Samsung Slim Fit Wall Mount - Studs too far apart

Submitted by sillysampiper t3_z54mqg in DIY

Hi there,

 

I plan to wall mount a 75" Samsung panel to the Samsung Slit Fit Wall Mount [2022 version] on drywall/plasterboard that is fixed to wooden studs. The problem I'm running into is that the mounting holes on the mount aren't wide enough to reach the studs (450mm apart) per the instructions on the installation, and wanted to know if anyone who has this mount (or variants of it) that have run into this issue?

 

Picture of the mounting guide and studs:

https://i.ibb.co/k5rMZ5p/samsungmount.jpg

 

Per Samsungs instructions, you're asked to Fasten four screws into the holes marked with "STAR Icon", and the other four screws into any holes marked with "Triangle Icon" depending on the installation environment. From my picture, no matter how you align the mount, there's no way to fix 8 screws into a designated stud.

 

Any guidance would be greatly appreciated!

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koderdood t1_ixu5anu wrote

You could attach 3/4" plywood horizontally to the studs, then mount the bracket to the plywood. Further, if at least one of the studs works, plan the plywood mount where both the plywood mounting screws, and the bracket screws all go in one stud.

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TheIsleOfPotato t1_ixu9ed4 wrote

OP I've literally done this and it works very well, super solid and not noticeable. You could even paint it if the raw wood look bothers you but no one will see it.

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BaldingOldGuy t1_ixu7zee wrote

This is the way. 3/4" ply is not going to make your TV land that much further out from the wall and will be near impossible to see behind a TV that wide. Looks like the mount spans 4 studs, I would cut a piece of ply the width of the mount and about 2x as high and screw it into multiple studs with 2½" screws. then attach the mount to the ply

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fantasmoofrcc t1_ixuy61s wrote

Helped a buddy set up an 82" TV. Used a 2x12" connected to 3 studs, then mounted the wall mount to that. Good thing, too, as there's barely enough room to reach the USB ports with that extra gap the 2x12" provides.

Why Samsung insists on locating the connections in the middle of TVs that large, I cannot say.

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mnuggiez57 t1_ixuzg9l wrote

One step further cut out the drywall and replace with 3/4" ply . Can also add some blocking at that point too.

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operationfailed t1_ixv5qyn wrote

That will ruin the fire rating of your wall. Might as well just install blocking and then put drywall back over

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Lurkertea t1_ixuzsav wrote

Ive used a 2x8 (only thing I had on hand) across 3 studs to mount a TV on one of those mounts that swing, pivot etc. That mount can hold at least 2 of me no problem

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1Tikitorch t1_ixv90dg wrote

That’s great advice, that’s the way I’ve been mounting flat panels for years.

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Zmarlicki t1_ixw96bt wrote

This is the best answer. Also a great way to hang heavy duty shelves in the garage without spending all day looking for studs.

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spizzywinktom t1_ixv1j95 wrote

I've done this twice. Painted the plywood with leftover paint but it was unnecessary.

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lacks_a_soul t1_ixx8dzc wrote

This the way. If you want to get real deep into it, you can break out the drywall between the studs and add internal bracing that you can directly affix the the mounting hardware to once the drywall is back in place. I would just run a stringer that connects the studs, paint it to blend with the wall color and then mount away.

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archangelmlg t1_ixxe1f3 wrote

I did something similar but used scrap piece of 1x12 from Home Depot. Used 6 1/2"x3" lag bolts with washers to attach to 3 studs. I weigh almost 300 lbs and was able to hang in it with out budging.

That was 8 or 9byears ago and the TV hasn't pulled away one bit.

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PicklesMcFish t1_ixujmmm wrote

I've done the following in the past:

Half into studs, half with toggle anchors

Drill another hole into the bracket

Use a 2x4 to cover the span and mount to that

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Glandrhwrd t1_ixv4lv8 wrote

I always just drilled out the mount. Simplest, quickest, and cleanest method.

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Zonx216 t1_ixwwe90 wrote

This. I feel people over think hanging a TV. Especially if it's not even the articulated arm type.

