Mounting a TV on a brick wall: the veneer question first
Two walls that look identical from the couch take opposite fixings - and getting it wrong is the classic way a brick-mounted TV ends up on the floor. Here is the trade's version.
By the Topline Antennas crew · Published 24 August 2026 · Brisbane, QLD
The question that decides everything
Brick veneer or double brick?
Brick veneer - most Brisbane brick homes built since the 1960s - is a single skin of brick over a timber or steel frame, with a cavity between. The brick you would drill into is largely decorative; the strength is the frame behind it. Double brick is two structural leaves of masonry - the wall itself is the structure, and it will hold anything anchored to it correctly.
Telling them apart: measure a window reveal. Around 90 to 150 mm of depth suggests veneer; 190 mm and beyond suggests double brick. Homes from the 1940s-60s in the inner suburbs lean double brick or cavity brick; estate homes from the 1970s onward are overwhelmingly veneer. When in doubt, a photo of the wall and a window reveal is usually enough for us to call it - send one over before you buy anchors.
Why it matters so much: on veneer, the textbook fix for a heavy or articulating mount is through to the framing, not into the brick skin. Fixing a full-motion arm to a veneer skin loads a decorative leaf with a lever - and veneer ties were never designed for that.
Into the masonry
The anchors that hold - and the one place never to drill
For sound double brick or a confirmed-structural leaf: sleeve anchors or masonry screw-bolts, sized to the bracket manufacturer’s specification, drilled into the face of the brick with a masonry bit and torqued to spec - snug, not stripped. Green plastic plugs and gold screws from the junk drawer are for picture frames, not 25 kg of television.
The rule the DIY videos skip: never anchor into mortar joints. Mortar is the sacrificial, weakest component of a masonry wall - it crumbles around an expanding anchor precisely when the load is highest. Every anchor goes into brick, a full bolt-diameter clear of any joint. If the bracket’s holes land on joints, shift the bracket, not the standard.
Older soft reds and painted brick deserve one more caution: a hammer-drill on full attack can spall the face. Start the hole gently. And if the brick crumbles as you drill - stop; that wall needs assessment, not a bigger anchor.
The honest limitation
Hiding cables on brick
On veneer there is often a cavity, so leads can sometimes drop inside the wall between brush plates like a stud wall - construction permitting. On double brick there is no cavity: the tidy options are a slim surface duct painted to the wall (looks deliberate, costs little) or a chased channel cut into the wall (invisible, but dusty, and in rentals or strata needs permission). New power behind the screen is electrician work either way.
The finished result on brick, done properly, is the most solid TV mount there is - the wall will outlast every television you ever hang on it.
Rather not drill masonry on a guess? Brick mounting is a published add-on - see the price for your screen → or call 07 XXXX XXXX.