Full-motion mount on a black marble-look tile fireplace

Large-format marble-look porcelain over the whole chimney breast. The anchor holes were drilled with a diamond bit and no hammer action so the tile would not crack, then the plate was bolted to the framing behind it.

Tile cannot take a hammer drill. Each anchor hole went in with a diamond core bit on rotation only, through the tile and into the framing or masonry behind it, so the surface stayed whole and the bolts bite something structural. The bracket was shimmed flat against the tile face before it was tightened.

A full-motion arm pulls the screen off the wall and swings it toward another seat or room, and it asks the most of a wall: at full extension the pull on the top bolts is several times the TV's weight. The plate is bolted through two studs, the arm's range of motion is tested under load, and the cables ride in the arm so nothing snags when it swings.

Above a working fireplace we check the heat first: the unit is burned for 20 minutes and an infrared reading is taken at bracket height, because a surround that climbs past 100 degrees will cook a panel. Electric and gas-insert fireplaces run cooler; a wood-burner that reads hot gets a pull-down mount instead.

TV mounting is a flat rate by screen size: $129 up to 54", $159 for 55-69", $209 for 70-79", $299 for 80-94" and $399 from 95" (2 technicians). A brick, stone, tile or concrete wall adds $99. The bracket is yours or ours from $49, and there is no travel fee.