Hiding TV cables in the wall after mounting

Which solution suits your wall

In a Soviet-era panel flat the wall behind the television is almost always concrete, sometimes with a thin layer of plaster over it. Cutting a channel into concrete means a chase, dust, and a wall that needs replastering afterwards, so most people choose a surface-mounted cable channel instead: a plastic trunking, paintable to match, screwed or glued along the cable route.

In newer builds and renovated flats the wall is often plasterboard on a metal or timber frame, sometimes with a cavity behind it. This is the wall where an in-wall conduit kit actually works well: you cut two holes, drop a flexible conduit or a pair of low-voltage boxes into the cavity, and the cables disappear completely with no visible channel at all.

A 1930s wooden house in Kalamaja or Nõmme is its own case. The wall may be plaster on timber lath, brick, or a stud wall added later, and it is worth checking with a small probe or a stud finder before committing to either method, since drilling blind into an old wall can hit a batten or an old wiring run.

Tools and materials you will need

For a surface channel on concrete you need a paintable plastic cable trunking sized to fit an HDMI plug and a power cable together, a hacksaw or trunking cutter for mitred corners, double-sided mounting pads or a suitable adhesive, a spirit level, and a pencil.

For an in-wall kit on plasterboard you need the kit itself, which usually includes two round or oval flush boxes and a length of flexible fish-tape or a rod, a plasterboard hole saw of the right diameter, a stud finder to avoid noggins and existing cables, and a torch to check the cavity before you cut the second hole.

In both cases have a right-angle HDMI adapter to hand if the television's ports are close to the wall, and keep the original packaging or a note of the cable lengths, since a channel or conduit route is usually shorter than the slack you had before.

• Paintable cable trunking or in-wall conduit kit
• Stud finder (essential on plasterboard)
• Spirit level and pencil
• Hole saw or trunking cutter as appropriate
• Fish-tape or rod for pulling cable through a cavity
• Double-sided pads or adhesive for surface trunking
• Right-angle HDMI adapter if space behind the set is tight

Step by step

Mark the cable route from the television down to the socket, keeping it vertical and as short as possible. On concrete, measure and mark the trunking position with a level, fix the trunking to the wall, lay the cables in, and clip the lid on. Paint the trunking once fixed if it needs to blend in.

On plasterboard, mark the top hole behind the television and the bottom hole above the skirting or existing socket, check both with a stud finder first, then cut both holes with the hole saw. Feed the fish-tape down from the top hole, attach the cables, and pull them through to the bottom.

Fit the flush boxes into both holes, thread the cables through, and reconnect the television at the top and the socket or extension lead at the bottom. Test the picture and sound before tidying the last few centimetres of visible cable with a small clip or cable tie.

The mistake most people make

The most common error is drilling or cutting before checking what is behind the wall. In a panel flat there can be existing conduit runs or rebar close to the surface; in a plasterboard wall there can be a noggin, an electrical cable, or a heating pipe running exactly where the second hole needs to go.

The second common mistake is choosing a channel or conduit that is too narrow for an HDMI plug's moulded head, which then has to be forced or bent at an angle it was not designed for. Measure the plug, not just the cable, before buying the kit.

When the socket needs to be moved

If the existing socket sits well to one side of the television, or below furniture where the plug is awkward to reach, the tidiest fix is not a longer cable route but a new socket positioned directly behind or below the screen. This means opening the wall, running new wiring back to the circuit, and fitting a new socket face.

This is electrical work and needs a qualified electrician, both for safety and because a socket added in the wrong place on a shared wall in an apartment building can affect what the korteriühistu allows. It is not a job to combine with a DIY cable channel halfway through.

When it is worth booking the whole job at once

If the television still needs to go up on the wall and the cables need hiding as well, it is usually simpler to have both done in the same visit: the bracket gets fixed at the right height and the cable route gets planned before anything is drilled, rather than working around a mount that is already in place. TV wall mounting starts from 65 € per job.

If a new socket is needed behind the screen, that is a separate, licensed task: socket installation starts from 35 € per job, and combining it with the mounting visit avoids a second call-out and a second round of wall patching.