How I Successfully Mounted a TV on My Fireplace

After moving into our new house we soon decided we wanted a television mounted in the family room to enjoy it as a second living room and to give the kids a place to hang out to play their games. The task was daunting at first, and I even questioned if it was possible to mount a TV onto a combination of brick and mortar. It certainly didn’t seem like an easy task, and that’s what made it a perfect addition for this blog. With a quick search on YouTube I found a couple descriptions of the installation showing off the process. The basic idea is to just drill holes in the mortar, (not the brick because if you mess up you’re stuck with a difficult problem to fix) insert fasteners and glue to mount the TV in place. On paper it sounds easy, and actually it was. It was surprisingly simple and it’s been in use for over a month now with now issues, even with the fireplace putting off heat all day long.

Materials List

Here’s a quick list of the materials if you’re just looking to get started without all the reading.

• Power drill
• Safety glasses
• Caulk gun
• Tape measure
• Piece of chalk
• Liquid nails glue
• Tapcon Fasteners
• Matching Tapcon drill bit

Assembling the Tools

After some brief reading I figured out exactly what tools I would need to mount the extra family flatscreen on the fireplace successfully. I already had a caulk gun, a pair of safety glasses, a tape measure and a power drill, but I needed a pack of Tapcon screws, a matching masonry drill bit and a tube of liquid nails. Above is all the tools laid out before starting the job.

Taking the Measurements 

Before starting the project I had to make sure the fireplace would offer enough space for the TV and that I could find a good center point for the TV mount. I temporarily installed the mounting bracket on the back of the TV and measured from the bottom and top edge of the bracket to the top and bottom edge of the TV. I did this to figure out how far from the mount the actual TV would be so I could place the bracket in a spot that will look good once the TV’s put in place.

Marking the Install Point

After figuring out how far out the TV will come I marked a center point on the fireplace mantle, and then marked an edge for the mount. I also marked one small spot to show where to drill the first fastener hole.

Drilling the First Hole

With the first hole marked out I inserted the Tapcon drill bit into my drill and drilled all the way in for my first hole, making sure to pull the bit back out many times to get rid of all the built up mortar dust. The bit went into the mortar surprisingly easily and I did my best to maintain a straight line.

Fastening the Mount in Place

With my first hole in place I quickly put some liquid nails on the Tapcon fastener and screwed it into place being careful not to tighten it down too much. (It’s important you only snug the screws and don’t over-tighten because the glue is what will really hold the mount in place, not the mortar.)

With the first screw in place it was easy to level up the mount using the built-in level. I put marks in the open slots to line up with grout lines. Then I loosened the screw a bit and swiveled the mount around to almost vertical to get all that metal out of my way for drilling. I drilled out the five holes, moved the mount back and screwed in each fastener into the new holes being very liberal with liquid nails.

Finishing the Install

With the mount in place I gave the glue 24 hours to dry and cure and hooked the TV in place. I struggled to plug in a few cords and finally pulled the TV back off the mount to run all the cords and then put it back in place to call the installation finished. The final product looks nice and clean and the only thing you can see sticking out is my Roku box on the side. I’ll have to work out a system for cable routing when I install the Xbox 360 and other electronics but for now I’m really happy with how it turned out.