Project example: a 75-inch TV above a ledger-stone fireplace on a pull-down arm in a hillside great room — what it looks like and what it costs

The scenario

The room is the great room of a two-level house on a slope: a high ceiling, a wide window toward the hills on one side and, on the end wall, a gas fireplace faced with ledger stone up to the ceiling. A thick wood mantel runs at about chest height, a leather sofa faces the fire and a built-in cabinet on the side wall holds the streaming box.

The request is a 75-inch TV above the fireplace that is comfortable to watch from the sofa, with no cable on the stone. The fire is lit on cool evenings, so the screen cannot sit where the heat rises, and the afternoon sun comes through the hill-side window. A pull-down mount answers both: it parks the screen high, out of the heat, and brings it to eye level for viewing.

Two details complicate the room. The window on the hill side lets in strong light from mid-afternoon, so the lowered screen is checked for reflections at that hour, and the staircase to the lower level is narrow with a turn, which matters for carrying a 75-inch box. The fireplace has a gas key on the hearth and a vent in the stone, both of which stay clear of the drill.

What the job involves

1. The installer reads the clearance printed on the fireplace and the maximum temperature in the TV manual, then runs the fire for an hour and measures the wall at the planned parked position.
2. A probe at the stone's edge shows whether the ledger stone is solid or a thin veneer over framing; here it is solid, so sleeve anchors will go into the stone body.
3. The wall plate is held to the stone and its slots are shifted so every anchor falls in a stone and never in a mortar joint, then leveled with a laser line.
4. A hammer drill and a carbide masonry bit make each hole with a vacuum shroud at the bit; the anchors are set, the plate is bolted down and pulled by hand as a test.
5. The pull-down arms are attached, the TV is hung and locked, and the swing path is checked so the screen clears the front of the mantel as it lowers.
6. An in-wall rated power kit and a CL3-rated HDMI cable run through the drywall return to the cabinet, and the screen is tested in both the parked and the lowered positions.

Hardware and materials

• Pull-down fireplace mount rated for 65–85 inch panels, with gas-spring arms
• Sleeve anchors for solid stone, a hammer drill and a carbide bit sized to them
• Thermometer for the heat check, laser level and painter's tape
• In-wall rated power relocation kit and CL3-rated HDMI cable with plates
• Vacuum with a drilling shroud and a drop cloth for the hearth

Add-ons often paired with this job

• Hide the wires inside the wall — +$90–$155. In-wall concealment is possible in the drywall return only; the stone itself stays closed.
• Mount a soundbar as well — +$50–$80. A bar on the side cabinet keeps the stone clear of anything else.
• Take down an existing TV first — +$40–$85. An older TV on another wall is taken down and the holes filled as a separate line.

Why it is done this way

A pull-down mount solves the usual dilemma of a fireplace TV: parked above the heat while the fire is on, lowered to eye level when the room is watched. The numbers in the two manuals decide the parked height, not habit.

Anchors go in the stone body because mortar crumbles under a drill and under load. The cable cannot travel inside stone, so the neighboring drywall carries it with rated parts. The scenario assumes the mount is supplied, so its line is part of the typical range.

The two-position logic is the heart of the install. Parked, the TV sits above the measured heat line; lowered, its center lands close to the seated eye line of the leather sofa. If the sofa were moved back or the mantel were deeper, the swing path would be re-checked, because a pull-down arm is only as good as its clearance.

None of this is unusual for a hillside house with a stone chimney wall, and that is why the scenario sits at the upper end of the ranges: stone, the fireplace add and a supplied mount all apply at once.

What would change the price

• The heat test fails at the preferred height and the parked screen has to go higher on the wall.
• The stone turns out to be a thin veneer, and the anchors move to the framing behind it.
• The staircase cannot take the box, and the set is carried in through the garage and a side gate instead.
• The drywall return beside the chimney holds a fire block, and a painted raceway replaces the in-wall route.
• An 86-inch set moves the base range to the top size tier.