How to Hide TV Wires: 4 Methods Compared

There are four ways to hide TV wires: cord covers ($8-15), paintable raceways ($20-40), in-wall cable kits ($30-60 DIY / $80-150 professional), and just managing them neatly with clips ($5). The right choice depends on your wall type and how permanent you want the solution.

I'm going to be straight with you on something most blogs won't say: cord covers look worse than neatly managed exposed cables about half the time. Those white plastic channels on a beige wall? Not the clean look the Amazon listing promised.

OK so here's where it gets interesting. Let me walk through each option with real costs and honest opinions.

Method 1: Just manage them (clips and ties)

Sometimes the simplest answer is the right one. If your TV is mounted near an outlet and you only have 2-3 cables, a $5 pack of adhesive cable clips from 3M can look perfectly fine.

We do this on about 22% of our installs. The customer expects some elaborate concealment solution, and then we show them how clean it looks with the cables clipped together and routed along the wall edge. They save $75-150.

Best for: TVs mounted near outlets, short cable runs, rental apartments where you can't modify walls.

Cost: $5-10 for a pack of cable clips.

Method 2: Cord covers / cable channels

These are the white (or paintable) plastic channels that stick to the wall and hide cables inside. The D-Line brand is the one you see everywhere on Amazon.

Here's the thing most blogs won't tell you: cord covers look worse than exposed cables half the time. They draw MORE attention to the cables because now you have a visible plastic channel running down your wall.

They work OK when:

They look bad when:

We installed cord covers for a customer in Austin last year. She painted them the exact Benjamin Moore Revere Pewter her walls were. Looked great — basically invisible. Most people don't bother with that step, and it shows.

Best for: Short, straight runs on smooth, flat walls when you'll actually paint them.

Cost: $12-25 for materials. Free to install yourself.

Method 3: Paintable raceways

Raceways are like cord covers' bigger, more professional cousin. They're rigid channels (usually from Legrand or Wiremold) that mount to the wall with screws — not adhesive. They hold more cables and look cleaner because they sit flush.

This is what we recommend for commercial installs and any home where the TV is far from the nearest outlet. The Legrand CMK50 kit is our standard recommendation — it's about $35 at Home Depot and includes everything you need.

Best for: Longer cable runs, textured walls, situations where you need to run power + HDMI + ethernet.

Cost: $20-40 for materials. $50-75 if you hire someone to install and paint them.

Method 4: In-wall cable concealment

This is the gold standard. Cables run through the wall, entering behind the TV and exiting near the floor behind furniture. From the front, you see zero cables. Nothing. Just a TV floating on the wall.

Two important things to know:

You cannot run power cables through the wall. This is an NEC code violation (National Electrical Code, Article 400.12). If someone offers to just shove your TV's power cord through a hole in the drywall, they're doing it wrong and it's technically a fire hazard.

The correct way: use a PowerBridge kit (around $45) that has a UL-listed electrical box on each end. Power enters the wall through a proper junction box, runs as in-wall rated Romex between the boxes, and exits through another junction box near the floor. HDMI and other low-voltage cables can pass through freely.

We use the PowerBridge TWO-CK for 90% of our in-wall installations. It's clean, code-compliant, and handles up to 3 low-voltage cables alongside the power.

We once had a customer who tried the DIY route first and ran a regular extension cord through the wall. That's not just a code violation — it's genuinely dangerous. If the cord gets damaged inside the wall, there's no way to know until something goes wrong. They hired us to do it right after their home inspector flagged it.

Best for: Permanent installations where you want zero visible cables. Drywall walls only — doesn't work on concrete, brick, or plaster over masonry.

Cost: $30-60 for a DIY PowerBridge kit. $80-150 for professional installation including the kit.

Cost comparison at a glance

So which one should you pick?

Here's our quick decision tree from doing 10,000+ installs:

Renting? Cable clips or cord covers. Don't modify the walls.

Own the home, drywall walls? In-wall concealment. It's worth the extra cost — the difference between a $40 fix and a $150 professional install is the difference between "I mounted a TV" and "that looks like it was always there."

Brick, concrete, or plaster walls? Paintable raceway. You can't go through the wall, so go over it with something that looks intentional.

Above a fireplace? This one's specific. If the wall area above the fireplace is non-combustible drywall, in-wall works. If it's brick or stone, raceway. Never run cables inside a chimney chase.

FAQ

Is it against code to run TV wires through the wall?

Low-voltage cables (HDMI, ethernet, speaker wire) can legally run through walls. Power cables cannot — you need a UL-listed in-wall power kit like a PowerBridge. Running a standard power cord through the wall violates NEC Article 400.12.

How long does professional wire concealment take?

Most in-wall installations take 30-45 minutes. Raceway installations take 20-30 minutes. We typically bundle wire concealment with the TV mounting for $69-99 extra.

Can I hide wires on a brick wall?

Yes, but only with surface-mounted solutions (cord covers or raceways). You cannot run cables inside a brick or stone wall. A paintable raceway in a matching color is the cleanest option for masonry walls.