SHOULD YOU REALLY MOUNT THAT TV YOURSELF?

Let's Get This Out Of The Way

This is a TV installation company telling you whether to hire a TV installation company, so you're entitled to a raised eyebrow. We'll try to earn your trust the only way we know how: by being straight with you.

You can mount your own TV. It isn't brain surgery. People do it every weekend, and plenty of them do it well. We even wrote a free step-by-step mounting guide for anyone who wants to.

So the question isn't can you. It's what it actually takes — in tools, in hours, in effort — and whether, at the end of all that, the TV on your wall is the one you pictured when you bought it. Let's walk through it honestly.

The Tools You'll Need

The TV came in a box. The mount came in a box. Neither box contains most of what you need to put one on the other. Here's the real list:

And If Your Wall Isn't Simple Drywall On Wood

This is Chicago. A lot of walls aren't.

• Brick or concrete: a hammer drill, masonry bits and the correct masonry anchors. That's easily another $100+ if you don't already have one.
• Plaster and lath: stud finders struggle, plaster cracks if you drill it wrong, and finding the stud is half the job.
• Metal studs: lag bolts won't hold. You need the right toggle-style anchors — we wrote a whole post about it.
• Tile: tile bits, patience, and a real chance of cracking a tile you can't replace. Here's how that goes.

Want The Wires Hidden?

Add a drywall saw, a fish tape or glow rods, and an in-wall rated cable kit or power bridge. Running a standard power cord inside the wall isn't up to code, which is a detail a lot of how-to videos skip. More on that in how to hide TV wires.

Tool prices are rough ranges and vary by brand and store. If you already own a well-stocked toolbox, the cost side of this shrinks a lot — the time side doesn't.

The Time And Effort It Really Takes

The video you watched made it look like twenty minutes. Here's what a first-timer's afternoon usually looks like:

1. Unbox and read the mount instructions. Figure out which of the fourteen bags of bolts actually fits your TV.
2. Decide the height. Hold the TV up, argue about it, hold it up again.
3. Find the studs. Then find them again, because the stud finder gave you three different answers.
4. The hardware store trip. There's almost always one — the wrong bit, the bolt that's too short, the anchor for a wall you didn't expect.
5. Drill, level, bolt the bracket. Check level. Check again. Realize it's off by an eighth of an inch.
6. Lift the TV. Two people, one awkward angle, a lot of “wait, wait, wait.”
7. Deal with the wires. Either they hang there, or you're cutting drywall.
8. Clean up. Drywall dust, cardboard, foam, and a pile of leftover hardware.

Realistically, that's three to six hours for a first-timer, more if the wall fights back or the wires go in the wall. That's a Saturday afternoon.

For comparison, our installs usually take somewhere between forty minutes and two hours, and what decides that isn't the size of the TV — it's the wall. We've seen the wall before. That's the whole difference.

After It's Done, You May Not Love The Result

This is the part nobody talks about. The TV is up, it's secure, nothing fell. Job done — and then you sit down on the couch.

• It's too high. The single most common DIY regret. A height that looked right on the empty wall turns into a neck ache from the couch. (Here's how high it should actually go.)
• It's a little crooked. Not enough to redo. Just enough that you notice it every time you turn it on.
• It's off-center. The stud wasn't where you wanted the TV, so the TV went where the stud was.
• The wires hang down. A clean wall with a black tangle of cords underneath it.
• It's the wrong mount. A fixed mount when you really wanted it to tilt, or a full-motion arm you'll never actually swing.
• There are extra holes. The ones from the first attempt, now peeking out from behind the edge.

None of these are disasters. But once the holes are in the wall, fixing any of them means doing a good chunk of the job over again — and most people just learn to live with it.

What Hiring A Professional Actually Gets You

Someone To Lay Out Your Options

Before anything is drilled, a good installer talks through it with you: how high for where you actually sit, which mount suits the room, whether the wires can go inside this particular wall, whether a soundbar should go underneath. Most people don't know what their options are until someone shows them — and that conversation is free.

The End Result You Were Picturing

Level, centered, at the right height, wires handled the way you wanted. The reason you bought a big TV was the picture in your head of how the room would look. That's the result you should get.

Every Tool, Already In The Van

Stud finders that work on plaster, hammer drills for brick, the right anchor for metal studs, tile bits, fish tape, a level that's actually level. You don't buy a single thing, and nothing ends up sitting in your garage afterward.

It Makes The Whole Thing Fun

Buying a new TV is supposed to be exciting. The fun part isn't finding studs — it's the first movie, the first game, the first Sunday with the big screen on the wall. Hiring a professional lets you skip straight to that part, as painlessly as possible, with the box and the packaging carried out the door with us.

Side By Side

Mount, wire concealment and soundbar are separate options you choose, each priced in the open on our prices page — so there's no surprise on the day.

So, Should You Do It Yourself?

If you own the tools, you've got drywall over wood studs, you enjoy this kind of project and you've got a free afternoon — go for it. Honestly. Use our guide, take your time with the studs and the height, and you'll probably be happy with it.

But if you'd have to buy half the tools, the wall is brick or plaster or tile, you want the wires to disappear, or you'd just rather spend Saturday watching the new TV than hanging it — that's exactly what we're here for.

We have no doubt you can hang your own TV. We're just wondering if that's how you want to spend your weekend.

Common Questions

Can I mount a TV myself?

Yes. Plenty of people do, and with the right tools, a second person and a free afternoon you can get a solid result. The real question isn't whether you can, but whether the tools, the time and the risk of a result you don't love are worth it compared with paying a professional to do it in about an hour.

What tools do I need to mount a TV?

At minimum: a reliable stud finder, a drill with the right bits, a level, a socket set or ratchet for the lag bolts, a tape measure, a pencil and painter's tape, and a second person to help lift. Brick or tile walls need a hammer drill and masonry or tile bits. Hiding wires in the wall adds a drywall saw, fish tape and an in-wall rated cable kit.

How long does it take to mount a TV yourself?

For a first-timer, most of an afternoon — three to six hours is realistic once you count reading instructions, finding studs, a hardware store trip and the wires. An experienced installer usually finishes the same job in forty minutes to two hours, depending on the wall.

What's the most common mistake when mounting a TV yourself?

Mounting it too high. A height that looks balanced on the empty wall is often a neck strain from the couch. After that: missing the stud, a slightly crooked TV, and cables left hanging underneath.

Is it worth paying someone to mount a TV?

For a lot of people, yes. A professional arrives with every tool, lays out your options before anything is drilled, and gets it done in about an hour. With us it's $100 flat for the installation on any TV, so the comparison is really $100 against buying the tools and giving up a weekend afternoon.

Get Your Weekend Back

Tell us about the TV and the wall. We'll bring the tools, lay out your options, and have it on the wall in about an hour — so you can get straight to the good part.

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