Mounted TV, but worried I missed the stud(?)

[d0ra123]

I mounted a 32" flat-screen (only weights 20 lbs.) using this Cheetah wall mount that's certified up to 66 lbs.

I used a stud-finder, and I'm 95% sure I pre-drilled the 2 holes for the mounting bracket smack in the middle of the wooden stud.

Here's what I'm a little worried about, though: the mount bracket looks like this:

The upper 2" hex bolt felt like it went in really straight and solid. HOWEVER, the lower hex bolt started off going in nice and solid, but then began to feel like it was going in "too easy" if that makes sense. I realized that it was also going in at, like, a 15-degree downward angle, instead of perfectly perpendicular to the wall...but I didn't want to pull it out b/c I was worried the hole it created was already too big and I'd have to remove the upper bolt and make 2 new holes in my wall. Unfortunately, the last few twists of the bottom bolt felt like there was next to no resistance at all, and now it literally spins almost freely, even though it's all the way in (is there a name for this? It's not "stripped"...it's just that it's not "grabbing" at all)

So 2 questions:

1. What caused the bottom bolt to not "grab" like the upper one. I'm nearly positive it's in the middle of the stud...could it be because it went in at a 15-degree angle?

2. And the more important question: I hung the TV, and it feels pretty solid...but ugh i have a nightmare of it falling off the wall. BUT keep in mind: it's only a 20-lb. TV, the mount is certified for up to 66 lbs., and like I said, the UPPER hex bolt went in super super solid, and I feel somewhat confident could hold it on its own, even if the lower hex bolt isn't doing much. I know the "conservative" advice would be to remove both bolts and re-mount it a few inches lower, BUT i want to know, pragmatically, am I probably OK? (I also worry that drilling two new holes into the stud just a couple inches lower might be disastrous b/c there's already the 2 original ones I drilled...could the stud integrity be compromised?)

 

[Soundmanred]

I ALWAYS drill tiny holes to find where the exact stud is and the width (you'd be surprised!) and then drill the pilot hole directly in the center.
Screwing the bolts in should not be easy.

 

[Number1]

Sound like the bottom bolt just missed the bottom of the stud. Reinstall your mount slightly higher. Also make sure you are lined up with the center of the studs.

Holes in the wall are really easy to repair. Just use drywall mud, spread, let dry, sand down and paint.

 

[d0ra123]

Screwing the bolts in should not be easy.

Sound like the bottom bolt just missed the bottom of the stud. Reinstall your mount slightly higher. Also make sure you are lined up with the center of the studs.

Yes, there's no doubt something went wrong with the bottom bolt. Whether it's because I missed the stud, or because it wasn't going in perpendicularly, I guess it doesn't matter.

Though Number1, what do you mean I "missed the bottom of the stud"? The studs run vertically behind the wall, yes? So if I'm pretty sure that I was indeed smack in the middle of the stud (acc. to the stud funder at least), and I think the only problem with the bottom bolt angle was that i was drilling it in with a 15-degree downward vertical angle, why would i have missed the "BOTTOM" of the stud? Wouldn't it have gone into the center of the stud, except with a 15-degree "pitch"? (IOW, i don't even understand why a stud has a "bottom"...doesnt it run from ceiling down to the floor?)

Anyway, let's say the bottom bolt isn't doing much supporting at all...do you think (given light 20 lb. TV) that it will be OK with a single solid bolt going into the middle of the stud? I know it's not ideal, but this is a 1- or 2- year rental tops...

The reading I've been doing online today has suggested that these heavy-duty 2" lag bolts are incredibly secure when properly drilled, and I'm inferring from that that I'll *probably* be OK with just the 1 doing most of the supporting...again NOT ideal, but...thoughts?

 

[Soundmanred]

Though Number1, what do you mean I "missed the bottom of the stud"? The studs run vertically behind the wall, yes?

Yes, the studs go to the floor.
Not sure what he means.

 

[smitbret]

Yes, the studs go to the floor.
Not sure what he means.

Possibly could have run the top bolt into a horizontal stud, too. As long as it's securely into the stud, I can't imagine the bottom is necessary except to keep it square. I wouldn't mess with it.

 

[purbeast0]

it's pretty obvious when pre-drilling if you hit a stud or not. if you don't think you hit a stud, then i'd redo it. better to be safe than sorry.

actually if it's only 20lbs and you have 1 screw in a stud, i wouldn't worry about it.

 

[jtvang125]

Use one of those small, long nails used to hang picture frames to determine where the stud starts and where it ends. You'll definitely know if you hit the stud or just drywall.

 

[Mushkins]

Yes, the studs go to the floor.
Not sure what he means.

Not necessarily, there could be framing in the wall. For instance if there was a window or something there and it was removed. If you're a lazy contractor, you just slap a new slab of drywall up, paint it, and call it a day. If you're mounting a TV, you could very well hit a stud and miss a stud in a vertical alignment. Non-rectangular walls also have awkward stud arrangements in them, was a big issue when I hung the speakers behind my couch because the other side of the wall is literally my neighbors entry staircase. I've seen crazier things.

Or if you just barely caught the edge of the stud (no stud finder is perfect), the top could have gone in solid but the bottom slipped a quarter inch to the side and splintered the edge of the stud, breaking into a loose spin by the time you're done. Might've been a notch in the stud there from an old low voltage box or something that was removed as well (old lightswitch that got rewired to a 3 or 4 switch panel further down the wall).

Either way, you could hang a 32" flatscreen with cheapo drywall anchors and not have a problem. If you got one of those bolts in even one stud, that thing's not going anywhere fast.

 

[d0ra123]

Thanks, all.

I've ultimately decided (after reading responses and asking others) that my TV is probably fine where it is, even with only the top lag bolt doing most of the supporting.

There's def something funky gong on behind the drywall, b/c my studfinder is telling me that the stud is 4-5 inches wide(!)...when my understanding is that 1.5 - 2" is the standard width.

But I've used the stud-finder at every height of the wall, and taken several dozen measurements...and sure enough, SOMETHING is 4-5 inches wide at points (but not all points)...it's a 90-year old building, so who knows what was standard when it was built (or renovated).

I'm confident that the top lag bolt is in solidly, so I'm hoping that I'll be OK (or at the very least that there's warning signs, in the form of droop / wobble before the thing just crashes down from the wall.) It's just a 1-2 year rental anyway.

 

[dbcooper1]

Even when both screws are in the center of the stud, the top one does most of the work anyway.

 

[truckerCLOCK]

Use one of those small, long nails used to hang picture frames to determine where the stud starts and where it ends. You'll definitely know if you hit the stud or just drywall.

+1

Go just below the mount and drive the nail. You should be able to tell right away.