The Money Pit
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Like many people this season we are buy a new flat screen TV and were planning to mount it over our fireplace. I was wondering if there were any special precautions that we need to take because of the fireplace…
Like many people this season we are buy a new flat screen TV and were planning to mount it over our fireplace. I was wondering if there were any special precautions that we need to take because of the fireplace being behind the wall that we are mounting. Is it going to affect or damage the bricks or the functionality of the fireplace if we have to drill into the wall? What would be the best way to do this?
Love your show,
Jenna Ostrowski
Buffalo, NY
<p>Jenna, assuming that this is a traditional brick wall of a real fireplace (as opposed to a fake brick wall on a manufactured fireplace!) there’s no reason you can not attach the flat screen TV mounting bracket directly to the brick and have it provide a solid connection. </p>
<p>The best fastener to use for this is a "<a href="http://www.tapcon.com/" target="_blank">Tapcon</a>" concrete screw. Tapcon screws are designed to grab into brick and concrete and come with a drill bit preciously sized for the screw you need to install. Just follow the instructions carefully and you should be good to go. The other option is to use a traditional lead shield and lag bolt combo to attach the mounting bracket. However, in my experience, the Tapcon will be strong enough. To be sure, check with the manufacturer of the TV mounting bracket and follow their recommendations before proceeding with the project.</p>
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