# TV mount over mantle, drywall-plaster/lath and brick.



## justinmroth (Mar 18, 2020)

I am trying to mount a TV above my mantle, 110 year old house thin drywall over plaster/lath over brick. I used the suggested dia. bit (1/4") and was able to pull the bolts out by hand. I then tried a smaller diameter bit and the bolts won't thread, they just spin and pull out brick dust.


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## FrodoOne (Mar 4, 2016)

justinmroth said:


> am trying to mount a TV above my mantle, 110 year old house thin drywall over plaster/lath over brick. I used the suggested dia. bit (1/4") and was able to pull the bolts out by hand. I then tried a smaller diameter bit and the bolts won't thread, they just spin and pull out brick dust.


It appears that you are attempting to use a 6 mm "bolt" of about 30 mm in length to secure the large TV in question on "thin drywall over plaster/lath over brick."
Drywall will be at least 10 mm thick and the "lath and plaster" will probably be about 20 mm - total 30 mm. Hence you should see that the "bolt" you are using is both too thin and too short..

Take a thin "masonry drill", drill until the tip *hits* the actual brickwork and measure this distance.
Drill *into* that actual brickwork at least 30 mm and, preferably, deeper, with a larger diameter masonry drill suitable in size for installing "plastic wall plugs".
Install the plastic wall plugs into these holes and use screws of suitable diameter and length into these plastic wall plugs.

While plastic wall plugs are designed to fit into the holes drilled for them in masonry and expand to "bite" into the masonry when the correct size screw is inserted, you can improve the seating of these plugs by coating them with epoxy resin immediately prior to inserting them and allowing time for this epoxy resin to harden before you install the screws.

Good luck.


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## Gymschu (Dec 12, 2010)

And who knows what kind of brick is under the drywall. Might be soft brick and any drilling explodes/expands the hole to such a degree that you can’t get any “bite.”


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## GrayHair (Apr 9, 2015)

*Gymschu *may be right.

The only anchor I might trust in your situation.is a jute-backed rawl plug. It's a rolled lead sheet glued to a woven fiber covering. They are available in different sizes and are resistant to loosening to the vibration that adjusting the mount might produce.








Drill the appropriate size hole in the brick and use a straw inserted to the bottom of the hole to blow dust out (you'll get a face-full of dust; a flexible straw helps). Seat the anchor flush with the brick's surface. Run a screw in and do a pull-out test with a claw-hammer (and backing to protect the drywall).

Since the greatest pull-out pressure is at the top, I would use every mounting point available on the top. Better safe than sorry.


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## FrodoOne (Mar 4, 2016)

GrayHair said:


> *Gymschu *may be right.
> 
> The only anchor I might trust in your situation.is a jute-backed rawl plug. It's a rolled lead sheet glued to a woven fiber covering. They are available in different sizes and are resistant to loosening to the vibration that adjusting the mount might produce.
> 
> ...


I realise the points that you are making.
If the brick is "soft" or the anchor or screw used with it is slightly too small it may not expand enough when the screw is inserted to "bite" into the brick.
It is for this reason that I recommended the use of an Epoxy Resin coating, which will set into both the brickwork and the ridges of the plug, bonding them together.
"While plastic wall plugs are designed to fit into the holes drilled for them in masonry and expand to "bite" into the masonry when the correct size screw is inserted, you can improve the seating of these plugs by coating them with epoxy resin immediately prior to inserting them and allowing time for this epoxy resin to harden before you install the screws."

Incidentally, while it is irrelevant in this situation, plastic anchors are now *not allowed* in the UK for fixing electrical cables to the ceilings (and walls?) of passage ways.
The reason that, in certain fire situations, such plugs have softened/melted - allowing the wiring that they were holding aloft to come down and impede the access of fire fighters into the building !


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