Most mounts that you find online are typically designed to be used with wooden studs.
That’s because they’re more common and are also much easier to install mounts into.
However, if you have metal studs, there’s no need to be discouraged. You can definitely find mounts for metal studs.
Not only that but if you pay attention and do your research, you can install a mount onto them properly on your own as well.
Quick summary
In this post, we will provide you with step-by-step instructions on what you need to do to successfully install a TV mount onto a metal stud wall.
Let’s get into it.
How to Install a TV Mount into a Metal Stud Wall? (Step-by-Step Guide)
People always have a much harder time finding a mount if they have walls that have metal studs in them.
The market is not especially focused on people who have metal studs in their walls since wooden studs are far more common.
Even with mounts that can fit onto both wooden and metal studs, you often get only the hardware that can be used to install the mount onto wooden studs with it.
However, once you spend some time online, you’re bound to find an appropriate mount that can fit into your wall that has metal studs.
Once you have bought it, you can start to think about its installation:
Step 1: Gather the Correct Installation Hardware
If you had wooden studs, usual lag bolts and screws would have done the job perfectly.
However, with metal studs, you will need different types of hardware for the appropriate support.
Metal studs are known to be narrow and hollow. Hence, you will need hardware that is strong enough to support the weight of your television. Furthermore, they also need to be long enough for them to reach your metal studs.
You have a bunch of options such as toggle bolts, toggle anchors, and snap toggles.
Out of these three, our favorite is the snap toggle.
They are much stronger than toggle bolts. Furthermore, they can be used as anchors for installing your mounting bracket securely to metal, Drywall as well as plaster.
Step 2: Find Your Metal Studs
Similar to how you find the wooden studs in your wall when you install a TV mount, you will need to find the metal studs to appropriately install your TV.
The job is made much easier if you have a stud finder.
If you can’t get hold of a stud finder, you can use other techniques such as the simple knock test.
You can also try to stick pins in the wall in order to find the metal studs’ location.
Every time you find a stud’s location, be sure to mark it with a pencil or something similar.
Quick tip: It can be a good idea to use a small drill bit to explore behind your Drywall.
These holes will be hidden by your TV later. Hence, it won’t matter that you drilled a few extra pilot holes.
Step 3: Pre-Drill Your Pilot Holes for Correct Placement
When all is said and done, you will have a ½-inch drill hole to properly fit the snap toggle.
However, for now, you must use a smaller drill bit to drill your pilot holes. This will ensure more precision so that the holes are directly in the center of each stud.
You can use the mounting bracket as a template to line up the mount’s holes on your wall. We highly recommend that you use a level at this stage to ensure your mount doesn’t get installed crooked.
Step 4: Drill the Holes Fully
This is fairly self-explanatory.
Once you have used smaller drill bits to accurately drill the smaller holes, go ahead with a larger drill bit to turn them into ½-inch holes.
Step 5: Add the Hardware
To install the snap toggles properly, you will need to line them up vertically with the metal studs.
This will ensure that your wall mount will sit flat on the wall and won’t rock back and forth. Go ahead and insert each toggle and rotate it. This will cause its wings to open up vertically behind the flange.
Place your bracket onto it while making sure it’s level and then, tighten all of the bolts. We highly recommend that you insert a snap toggle into each hole of your TV mount.
Sometimes the holes of your TV mount may not align perfectly with each metal stud, you can add snap toggles to each hole even if that is the case.
That’s because, in the end, they will still end up adding more stability to your TV.
Step 6: Attach the TV to Your Wall Mount
Once you have the wall mount firmly attached to your wall, make sure to test out its stability first.
You can do this by holding it gently and shaking it to check how it moves.
If it stays fairly firm, you’re pretty much good to go. However, if it wobbles or shakes a bit too much, then that means that you need to tighten the screws more.
Either that or you’ve made some error while installing the snap toggles onto the metal studs in your wall.
Metal Studs vs Wooden Studs
Wooden studs are by far, a lot more common in American households than metal studs are.
That being said, neither one of them is better than the other.
We definitely feel that if you have metal studs, you’ll have a relatively harder time since most mounts are not designed for metal studs.
Furthermore, the installation of TV mounts into metal stud walls is also a lot more complicated.
Wrapping Things Up…
We hope you’ve gained more confidence regarding the installation of a wall mount onto metal studs.
As long as you buy the proper metal stud anchors and use the correct hardware to install them, you will be golden.
If you still have any confusion, please reach out to us in the comments below.
Adam F.
A/V and Home Theater Expert that focuses on providing clear as well as concise reviews for anything and everything Audio Visual. From TV's, TV Mounts, Soundbars, and Wiring, my focus is to provide expertise in everything Audio Visual focused.
