TV mount over brick fireplace? Any tips?

[mikec35]

Has anyone mounted a TV over their brick fireplace? I have a 65" I'd like to mount over my fireplace. I'll be installing a mantle shelf to help deflect heat if we are watching tv while the gas fire logs are on. I need advise as to what mount would be best and how you mount/secure it to the brick fireplace (in the mortar or brick.) I like the mounts that you can pull the tv down lower to get it to a more reasonable viewing level. Any suggestions for install and mounts appreciated.

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[vertguy]

Check out Mantel Mounts as they specialize in this type of TV mount. They are a bit pricey, but are very well built. I actually bought one last fall and decided it was overkill for my application.

 

[Growlertdi]

I just centered the TV on the space available and mounted a standard mount with Tapcons pretty sure I hit Brick on all 4 screws. (my space was drywall over the brick so I couldn't aim for one or the other)

mount more, worry less.

 

[bluegoose972]

Similar....I just located the holes, predrilled, and used tapcons.

I would have concern about heat. My situation had a mantle above the fireplace, so the heat was deflected. The area above the fireplace get's really warm/hot, depending on how large of a fire you use. You may want to consider installing a mantle first. Or wait until the next time you build a fire and check the temperature and see if it's manageable. Just my $0.02.

 

[rlitman]

Is that real masonry or brick veneer?

If it's veneer, neither the brick nor the mortar will be solid enough to hold a TV.

If it's real brick, plastic shields in the mortar would be my choice. I prefer not to drill brick, because it's much harder to cover up when you change your mind later.

 

[mobiledynamics]

The only issue I suppose depending on mount - will be if the top bar and the bottom bar (holes) will line up with the mortar lines in both.

I presume since you're asking, this ~is~ the best and final location.

While TV's installed ~high/higher~ look best aesthetically, even with a tilt mount and the location of where you plan to install it, it's not the most ~comfortable~ on the eye level front..

 

[rlitman]

The only issue I suppose depending on mount - will be if the top bar and the bottom bar (holes) will line up with the mortar lines in both...

That can be dealt with if you're the creative type.

I doubt you'll need to set the TV height to the nearest inch, so the top bar can always be bolted to the nearest course of mortar.

The bottom bar sees much less tension on the bolts, so if you have the right type of mount with wide enough vertical pieces on the wall, you could just drill a hole in them at the correct height, and not have any bolts in the lower bar. So long as you put anchors into two different mortar courses, you'll be fine.

 

[Nthill93]

I put a 65” on my brick. Just used tapcon screws. Predrilled and hit all 4 into brick

 

[Jinks]

If that's a brick veneer there will be studs behind the sheet rock. Use a stud finder, determine stud spacing, & the location of the last stud nearest the brick. Use a small diameter long drill & drill in the mortar to find studs behind the veneer. Bolt the TV mount through the mortar to the studs with long lag screws.

 

[mikec35]

It's a solid brick fireplace. I plan to put a mantle shelf up. My TV is a 65" curved Samsung. It'll be within inches of the top of the wall so I am thinking that one of the adjustable Mantle Mounts would be best so I can lower the tv whenever I'm not using the fireplace - which would be at least 8 months out of the year. The main issue I have now is whether to mount in the mortar or the brick. I can see a chance for either crumbling. I guess depending on the mount it may line up in both mortar and brick so I could potentially have to drill into both. What's the recommended anchors? Brick/mortar and anchor suggestions are all over the place! Thanks

 

[NWOhioChevyGuy]

I would think any anchor installed properly will hold the weight. TV's are not very heavy these days. The Mantle shelf is a requirement to help direct heat in front of the TV.
I have a TV over our Gas fireplace and the Mantle shelf gets pretty darn hot, but is efficient at shielding the heat from the TV.

 

[Todd.Brock]

Mount in the mortar. Bricks are soft. Use 3/8” tap cons or some kind of wedge/sleeve anchor If you can’t line up to mortar, drill a hole in the mounting plate. I think i used 6 or 8 tap cons for a 65” tv. Better safe than sorry


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[rsanter]

You need to be planning how you are going to run the power there before mounting the mantle

 

[rlitman]

Mount in the mortar. Bricks are soft...

I agree about anchoring in the morter, but FYI, the mortar is always supposed to be softer than the bricks. If not, the wrong mortar was used, and the brick will be prone to spalling.

