How do I check that a wall-mounted TV is still secure?

A five-minute check

A wall mount that was solid on day one can loosen: the TV gets tugged to a new angle, someone leans on an arm, a bigger screen replaces the old one. Most failures give warning signs first, and you can spot them in a few minutes without tools.

Do this every few months, and any time you change the TV or add something to the mount. If you are not sure how to read your mount, find its manual. Echogear also tells you to check your TV owner's manual for any special requirements for mounting your TV.^[2]

Look first, then press

Start by looking. Along the edges of the wall plate, check for a gap between plate and wall, a line that has gone crooked, or fine cracks in the paint or drywall radiating from the plate. Any of these means the plate may be moving. Look at the TV itself: is it still level, and does it hang at the height it did?

Then press. Hold the TV at both sides and push gently up, down and side to side. A fixed or tilting mount should not rock against the wall. An articulating arm should move only through its designed range. If something clunks, shifts or creaks, that is the part to inspect.

The reason to care about the plate is that it is the load path. Sanus says all four lag bolts must be firmly tightened to prevent unwanted movement of the wall plate.^[1] A plate that moves means a bolt is no longer gripping the stud.

Check the lock and the tension

Most mounts have a locking device that keeps the TV from lifting off the plate. On the Sanus mount, the cable holder and securement screw must be in place and tightened to securely fasten the TV to the wall plate.^[1] After moving a TV, it is easy to leave that screw out. Look for it.

Next, the joints. Your TV should adjust easily when moved, then stay in place.^[1] If it drifts, Echogear says that if the TV is too loose or too tight, you adjust the tension knob.^[2] Go slowly: Echogear's manual says to make only small increment adjustments at a time and not to over-tighten.^[2] If drifting returns right away, read why a wall-mounted TV tilts forward.

Check the weight and the cords

Mounts have a maximum weight. Echogear is clear about what happens beyond it: use with products heavier than the maximum weights indicated may result in collapse of the mount and its accessories, causing possible injury.^[2] Sanus adds that the wall must be capable of supporting five times the weight of the TV and mount combined.^[1] If you have swapped in a bigger TV or hung a soundbar on the arm, look up the rating again.

Cords belong in the check too. CPSC says to keep TV and/or cable cords out of reach of children.^[3] It reports that about 70 percent of the children's tip-over fatalities it counted between 2000 and 2010 (169 incidents) involved falling TVs, which is why a loose mount deserves attention.^[3] Dangling cables can also tug a TV on its arm. If you want cords hidden in the wall, see whether you can run TV cables inside the wall.

Stop and call a pro if

• The wall plate rocks, has a gap, or the wall around it is cracked. Take the TV down with a helper and do not rehang it.
• A lag bolt turns without tightening. It has lost its grip in the stud.
• The mount sags, creaks or bends when the arm is extended.
• The TV is heavier than the rating. Replace the mount with one built for the load.
• You want to move the TV. Re-mounting means finding studs again, as described in how to mount a TV on drywall.

Getting help in Virginia

If the check finds a problem, see how much TV mounting costs in Virginia, browse more handyman answers or find help in handyman services.

When you want a pro to inspect or re-hang it, describe your TV and wall and local handymen will quote it.