$1,500 to mount a TV on the wall?

[NewJeffCT]

We were planning on getting a nice TV for the family room in our home - with hopes of getting an LCD or Plasma TV that we would mount on the wall in our family room.

I did a bit of research into the TVs themselves, but went in to a local Tweeter, Etc to speak with somebody there. The guy quoted us about $1,500 to mount the TV on the wall. Now, I hadn't expected the price to be $99 to mount it on the wall - I had expected something more like $300-$400, maybe $500.

Is the guy totally off the wall with his price? I mean, we were planning on spending $1,500 to $2,000 for the TV itself - it seems like overkill to spend almost the same amount as we would on a TV. I mean, I'd almost rather spend $3,000 to $3,500 for a much better TV and put the damn thing on a stand on the floor and sacrifice the space in the family room.

[hippywife]

1. Maybe that's just

what they are trying to get you to do by setting the installation price so high. I don't have any experience with these but I'd check into other installation options.

[Breeze54]

2. Why don't you call a carpenter?

Or are they doing the wiring too? Maybe call an electrician?
And don't tell them what the first quote is!

$2000 for a TV?

[NewJeffCT]

5. yes, they would do wiring as well

for $2,000, you can get a 46-50" plasma TV

http://reviews.cnet.com/Pioneer_PDP_5070HD/4505-6482_7-31951817.html?tag=pdtl-list


Or a 42" or so LCD TV:
http://reviews.cnet.com/LG_42LB1DRA/4505-6482_7-32133012.html?tag=pdtl-list

[Breeze54]

6. I wouldn't want a TV

that's almost as tall as me!! :rofl:

I have a 19" in my bedroom and it's just fine!
I also have a 32" in the lv rm and it's a bohemouth!

Good luck! ;)

[NewJeffCT]

7. a 50" plasma or LCD TV

would only be about 27-28" tall, not counting a stand if it's on the floor. I think it's normally a 16:9 ratio, so 16" of width equals 9" of height.

[Breeze54]

8. Are ya sure?

Why did they say mine was 32" and it's actually larger? :shrug:
It's actually about 36" wide.

Don't they measure on the diagonal of the screen?

50" is 50", isn't it? 4' 1.6" ?

[NewJeffCT]

11. I had meant screen size

I had meant, if it is a 50" TV it means it is 50" wide screen, but only a 27"-28" tall screen. But, the non-screen portion isn't going to be another 27-28" tall to make the thing a square.

[AlCzervik]

3. is the cable on the same wall where the tv is going? I ask because we installed

one this year in my daughter's bedroom and it was on a different wall from the cable outlet and what a GIANT pain in the ass it was to hang, we had to run the wires through the ceiling and down the wall and then patch everything. $1500 sounds excessive to me, if i could do it over again i would $300 would be reasonable, we are total amateurs and it took us about 3 hours, i would think a pro could have done it under and hour.

if the cable outet is on the same wall than you can do it yourself.

[Little Wing]

4. RIP OFF

run away

find something you like and order it online, then have a professional install it

[Cobalt-60]

9. outrageous

This should be a simple matter of anchor mounting a bracket.
It's 20 minutes work at the most.
Check this guy's mouth to see if he has multiple rows of teeth!

[Nicole]

10. That's outrageous.

I paid $275 to have mine done, running wire to the electrical outlet was included. Plus another $25 for the cable company to relocate their outlet.

$300 total.

[Deja Q]

12. A bit high, but how does he mount it? Will he guide cables through the walls?

For multi-speaker systems, cable, et al?

Or is it just the $2 worth of brackets cheaply screwed in with cables visible everywhere?

(plus, I suppose he could charge high because he makes fewer mistakes or scuff marks...)

But it could be greed, pure and simple...

[NewJeffCT]

13. He went through his list fairly quickly

But, I think it included setting up a home theater system. I don't know if that means mounting speakers on the walls (I have a 6:1 system) and running wire through the ceiling/floor to reach the back of the room or not...

