Fireplace TV mounting · Toronto & the GTA
A fireplace changes three things about a TV install: how much heat the panel sees, how high it ends up, and where the cable can legally run. Here is how each one is handled — and when we would tell you to use a different wall.
Send a photo of the fireplace and the wall above it and we’ll tell you what it needs before quoting.
Recognised by
HomeStars Best of Award winner 2018–2023 · Best of Houzz Service 2018–2021
The short version
Everything difficult about this job comes back to one of these. Get all three right and it is a straightforward install.
Still deciding whether the fireplace wall is the right place for the TV at all? Our guide, Should You Mount a TV Above a Fireplace?, covers the trade-offs, the mistakes we see and the cases where we recommend another wall.
A firebox sends hot air straight up the wall. A mantel can push some of it outward, but a mantel on its own does not prove the wall is suitable, so the TV maker’s heat limits and the fireplace clearances are checked first.
The clearance pushes the TV up, and up is the direction that causes neck strain. The job is finding the lowest position the heat will allow.
A fireplace wall is often masonry, and even when it is not, cable cannot run through the space directly above a firebox.
Getting it right
This is the single most common regret with a fireplace TV, and it is entirely avoidable.
Almost everyone who is unhappy with a TV above a fireplace is unhappy for the same reason: it is too high, and watching it means holding your head back. That is not an unavoidable consequence of the fireplace — it is usually the result of setting the height off the mantel instead of off the sofa.
We work the other way round. We start from where you actually sit and what the comfortable centre-of-screen height would be, then raise it only as far as the heat clearance genuinely requires. Often that is less than people assume, and the difference between a comfortable install and a regrettable one is a few inches.
Where the clearance forces the screen higher than we would like, be clear about what each mount does. A tilting mount angles the panel towards the seating and can cut glare, but the centre of the screen stays at the same height. A pull-down mount brings the screen forward and down to a comfortable position while you watch, at the cost of more projection off the wall and a clear path past the mantel. The TV should not be left pulled down while the fireplace is on. If neither gets the screen to a height you can live with, we will say so and suggest another wall.
What it is made of
The surround decides the anchor, and it is worth knowing which one you have before booking.
How it goes
Five steps, and the first two happen before anyone arrives.
The fireplace, the mantel and the wall above it. We can usually tell you what it needs from that alone.
We confirm the heat clearance, the mount type and the cable route from your photos, then give you a firm price. We check the clearance again on site.
Set from your seating, raised only as far as the clearance requires, and checked with you before drilling.
Masonry anchors into solid material, or studs and blocking where the wall is framed.
Cable routed clear of the firebox, power done with an in-wall-rated kit or a raceway, then everything tested.
Straight numbers
Starting prices. We confirm your exact figure once we have seen the fireplace and the wall.
These figures cover labour. The bracket is quoted separately; the gas-spring pull-down fireplace mount we stock is listed in the shop. For how a fireplace job compares with every other kind of install, see our TV mounting cost breakdown.
Related
The jobs that usually come with a fireplace install, and the pages that cover them.
By the numbers
10K+ Installations completed
20+ Years combined experience
5.0 Average rating across 1,340+ reviews on Google, Yelp and HomeStars
$2M Liability cover
Every installation is backed by a one-year material and workmanship warranty, and we carry $2,000,000 commercial liability insurance — a certificate is available on request.
Recent work
Mounted above mantels, on brick and on stone across the GTA. More in the full gallery.
Questions we get asked
If yours isn’t here, just ask us.
It depends on the exact fireplace, TV and wall. Before choosing a position we check the TV maker's heat limits, the fireplace clearances, the structure behind the finish and the cable route. A mantel or a generous-looking gap does not on its own make the spot suitable. Where there is no mantel, or a heat-circulating insert vents upward, we will usually suggest a different wall rather than mount it anyway.
It can, if the screen sits in the heat rising off the firebox. The risk cases are a shallow mantel or no mantel, an insert that vents upward, and a screen set too low and too close. We check all three on site, and if the arrangement is not one we would put a television into, we say so before drilling.
There is no single gap that suits every fireplace. We establish the heat clearances first, then find the lowest suitable position from where you actually sit, because the usual complaint about a fireplace TV is neck strain from looking up. A tilting mount angles the screen and can cut glare, but it does not lower the centre of the screen; if it would still sit too high, a pull-down mount or a different wall is the real fix.
If height is the problem, a pull-down mount, which brings the screen forward and down to a more comfortable position when you watch. It projects further from the wall and needs clearance for the mantel and any soundbar through its whole travel, and the TV should not be left pulled down while the fireplace is on. A tilt mount only changes the angle.
Yes. Brick takes anchors set into the brick itself rather than the mortar joint, and solid masonry takes sleeve or wedge anchors. Stone, marble, tile and porcelain surrounds we quote from a photo first, because there is no second attempt on a finished stone face.
Metal mount installation above a fireplace starts at $399.99 for the labour; the bracket is priced separately. Other above-fireplace jobs, and marble, stone or under-cabinet surrounds, are priced from a photo because the wall decides the anchors and the time. Wire concealment on a fireplace wall is quoted with the job rather than at the standard $99.99, because the cable has to be routed clear of the firebox and the wall is often masonry with no cavity to use.
Around the firebox, never through the space directly above it. On a drywall chase we can route in-wall and bring the cables out below the mantel. Where the surround is solid, a paintable raceway follows the line of the stonework and disappears once it is coloured in.
Yes. Every installation we do, above a fireplace or anywhere else, comes with a one-year material and workmanship warranty. We also carry $2,000,000 commercial liability insurance and can provide the certificate on request, which is what most condo boards and property managers want to see before a contractor starts.
Free Quote
Send a photo of the fireplace, the mantel and the wall above it, plus the screen size and your postal code. We will confirm the clearance and come back with a firm price.
Takes about a minute · One-year workmanship warranty · $2,000,000 liability insurance