 

[mikec35]

You need to be planning how you are going to run the power there before mounting the mantle

I'll use wiremold and creative decorations, there is no way to get behind the brick to feed the wiring as it butts up against the side wall.

 

[YukonXL04]

I agree about anchoring in the morter, but FYI, the mortar is always supposed to be softer than the bricks. If not, the wrong mortar was used, and the brick will be prone to spalling.

I guess I'm opposite, I always mount to the brick. Tapcons dont hold good at all in mortar.
I have been mounting things on brick for years, always predrilled brick with hammer drill and then use tapcons. I have had multiple 55" + TVs mounted on brick

 

[rlitman]

I guess I'm opposite, I always mount to the brick. Tapcons dont hold good at all in mortar.
I have been mounting things on brick for years, always predrilled brick with hammer drill and then use tapcons. I have had multiple 55" + TVs mounted on brick

I agree that tapcons don't hold well in mortar. In brick, I find they work better if I stick a length of string trimmer line in an oversized hole.

I'm not at all saying that brick is inferior for mounting. Just that drilling in mortar and not brick makes the future task of erasing your old work much easier.

But if you do anchor in mortar, tapcons are inappropriate. You need a larger hole with a shield. Double expansion wedges are good in the middle of a nice and solid wall. Plastic shields may be more appropriate in spots that are soft.

 

[SGKent]

sit in a chair about the distance you think you will be from the TV. On a 65" that is about 9'. Let your head rest about where your neck is most comfortable. Where are you looking? Look at where the TV will be if you go over the mantle. Is it going to be comfortable? It was not for me. If it is for you, you might also consider a wide mantle, and put the TV on legs it comes with on it. That will make it as low as possible. Worst case for heat is put in a little quiet fan to circulate air past that area.

 

[rlitman]

For the most part I'd agree, but if say you have a reclining couch facing that fireplace, then a higher mount might be comfortable.

In my bedroom I went with a ceiling hung TV mount because the higher angle was more comfortable, and because you can't bolt a wall hung TV mount through a window pane. Maybe that's an easier option here too.

 

[Marctrees]

The actual debate on securement method I will stay out of.

But as to where to buy the mounting -NO question - Definatetly Monoprice has best prices and actually VERY impressive strength... with lowest price.

Surprisingly heavy gauge and solid sturdy.

Do NOT be swayed away from the low pricing.

Marc

https://www.monoprice.com/pages/Wall_Mount_Finder

 

[rustyjames]

I would mount to the mortar with double expansion shield anchors. It's easier to patch up mortar than brick. Tapcons might work but I wouldn't trust them.

 

[Marctrees]

Ya... in reality.. Tapcons CAN be great... but really only in like a very controlled and previously studied and adhered to situation.

Too many variables in the real world.

No, I'm not nuts... STUDY it and THINK.

Marc

 

[Sevenhills1952]

The only thing I can add, being a t.v. repair technician 43 years is I would be concerned about heat. Electronic equipment doesn't like heat. See what temperature is with fireplace running.
Distance rule of thumb is 6 to 8 times diagonal measure.
Everyone is different. In the theater my preference is center back. Our family room is 20x30...our t.v. is a 39".
My suggestion is measure viewing distance at home, go to a store where that set is on display at that distance.

Sent from my SM-S320VL using Tapatalk

 

[ard]

You probably have no choice, but mounting a TV high on the wall is most definitely NOT good for viewing.

Anyway to get rid of the fireplace?

The heat can ruin the display- and in the end you'll be so freaked out by that possibility you won't use it again.....

 

[SGKent]

Distance rule of thumb is 6 to 8 times diagonal measure.

65" \ 12 = 5.42' x 6 = 32.5' viewing distance. Did I miss understand what you meant? I thought the rule was something like 2 to 2.5X. So that 65" \ 12 = 5.42' x 2 = 10.84' and max X 2.5 = 13.6'. We have a 65" and sit on a couch 9' from it with the center at 50" height. I can go further back by a foot or two but if I move it too far back then the speakers lose their spatial distance / angle and they are as wide as they can be where they are. Funny thing is that when I bought a new widescreen first back in the mid-90's, I put the older large TV for its day in the room with the fireplace - thought it would be nice to sit by the fire and watch a game on a rainy Sunday. Fire and TV distracted from each other for me. I finally got rid of that TV because no one ever wanted to watch it while a fire was in the fireplace, and since the nicer TV was in the other room that is where they always went. When the fire was on people either wanted to sit and read, or sit on the floor and stare into the fire, shapes and colors, while listening to the snap, crackle, and pop.

