Wall mounting TV on solid wall – hiding cables

Putting a TV where the mirror is above the disused fireplace. It’s a solid brick chimney breast that has been skimmed. How best to deal with the cables?

Chase them in.

It will be too high though. To high TVs suck balls.

Dennistoun flat?

Done similar, used a multi tool and drill to channel some plastic box section conduit in, fillered over the top, run cables through the box section conduit. Needed a lot of filler and sanding to smooth it out. Helped that I had a cabinet underneath the TV that had sockets in etc 

It will be too high though. To high TVs suck balls.

My thoughts exactly.

It will be too high though. To high TVs suck balls

This is true.

My TV is about that high, never been an issue at all. 

If cables showing is undesirable, then you’ll need to break back the plaster and insert a wire duct into the wall before skimming it over again. Hanging the TV is easy enough these days, and you can get tools to make chasing the wall easy, i.e. putting a channel into the plaster/brick in the desired direction and depth, it’ll be a messy job and require replastering and repainting afterwards, are you looking at non destructive routes to tidy cables as well?

as others say, it’s too high, should be at eye height when in your normal position, i.e. couch, otherwise you’ll have to slant it, which can bring it’s own issues when viewing around the room. The top of the fireplace seems to be the perfect location for centre of screen, so slanting might be the only option, not a terrible option to be fair.

++ too high, but…

How best to deal with the cables?

Really depends. To some ‘wall mounting’ apparently means having it hanging away from the wall so all the cables etc. are visible from the sides. If that’s the case, then it’s going to look crap anyway, so just run some trucking up to it.

If you’re doing it ‘properly’ then chasing a conduit in is the only way. Presumable you’ll need  to run it over to shelves on left or right for any AV kit.
Power cable tends to be the trickiest, depending on length / whether it’s detachable etc. Non detachable ones are a bugger as cutting + extending tends to void warranty (officially).
Also worth thinking how you are going to deal with audio – eg. you might want to be also chasing cables away from a wall-mounted soundbar.

Doesn’t look like it will be too high, natural position will not be sat upright – surely you’d both be sat with feet on table, head back on back of the settee with eyeline pointing directly at the telly.

We got the electrician to take a spur off a nearby socket and put two double sockets behind where we wanted the telly. Consider how many things you will need to power, as we have the TV, a soundbar and a Firestick all plugged in there.

As others have said – put a conduit in the wall so you can add other cables if needed

Disused chimney and fireplace?
Drill straight in behind the TV, drop down to the fireplace/thing, then lead out to one side along floor?

Another option is just to add a plasterboard sheet in front of the entire chimney breast. Allows you to countersink the TV (which can look nice) and creates less dust than sinking cables, which is by far the messiest thing I’ve ever done.

Or as has been suggested, run cables behind the skirting then up the chimney and drill directly into it

Another idea – replace that fire/thing with a cupboard with all your gubbins and boxes in?

It will be too high though. To high TVs suck balls.

Put longer legs on the sofa?

Disused chimney and fireplace?

Drill straight in behind the TV, drop down to the fireplace/thing

Is the correct answer, but if that is the OPs wall then how’s he going to get to the cables once they’ve gone through the hole behind the TV?

Thanks all, some options to think through.

Loads of inspiration on here…

http://www.reddit.com/r/TVTooHigh/

Was exactly the Reddit I was thinking of

Doesn’t look like it will be too high, natural position will not be sat upright

It absolutely does.

You can draw all the sketches you want but that will be uncomfortable

Is that fire (and godawful fireplace) in use? You probably don’t want a TV directly over the top of it if so. If not then knocking out a brick to access the cavity behind will get you to floor level though I’d be tempted to chase a conduit horizontally to where the shelves are. And by that I mean, I’d be tempted to get someone else to do it for me, I’m quite practical but I do have my confidence limits.

Where are these cables going to? One of the plug sockets in the corners? What else? Aerial for terrestrial TV, sound bar, games console… ?

I had this issue recently. I got a TV almost as wide as the chimney breast, painted the wall a dark colour and used a couple of lengths of this stuff.

It absolutely does.

You can draw all the sketches you want but that will be uncomfortable

I agree, but it does look to me as though the angle of the photo isn’t doing perspective any favours either.

OP’s Photo looks like an AirBNB promo photo – not a real house!  🙂

I bought a 65″ Samsung ‘The Frame’ which has a control box all the hdmi cables,internet etc run into. Then that is transferred to the TV by a single thin cable.

I’ve got it wall mounted and I could bury the cable in the wall, but the cable is thin enough you hardly notice it, and besides, doing that wi.l involve plastering, redecorating and its just not worth it.

Went through deciding on optimum height recently with a wall mounted 65inch one in living room. Google says middle of screen 42 inches off floor for normal viewing sat on a typical couch. The guys from John Lewis who fitted it reckoned that was far to low but put it at that height for us, and it’s perfect!

Are you intending on using speakers either side or a decent soundbar mounted underneath the tv?

Our extension was built with conduit – not by us. I did not mount a TV where the previous owners did, but I haven’t sealed the large conduit either. We have a projector screen that comes down to the fireplace and just below. Behind it was a 42″ plasma TV. That TV was always too high. The projector screen is not, but we often lean back onto a large sofa.

Full length chunky mantel shelf  a couple of inches above the fireplace running from alcove to alcove. Make it hollow or have grooves in the underside for cables and a port through where the telly sits for connections. It can be as rustic or sleek as you like. If you do ir in MDF and use the same wall paint it won’t grab your attention.

Loads of inspiration on here…

http://www.reddit.com/r/TVTooHigh/

Never heard of that, but lounging on my sofa I feel satisfyingly smug.  Don’t put your TV all the way up there.

Samsung frame for the win. You hardly notice the single transparent cable that leads to the gubbins box and when it’s switched off it doesn’t look like a tv at all. It’s brilliant. The soundbar plugs into the gubbins box as well so no problems with that. I hid my box in a drawer in a console table, drilled a few holes in the back of the drawer and powered a pc fan on a thermostat off the external usb socket on the box to keep the temp down. 

Put longer legs on the sofa?

Or raise the balls?

Went through deciding on optimum height recently with a wall mounted 65inch one in living room. Google says middle of screen 42 inches off floor for normal viewing sat on a typical couch. The guys from John Lewis who fitted it reckoned that was far to low but put it at that height for us, and it’s perfect!

Mine is about 52″ from the floor to the middle. I find that ideal, though Im sitting about 12′ away from it.

White wash the wall, get a ceiling mounted projector.

That fireplace style should have a wooden surround to look “right”

TV at mantelshelf level and run the cables inside the most convenient vertical pillar. Something plain in MDF, off-white maybe, job done https://cdn.direct-fireplaces.com/media/catalog/product/t/u/tulip_hl_lincoln_1.jpg?width=1200&height=1200&store=storeview_direct_fireplaces&image-type=image

PS DIY-it. Three MDF boxes and a window shelf

no one has mentioned a wireless TV yet. Simples.

DrP (runs off to invent 4 AA powered 65″ 4k TV)

Just looking at the Samsung Frame, I’d not heard of it. Spotted this on Samsung’s website.

“The Frame TV is built with motion censored technology.”

no one has mentioned a wireless TV yet. Simples.

You expecting 240volts to jump out of the plug into the back of the telly?

You expecting 240volts to jump out of the plug into the back of the telly?

Of course not, silly sausage!

It’ll run on 4 AA batteries.

DrP