My next project.

posiden

posiden

Active Member
So, now that the kitchen remodel is all but done. Just some trim work. The remodel included the dinning room and the living room. We currently have a small media room with the TV in there. We don't want it in there anymore. We would just like to have a sitting room with the fish tank and music in there. The wife has expressed to me that she would like for me to get going on getting our flat screen mounted before the holidays get here. Normally this is not a problem.
The issue is that we now want it to go above the fire place. So I have to mount it to the brick work. Again, not really an issue. The issue is I don't want ANY wires to show. I know I need to get the wall plates for the connections behind the reciever and such equipment. How in the world am I going to get the wires behind the TV on the brick? How do people do this? Am I too build a wood support that will cover the brick so I can hide the wires behind there?
Any ideas would be great. I would love to still see the brick around the TV to put that extra level of difficulty into it.
 
flpriest

flpriest

Member

You could build another mantle for your fireplace, one that the tv will appear to sit on. You could make a hidden "cable tray" in it, near the back twards the fireplace to run all of your cables to and from your tv in until they reach a wall where you can then run them either down the side of your fireplace , or run them in the wall at that point.

just a thought.
 
scsinet

scsinet

Active Member
Going through the brick shouldn't be too difficult with an SDS hammer, provided you don't shake the bricks apart while drilling the hole. The real way to do it is with a diamond holesaw designed for cutting cement or brick. You can rent them, but the problem is how to manage the water used to lubricate the bit. I suppose a couple helpers, one on each side, with a wet/dry vac and a few towels could probably do the job.
I don't see temperature being a problem, assuming your fireplace is the way most modern fireplaces are, with a double-walled pipe running inside the wall (in other words... the brick is not the chimney, just decoration). As long as the wires aren't touching it, you should be okay. It may be a code violation though.
Frankly I'd make every effort to conceal the wiring without penetrating the brick.
One word of caution... you don't know how good of a job the builder did of tying the brick to the house's structure behind it. Being that it's indoors, they may have done a slipsham job, and hanging a heavy TV from it may just yank the brick right off the wall at some point in the future.
 
darknes

darknes

Active Member
What about building a wooden frame around the fireplace to hold the TV and hide all the cords? You could then cover the outside with brick facing. It could look like the actual brick from the fireplace, that nobody would even know its a fake frame.
 
johnr2604

johnr2604

Member
Originally Posted by SCSInet
http:///forum/post/3161293
Going through the brick shouldn't be too difficult with an SDS hammer, provided you don't shake the bricks apart while drilling the hole. The real way to do it is with a diamond holesaw designed for cutting cement or brick. You can rent them, but the problem is how to manage the water used to lubricate the bit. I suppose a couple helpers, one on each side, with a wet/dry vac and a few towels could probably do the job.
I don't see temperature being a problem, assuming your fireplace is the way most modern fireplaces are, with a double-walled pipe running inside the wall (in other words... the brick is not the chimney, just decoration). As long as the wires aren't touching it, you should be okay. It may be a code violation though.
Frankly I'd make every effort to conceal the wiring without penetrating the brick.
One word of caution... you don't know how good of a job the builder did of tying the brick to the house's structure behind it. Being that it's indoors, they may have done a slipsham job, and hanging a heavy TV from it may just yank the brick right off the wall at some point in the future.
I completely agree. As a general contractor I would not mount the TV to the brick. The wall shound be framed standard behind the brick. I would go all the way through the brick and try to lag into a stud. Anybody that has older brick stairs at there house can vouch that brick is not strong.
As for the wires is there an attic above the area? If there is you could cut the brick using an angle grinder with a tile blade for an outlet and fish the wire down the wall from above. Then you could install a cut in box with a plate that would end up behind the TV.
 
posiden

posiden

Active Member
Originally Posted by SCSInet
http:///forum/post/3161293
Going through the brick shouldn't be too difficult with an SDS hammer, provided you don't shake the bricks apart while drilling the hole. The real way to do it is with a diamond holesaw designed for cutting cement or brick. You can rent them, but the problem is how to manage the water used to lubricate the bit. I suppose a couple helpers, one on each side, with a wet/dry vac and a few towels could probably do the job.
I don't see temperature being a problem, assuming your fireplace is the way most modern fireplaces are, with a double-walled pipe running inside the wall (in other words... the brick is not the chimney, just decoration). As long as the wires aren't touching it, you should be okay. It may be a code violation though.
Frankly I'd make every effort to conceal the wiring without penetrating the brick.
One word of caution... you don't know how good of a job the builder did of tying the brick to the house's structure behind it. Being that it's indoors, they may have done a slipsham job, and hanging a heavy TV from it may just yank the brick right off the wall at some point in the future.

Originally Posted by johnr2604
http:///forum/post/3161344
I completely agree. As a general contractor I would not mount the TV to the brick. The wall shound be framed standard behind the brick. I would go all the way through the brick and try to lag into a stud. Anybody that has older brick stairs at there house can vouch that brick is not strong.
As for the wires is there an attic above the area? If there is you could cut the brick using an angle grinder with a tile blade for an outlet and fish the wire down the wall from above. Then you could install a cut in box with a plate that would end up behind the TV.

Temp should'nt be an issue. The most it gets used is when I am off for the holidays during the shutdown. And then, I can touch and hold the back of my hand on the brick below the mantel.
OK, so it doesn't look like I will get it the way I want it. So, can I pretty much be gaurenteed that there are studs on each side of the brick? I guess I could build that up and out just a bit and make another box/faux wall to mount the TV to and give me the space behind it for the wires. This way the brick would appear to end at the mantle. The faux wall will be wider then the brick. Like Darknes mentioned. I am going to have to buy a bigger TV to get this to look right.
 
johnr2604

johnr2604

Member
Originally Posted by Posiden
http:///forum/post/3161355
Temp should'nt be an issue. The most it gets used is when I am off for the holidays during the shutdown. And then, I can touch and hold the back of my hand on the brick below the mantel.
OK, so it doesn't look like I will get it the way I want it. So, can I pretty much be gaurenteed that there are studs on each side of the brick? I guess I could build that up and out just a bit and make another box/faux wall to mount the TV to and give me the space behind it for the wires. This way the brick would appear to end at the mantle. The faux wall will be wider then the brick. Like Darknes mentioned. I am going to have to buy a bigger TV to get this to look right.

I should also clarify my self. How old is the house? If its a real old house its Possible its a true brick chimney. If its a newer house with a brick fasad then it would have studs behind it. If it didn't have studs behind it I would put the TV somewhere else or figure out a way to brace it. Got a pic of the place your trying to mount it?
 
posiden

posiden

Active Member
Originally Posted by johnr2604
http:///forum/post/3161367
I should also clarify my self. How old is the house? If its a real old house its Possible its a true brick chimney. If its a newer house with a brick fasad then it would have studs behind it. If it didn't have studs behind it I would put the TV somewhere else or figure out a way to brace it. Got a pic of the place your trying to mount it?
I will have to get you a pic. I believe it is a 1978 ish build. In the attic I can see all the cinder block work. On the bottom as you know is the brick. If, there is studs behind the brick........I don't know where they would have put them. I guess I should take a look a bit more closely.
 
posiden

posiden

Active Member
Originally Posted by SCSInet
http:///forum/post/3161361
Oh no... not a bigger TV



Oh come on now.
The room we bought it for is small. The TV is only a 42". It is back in the living room now as of tonight. It is on its stand right now. I will spend the next few day hooking it all up. Only to have to move it again when I figure this all out.
 
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