[grocco]

I'm getting fairly close to purchasing my first flat panel and am hoping to wall mount it, but I've got an unusual set-up in my family room. My family room was added on to our house by a previous owner back in the early 1970s, and when it was done, the homeowner decided to leave the bedroom and kitchen window that used to be on the exterior wall (now the interior family room wall) in place. The only place in the room that I can put my TV is in front of the bedroom window. I'm not concerned with blocking the window since we never open it (I've had entertainment centers and my currect projection TV in front of it for years). Now of course I can't mount the TV as everything is now, because the window is in the way. There are studs on either side of the window, but they are too far apart for most mounts, so a friend of mine suggested I mount a piece of 3/4 inch plywood across the window opening, bolting it to the studs on either side, and then attaching the TV mount directly to the wood, then having my wife and mom make some panel curtains to hang behind the TV to hide the window and mounting hardware. My main question is, will the plywood be strong enough to hold up the TV? If not, is there something else that can be used?

 

[fsrenduro]

Plywood will probably have a certain amount of bowing to it over time if it covers that wide a span. A better option might be to use 2x4's to span the gap. If possible you could use a nice piece of plywood that is backed by 2x4's for strength.

 

[grocco]

I don't know why I didn't think of that, 2x4s would probably be perfect. I forgot to mention the window isn't really big, maybe 3 feet across at the most.