Mounting Plasma TVs on Eichler's wood panels
Is it safe to mount a plasma tv on eichler's wood panels? Usually on a drywall I use the studs to hold the screen..but in an Eichler house, with the post and beam archictecture, I'm not sure if there are studs behind the walls.
There are studs on 16 inch centers in our Eichler.
They had to hang the paneling on something. :)
You have studs in you Eichler!? I removed our paneling to find that through the entire house there are no studs.:wink: the house kind of just holds itself up, like a house of cards.
If you go to any home improvenment/destruction center, you can find a stud/ac/metal finder for around $40. It's well worth the investment. You discover that all of the studs are 16 in center apart. Just to give you some advice.... unless the mounting brackets on the back of the t.v. are moveable, I would do the following: Find a place on the wall that you would like to see your t.v. one that is comfortable to watch etc. then remove the paneling from that wall, or section of wall, should only take a few minutes or so.... add a 2x4 horizontally between the studs, that way you have room to move the t.v. a bit and it will give more support. Oh yeah, you can put the panel back up after you added the 2x4, and no one would be any the wiser.
Thanks for the tips. I'm currently in the process of buying an Eichler in CV, and I'm doing some research on installing a home theatre in the living room. Any advise on hanging surround speakers on the beams? It seems like there's no easy way to conceal the speaker cables on the ceiling.
I have not done this, but I cannot see why it wouldn't work. I have thought about the wiring issue and have decided that if I were to run wire to either lights or speakers etc I would do the following. I would cut a 1 inch deep by 1 inch wide channel along the bottom of the beam and hide my wiring there. To cover this I would have wood cut to fill the channel. You could make this permanant or semi-perm....
In my case, the entertainment unit is on the accent wall of the living room. Since the ceiling planks run perpendicular both to the accent wall and the beam on which the speakers are installed, I plan to tuck the speaker wire up into the grooves between the planks (I used a drill to enlarge the groove where it passes through an intermediate beam). I'm still working on the ceiling so the wires are hanging loose along the ceiling at the moment. I'll try to remember to post when Ive completed it all to let you know how well tucking the wires up worked.
jake
I'm about to buy a plasma too. But I am designing and building a low wide cabinet to place the plasma on. Later I may add a back to it and hang the plasma on that. I do not want to cut into my panels, which are not Mahogoney, but the exterior siding passing into the room.
As for surround speakers, I have a Claude Oakland. The living room has a catheral ceiling, along the wall that is considered the "rear" wall for the HT set-up, is the fireplace and a beam that passes along the wall. It forms the base of the "triangle" where the ceiling goes up into the 2 triangular window panes. I place dipole surface mount speakers along each end and the wires pass through the beam and out the back and are hidden along the back of the beam. My beams are painted a dark, almost black color and the speaker recede well into it, so you don't notice them. Next to my fireplace is a large open area I woud guess was intended for firewood. In that location, I buillt a cabinet that houses all the hi-fi equipment. Works out great!
chpb75,
I just bought an Eichler in CV too. I close next week! Congrats to you! Did you buy the eichler on Lomond Way? I saw that open house a few weeks ago. I bought the one on Greenridge.
I have a few ideas about mounting a plasma but if you need help with bracing with a 2x4 like the other posts, I can give you a hand with it.
e-mail me offline if you get a chance.
nick
Hi,
Welcome to the neighborhood. I am a neighbor on Greenridge. I mounted a plasma on the wall. I chose a mount that had a lot of adjustment (tilt, distance from wall, roll etc...). I was very happy with it, and it has big enough selection of mounting holes to make sure you can hit 2 studs. I have to dig around and find the make and model #. E-mail me if you would like the mount info or if you would like to stop by and see it sometime.
Thanks,
John T.
I mounted my plasma by hitting two studs, over a year ago, and it is just fine. Be sure to get the best possible mounting system, and you should be fine!
Some times, many times it's near impossible to get the studs to line up with where "you" want to mount the thing.
So I've mounted this kind of thing (heavy and large) by making a 2x4 box where the 2x4's are tied to the studs. EACH stud with two long #10 deck screws.
Build whatever is needed for the TV or thing to mount. Cross pieces, etc.
Then frame the 2x4's with expensive wood so it looks like the whole thing is made from it.
I've built it up farther off the wall to allow an electric fan to be installed inside this "frame". The fan is now buried inside and has filters to both filter the air and muffle it's sound. This extends the life any Plasma as heat is the greatest thing reducing it's life span.
The power outlet is also plumbed to this frame and is hidden when done right.
The main issue is if you want to move it or replace it with somthing else years later.
