'76 Chieftain: Can I Install a TV Mount on THIS Wall? (pic) UPDATE: DONE

[JessEm]

What can I expect to find for studs in this wall? Is there adequate support for a flat-screen tv mount, or do I need to add something?

FWIW, the non-shower side of a bathroom wall is on the other side.

[TerryH]

I've used a stud sensor on mine and it does work - reads change in density. I suspect you will fid a stud close to center. However the stud won't be much more than a 1 x 2. Mine fastens to the coach to closet and bedroom to closet walls, so I was able to use thru bolts, washers and nuts. If you want to do that you could possible buy or make towel holder? or some such to hide the fastener on the bathroom side. TV is 24" and mount tilts and articulates so there is a fair amount of weight. No problem so far.

[xerofall]

Here's a crude drawing of what I plan on doing once I get the 50 other things I need to get done first, haha.



Basically because the walls are so thin I'm going to bolt a board on each side to attach the TV mount too. It helps distribute the weight from the mount and spreads it out along the wall a bit more. 

[TerryH]

That's pretty much what I did with both of mine, but again the far side of each mount is inside the closet so I wasn't terribly concerned with exposed fasteners.

[JessEm]

Thanks for the replies.

It seems like that wall might just be a sheet of plywood, as opposed to a stud wall like I originally thought. (yep, I'm a newb.)

I'll post what I end up doing...

I ordered a mount from Walmart for $9.99. For some reason, that item had FREE shipping! Now I'm just waiting for it to arrive. Then I'll go from there...

[Stripe]

I'd not drill a hole all the way through to the bathroom if'n I didn't have to..

This would be my approach to this situation.

I know it's probably not the same as your mount but it'll have to do for now..

To do this, first I would get myself some 'Hollow Wall Anchors'..

The ones in this illustration are of the 1/8th inch variety. You can use whatever size you see fit.

A square board three inches bigger than the size of the wall mounts footprint. Thickness at least 1/8" thinner than the hollow wall anchors' throat.

Mount the board to the wall using the wall anchors..

Then install the TV mount onto the board..
Height in this picture is for illustration purposes only and you may put yours at any height you desire.

Enjoy a clean, nutless/boltless bathroom wall...

You can't see it, but she's smiling because she won't snag her new sweater on any hardware on this side of the wall..

[JessEm]

Thanks, Stripe.  While any contraption that may cause women to remove clothing has merit, a hardware-less bathroom wall (or well disguised) is indeed where I'm headed with this...

To expand on your idea a little... IF my wall is just solid plywood (can someone confirm?), I'm still liking the additional piece of plywood, but in that case, screws could be used instead of anchors.

[Stripe]

Odds are your walls are paneling with contact paper on them and screws will easily tear out of them.

[JessEm]

Ok thanks.

Where did you guys pull electricity from? I want to run the TV and a dvd player... There's an outlet under the bench I can tap into...

Anyone come up with a nifty place to mount the player? I'm thinking maybe the underside of the drop-down table...

[Rickf1985]

And what happens when someone drops down the table without looking?

[TerryH]

I was fortunate to have 120 outlets very close to both. For 12V I added a couple of outlets close to the TVs, and they come in handy for a 12V vacuum cleaner as well, close to center of the coach.
When I bought the TV I specifically wanted dual voltage and built in DVD player. Over a year now, DVD gets a lot of use, and still works fine. Only reason I have two sets is that when I ordered one thru Ebay the nice people at the supplier sent two.

[JessEm]

And what happens when someone drops down the table without looking?

Well my thought was, if it's mounted to the table's underside, it wouldn't matter if someone drops it down because it only goes down as far as the seats, before landing on two rails to make a bed. ..The only potential problem I see is the possibility of people banging their knees on it while they're at the table. Unless I'm missing something (which is likely).

Oh heck... Here's a pic. The box I'm holding is bigger than a bluray/dvd player but you get the idea...




