How to mount a TV on a brick wall

First, look at the wall

Brick is denser and less forgiving than drywall or even stone, and one misplaced hole can crack or chip a brick in a way that is hard to repair. Before you drill, check three things.

• What it is. Solid brick, a fireplace face and a thin brick veneer are different walls. Brick walls can lack the solid wood framing that drywall has, so the fasteners have to hold in the masonry itself or in confirmed backing.
• Its condition. On older homes the brick or mortar can be brittle or crumbly. Tap and look for loose or powdery mortar before you choose where to drill.
• Its finish. Painted or whitewashed brick is still brick underneath, but the paint can chip, so plan the layout carefully before the first hole.

The tools and fasteners

Use a hammer drill with masonry bits and anchors designed for masonry. Our published Twin Cities brick installs describe masonry bits with Tapcon concrete screws or sleeve anchors, drilled slowly and at a controlled speed to avoid cracking the brick.

Match everything to the bracket and the TV. The anchors, the bit size the anchor maker specifies and the bracket's weight rating all have to agree. A bracket rated for a heavy TV is only as strong as the wall and anchors behind it.

Mortar joints or the brick face?

Both are used, and the right choice depends on the wall. A hole too close to the edge of a brick can crack it, and mortar that is old or crumbly may not hold an anchor. Another of our published installs describes drilling into the mortar joints rather than through the brick faces.

Mark your bracket position first, check where each hole would land against the brick pattern, and adjust the bracket height or position slightly if a hole falls somewhere weak. Level matters more on brick than on drywall, because you cannot fill and redrill a hole cleanly.

Exposed brick walls and brick accent walls

An exposed brick wall is usually a design feature, so how the TV sits on it matters as much as how it is held. Choose a bracket that suits the look, plan the cord route before the TV goes up, and keep the layout clean so nothing looks like an afterthought.

Tilt brackets help when the TV sits higher than eye level, and a flush bracket keeps the screen close to the wall. Our height guide explains how to find the right position.

Above a brick fireplace

A brick fireplace adds two more questions: heat and height. Check the TV maker's guidance for mounting above a fireplace you use, and remember the TV will sit above eye level. A tilting bracket or a pull-down mount such as a MantelMount can improve the viewing angle. Our fireplace service page covers the details.

Hiding the cords on brick

Brick is solid, so cords cannot simply drop inside the wall the way they can on drywall. The simple route is cord covers on the outside of the wall. In our Twin Cities booking, exterior concealing around a brick fireplace is $200, and in-wall concealing through a brick fireplace starts at $1,500, with some brick fireplaces more complex. Tell us what you see, or send a photo, and we will advise.

Prefer to hand it off?

Brick is a good job to hand off, since a bad hole cannot be undone. When you book, choose brick as the wall surface. It is $50 in the Twin Cities price list on top of the TV size, bracket and cord choices, and booking shows your total before you choose a time.