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I have a slightly complicated TV mount job that I’d like to get your help on:

  1. The wall has one metal stud and one metal corner / L angle. These are spaced ~15" apart.
  2. I’d like to use a pivoting arm mount across the two metal pieces (one metal stud, one corner L angle)
  3. The TV is a 50” LCD Samsung TV (30 lbs)

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I got some initial feedback that the metal corner / L angle at the end of the wall is hard to work with and very weak. I'm unsure if this is true and whether this person was just scared to work with it.

I want to stay away from trying to only use the 1 metal stud for structural integrity purposes.

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    Is there not a stud at that corner behind the drywall corner? I would expect there to be one.
    – whatsisname
    Nov 13, 2020 at 4:27
  • what is the hole pattern on the wall end of the arm mount?
    – Jasen
    Nov 13, 2020 at 5:22
  • many (most?) drywall holders can take 30lbs without a stud. Using two of them doubles that rating. If practical, I would also use a long strip of Command adhesive between the frame and wall; this provides some strength, but mainly keep vibrations from loosening connectors over time.
    – dandavis
    Nov 13, 2020 at 19:41
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    @dandavis, that applies to shear load only. Articulating mounts put huge torque (pullout force) on such anchors. They should not considered to have that much holding power in such cases.
    – isherwood
    Nov 13, 2020 at 20:00
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    @isherwood it just said "pivot", which I took to mean it doesn't have a long arm. A single pivot shouldn't add too much dynamic force; it will still be mostly sheer. I would go into the stud(s) for sure, and use anchors where there were no studs. With one good stud hit and a few decent quality anchors and no long arm, it should be overkill.
    – dandavis
    Nov 13, 2020 at 20:33

1 Answer 1

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That corner angle is definitely not a good anchor point, it's actually worse than the drywall itself. It's not a structural piece it's a finish piece. I avoid drilling into that corner angle because you can easily mess up the finish of the corner. I certainly wouldn't put any weight on it, that would be asking for trouble. But you probably don't need to anchor there anyway.

The best thing to do is attach the center of the mount to the metal stud with toggle bolts. You'll have to locate the stud very precisely and drill the pilot hole through the drywall and the stud. This will be very strong and with a 30 pound TV would likely be adequate on it's own.

However, you'll definitely want to add four more anchors at the corners of the mount. If the right side hangs past the corner, just position the two on the right side a couple inches inside the corner. Don't try putting them in the corner. These four toggles will bear some of the weight but more importantly will prevent the mount from twisting. These could be some weaker anchor since the toggles in the stud are doing the real work, but I'd just use toggles here too.

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