TV Mounting in Northbrook, IL

Reading a Northbrook wall by its subdivision

The decade on your plat tells us most of what sits behind the wall. Glenbrook Countryside ranches from the 1950s often hide brick under a plaster chimney breast, so Pavlo drills one small test hole inside the bracket's footprint first. In the 1960s split-levels of St. Stephens Green and Sunny Acres, the lower family room backs onto poured concrete, and the plate goes on with concrete anchors after a scan for buried lines. Wildebrook, built from the late 1970s into the mid-1980s, has mostly framed walls and wide rooms that suit a full-motion arm. Park Place Estates, about 68 custom homes from the mid-1990s, and the teardown rebuilds tend to have tall stone fireplaces; veneer is never structure, so bolts go into framing behind it. Any screen from 61 to 85 inches is $129; check the height with our height tool before you choose.

Condos, 55-plus townhomes and the new rows by the Metra

Mission Hills, a condo community built from the mid-1970s into the early 1980s, and The Reserve at the Brook, Pulte's 55-plus townhomes on a former church site on Dundee Road, both run under association rules. Ask the manager two things before booking: which hours contractors may work, and whether the board wants a certificate of insurance naming the association. Next come Lexington Homes' 33 rowhomes and 20 townhouses at Northbrook Row on Shermer Road, a short walk from the Metra stop. New drywall makes those visits quick, but one rule never bends: the TV's own power cord does not run inside the wall. Pavlo fits a listed in-wall power kit, or a licensed electrician adds an outlet behind the screen before we arrive. Send a request with the building name and screen size.