Most people think mounting a TV is simple. Drill a few holes, hang the bracket, done. After ten years doing this professionally across London — brick flats in Enfield, modern plasterboard apartments in Canary Wharf, old concrete blocks in Wembley — I can tell you the simple jobs are the ones that were properly checked beforehand. The disasters were not.
Here is what actually matters before you pick up a drill.
Quick Answer.
Before mounting a TV, check:
- wall type
- TV weight
- bracket type
- hidden pipes or cables
- fixing method
- cable route
- viewing height
- wall strength
These checks help prevent unsafe mounting, loose brackets, wall damage, and TVs pulling away from the wall.
Start With the Wall — Always.
This is the one thing most people skip, and it causes more problems than anything else.
Brick, concrete, plasterboard, dot and dab, tile, stone, old plaster — each one behaves completely differently. Each one needs different fixings, different drill bits, sometimes a completely different type of drill. A solid brick wall and a dot and dab plasterboard wall should never be treated the same way, but I have seen handymen treat them identically and wonder why the bracket pulled out.
If your wall sounds hollow when you tap it, that tells you something. If it is tiled, that tells you something. If you are in an older London flat with walls that feel almost like stone, that definitely tells you something — namely that a standard combi drill probably is not going to cut it.
Never assume it is just a wall. The wall decides everything else.
Know Your TV’s Weight and VESA Pattern.
Before you touch a bracket, check your TV’s weight and its VESA mounting pattern — that is the grid of holes on the back of the screen.
A 32-inch TV and a 75-inch TV are not remotely the same job. Bigger TVs are heavier, more awkward to handle, and put significantly more load on the wall fixings. Even a medium-sized TV on a full-motion bracket can become a serious problem if the fixings are not right, because extending the bracket outward creates leverage — it is pulling the bracket away from the wall, not just holding weight downward.
Check the manufacturer’s mounting instructions too. Some slim or unusual TVs have restrictions on which brackets are safe to use.
Choose the Right Bracket for the Situation.
There are three types of bracket: fixed, tilting, and full-motion. A fixed bracket sits flat against the wall. It is the most stable and the easiest to install correctly. The downside is that accessing cables behind the TV after fitting can be awkward.
A tilting bracket lets you angle the screen downward. Useful if the TV is going slightly higher than ideal eye level, which is common in bedrooms.
A full-motion bracket swings the TV out from the wall and lets you adjust the angle. It looks great on paper, and clients love the flexibility. But it needs to be taken seriously. The forces involved when the arm is extended are much greater than people expect. Cheap wall plugs are not sufficient. The wall needs to be capable of handling it.
My honest advice: do not choose a full-motion bracket just because it sounds better. Choose it when you actually need it.
Check for Hidden Pipes and Cables Before Drilling.
This is where DIY TV mounting can go from annoying to genuinely dangerous.
Electrical cables and water pipes do not announce themselves. They hide behind plaster and drywall, often running vertically up from sockets or horizontally from switches and radiators. Drilling into a live cable is not just a repair job — it is a safety incident.
Before drilling, look carefully at the surrounding wall. Note where sockets are, where switches are, whether there is a radiator below, whether you are near a bathroom or kitchen wall. A wall scanner can help, but no scanner is infallible. You still need to think about what is likely to be there.
The rule I follow: never drill blindly directly above or beside a socket, switch, or radiator without checking properly first.
Use the Right Fixings — Not Whatever Came in the Box.
This is probably the most common mistake I see, and it frustrates me every time.
TV brackets almost always come supplied with wall plugs and screws. Those fixings are generic. They might be fine for a solid brick wall with a small TV. They are not appropriate for concrete, stone, dot and dab plasterboard, metal studs, or tile — and they are definitely not sufficient for a heavy TV on a full-motion bracket.
The right fixing depends entirely on the wall:
- Brick — quality wall plugs and coach screws
- Concrete or stone — strong masonry anchors, properly drilled with an SDS drill
- Timber studs — lag bolts directly into the stud
Metal studs — specialist metal stud fixings - Dot and dab plasterboard — specialist fixings designed for that specific wall type
I regularly use Fischer DuoPower plugs and appropriate coach screws. Quality masonry bits — Bosch Blue are reliable — make a real difference in harder walls.Good fixings cost very little compared to the TV hanging on them. Do not cut corners here.
