TV on a shiplap wall above a linear fireplace

Shiplap over the whole chimney breast, a linear electric fireplace below. The bracket bolts pass through the shiplap into the studs, and the screen was set for the sectional's seat height.

Decorative panels like these hide the framing, so the studs were located with a magnet on the fastener lines before anything was drilled, and the bracket bolts pass through the panel into the stud behind it. The holes land where the panel is flat so the plate sits flush.

A flat bracket holds the panel about an inch and a half off the wall, which is what makes it read like a framed picture; it is the right mount when the screen sits at seated eye level and faces one seat. The TV is levelled on the bracket with a digital inclinometer, because half a degree is obvious from the doorway.

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.