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andyvsd t1_ixxh9dd wrote

Mounting a 2x4 to wall defeats the purpose of a slim mount in this situation. There is supposed to be almost no gap.

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Bethatman t1_ixutivz wrote

If you have 5/8th drywall just use anchors. If thinner, 1/2 inch, hit the stud with one screw and use 3 drywall butterfly anchors. Each hold up to 50lbs. The TV only weighs 60-70 lbs.

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inhospitableUterus t1_ixuzhgf wrote

Basically this. If you have a mount with 2 “channels”, top and bottom, and you can get a screw in both the top and bottom on a single stud that mount is never coming off the wall. Then you just use snap toggles near the edge of the mount to prevent it from flexing or tilting slightly. Like you said, TVs weigh nothing these days anyways.

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WellTimedPoop t1_ixwui27 wrote

Even though I logically know that anchors can hold the weight, I wouldn’t be willing to bet my TV on it

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andyvsd t1_ixxhgwv wrote

Professional AV guys do it all the time for flat mount tv installations if needed. You can almost always find at least one stud though.

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illcrx t1_ixvsygo wrote

I do AV and hang TVs for a living. You don't have to 100% of the time hit a stud if its 100% necessary a TV go somewhere.

If your mount fits over the studs and just doesn't have a hole, make one! Just drill a hole in the mount. If you have "The frame" TV mount this may not be an option as those mounts are tiny.

EZ Anchors and other high quality drywall anchors can provide over 75 lbs of holding force per anchor so in theory with 4 anchors you can hold 300 lbs. Obvisously that is not likely going to work in the real world but your TVs are under 100 lbs and spread across different parts of the drywall you will be ok.

If you are using "The frame" TV those are meant to be ON THE WALL so we get then right on the wall, we use in-wall boxes for video and electrical and a 3/4 furring strip as others have suggested you will have a 3/4 gap on the wall.

Another thing you can do if you don't care about drywall damage, and I have done this as well, is to cut open a section of drywall behind the TV and add your own stud! You can drill into the stud and it will use a large section of the drywall as a form of a washer so your holding power should be greatly increased. The larger the stud the better and if you are lucky you can anchor the new horizontal stud to the regular stud.

In the end though no one is likely ripping this down off of the wall in a way that is going to cause it to fail. But use the anchors appropriately and use the biggest ones! The EZ Anchors come in 50lb and 75lb sizes. Butterfly bolts or toggle bolts are good too I like the 1/4 size as the fit nicely in the holes of TV mounts a majority of the time.

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andyvsd t1_ixxgwse wrote

I’ve hung hundreds of TV’s as well. A flat non tilting mount can be done with anchors or toggles. Tilting mounts one stud minimum the other side anchors or toggles. Full articulating mount two studs required unless it’s one of the single stud mounts for smaller TVs. The amount of people on this sub that think you need to mount a piece of plywood across studs to mount a tv that’s typically no more than 50-60lns dont realize it’s complete overkill and unnecessary.

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illcrx t1_ixy0cmq wrote

I didn't think about articulating mounts! Tilts and flats are the same to me but you are 100% right about articulating mounts! Studs are mandatory and with LAG bolts not drywall screws.

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andyvsd t1_ixy64k4 wrote

Yep. Lag bolts on those are required.

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KarmaRan0verMyDogma t1_ixuufmu wrote

The "studs" over my fireplace were horizontal. I cut out the drywall and installed a piece of plywood to the 2x4s that were there. Taped, sanded and textured the plywood then painted it to match the wall. While I was going through all the trouble, I had an electrician install an electrical outlet.

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twwangy t1_ixw6fes wrote

This would ruin the fire rating of the wall, especially over a fireplace.

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KarmaRan0verMyDogma t1_ixwdyfs wrote

Perhaps my description doesn't give you a good visual image, but the bottom of this panel is at least 36" from the top of the firebox. There is a wooden mantle between. Anyway, if I have flames coming out of my gas fireplace that reach 5 feet, I've got bigger problems.