[july302001]

14. choices -

That installation quote is outrageous. I'm sure an independent contractor can do it for less.

You're better off choosing an LCD TV because the plasma screens eat up a lot of power.

It's your power bill not mine, but last I heard there aren't many new power plants being built in New England. You would do better for yourself to think about conserving. LCD TV's are plenty big and splashy enough.

[Karenca]

15. It cost me $500.00 to have the Circuit City people install my 36"

to the wall.
And they couldn't even snake the wires, as my walls are concrete.
They left the wires hanging, and i still have to figure out how to make it aesthetically pleasing.

[Nicole]

16. What about something like this?

http://designercords.com/pages/kordrapcovers.php

If you can find a color that blends in with your walls, they aren't that noticeable. That pearl color should match concrete walls. Even if they are still visible, silk covers look better than the wires IMHO.

If you can sew, or use fabric glue, they should be easy enough to make yourself.

[AlCzervik]

17. or this as well and you can paint it, i picked up some at lowes

http://www.wiremold.com/www/consumer/products/chairrail/index.asp

[Nicole]

18. Wouldn't that be hard to apply to concrete walls?

It looks like a great solution, if it can be used on concrete.

[AlCzervik]

20. you can probably use Liquid nails, very handy stuff to have around your house

or guerrilla glue, that you can find at the craft store.

[Karenca]

22. Thanks for the link --

The inside of the walls are concrete -- The actual walls just look like normal white painted walls.
Anything will look better than those black wires hanging down - What a rip-off that was!

Oh, and I can't sew or do anything like that! I'm so totally not domesticated.:shrug:

[Cobalt-60]

21. Panduit

There are small plastic conduits avaiable that stick or anchor to the wall.
Also, did this dude consider coming up through the floor?

[Karenca]

23. I think those are the way to go ---

I don't understand how it can come up from the floor?

[Cobalt-60]

24. If you have a basement or crawl space under the floor

It is possible to route cables beneath the floor boards.
When they are directly beneath the "drop", the position where the connection is needed, the floor is drilled.
The connector can alternately rise free from the floor or be mounted in a " tombstone" to be accessed via patch cable.
If your wall is solid concrete it probably can't be "fished", have cable routed through it.
If it is cinder block it often can be fished, though it can be rough on some cables.
It's hard to get more specific without having grokked your space.

[Karenca]

26. Oh, no , Can't do that - I live in a an aparttment building.

But thanks --:-)

[Cobalt-60]

27. in that case, I recommend the panduit style external channel

1500 bucks is still way out of line.

[Esra Star]

19. Are you interested in relative power consumption.

Plasmas chew it.
http://reviews.cnet.com/4520-6475_7-6400401-2.html

[NewJeffCT]

25. I realize that plasma costs more in power consumption

However, LCDs go up in price dramatically over 40"-46"

[KurtNYC]

28. There is a pole they use in location shoots

it goes floor to ceiling and then they hang lights on it. Lemme see if I can google a link...

oh a tension pole - this one holds up to 400 lbs.

http://www.autobarn.net/tension-pole-bike-rack.html

would that work?

[NewJeffCT]

30. Not a bad idea

But, it does defeat the idea of mounting on the wall so you have a little extra space while also keeping it out of easy reach of wandering 4 year olds...

[Nickster]

29. Tweeter is the problem. Every Tweeter I've gone to before has always had

every item marked WAY up. No way, no how does that installation cost 1500 anywhere but through Tweeter.

[NewJeffCT]

31. It's been years since I've gone to Tweeter

I used to have a really nice stereo back in the 80s through the early 90s and respected the Tweeter folks for their knowledge. But, that was back in the day when speaker systems were only 2 speakers. Nowadays, you have 5:1 or 6:1 systems. Or, you can buy a 2:1 system from Bose that is really good...

