Can You Mount A TV On The Ceiling?

If you’re short of places to mount your TV, you may be wondering is it possible to mount my TV to the ceiling. In the blog I discuss whether this is possible along with some installation tips & advice. Let’s begin!

Mounting TV’s on Ceilings

The answer the question, can I mount my TV on my ceiling? is yes, but there are a few things to consider before you do this. Most importantly getting safe, secure fixings so that the TV doesn’t fall off the ceiling and take a chunk of your ceiling with it. Things that I have identified for your consideration are, what TV bracket are you going to use? What fixings are you going to use so that it’s safe and how are you going to get the cables to the TV?

Brackets For Ceiling Mounted TV’s

There are a couple of different types of mounts you could use for this task, I would recommend getting a bracket that is specially designed for the task. If you want your TV to be angled like it would normally be if mounted to the wall, at a right angle to the floor then a bracket with a vertically mounted section that your TV clamps onto would be the perfect choice. The great thing about these types of brackets is that they can be mounted anywhere in a room, it doesn’t need to be near a wall. The size of your TV will affect the size/ cost of the bracket you need and I would strongly advise erring on the side of caution. There are a wide variety of brackets on the market for this task and as always I recommend Sanus as being a brand that I’m happy to recommend. You can get some models that allow two TV/ monitors to be installed back to back to each-other – perfect for restaurants, pubs etc. You can also get brackets that allow the TV to be tilted if were watching TV in a more horizontal position like in bed.

Alternatively and something I have seen done on many occasions when attending call-outs is you could use a TV wall bracket and mount this to the ceiling. It sounds strange but if you’re lying on your back in bed the TV could be mounted directly above so that it’s horizontally fixed to the ceiling. I’m not sure that I could ever get a good nights sleep with a TV directly above my head but I imagine that this would provide a better lying position for your posture, but you may want to consult a professional on that. If you want to do this you will need to be extra vigilant with the TV wall bracket that you purchase. You will need a bracket that fixes in place with some, ideally not just one that clicks in place but when we an additional locking bar/ screws need to be inserted. A TV bracket that just hooks over a single fixing bar – which is perfectly suitable for wall mounted installations will not be suitable for this task as there will be nothing supporting the bottom of the TV.

Fixings & Techniques For Wall Mount TV’s

If you are going to want to mount your TV onto the ceiling you’re going to want to make sure that it’s safe as mount ceilings are just one or two sheets of plasterboard screwed into the horizontal beams. People are naturally cautious about mounting TV’s onto plasterboard walls and with a TV on a ceiling you will need to be even more so, where gravity will have a greater affect.

Install Plywood Above Ceiling

The recommended method that I would suggest would be to install a sheet of plywood between the beams that are supporting your ceiling. You will need to install a couple of batons either side, like a 2”-2” and then screw the plywood (or similar) into this. This will give you a strong fixing to screw into when installing your ceiling mount.

This however could make installation a bit trickier as you will need to either get above the ceiling in order the fix the plywood in position or cut a section of the ceiling away. If you’re mounting your TV in an upstairs bedroom with a loft/ attic directly above, aside from being a bit dark and dirty this will be easy. If however, you’re on a ground floor and/ or another room above with no loft space, you will need to either lift the floor boards or cut a hole in the ceiling. In older type houses with carpets and standard floorboards this isn’t too difficult, although you may need to cut a floorboard to get it up. On newer building with Tongue and Groove floor boarding this can be quite a bit more difficult. If you have a laminate/ wooden type floor then I would advise just to cut a section out of the ceiling and make good afterwards as it will be easier. The plasterboard section that you have cut away can be screwed back in position between the plywood and the ceiling mount afterwards making the repair job not so difficult.

Tip- If you’re lifting floorboards or entering the loft, I recommend piercing a small screwdriver through the ceiling to help you find where to look.

Insert Screws Into Ceiling Beams

If you can locate the beams in your ceiling and insert the screws/ bolts that hold the TV bracket in place in here, this too should offer a strong fixing. It can be a bit tricky to find these however, some people can knock on the wall and hear the change in sound to be able to locate where the studs/beams are, I have never been able to do this. I recommend purchasing a decent stud finder which help you find where these are. I recommend putting decent size screws in the hold the bracket in place, 3” or so. If you’re going to be using a coach bolt you may need to drill a smaller pilot hole first so that you do not split the wooden when tightening the bolt. It’s also important to fix into the centre of the ceiling beams for strongest fixing.

You may find though, that even if you do find the wooden ceiling beams that this doesn’t quite line up with the bracket fixings. In which case you may need to also use plasterboard fixings.

Plasterboard Fixings

It’s likely that when you mark the holes for securing your bracket that a some will not be directly in the middle of the ceiling beams. In which case plasterboard fixings could be used. For large heavier TV’s I wouldn’t want to rely on these altogether so I would want at least one or two strong fixings directly into the ceiling beams, but for smaller TV’s they will fine.

Normal standard expansion type fixings will not work as behind the plasterboard there is nothing to expand into so I advise using the wall anchor type fixings (some people call them toggles). I wouldn’t test it anywhere near as much but it is said that one of these can hold 25 kg. Also another strong plasterboard connection which I sometimes use are the Gripit fixings which I recommend that you check out.

Cabling For TV’s On Ceiling

Believe it or not, but the cabling for TV installations is often the biggest part of the job. Before installing your TV onto a ceiling you should think about the how you’re going to get the cables to it. Regardless of what bracket you choose these usually either have a hollow tube that the cables can be dropped down from above or cable tied to or the TV itself will hide the TV cables.

Electrical Connection. At the TV position you will need electrical power, this could be a longer TV lead or you may want to hire an electrician to install a nearby mains electrical socket.

TV signal cable. This is likely to be a TV aerial or satellite dish coax cable.

AV Cables. HDMI/ AV cables for connections to your AV equipment like DVD/ Bluray players, Games Consoles, Sound systems etc. It’s likely that you’re going to have to buy extra long leads to be able to reach between your TV and AV equipment as it’s highly unlikely that you’re going to install these up near the TV on the ceiling.

I recommend while you’re at it installing a couple of data cables for a wired internet connection. I recently did a Xbox One wired vs WIFI speed connection and the wired connection was far superior.

Routing The Cables

If you’re lifting floorboards/ going into the loft, it makes sense to route the cables through here also, but this might not be as easy as it sounds, especially the AV cables which connect between the TV and the AV equipment as these may be a fair distance away from each-other. These also may have large bulky connectors that need to be fed through large holes. In this instance you could try and find cupboards nearby the route the cables up or chase the cables into the wall, which will obviously require redecoration afterwards. Alternatively, surface mounted PVC trunking could be used which is a relatively expensive and easy to install solution. I recommend the D-Line trunking range if you’re not keen on trunking as this comes in many shapes and colours and can look quite good.

Installing TV Questions

If you have any questions related to this blog please feel free to POST THEM IN THE BLOG COMMENTS SECTION DIRECTLY BELOW and I will get back to you as soon as I can. By posting your comments in the Blog Comments section you will:

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Until next time,

Tom