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I have a bit of a tricky question in regards to mounting my 65" TV.

I have 3/4" knotty pine tongue and groove vertical wood paneling on my basement interior wall. The wall divides my finished and unfinished basement, so I can see on the other side that the wall is concrete blocks. I am wanting to mount a TV to the wall (finished wood paneling side) but for the life of me cannot find any studs - even after using a stud finder, drilling test holes, and even removing the outlets (seems the outlets are attached to the paneling at the tongue and groove connections?) I have also not even been able to find any nails in the paneling.

I'm assuming that since it is a concrete block wall behind the paneling, there are no studs and just horizontal furring strips (picking up hints of these with the stud finder maybe). My other assumption is that these furring strips are not strong enough to hold the TV (65" so say about 40-50 lbs on the high side) and I can't tell how they are attached.

To make matters even more complicated, there is a 1.5" air gap between the paneling and the concrete block wall...

So my question is, can I mount the TV to the concrete through the wood paneling or will the overhang (air gap and paneling) cause an issue since I'm actually mounting to the concrete underneath? Hope this makes sense, I did find a similar post here with some good illustrations that seem to match my issue, except it is talking about drywall and mine is wood paneling.

Thanks for any help!!

TLDR: Can I mount my TV by anchoring it to the concrete wall behind my wood paneling and an air gap? (3/4" knotty pine paneling + 1.5" air gap + concrete wall)

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I'd probably use 1/4" toggle bolts through the paneling then through the block, allowing the toggle to open in the hollow cavity in the block.

Although it's far more than you really need for the weight, I'd attach the mount with six bolts - two at either end and two in the center - to spread the tension over more of the paneling. You'll have to be careful not to overtighten and deform the paneling.

You'll have to measure carefully both horizontally and vertically so that your toggles land in the hollow cavities of the block.

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    Thanks, I was wondering about that myself. The TV mount instructions don't usually call for toggle bolts in their default install (flush against the concrete), they just use the hammer in expander ones. But I was considering using heavy duty toggle bolts if I went all the way through since I am adding the thickness of the paneling and then the air gap. Good call on not over-tightening... I have bene known to do that. Stupid question though, how thick are the walls of a cinder block? For the life of me, I have not been able to find this on the internet. haha.
    – Ryan
    Dec 3, 2018 at 23:57
  • @ryan - cinder blocks vary but the standard 8"x8"x16" usually have a wall thickness 1-1/4" to 1-1/2".
    – batsplatsterson
    Dec 4, 2018 at 3:40
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    Thanks!! I think I'll try using 6 toggle bolts into the cinder block cavity, I'll follow up on how it goes.
    – Ryan
    Dec 4, 2018 at 17:29
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I believe 3/4" is plenty thick enough to not need anchoring into the concrete. I've done this with plywood between studs without issue for mounting my tv and it is just over 40 lbs. The plywood was though thoroughly anchored to studs. Just ensure the best you can that the furring strips are well anchored and I think you are good to go.

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  • I would also think the 3/4" T&G. Should work+
    – Ed Beal
    Dec 3, 2018 at 20:04
  • Thanks for the response! I'm a little hesitant to use just the paneling since I can't confirm how it is actually mounted to the furring, or how the furring is mounted to the concrete. I'm worried the paneling might not even be mounted to furring, and might be only attached at the top and bottom of the wall? Maybe I'm just paranoid... haha, but I have a little one so I need to pretty confident in the mount. I guess I should probably do a little more investigating to confirm the furring situation...
    – Ryan
    Dec 3, 2018 at 21:14

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