Sort the Cables Before You Mount — Not After.
Cable planning always gets left until last, and it always causes problems.
Once the TV is on the wall, you will have a power cable, probably HDMI cables, possibly an aerial cable, an ethernet cable, and whatever your streaming box or games console needs. If you have not thought about where those are going before you drill, you will end up with a bundle of cables hanging down the wall, or you will need to take the TV back off to sort it out.
Decide early whether you want surface trunking — which is simple, affordable, and works on any wall — or a cleaner in-wall solution using brush plates and cable conduit. In-wall cable management looks much better, but it requires more planning and is not suitable for every wall type.
The time to make that decision is before the bracket goes up, not after.
Get the Viewing Height Right.
Mounting the TV too high is genuinely one of the most common mistakes, and it is easy to avoid.
For a living room, the centre of the screen should be roughly at eye level when you are sitting on your sofa. That sounds obvious, but most people mark the wall while standing, which puts the TV far too high. Sitting and watching at an upward angle is uncomfortable, and over time it causes real neck strain.
For a bedroom, slightly higher can work because you are often lying down rather than sitting upright.
Practical tip: sit in your actual watching position, have someone hold the TV or a piece of card at different heights, and mark the wall from there. It takes two minutes and makes a significant difference.
One note on fireplaces: above a fireplace is usually too high for comfortable everyday viewing. It looks good but it is not a great experience to watch for long periods.
Signs a Mounted TV Is Not Safe.
If a TV is already on the wall — whether you mounted it or someone else did — watch for these warning signs:
- The TV tilts forward slightly
- The bracket has visible gaps between it and the wall
- There is cracking or crumbling plaster around the fixings
- Screws feel loose or spin without tightening
- The wall flexes when you move the bracket
- There are clicking or creaking noises
If you see any of these, do not continue using the bracket movement. Do not pull a full-motion bracket forward. The fixings may not be holding, and if the TV comes off the wall it will cause serious damage — or worse.
A Real Example of What Goes Wrong.
A client in Enfield called me after a handyman had already attempted to mount his TV. The wall was an older concrete and stone-type wall — extremely hard material common in certain older London blocks.
The handyman had not asked about the wall before arriving. He brought a standard combi drill, which was not powerful enough for that wall. He struggled for hours, drilled shallow holes with the wrong bits, and used the cheap plastic plugs that came with the bracket.
Somehow the TV went up. The client then pulled it forward to connect an HDMI cable. The bracket came off the wall. Fortunately the TV was only 43 inches and the client managed to catch it.
When I arrived, I used an SDS drill, proper masonry bits, Fischer DuoPower 8mm plugs, and coach screws at the correct depth. The bracket went in properly and has not moved since.
The wall type, the drill, the bit, the depth, the plug, the screw — every one of those decisions matters. Get one wrong and the whole installation can fail.
Should You DIY or Call Someone?
DIY can be absolutely fine in the right situation. A small TV on a solid brick or concrete wall, where you have the correct drill and fixings, and you are not hiding cables — that is manageable for someone with basic practical skills.
Call a professional if:
- The TV is large, heavy, or expensive
- The wall is plasterboard, dot and dab, tile, stone, or old plaster
- You want a full-motion bracket
- You need cables hidden inside the wall
- You are mounting above a fireplace
- You are genuinely unsure what is behind the wall
Anyone with a drill can make holes. Knowing which holes to make, how deep, with what fixings, in which wall — that is the part that comes from experience.
Before You Drill, Check These.
Before you brill, check these points below:
- Wall type and condition
- TV weight and VESA pattern
- Bracket type and compatibility
- Stud or fixing point locations
- Hidden pipes and cables
- Cable management plan
- Power socket position
- Viewing height from seated position
- Correct fixings for the specific wall
- Right tools for the job
Mounting a TV safely is not complicated, but it does require thinking through each of these before you start. The installations that go wrong almost always skipped one of them.
If you are unsure about your wall, send a photo and your TV size before drilling. A few minutes of checking is a lot easier than dealing with a TV on the floor.
This guide is written from real installation experience — not manufacturer specs or retail advice. TV Mount Mate has been mounting TVs professionally across London, Essex, and Kent for over 10 years, with City & Guilds Level 3 qualification and a Level 2 electrical background.
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