Pull-out arm above a stone fireplace with a timber mantel

Stone below, drywall above: the bracket went into the framed chimney breast over the mantel, not into the stone, and the long arm lets the screen be pulled forward and angled down toward the seating from its height above the timber mantel. Shown fully extended, which is how the customer checked the reach to the sofa under the vaulted ceiling.

The wall here is drywall over framing, so the bracket is lagged into the studs, never into the drywall itself: we run an electronic stud finder across the full width of the bracket, confirm each stud with a magnet on the screw line, then drive 5/16-inch lag bolts into two of them. Past 55 inches a third stud or a pair of SnapToggle anchors shares the load.

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). The bracket is yours or ours from $49, and there is no travel fee.