Lobster wrote
Rod Speed wrote
Lobster wrote

A new tenant of mine has asked me if he can mount his large flatscreen
TV on the wall of my property. Up until now I've always resisted such
requests because I'm concerned about damage to the (solid brick) walls
caused by multiple drill holes - tenants tend to be fairly short-term so
I'd run the risk of completely honeycombed brickwork if a new mount gets
erected every year or so.

I've been mulling over a possible solution though that would keep both
tenants and me happy. They all seem to want to put the TV over the
fireplace (why?!?); so what I was wondering about was hacking back an
area of plaster to the brickwork, about 12" high x 18" long, and then
firmly attaching a matching rectangle of three-quarter-inch ply to the
brickwork, ie recessed into the plaster. Finish and paint to match the
walls (ie magnolia!). Tenant would then be free to screw his TV bracket
to the wooden panel; for any tenant without a bracket, the panel would
simply be concealed behind a 24" x 36" mirror which currently hangs
there.

When the wooden panel is too riddled with holes for any more mounts to
be safely attached; then the idea would be just renew it (ie using the
same brickwork drill holes as before).

The only issue I can think of with this Cunning Plan is whether the
panel will be meaty enough to take the weight. Would three-quarter-inch
ply (what, 16mm thick in actuality?) be adequate? Would blockboard be
better/worse? Or maybe a couple of planks of solid timber?

The TV of the new tenant (not moved in yet) is apparently 49", which
sounds a bit heavy to me...

Any thoughts?

I gave up on those, they just make my head hurt.

What about a decent wall mount that will take the largest
TV sold, which stays with the flat between tenants ?

Maybe unscrewed from the wall and retained when a
particular tenant doesn't want a wall mounted TV there ?

Thanks for the replies.

I quite like the idea of having my own 'standard' mount; but are they all
really the same size fitting?

They are pretty close to standard now with most
TVs, particularly if you buy the right mount yourself.

The mount I have just bought for my PC monitors
does take any monitors with VESA standard mounting
holes, and it allows for both the common VESA sizes,
both 75mm and 100mm. Same is true for the best
TV wall mounts too with the standards that TVs use.

- ie would one suitable for the forthcoming 49" monster also be suitable
for a rather more modest 19" model?

If you buy the correct mount, yes.

And in the unlikely event that the new tenant does have
a TV which wont fit the mount you have carefully chosen
because it does take almost all flat TVs, they worst you
have to do is say no to that particular tenant or allow
them to use their own mount, so the worst you would
end up with is two sets of holes in the wall, not lots of them.

And there are plenty bigger than 49" too now as well.

They may not get used much by renters in flats tho.