Hanging TV on wall.
 

BestBuy says we can have them hang a 77 inch tv on outer wall of a Gardenia. They say they’ve done tons of them. They say there are wood strips (forgot what he called them) next to the metal joists that are in the wall which is what they secure the tv hanger device to. Are these wood pieces big enough to secure the bracket to hold a 60+ lb tv. Anyone done this and successfully the tv has stayed attached?

They are called furring strips. Yes, they are large enough to hold a TV, if the job is done properly.

Call VILLAGE AV. He’s an expert with this and will know for sure.

I agree that The Villages AV guy is good. But, if Best Buy has installed "tons" of them, I think they also know for sure.

I would never trust the snot-nosed 20-year olds that work at Best Buy.

The screen of my 94 year old mother's iPad went really dark. She couldn't figure it out. (Did I mention she was 94?). Took it to the Apple mini-store inside her local Best Buy. The Best Buy "Apple expert" told her it was probably overheated and she just needed to shut it down and let it cool down.

Ummm, what? She tried that to no avail and a few days later returned to Best Buy. The (or another, I'm not sure) "Apple expert" 20-year old told her it was irretrievably broken and she'd have to replace it.

I had another thought and walked her through it on the phone. Yup, sure as heck, she had inadvertently moved the screen's brightness slider down. Slide the slider back over and voila! Fixed!

Yeah- I wouldn't trust any Best Buy snot-nosed 20 year old with hanging my 60 pound 85-inch TV and "hope" they hit the 1.5 inch furring strips correctly for the mount. No way.

I don't disagree, but the question was "are the wood strips big enough?" The answer is yes.

The Best Buy "Geek Squad" installers are NOT the same people that work in the stores. They're given formal training and each install team has a foreman with several years of installation experience.

Not sure about the firring strips, our house (2013 vintage Gardenia block construction) has metal studs, I installed a ~4.5 foot strip of plywood across 3 studs with 3 or 4 screws in each stud location. I then used this for the TV mounting hardware. You never see the wood as the TV is 75 inch model, and this mounting has been used for 2 TVs.

We have used BB for more than 20 years. Not only does one get extended warranty, if install not to your liking they come back until it is. The membership pays for itself. Then again we buy all appliances, phones, smart watches, tablets printers and laptops. After 2 years you can renew. My Apple $600 plus watch is $22 for the year, after the free 2 year warranty.

Mounting a TV on a wall is not rocket science. The cost to mount it would be a big factor for me. I have never heard of a TV falling off of the wall.

Tom Grooms at VillagesAV.com is the guy you want to call. He has installed 4 TVs for us and one is on the outside wall of our Gardenia's great room. He is also a great source of information on all things audio and video.

I learned the hard way, neighbor installed, at 5:30 in morning a crash, installed into Sheetrock instead of support, next tv, GEEK SQUAD

Have you been waiting for "Best Buy" to appear in a thread so that you could tell your story??

VillageTinker has it correct. Cut a 1/2" piece of plywood slightly larger than the tv mount. Can even paint it with some touch up paint from your home. Then use the supplied anchor screws from the TV mount. Should take around 30 minutes total if you have the materials and tools. If it's a newer TV, likely is less then 60 pounds. My Samsung 75" is about 30 pounds. Good luck.

Most new 75-inch TVs weigh closer to 70 pounds, without the stand.