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omnipotent88 t1_ixuwb8k wrote

I would chat with Samsung, they may have a solution for this already. You could give them your stud spacing and see what they say.

I think a lot of people here miss the point that this is designed to be incredibly flush to the wall and any kind of extra distance from the wall will greatly diminish the anesthetics.

Another thought would be to use the idea of the plywood mounted to the studs, but trace out the area where the plywood would go and remove the drywall in that area before putting up the plywood. I don't have any experience doing this but seems like it would create a pretty flush option.

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sillysampiper OP t1_ixuxxw0 wrote

The plywood is the obvious fix for this but I agree it defeats the purpose of why I bought the slim fit. When installed the panel sits 15mm from the wall, add in the plywood and you more than double that. I’ve raised a case with Samsung and will update the OP with what they come back with.

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somdude04 t1_ixv0sna wrote

Cut the drywall and attach the plywood directly to the studs, then.

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koukimonster91 t1_ixv0r7e wrote

I work in commercial av and have hung hundreds of tvs using snaptoggles. 2 of them will hold the tv no problem. Judging by the mm then you might not have them in your country so check out if they have any equivalents and feel free to post them here and I'll let you know if they suffice.

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-hey-ben- t1_ixv53kh wrote

Toggle bolts would work but are a bit more finicky. If you fuck up a hole while doing it you have to move the mount a considerable distance, or replace the drywall and start fresh. At that point though you might as well just give yourself some blocking behind the drywall while you’ve got it opened up

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AlwaysUseAFake t1_ixxs8j7 wrote

I took down a chunk of drywall, put in extra studs where I needed them and put drywall back in. My drywall patching job was not perfect but it's hidden behind the tv and mount so not a big deal.

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andyvsd t1_ixy6pxc wrote

Don’t listen to them. That plywood install is unnecessary and you won’t see any AV professionals doing that. I’ve hung every kind of TV from 26”-85”. Just screw one part of the mount into one stud and then use toggle bolts for the other side. I promise you the tv will never move.

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oDDmON t1_ixu7hrh wrote

As another said, mount a horizontal anchor plate to the studs, like plywood, or strap steel for a tighter fit to the wall.

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Furrealyo t1_ixumc6k wrote

Assuming this TV has a VESA mounting pattern, I’d trash your mount and get a better, more adjustable, one for Amazon for $16.

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2muchtimewastedhere t1_ixv5v4z wrote

A couple of lags into studs on the triangle part is all you really need. You can put some drywall anchors on the star part if that makes you feel better about it.

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TJRegina t1_ixvywfs wrote

Hit the studs where you can and use Hilti 1/4in drywall anchors with Phillips screw for the rest. I used to install tvs and when we couldn’t hit a stud, we’d use these. If I remember correctly, they can hold a couple hundred pounds in 1/2in drywall. We used them to hang old school heavy plasma tvs so a new led won’t be any problem for these. You can buy them from Home Depot.

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gendabenda t1_iy2gdsn wrote

Dude you are way over-thinking this and so is most of the thread (and no one has looked at this specific mount as it's not a normal TV mount). Because it's actually two separate mini-mounts, all you need to do is fire four screws into each bracket in the outside corners.

Now, because the brackets aren't 16-18" long, no matter how you slice it, 2 of 4 screws on each bracket will always go into raw drywall. So, hit up Homedepot, buy the 75lb EZ Anchor 10 pc kit (like $10 tops) and then screw in this pattern (based on your pic):

Left Bracket: Two wood screws into the STAR-highlighted Stud, Two EZ Anchors and wood screws into the Triangle highlighted area to the RIGHT of the STAR.

Right Bracket: Two wood screws into the TRIANGLE-highlighted Stud, Two EZ Anchors and wood screws into the STAR-highlighted area.

This will give you four stud connections across the TV (two per bracket) and an additional 300lb of anchors as extra protection (150lb per bracket). You could just about hang off this TV with this much engineering (plz don't unless you use lag bolts)

This would also be a whole hell of a lot easier if the bracket was in one piece instead of two, but there you go.

