How can I find support beams for wall mounting an LCD TV?
Question:I have a beam finder (Stanley 77-260) and it doesn't find any on the wall. I am able to find the beams on other walls in the house but not on this particular wall.
Another Q: Usually, how far apart are the beams in a wall?
Answers:
The size of the TV does matter. Many larger TVs require you to catch 2 studs. Standard studs are on 16" centers(meaning the centers are 16" apart. If you are installing the TV in an area that is finished later on and the wall is not load berring or structural the studs could be farther apart. Many stud finders have a deep scan option. If you press the button twice rapidly and on the second press you hold it in it should go into that mode. If you are fishing the wires up the wall and commit to hanging the tv you can cut a hole and just look into the wall and see what it is you are dealing with. Being an LCD I assume the TV is under 42" and not that heavy. You can also size up the bracket location on the TV and figure out where it is going go on the wall. Make a cut the size of the bracket exactly where it is going to be located. Make the cut nice and put 2 drywall screws in the drywall to hold onto so the drywall does not fall into the wall. When you look into the wall if you do not see any studs you can take some long pieces of wood and put them vertical as long as you can get in the wall. You can take drywall screws to hold the boards tight on the wall. You want the longer side flush to the inside of the wall. I would recommend as many as you can possibly get in the wall. Next take the piece of drywall and screw it back into place using the boards you inserted into the wall. Now screw the bracket onto the boards by more wood lags and put as many in as you can get to catch the wood. If you can catch a stud that is better. Slap the TV on the wall and you are done. Be sure to pull your wiring up before you put the TV up. Also pull an additional string for future.
if they are sheetrock just tap on the wall and listen. it should sound hollow. keep tapping horizontally across the wall until it sounds like it is solid that should be close to or on a stud. if you get one start measureing 16" centers
Buy a small swiveling magnet at a home center and use it to find the drywall screws, they are screwed into the studs you are looking for.
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