I would like to hang an HDTV in my apartment, any tips with the condition the walls will be in afterward?

Question

My management is pretty swell, they're willing to let us paint in here. I figured I would mount a TV on the wall, and cut a hole in the wall behind it to run the wires down behind the drywall, and the cut another hole on the bottom to bring them out and run everything to my equipment on the entertainment center. Then when I move I'll patch the holes and paint over them. Does this seem like a good idea? Or would the holes be so big it would be too obvious? Thanks in advance.

Answer 1

You said management is swell and they are going to let you paint. Make sure they are cool with you cutting up their walls too. You don't want them to get on your case about that stuff you may never get your security deposit back. You could always do it without their permission. Just hope they never have to come into the apartment. I would (if living in an apartment) just leave the wires exposed and wrap them up nice and neat.

Make sure you s***w the mounting bracket into studs though. Get yourself a stud finder. If you don't s***w it to a stud it will fall off the wall.

Anyway...If it is an exterior wall you will have to deal with insulation, dealing with insulation can be a pain in the butt. If it is an interior wall it will not be as bad. Make sure their are no air ducts running through that section of wall. You will need to cut a pretty good sized hole to accomodate the HDMI connection as well as your power cord. You're going to need probably a 2"x2" square hole or a 2" round hole in the wall to accomodate all your cables. You also need anough room for your fingers or a pliers to grab the wires once you fish them down the wall.

The other option is to do a professional style install with wall plates. Your landlord might not mind this approach. They might even help you with it and cover some if not all the cost.

It is a little bit more costly (100bucks tops) but well worth the effort. In any case...I would recommend you research drywall repairs to see if you are up for the task before you do this and good luck.

Answer 2

Screws in the wall to hang the mount on won't be much of a problem to patch and paint.

Knocking a hole in the wall to feed wiring through will be a much larger job.

Leave the wiring outside of the wall and you'll be okay.

Get "wire mold" if you wish, comes in a few colors, paintable, hides wires nicely. There is also colored looming to wrap wires.

Try your best to catch the wall studs, anchors are risky business for something that heavy and costly.

Answer 3

You can make it so the holes aren't as big by using fish tape to pull the wires through the wall.  Also you could install  wire outlets similar to those cable company's use to connect the coaxial cable up.  Check with management to see if they will allow you to "upgrade" the apartment by installing those.

Answer 4

ye its a good idea. but make sure u kno wat ur doin, cuz u may be cutting holes into studs and supports and what not. Make sure u mount the tv properly and secure as well =)

Answer 5

You can patch drywall pretty easily. Make the holes!! Use a sponge sand block and dip it in a bucket of water to limit the particles on the floor. You can never use to much putty.