Hang a TV on a brick wall, or hang a tv above the fireplace? Here’s how to do it right. Below the how to photos is a video of how to drill into brick or cement and links to other DIY articles.
Working in older buildings, many times I’m asked to hang a TV on a brick or cement wall. In brownstones, many times people want to hang a HDTV or flat panel TV over the fireplace. Most of the fireplaces no longer function, being old coal or gas fireplaces. Be sure not to drill holes into the chimney of functioning fireplace. If you’d like to hide the wires, like we did in the top photo, we use plastic raceway molding.
To hang a TV on a brick or cement wall, you will need sleeve or wedge anchors. You could also use lead anchors and lag bolts, but I prefer to use sleeve anchors. You will also need a hammer drill.
Hammer drills are not that expensive. Click here to see some drills you can buy online
Hammer drills are loud, so use ear protection, and eye protection is of course an always must have.
Search On Amazon For TV Wall Mounts Here
Hanging a TV with a HDTV mount is one of those projects that falls into the “if all else fails, read directions” . So read the directions before trying to do this.
Attach the brackets to the back of the flat panel TV, and attach the wall mount to the TV brackets. Then get two friends to hold the TV up on the wall and find the perfect spot to mount the TV on the wall. Reach behind the TV while on the wall and with a pencil mark where the wall bracket be mounted on the wall.
Be sure the person in charge of the interior of your house is present and has a say in the placement of the TV, because once you hammer drill holes in a cement wall, they’re kind of permanent.
Put the TV down somewhere safe, and take the wall bracket, place it on the wall and line it up with the marks you made. Mark where you are going to drill holes to put in the sleeve anchors. ( see the mount instructions for how many bolts are needed for your tv )
Cover the area where you are going to drill with plastic. Brick or cement dust will come out of the hole you are drilling with the hammer drill. If you have a shop-vac, have a friend hold the hose just below where you are drilling, it will save you a lot of cleaning up.
I usually use 4 inch long 3/8″ sleeve anchors if you are hanging on a plaster wall with brick behind it, and 3 inch long sleeves if its a bare brick or cement wall. After drilling the holes, make sure the nuts are on the ends of the sleeves, and tap the sleeves into the holes.
Don’t hammer the sleeves too far into the wall, you need enough of the threaded end of the sleeve protruding out of the wall to hang the mount. You have the nuts on the end of the sleeves to keep the hammer from damaging the threads of the sleeve while tapping them in.
Remove the nuts and hang the wall mount on the wall, use washers and tighten down the nuts to secure the wall mount to the wall. Then read the directions again to remember how to hang the TV on the wall mount. Then you’re done.
Here is a how to drill into brick or cement video we did to give you an idea of how to hang a tv on a brick wall:
Watch how to drill into brick and concrete here.