Mount Mate is the chapter-by-chapter guide we wish existed when we put up our first telly. Walls, brackets, cables, heights, fireplaces, soundbars — every bit of it, written by two ex-installers so you can mount and set up your own TV without guessing.
We replaced "watch a 40-minute YouTube video with terrible audio" with short, illustrated chapters you can actually skim. Find the chapter that matches your wall, read it in eight minutes, do the job in an hour. If your situation is weird, ask us in the thread — we read every question.
A short menu — the chapters readers open most. Each one is illustrated, has a tools list at the top, a "stop if you see this" callout in the middle, and a sign-off checklist at the end. Free to read, free to share.
The bread and butter chapter. Stud-finding, drilling pilot holes, levelling twice, tidying the cables down to your console. Covers drywall, masonry, and the half-and-half walls older houses tend to have.
Pull-down brackets, surface temperatures, heat shielding, and the awkward truth about gas fires. The chapter most installers won't write because it ends with "sometimes the answer is don't" — we've left that bit in.
In-wall HDMI kits explained, the code-compliant way to move an outlet, and the moment you should stop and call an electrician instead. Two diagrams, three photos, one warning box you should actually read.
For kitchens, bedrooms, and corner sofas where the line of sight doesn't match the studs. Bracket selection, weight ratings, range testing, and the bit where you find out your stud isn't quite where the magnet says it is.
Soundbar bracketed neatly under (or over) the telly, audio cable hidden, HDMI ARC explained without jargon. Works for whatever brand of bar you've got — Sonos, Bose, Samsung, that no-name one from a sale.
Pulling the screen off one wall and getting it back up cleanly somewhere else — same flat, new flat, different room. Patching the old holes, transporting the screen, and the order to take stuff apart in.
The guide is structured so you don't have to read it cover-to-cover. Four short stages, an hour total, and you'll know exactly what to do — and what to walk away from.
Wall type, where the outlet is, what's hanging there now. The "What kind of wall is this?" chapter walks you through identifying it from a single phone photo.
Drywall, masonry, plaster-on-lath, fireplace, plaster surround — each gets its own chapter. The library page maps your wall type to the right starting point.
Every chapter has a "what to look for" bracket section — VESA pattern, weight rating, span — without sending you to an affiliate link farm. Buy from wherever you like.
The last page of every chapter is a tear-off checklist: mark the studs, drill the pilots, level twice, tighten in sequence, hand-test. Tick as you go.
The actual numbers, end of every month, straight from the dashboard. We don't round these up.
Most setup guides on the internet hedge everything. These are the four rules we hold every Mount Mate chapter to — the ones that make a guide useful instead of just a wall of disclaimers.
We describe what to look for — VESA pattern, span, weight rating, fixings — and let you buy wherever. Zero affiliate links. No "best of 2025" listicles padded out for clicks.
Every chapter starts with "is this the right chapter for your wall?" If your situation is one we'd walk away from, we say so — and tell you who to call instead.
Every chapter has at least one "stop right now and re-check" box. Wet plaster, sparks from the stud, a bracket that won't sit flush — we tell you where the off-ramps are, not just the on-ramp.
Every checklist ends the same way: hoover the dust, lift the cloths, photograph the finished install. Not because we're fussy — because how you finish is whether a stranger could tell you did it yourself.
Notes that landed at the bottom of chapters after readers finished the job. First names plus an initial, used with permission. We don't pay for reviews — these arrived on their own.
"Read Chapter 01 over coffee. Bought a bracket from the local hardware shop using the spec list. Telly was up by 2:45. Honestly the clearest set of instructions I've used for anything."
"The cables-in-the-wall chapter is the one nobody else writes properly. Diagrams, code references, and a clear 'call an electrician here' callout. We didn't, we did our own — perfect."
"Asked a question in the thread at 9pm about a 43" in a kitchen with no obvious stud. Got a reply by 8am with a sketch of how to use a steel spanning bar. Above and beyond for a free guide."
Thirty-two chapters, all free, all written for the person doing it themselves on a Saturday morning. Pick the one that matches your wall, or just open the library and browse. We'll be in the comments if you need us.