I had thought Tweeter has a price protection plan, or at least they used to have one. And, my wife's company offers a pretty good discount there as well.

The nearest Tweeter is also a lot closer than the nearest Best Buy or Circuit City where I live, and I'm not a fan of CC after they fired their best paid salespeople and replaced them with minimum wagers.

[Nickster]

32. At least where I'm at, they are coasting on their past glory. The store by me is closing now,but

when I went there in the past, everything was more expensive than either Best Buy or Circuit City and the staff certainly weren't experts on audio. I was so turned off by the whole place that I never bothered to check on a price protection plan, but that might be a great option, at least worth a try. Get a price quote from BestBuy for their installation and take it to tweeter and see what they can do because I will be really shocked if they aren't screwing you on that 1500 quote.

[NewJeffCT]

33. Thanks for the info

I'll keep that in mind.

And, we're certainly not going to pay anywhere close to $1,500 for hanging a TV on the wall.

[mikeytherat]

34. Screw 'em - Do it yourself (here's a DIY Guide for you):

http://www.crutchfield.com/S-PmZ9J3abcaO/DIY

Scroll down and click on the Flat Panel TV Installation Guide link (it's an Adobe file).

mikey_the_rat

[NewJeffCT]

35. Thanks - some good information

Neither my wife nor myself are very handy, but they do have a $599 and a $799 installation option.

[stlsaxman]

36. Put it on a nice teaque cabinet that you can put the A/V receiver, HD DVD

Recorder, HD Satellite box or cable box, XM receiver etc.

You'll have to drill holes in the teaque cabinet to pass-thru all the inter-connect and cables for the Left/Center/Right Speakers and Sub woofer. Then you can drill down thru the floor plates into the basement and then back up thru the walls for the Left/Center/Right In-Wall Surround speakers... oh yeah- but you'll have to custom install the acoustical back boxes for those surrounds...

Yes- you can even buy a swivel mount to hold a 300 lb Plasma display and lag it into studs (if you can find studs that are "on center" enough to make the placement right). but there's still the question of where the "head end" instruments are going to be stored neatly and how they'll be easily controled...

Tweeter, Etc.'s price may be a little high but not too far off the mark. Remember, they have to pay for insurance so that if they should complete wreck your living room it can be restored.

Or you can do it yourself. As you can probably tell, I do installation for a living. Everyone thinks they should be able to buy a display from Best Buy and pay a contractor to install it and save lots of money. Most contractors won't install systems they don't sell because if they aren't covered by the warranty- they loose money in repairs, shipping and man-hours...

Oh- and go with LCD. The weight is 1'4th that of Plasma and the black level is catching up with Plasma more each hore... I recommend the SHARP Aquos D62U Series. http://www.sharpusa.com/products/AQUOS/ They're the best I've ever seen. Period.

Hope this helps and have a nice day!

saxman

[NewJeffCT]

37. Thanks

Some good information. CNET gave that TV a pretty good, but not great, review.

>>Editor's Note: This review has been changed since its original publication. Further testing has revealed that the television exhibited uniformity issues, which manifested as horizontal and vertical bands across the screen that we did not notice during initial testing. As a result, the performance score has been lowered from a "7" to a "6" and the overall score was recalculated. <<<

http://reviews.cnet.com/Sharp_LC_46D62U/4505-6482_7-32069030.html?tag=txt

[NewJeffCT]

38. As an added note

The person above had a Do-It-Yourself guide from Crutchfield, but also had a link to services that have people install it for you. For a 30"+ TV mounted on a wall, they charge $599, or $799 if you want the deluxe package where they hide the wiring.

[stuntcat]

39. a projector could be cheaper even

All you have to do is clear out a wall then mount it in the ceiling. We put one up in our basement and it's a lot less of a bother than a big machine. We mounted the speakers and everything. Maybe it's too late if you already bought the machine though.
We're watching the Discovery channel Planet Earth shows, giant size surround sound :o