Fixed a LED to the wall above fire place

[JamieVB]

Ok, i realise there may be some heat issues about putting an LED tv over the fire place however its a modern construction, with a small gas fire place with a surround, i however came across the following issues

i was advised by someone that the best way was to cut out a section of plasterboard, and fix a batten to the concrete block work

i did as advised and fixed a 38mm x 65 mm timber batten to the wall, however i came across a few problems

first thanks to modern construction methods of construction bringing a gas line down from the ceiling to the fire bellow. i encountered the gas line with a wood chisel, however thank god i did not hit it too hard, no bubbles using washing up soap, thank god, i then applied several layers of super glue / hot glue to add my self reassurance.

i fixed the batten to the wall from left to right, using 5 120mm masonry screws with plugs, medium load rating,

please advise on the following,
1/they were the hammer in type, i took the first two into the holes as instructed, however the last 1 cm or so i couldn't screw them any further, so i hammered them in the remaining 1cm, should this be fine?
the third went in fine and screwed in all the way

2/ for the remaining two holes i drilled through and then encountered void, behind, after placing the long 120 mm screw into the hole i confirmed what i thought i penetrated the pre cast flue behind, quite large for a small gas fire.
i then changed plan after assessing the damage, i applied a thick layer of plaster to the holes, before i screwed the batten before my first question, and screwed the batten up tight to the penetration, i then changed plugs to a 75mm screw and masonry plug. i applied hot glue to the plugs and then screwed them into the holes to ensure a tight fit.

-main questions for this will the plugs be ok secured into the wall of the flue? the concrete gets warm to the touch, i don't know what the melting point of plugs are but i would someone to let me know.

the manufacturer, stated 2 fixings into masonry for the samsung wire fix kit, however i took 5 fixings through a batten, then fixed the TV to the batten using the kits fixings.

will the heating up and cooling down of the flue, weaken the fixings in place?

with 2 120mm screws through 38 batten and 75mm dense block hammered in last 1cm, 1 120mm screw fixed fully in, 2 75mm masonry screws fixed into the holes within the concrete pre cast flue construction roughly 38 batten and 35 to 40mm concrete flue construction, so the plug should not penetrate the air flow, all of which secured by masonry plugs. the TV is about 25kg

the batten was tight cut into the plaster board, and had to be taped in, in effect it was jammed within 15mm plaster board top and bottom, this was then fully surrounded by fresh filler to create a tight sealed batten to the wall, roughly 8mm out of wall surrounded by tapered filer, this was then allowed to set and painted with 3 coats paint.

i can't see this coming out of the wall with a vertical imposed load, with a flat mount TV of this size and weight.

can anyone else offer an opinion of this.

first please let me state, the gas was not ruptured, i made sure several times, please do not bash home about the safety of gas, if i was not 100% sure that the line was not ruptured i would not have continued.

i just don't want to come home and find a £1400 tv on the floor, if the wife runs the fire at 100%

please someone offer me some assurance the TV sits roughly 20mm off the dry wall, and about 50mm from drywall to face of the LED screen.

many thanks for any advice offered.
thanks
jamie

 

[foxhole]

Should'nt this be posted in DIY disasters?


I would be more concerned about a sore neck from looking up all the time.

 

[big-all]

"some heat issues" your tv will not be covered by the manufacturer if it breaks down due to excessive heat

you have potentially damaged the gas pipe that may or may not leak with a ready ignition source underneath
my advice is move the tv away from heat source and get a gas safe engineer in for your own safety

 

[cajar]

The heat will not weaken the fixings, the tv falling off is the least of your worries. I would certainly have a gas engineer round if I damaged the supply pipe and definitely if I punctured the flue. (at least you can smell gas, but you wont smell carbon monoxide leaking into the room).

 

[Space cat]

was advised by someone that the best way was to cut out a section of plasterboard, and fix a batten to the concrete block work.

Since you mention plasterboard, does that mean there's a gap between board and concrete? If so, I would have cut out two small sections of plasterboard where the TV's own two fixing go, drilled and plugged the concrete, put two screws part way in, greased the exposed threads then filled the holes flush with the wall. I would use screws long enough to go about 40mm into the concrete. There's no advantage in going beyond the end of the plug.

i encountered the gas line with a wood chisel

You used a wood chisel on plasterboard with concrete behind? I hope it was an old one you didn't care about anymore. Cut through the outer layer of the board with a knife then chip the plaster away with a cold chisel. If you'd gone a bit more carefully you would never have hit that pipe.

fixed the batten to the wall from left to right, using 5 120mm masonry screws with plugs, medium load rating,

Don't you think that's a bit over the top? Still, there's no harm in over-engineering the job. You should see some of my stuff.

however the last 1 cm or so i couldn't screw them any further, so i hammered them in the remaining 1cm, should this be fine?

It sounds like the screws bottomed in the holes and you hammered them into the concrete. It's not ideal but it'll not fall off; not with that middle one in there.

i penetrated the pre cast flue behind

If you're lucky, there's a stainless steel liner inside the concrete so you haven't breached the flue - but you can't be sure of that.

main questions for this will the plugs be ok secured into the wall of the flue?

With that middle screw in there you batten isn't going anywhere. But it's time to go back to the beginning --

-- putting an LED tv over the fire place --

I know this has become popular, possibly as a result of advertizers showing nice pictures of rooms with a TV high up on the wall, but it's not conducive to comfortable TV viewing. I would advise anybody who thinks its a good place for a TV to spend two hours staring at the wall is if the TV was already there. See how long it takes you to get a stiff neck!

 

[Citiangels]

Classic!!

You should have just got a professional in and saved yourself a lot of wonga!

The TV is the least of your problems!!

Gas line can be ruptured elsewhere as there my be joints just above/below that you can't see/test also restricted the gas flow with the dent. Carbon Monoxide poisoning! You can't smell this but having punctured the flue will most definitely need looking at by a gas safe engineer.

You can't help but think that all these DIY programs are responsible for this. They portray DIY work to be easy for anyone!