📺 High & Safe: How I Mounted a 55-inch TV on a Brick Fireplace (and Child-Proofed It!)
As a handyman, I love jobs that combine technical precision with solving a customer's real-world problem. This recent TV mounting project on a brick fireplace was exactly that—a race against curious toddlers and a lesson in making masonry work for you.
The mission was to take a surprisingly light 55-inch TV and secure it high above the existing mantle on a brick fireplace.
The Customer's Core Problem: Child-Proofing
While most TV mounts are about maximizing viewing angles, this job had a simpler, more critical goal: get the TV out of the danger zone.
The customer needed the TV mounted at a specific height where small hands could no longer reach and potentially damage the expensive screen. Mounting it directly onto the solid brick above the mantle was the perfect, permanent solution. We opted for a tilting mount, which allows for a small downward angle to improve viewing when the TV is positioned high up.
🧱 The Biggest Challenge: Brick vs. Mortar
Mounting anything heavy onto a masonry surface requires confidence, but mounting a TV requires absolute precision. The cardinal rule of brick mounting is this: You must drill into the solid brick, never the softer mortar joint.
The challenge on this job was lining up the holes of the TV bracket with the existing brick pattern. The bracket's holes rarely line up perfectly with a standard brick-and-mortar arrangement.
My Method for Perfect Alignment:
Level and Adjust: I held the tilting mount bracket up to the desired height above the mantle. Even though the mount had self-leveling adjustments, I used a separate level to find the initial, perfectly level line.
Strategic Shift: I then slightly adjusted the entire bracket’s position—either nudging it up, down, or sideways—until the maximum number of anchor points rested directly over the center of the individual bricks, completely avoiding the mortar lines.
Marking the Spots: Once perfectly aligned, I marked the pilot holes with a pencil.
This alignment strategy is the single most critical step that determines the safety and long-term stability of the mount.
🔩 Securing the Foundation: Tapcons for the Win
With the holes marked, it was time to drill. For a solid masonry application like this, there is really only one choice for hardware: Tapcon screws.
Tapcons are self-tapping concrete and masonry screws that create their own threads as you drive them in, providing a tremendously strong hold.1
The Hardware I Used:
Drill Bit: 3/16 inch Tapcon masonry drill bit.
Anchors: 1/4 inch Tapcon screws.
Pro Tip: Using a 3/16" bit for a 1/4" screw provides the necessary clearance and ensures the Tapcon bites securely into the solid brick. A rotary hammer drill makes quick work of masonry, but a powerful standard hammer drill can also get the job done.
Once the pilot holes were drilled, I secured the bracket with the 1/4-inch Tapcons, ensuring they were driven flush but not over-torqued to prevent cracking the brick. The bracket was rock-solid and level.
💨 Dealing with the Heat Concern
A TV mounted above a working fireplace is always a heat risk. Because this was a service call and not a multi-day install, I had to rely on the customer's input regarding their specific fireplace's heat output.
My Advice to All Customers: If you plan on frequently using your fireplace, you must measure the temperature directly above the mantle. If it exceeds 90 degrees farenheit or 32 degrees celcius while the fire is on, the heat can damage your TV's components, and a different solution (like a mantel-mount that pulls the TV down and forward) should be considered.
✅ The Quick Finish
With the bracket securely mounted, the rest of the job was straightforward. The light 55-inch screen went on the mount easily. In just one hour, the TV was installed, level, securely bolted into the brick, and safely out of reach of the customer’s children. Mission accomplished!