In this article
Who ends up with a pull-down here
The housing explains it. The median home in Collin and Denton counties was built in 2003, 20 years after Dallas County's 1983, and the newer two-story rooms we work in carry 16 to 20 feet of wall, often with the outlet or niche set high over the mantel. In two-story rooms about 1 in 3 of our fireplace customers bring the TV 12 to 18 inches below the builder's spot. A pull-down gives you both heights: up and out of the way when the set is off, down at sofa level for the game. Most of ours carry 65- to 85-inch screens.
Pull-downs are one of Andrii's specialties; he leads our Collin County crew. Most go up with two technicians, and assembly, anchoring and tuning take 2.5 to 3 hours. How the mechanism works is explained on the mantel mount installation page. Assembly and tuning cost $99, added to the TV installation — $129 for a 61–85 inch set. The mount itself is separate: you bring one, or we recommend a model for your TV's size and weight.
The tape measure decides the model
Mantel depth. Measure from the wall to the front lip of the mantel. The manual MantelMount MM540 drops 27 inches and clears a mantel up to 18 inches deep; the motorized MM815 drops 26 and clears 16. Over a thick stone shelf those 2 inches settle it. Bob H. in Prosper had the motorized model chosen for a stone mantel 17 inches deep; Andrii measured it, and a manual arm that clears 18 inches went up instead.
Stud spacing. Chase framing at 24 inches on center is legal for 2x6 walls in most jurisdictions, and about 1 in 6 of our pull-downs met it — the 20-foot great room in Southlake in Jennifer S.'s review below among them. The MM540 and MM750 Pro reach studs that far apart; not every arm does, so we check the plate's stud span against your stud layout before you order. On a framed chase the plate always goes into two studs with lag bolts; on solid brick it takes masonry anchors set in the brick, never the mortar, and hollow concrete block takes anchors sized for its face shell unless the cells are grouted solid. Either way the load on it changes every time the TV travels, and stone veneer or drywall alone will not hold up to it.
Rather have a pro do it?
Send a request — we'll confirm the exact price and a time that suits you by text or call. 3-year warranty on every install.
The heat light is not your TV's thermometer
The motorized MM815 carries a heat sensor that turns red above 110°F. Samsung's ceiling for its TVs is 104°F, so the light comes on only at a temperature 6°F above what Samsung allows its sets, and a sensor that stays dark proves nothing.
We go by the 20-minute burn instead: gas logs at full output, blower on if there is one, and a reading where the TV parks. If the spot passes, the screen may stay up while a fire burns. If it fails, we also read the spot where the lowered TV hangs. Pulled down, the screen sits in front of the mantel edge, in the heat rolling off the opening, so only if that reading passes does the habit become lowering the TV before lighting the fire; otherwise the screen goes on the wall beside the fireplace. Our fireplace calculator shows where a fixed screen would sit over your mantel and how steep the viewing angle gets, which tells you whether a pull-down is worth it.
Ranch houses and condo towers: when to skip it, and when to skip the recess
Not every fireplace needs a moving mount. Garland's median home dates from 1978, and its single-story brick ranches, like many in Mesquite, tend to have low, wide mantels. Over a low mantel the screen already sits close to eye level, and a tilting mount angles it the rest of the way, so a pull-down would add hardware without adding comfort. We tell you that before you spend the money.
High-rise condos set the other limit. The MM750 Pro's housing can be recessed for 1.8-inch flush-to-wall storage, with a screen 32 inches or taller hiding the box — but the box needs a hollow wall to sink into: a drywall chase, not stone and not a tower's concrete, and only after we have confirmed where the flue runs inside the chase and that the box stays out of the clearance space the fireplace maker requires; otherwise the mount goes on the surface. The 2021 rules of one Dallas condominium, the Renaissance on Turtle Creek, count all bearing and concrete walls as structural and require the association's written approval before they are altered, so ask your building first.
The first-year re-tune
A pull-down's gas springs are balanced to one TV's weight on install day, and with daily use that balance can drift. About 1 in 10 of our pull-down customers call us back within the first year, usually after the first summer, because the screen creeps down from its parked spot or feels heavy to lift. The visit is short: we reset the tension and check that the plate is still tight and level. Treat it as a check-up rather than a repair.