 

[MattRMagnum]

If you use that fireplace regularly, I would recommend putting the tv elsewhere. The heat from a fireplace will slowly cook the electronics (especially if you've a fire going whilst the tv is on). If you replace your tv every 2-4 years, you probably won't notice, but if you want the tv to last longer than that, I'd recommend putting it elsewhere.

 

[mikec35]

The actual debate on securement method I will stay out of.

But as to where to buy the mounting -NO question - Definatetly Monoprice has best prices and actually VERY impressive strength... with lowest price.

Surprisingly heavy gauge and solid sturdy.

Do NOT be swayed away from the low pricing.

Marc

https://www.monoprice.com/pages/Wall_Mount_Finder

Thats what I ordered! The pull down was on sale for $109. Mantlemounts was $299.

 

[mikec35]

The only issue I suppose depending on mount - will be if the top bar and the bottom bar (holes) will line up with the mortar lines in both.

I presume since you're asking, this ~is~ the best and final location.

While TV's installed ~high/higher~ look best aesthetically, even with a tilt mount and the location of where you plan to install it, it's not the most ~comfortable~ on the eye level front..

I understand what you are saying. Putting the TV above the fireplace will allow me to free up one wall that I can add more seating to (we have fairly large family get-togethers.) I bought a mount that will allow me to pull the TV down over the fireplace when it's not in use, bringing it closer to eye level. I'm always in a recliner so typically my head is angled up most of the time while leaning back.

 

[1redTA]

I mounted my tv “high” upon a wall in my living room. When the kids walk back and forth or stand in front of the **** tube, I can see over their heads.

 

[bczygan]

Has anyone mounted a TV over their brick fireplace? I have a 65" I'd like to mount over my fireplace. I'll be installing a mantle shelf to help deflect heat if we are watching tv while the gas fire logs are on. I need advise as to what mount would be best and how you mount/secure it to the brick fireplace (in the mortar or brick.) I like the mounts that you can pull the tv down lower to get it to a more reasonable viewing level. Any suggestions for install and mounts appreciated.

<a href='https://postimg.cc/9rLpvLct' target='_blank'><img src='https://i.postimg.cc/9rLpvLct/IMG-5904.jpg' border='0' alt='IMG-5904'/></a>

Don't use the fireplace.

Bill

 

[gungatim]

li

 

[steve308]

Mounting the tv on a brick wall is fairly straight forward. Hiding the wires is the real task. I had a Samsung 75 curved tv. It didn't like the heat from my pellet stove and would shut down if I had the stove on anything above the low setting. TV was not over the stove but sat in the direction of the blower. Had to move it to the furthest wall and rearrange the room. All was good until my then three year old grandson launched Thomas the Tank Engine into the display ending the tv.

 

[brownbagg]

if there a stud wall behind the brick it be nice to get a lag bolt through a mortar joint into a stud. that way years later you could fix the mortar joint

 

[crf731]

I mounted ours above our brick fireplace.
I didn’t want to drill into the brick and ruin the finish if we decided that we didn’t like it there at a later date.
The mount we bought goes up and attaches to the ceiling instead.

I don’t remember where we got the mount from but it is a pipe that goes up to the ceiling.
You can run all the cables to the tv down from the attic through the pipe where you can’t see them.

 

[Arne73]

+1 on the ceiling mount. It was fairly easy since there's a drop ceiling in the room. I really did not want to drill into the brick.

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[HotrodHR]

Drilling into brick *****... mounting a TV above a fireplace looks good in model homes and magazines, however most are too high to enjoy viewing, unless the entire room is sitting in recliners.

I wouldn't mount the TV above the fireplace...

 

[Falcon67]

I would never ruin a decent fireplace by hanging a TV over it. Ugh.

 

[kngelv]

Hate to pile on but mounting a television over a fireplace is never a good idea.

James

 

[Hubmonkey]

I mounted mine to the wall above the fireplace before the stone was applied since we were building s new home. You could take some brick out and shim it flush with 2x4s. We have the Mantle Mount and it works great. We had an issue with the first one where a gas struts mount broke and I called the company and the replaced the whole arm very quickly.

Hub