And here's another idea I'm starting to like even better. Install the bluray player inside the bench, so it's functions are accessible from the outside.




Here's a look from inside the bench. Could I install an outlet inside the bench, and pull the wiring off the backside of the outlet that's already there? I know in a house I could...

[xerofall]

Not bad, but being that low will attract dust and dirt and unintentional kicks from anyone sliding into the seat. What about under the cabinet above the table?

[LJ-TJ]

This is what I love about this site. The exchange of ideas

[DaveVA78Chieftain]

Not bad, but being that low will attract dust and dirt

Engineers like to design air cooled Navy equipment with air filters set close to the deck.  Many times I end up having to increase how often a filter cleaning procedure is performed due to excessive dust build up.  Lesson is, higher is better for air intakes.  At least 2ft off the floor.

Dave

[Rickf1985]

I like the under cabinet idea

[JessEm]

Progress has been made...

First, I ordered this flatscreen mount from Walmart. Get this, the mount comes with a bonus 6' HDMI cable, and free shipping on this item, all for $9.99. Honestly, I can't see how they're not losing money on this. 3lbs from CA to MN via UPS?? Not very long ago HDMI cables meant another $50 at Best Buy.





I removed the back of the bench to expose the wall. This was very easy. A dozen screws to remove, give or take, and it came out like nothing. 5 minutes tops. ... The small hole near the bottom of the wall is under the bench seat. Later, it would be slightly enlarged to feed wires through.




Then I cut a hole so I could explore, taking care not to cut through the wall behind, and staying below the top of the bench back... I found 3/4" x 3" studs like the one shown here running horizontally every few feet. ... Unfortunately, there wasn't one of these studs where the TV mount was to be located. If there had been, it would be what's known as a "money" situation... 




I routed a channel into the stud so wires could pass through it. ... With a little calculation and planning (and luck) this was the only stud I needed to pass through.




To mount the TV mount, I drilled holes clear through both wall panels and installed the bolts pictured. 8 of them to be exact! They have large, low profile heads. ... The same could be accomplished using regular bolts and washers, they just wouldn't be quite as low profile.




And here's a picture from the bathroom side of the wall. The PO blessed me with this wonderful wallpaper so the screw heads are getting painted white. Aside from that, there's very little protruding from the wall. The heads are almost flush. ... I was cautious not to over-tighten them. There's nothing in the wall here to prevent the two wall panels from sucking together as I tightened... I used non-loosening nuts, the kind with plastic inside that prevents loosening on their own.




And here's the finished product. No wires! You can't see it, but the wires behind the TV feed into a 2" hole in the wall. The hole is located in very close tolerances to the bottom of the next horizontal stud, and the bottom of the TV. That's where the careful planning came into play. I wanted the hole behind the TV out of sight... The next stud was located just high enough to avoid having to position the TV lower and risk the appearance that it's resting on the back of the bench.

I now have a power cord and HDMI cable running under the bench from the TV. While I was at it, I ran a coax cable to the back of the TV as well, but this is quickly becoming a thing of the past. TV inputs are mostly HDMI these days.




I also installed an outlet under the bench. This was accomplished by piggybacking off the outlet that was already there. They used 12ga (20 amp) wire, so that's what I used. Here's a pic of both outlets.

[M & J]

 

[LJ-TJ]

  WOW! Good stuff. Well done. That's a real nice job.

[JessEm]

THANKS AND THANKS!

In hindsight, I have a better idea for the TV mount:
- Cut out a section of paneling behind the mount the same size as the mount.
- Glue a 3/4" board inside the wall.
- Replace the section of paneling.
- Drill bolt holes and install mount.

This would take shear stress off the panels around the holes, as well as allow the bolts to be wrenched down tight without concern for sucking the panels together. It's a spin on Stripe's illustration, except the plywood/board would be inside the wall.

I'm not going to change it now that I'm done, but I won't hesitate if I start to experience any problems.