks since you didn’t tape the seams.</p>
<p>The above is easier than it sounds and is very inexpensive and is not hard to do. You’ll need a small container of pre-mixed joint compound, paper or fiberglass joint tape, a drywall saw, a utility knife, a can of spray texture, screws or nails to attach the 2 x 4 pieces (screws will probably be easier in the confined space), and of course, a 2 x 4 to make the two horizontal braces (assuming your wall mount bracket anchors in 4 spots). </p>
<p>The above will be very strong.</p>
<p>Treetopleaf - you can do the same thing to securely hold the towel racks where you want them. It could also be used to securely mount grab bars where one wants them.</p>
<p>Be careful when cutting into drywall that you don’t cut any wiring behind it but if you go a little slow with the hand drywall saw it’s pretty easy to tell when you catch a wire.</p>
<p>Thanks, GladGD, I had not thought about insetting the support strip between studs, allowing space for drywall replacement. It is more work than I want to do, but push has come to shove, and that should work well, even if one wall is an exterior wall. Mathmom, I did screw strips of baseboard wood atop the drywall spanning studs for shelving support in my utility room and painted that wood, and it didn’t look bad there. It would look dumb in my bathrooms, though.</p>
<p>I don’t really want to screw the towel rods right into the support wood if I can get a moly bolt type receptacle (not the wing style thing, but just the threaded shaft) inserted for reusable screw use. There must be something out there that works with wood. Using such an insert would be good for the wall mounted TV too, i would think. As with the towel bars, once you select the best spot, you are likely to want to reuse those screw holes another time.</p>
<p>No kidding! In fact, I hired the guy TODAY who mounted our very large TV because there is no way I could have done it without taking half the wall down either tonight or in a day or two.</p>
<p>Every once in a while I think I’m a fairly intelligent person. Then I come to CC and am instantly disabused of that notion!</p>
<p>We have rules in our house. One is that my husband is NEVER allowed to use a drill. And if God wanted us to do all of our own home projects He wouldn’t have given us Yellow Pages.</p>
<p>I’m a poor girl who can’t afford to hire everything done, but I do hire things that require sawing (I don’t own one) and lifting heavy objects. The television is not that big and heavy so I thought this would be an easy job. Speaking of the tv, I think the sound is wonky so may end up exchanging it anyway. A one-day job turns into a week.</p>
<p>I should have learned by now that nothing I attempt is ever “by the book.” I’m also in the middle of removing wallpaper in a bathroom that has turned into a bigger job than I wanted. The current paper was put up over the backing of the original paper, and when I tried to remove, it destroyed the underlying wall board in several places.</p>
<p>^^ A drywall saw costs about $6 at HD and is just a little hand saw (not powered) that easily cuts through drywall. It’s very low-tech and easy to use. </p>
<p>The drywall under the wallpaper can likely be easily repaired. Ask around and see if you can hire someone who does drywall repairs/texturing - you can also find someone by searching online (but a reference is better). </p>
<p>You might be able to use the guy to kill 2 birds with one stone - fix up your wallpaper removal damage and put in the braces and do that drywall repair as well if you don’t feel like doing it. It shouldn’t be terribly expensive but of course more than if you do it yourself.</p>
<p>Remember, her bracket is 18 inches. Studs are 24 inches on center, so she’s only going to have three inches of wood extending beyond the bracket to the stud. The wood behind the bracket is going to be structurally attached to the bracket by at least four screws. I really don’t see the need to get into internal wall braces for something relatively light like a 39 inch TV. A three inch span of wood, even pretty skinny wood, is pretty darn strong.</p>
<p>I believe that Home Depot sells 2 foot wide pieces of plywood and that they would cut a 24 inch square piece.</p>
<p>Musicmom, even a klutz like me can do some drywall repair. Use joint compound (not spackle), apply it with a broad spatula, then when it is dry sand it with a piece of sandpaper attached to a sanding block for better support. None of that stuff is expensive. Do this multiple times if necessary to achieve a smooth surface. You can then prime the wall with primer that will help smooth the wall, then paint. I would like to give a piece of my mind to whomever wallpapered this house. What a mess. I had problems removing paper too, and found that the chemicals, given time to work, did the best job.</p>
<p>I have done drywall repair and have all the tools to do it, but it makes such a mess (dust) that I’m just not inspired to get started. I promise I will this weekend; I just need to get motivated. I’m more interested in shopping for a new shower curtain and re-covering the vanity bench! </p>
<p>As for the TV, I have a 30" 1x6 piece of wood which I have already painted (thanks for that suggestion) that I will center in the area where the TV will go, with 2 screws in each stud. The screws will not be at each end since the studs are not centered in the area, but I will be able to center the bracket, and thus the TV, on the piece of wood.</p>
<p>Because I have a hard time visualizing things, I cut a piece of poster board the size of the tv and stuck it to the wall with painters tape until I got it the right height and centered over the furniture against that wall. I then used painters tape to mark the corners so I know where I need to be working on the wall. Just got to find a big enough chunk of time to get the rest of it knocked out.</p>
I just need to get motivated. I’m more interested in shopping for a new shower curtain and re-covering the vanity bench! </p>![http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/411590ETYJL._SX300_.jpg[/url]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/411590ETYJL._SX300_.jpg%5B/url%5D){kind=link}
