How to Mount a TV Flush to the Wall in Lexington

Part of our complete guide: How to Mount a TV on Any Wall.

Almost nobody is surprised by the bracket. They are surprised by the gap. The screen goes up, everyone steps back, and somebody says it is further off the wall than they pictured — which is the moment people start asking how flush a mounted television can actually sit.

The honest answer is: closer than most installs end up, and never quite as close as the showroom photographs suggest. Here is what decides it, and what a flush screen costs you in the things you give up.

Why Your TV Sits Off the Wall at All

Three things hold it out, and only one of them is the mount. The first is the hardware itself: a wall plate has to be thick enough to carry the load, and the arms that bolt to the back of the set add their own depth on top of it. Steel has a minimum.

The second is the television. Most sets have a recessed bay on the back where the ports and the power socket live, and the panel around that bay is thinner than the bay is deep — so even a bracket that sits perfectly flat leaves the slimmest part of the screen standing proud of it. The third is the cables, and they are the one people never account for.

How Close You Can Realistically Get

The mount type sets the floor. A flat low-profile mount gets a screen closest to the wall, because it does nothing but hold it there. A tilting mount has to leave room to pivot, so it gives up a little depth to buy you a few degrees of angle. A full-motion arm folds against the wall but has to fold somewhere, and it is the deepest of the three by a clear margin.

The number you want is on the mount's own specification, usually given as the depth from the wall with the arms closed, and it is worth reading before you buy rather than after. Pair that with the depth of your set's port bay and you know the gap you are going to get. Our guide to what to look for in a TV wall mount covers the rest of what that spec sheet is telling you.

The Cables Decide More Than the Bracket Does

A stiff HDMI lead with a chunky moulded end, plugged into a rear-facing port, will hold a panel off the wall further than any bracket. It is the commonest reason a flush install ends up not being flush, and it is also the cheapest thing to fix.

Check which way your ports face before mounting day. Side-facing ports are the easy case. Rear-facing ones want right-angle HDMI ends, a low-profile power lead and cables that are soft enough to turn inside the bay instead of pushing against the wall. Our guide to wall mount screw sizes covers the other half of this, which is the spacers and washers that a curved or recessed back needs in order to sit square in the first place.

What a Flush Screen Costs You

Three trade-offs, and they are worth knowing before you choose the mount rather than after:

• No tilt. A flat mount cannot correct a viewing angle, so the height has to be right the first time — see our viewing height and placement guide.
• Harder access. Adding a console or swapping a cable later means lifting the set off the plate rather than reaching behind it.
• Less air. A panel pressed to the wall has less room for heat to move, which matters most above a working fireplace — our notes on heat and airflow behind a mounted TV explain where the line is.
• An uneven wall shows. The closer the screen sits, the more a bowed stud or a wavy plaster surface reads as a crooked picture — which is usually what is really going on when a TV looks like it is not level.

Walls That Make Flush Harder

On drywall over timber framing, flush is straightforward: the surface is flat and the plate pulls up tight against it. Where the studs do not line up with the spot you want, the answer is a wider plate that reaches them, which also means a slightly deeper mount — our guide to mounting where the studs miss covers the options.

Masonry is the harder case, because the face itself is not flat. On brick the anchors go into the brick rather than into the mortar joints, since brick is the stronger of the two, and a plate bridging an uneven face needs shimming to sit square instead of being pulled into a twist. Our guides to brick fireplace mounting, stone veneer and plaster and lath go through what each one takes. Baseboard and trim matter too: a screen set low enough to meet a chair rail will never sit flat against it.

Getting the Cord Out of Sight as Well

A flush screen with a cable hanging below it is a half-finished job, and the two decisions are made at the same time. Every installation covers mounting the TV, leveling, basic cable management, and all wall hardware. If you want nothing visible at all, in-wall cable concealment is a $99 add-on: power and signal run inside the wall with proper plates and low-voltage brackets, and the existing outlet is extended into the chase on a UL-listed in-wall rated cord kit, so there is no new circuit.

Where a wall cannot be opened — a rental, a shared wall, solid masonry — a painted surface raceway is the alternative, and we quote that once we have seen the wall. If the spot you have picked has no outlet near it, say so when you book and we will tell you what that wall takes. Our guides to hiding TV wires in the wall and where the cable box goes cover both routes.

What It Costs

Installation is priced by screen size: 32" $129, 43" $129, 50" $129, 55" $129, 65" $139, 75" $229 and 85" $279. The mount itself is separate — flat $35, tilting $45, full-motion $125 (32–55", special order rather than something we carry) — or bring your own and we will fit it at no mount charge if it suits the screen and the wall. In-wall cable concealment is $99, soundbar mounting is $40 and hauling the old set away is $30. Service within 20 miles of Lexington is free. Richmond is our home base, so it is free too.

If flush is what you are after, tell us when you book and bring the model number of the television. We will tell you which of the three mount styles suits that set and that wall, and what the gap is realistically going to be before anything gets drilled. If you are weighing up doing it yourself, the mistakes we are most often called back to correct is the short list worth reading first.