A video from Samsung showing you:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U5-6xrZB_Lg

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sillysampiper OP t1_iy2qbrv wrote

Thank you for this. I appreciate all the suggestions in this post, half stud half anchors looks like the way to go. Regarding anchors, I'm curious about one of the suggestions in this post to use toggle bolts. Would you recommend these over the EZ Anchors?

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gendabenda t1_iy3lzrc wrote

You could use whichever you're more comfortable with and nothing will happen either way because the brackets are already hitting the stud in two locations. The two non-stud anchors on each bracket are really only there to stop the bracket from flexing/twisting under the weight. I personally like EZ Anchors because you just screw them into the wall where you want and are done. Toggle bolts are very strong but definitely more tricky to do through TV brackets if you've never done something like that before.

To put your mind at ease, I have a 30lb articulating mount on a 100lb TV and only use four screws for the entire thing and my bracket can come out almost 2 feet. Now they are lag bolts (thicker screws) but if you're using the flush-mount samsung kit you're looking at maybe 50-60lb total for the TV and the brackets are maybe 2-3lbs on an install that never moves. You could probably fire two 3" deck screws screws into the middle of each bracket on the stud and the TV would never move. Don't do this, but I want to make you more comfortable with the amount of support you're throwing at this TV with 4 75lb anchors and 4 stud-screws.

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SpankYourCat t1_ixu8193 wrote

Mount a 2x4 on the wall and attach the mounting plate, done!

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andyvsd t1_ixxhv8v wrote

That defeats the whole purpose of a flush mount install.

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StoneTemplePilates t1_ixv7poz wrote

Put a few screws into the stud where you can and use toggle bolts for the rest. In reality, you could do it 100% with toggles and never have an issue. Dry wall is much stronger than you think it is and a 75" tv really isn't all that heavy.

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604_heatzcore t1_ixvmjds wrote

You need to span a couple 2x4 across to each stud and use that as a backer especially if you plan to use a swiveling type of mount. Shouldn't really be able to see it behind the TV especially of you paint it same as the wall

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Freshanator86 t1_ixw1104 wrote

Can’t you just bolt the triangle area into the studs? The instructions don’t make sense… to have bolts in the star and triangle section is pointless

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bobintar t1_ixw3wf7 wrote

I used 2 2x4's across 3 studs. Trimmed/beveled the ends, pre-drilled and countersunk the holes, sanded everything smooth then lag bolted them to the studs. Once this was done I painted the the same color as the wall. Helps with offsetting from the wall so access to plugs and access to tilt mechanism is much easier

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DB_Cooper47 t1_ixw5nmj wrote

The Samsung no-gap wall mount is sold entirely on its ability to have “no gap” between the frame Tv and the wall, so any suggestion to span the stud gap with external wood is a no-go as it will push the frame off the wall and leave a gap. I would Just send the bolts into the stud on one side, and use toggles on the other side, that tv will be rock solid. Source: 5 years of AV install experience, personally installed dozens of frames including my own and several for family members.

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bcanddc t1_ixwgw3g wrote

I install these regularly. Here’s what I do.

Where there is a stud, use one of the supplied screws. In one of the other holes on each side of the mount, use one of these. You’ll be just fine. Because the tv sits so close to the wall and doesn’t pull out, all the force is directed almost straight down.

Your friend has shared a link to a Home Depot product they think you would be interested in seeing.

https://www.homedepot.com/p/FLIPTOGGLE-1-4-in-x-2-1-2-in-Toggle-Bolt-10-Pack-425R/206347693

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GiraffeandZebra t1_ixwl9ic wrote

Where the instructions say to mount it and you can't hit a stud, use anchor bolts instead. Add a few of your own holes where studs are and and screw in there as well just for good measure.

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Craig_DZ t1_ixx63j7 wrote

Cut out drywall, replace with plywood, and attach that to studs. Not necessary if you’re leaving the tv against the wall though. Only do that if you’re going to put it on a mount that extends far out or you’ll be pulling regularly.

If it’s just gonna be on the wall use toggles.

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