Can I ceiling mount a projector on a sloped ceiling?

I'm building a house and here's my plan:


The room is 20 feet deep and 13 feet wide. I plan on having the screen for my projector about 3 feet out from the wall (in front of my entertainment center which will hold a RPTV), which gives me 17 feet to work with. I wanted to have the projector (probably an HS20) celing mounted 1 foot from the back wall, giving me a throw of 16 feet. This should be able to provide me with a 16:9 image that is 92" wide. My back row of seating will be basically right below the projector (15.5 feet from screen) and my first row of seating will be about 4-5 feet in front of that (10.5-11.5 from screen) giving me seating that is about 1.5 X width and 2 X width.

Now, the issue. The back wall of the room is about 8 feet high and then the ceiling slopes at a 45 degree angle for about 3 feet, finally reaching a ceiling height of 10 feet. This means that in order for the scenario I have outlined above to work, I would have to mount the projector on the part of the ceiling that slopes. If I can't do this, I would have to move the projector forward about 2 feet which would result in, not only a more obvious looking projector, but also a smaller screen capability. I want the builder to put in an extra outlet, so if I can mount it on the sloped ceiling, I'll have him put the outlet near the top of the 8 foot wall. If, for some reason, I can't mount it on the sloped ceiling, I'll have to have him put the outlet on the flat part of the ceiling (in front of the slope).

Does this make sense? What's your opinion?



Stew

It can be done of course. You can either make your own mount, but that should not be too difficult, or you can use the existing mount on a 45 degree block to counter the slope of the ceiling.

Re: Can I ceiling mount a projector on a sloped ceiling?

I know this is an old thread, but I found it while searching for DIY projector mounts. I just bought a Optoma HD70 and want to mount it on a sloped ceiling about 18-20 ft away from projection wall. Ceiling is 15 ft at top and slops to 8ft - No attic. How would I attach a block? What would I build it out of, studs? Would I use lag bolts?

Any help or suggestions would be great.

Re: Can I ceiling mount a projector on a sloped ceiling?

There's a lot of ways to do what you want, and a lot of the choices depend on your carpentry abilities and the tools you have available.

One way to do it would be to make a wedge-block out of pretty much anything. It doesn't need to be solid; being "hollow" means that you can then just pop it onto the ceiling with Snap Toggles ( TOGGLER® - Products - SNAPTOGGLE®//Hollow-Wall Heavy ) and then put the "lid" on it that is your mounting plate. This could be plywood and 2x4s without any difficulty, or all sorts of other things.

If you wanted to be fancy, you could toggle on some sort of "plate" that's flat to the ceiling. Say, a 3/4 piece of MDF that has two beveled edges (longer surface away from the ceiling,) and then matching "counter-bevels" that allow you to just slide your block sideways onto the plate for removal or installation.

I'd be disinclined to use lag-bolts unless you knew you were shooting into the studs. And even then, maybe not.

And then there are "Z"-clips.. a pair of strips go on the ceiling (screw to studs,) and a pair of strips go to the block; slide into place.

A few words of advice: this isn't difficult stuff, and it doesn't need to be able to support a ton. On the other hand, you want it to be solid and not bounce, and it does need to be able to support the weight of your projector, mounting hardware, and everything else. Or, do it right, but don't over-engineer it!

Leo