TV Wall Mounting in North York
North York is the sharpest split of anywhere we work. A postwar bungalow with plaster on lath and a concrete tower at Yonge and Sheppard are ten minutes apart.
Where the van goes in North York
North York, neighbourhood by neighbourhood.
- Willowdale
- Bathurst Manor
- Don Mills
- Downsview
- Lawrence Manor
- York Mills
- Bayview Village
Not on the list? We still come. See every area, or call and ask.
Working here
Plaster and lath carry nothing
In the postwar bungalows and side splits the finish is plaster, over wood lath in the older pockets and over gypsum rock lath after that. Both are brittle, both crack out around a hole, and neither holds a television. The stud behind it does.
Two streets, two different jobs
A Bathurst Manor bungalow and a tower at Yonge and Finch share nothing behind the paint. One wants lag screws into timber we have to find first. The other wants sleeve anchors in poured concrete.
There is nowhere to stop on Yonge
The towers want the service lift reserved and a certificate of insurance on file, and the kerb is no use to anybody. Tell us the building and whether there is a loading dock, and we will arrange that end.
One former borough, two kinds of wall
A bungalow on a Bathurst Manor side street and a suite at Yonge and Sheppard are a ten minute drive apart and have nothing in common once you are past the paint. One is plaster with timber somewhere behind it. The other is poured concrete. Same trade, different drill, different anchors, and a different half hour of preparation before anything goes up.
It is not even predictable street by street. Willowdale, Lawrence Manor and York Mills all have fifties bungalows standing beside new builds twice the size, so the house next door tells you nothing useful. We ask what year the place went up, and where nobody knows, the wall tells us. Standard mounting on any of them is described on the TV wall mounting page.
Plaster, lath and the stud behind it
In the oldest pockets the wall is plaster on wood lath: thin strips nailed across the studs with plaster keyed between them. After the war that became gypsum rock lath, panels nailed to the studs under a plaster skim. Both are hard, both are brittle, and both crack out in a cone around a careless hole. Neither one carries a screen. The timber behind does, which is why the probing comes first and the drilling second.
Side splits add a question the bungalows do not have. The wall the family room screen wants is often the one the stairs climb behind, and a stair enclosure decides where a cable can drop more than the bracket ever will. On the other hand the interior partitions in these houses are usually uninsulated, so once the route is clear a low voltage cable drops easily.
Yonge Street, and what the building asks for
From Sheppard up to Finch the stock is towers. The demising walls are poured concrete and the partitions inside the suite are often steel stud and drywall, so one living room can hold both walls, and the wall you pick changes the fixing. Steel takes a different fastener from timber and it flexes, so the bracket catches two studs. There is a longer answer about the concrete side at can you mount a TV on a concrete condo wall.
Access here is paperwork rather than distance. The 401 and the Allen put us in North York quickly and same day is realistic most days. What slows a job down is a service lift that can only be booked in a window the building sets, a certificate of insurance that has to be on file first, and a loading dock with a queue. Give us the building name when you book and that part is handled before we arrive.
Wires are hidden on every job, and the quote comes before anyone drills.
While we are in North York
Rarely just the one screen.
Asked in North York
Can you mount a television on a plaster and lath wall?
Yes, into the stud behind it. The lath holds plaster and nothing else. We drill a clean pilot rather than driving a screw at it, because plaster blows out around a hole and the patch always shows.
How do you find a stud under old plaster?
Not with a cheap stud finder. Plaster is uneven and any wire mesh in it reads as solid wall everywhere. We work off the nail line at the baseboard and confirm with a fine bit somewhere the bracket plate will cover.
Can you come the same day in Willowdale or Downsview?
Usually. This is inside the city, so the drive is short. In a tower the limit is the building's own lift window rather than the traffic.
Our bungalow was gutted and rebuilt. Does that change anything?
It often changes everything. A rebuilt interior can be drywall on new framing behind an original brick shell. We check the wall rather than guessing from the year on the street.