Any asbestos in the chimney breast?

[Noddy]

Hi, I see alot of members here are installing their tv's on their chimney breast, but i'm worried about the following:

1. Can I drill a 1 inch bore hole straight through the cavity to pass all the wires through, or will I disturb possible asbestos in the chimney breast?

2. Will my chimney breast be strong enough to hold a 50" tv that is 27 kg?

Thanks in advance for any advice!

 

[dazza1883]

1. Assuming that you are drilling through your chimney breast a lot of them are single brick and therefore have no cavity. The chances of as you say disturbing asbestos is pretty slim unless you are drilling through the asbestos which usually sits horizontally. Asbestos can sit in the home fine and not cause any problems it's only when you start to break it up that fibres are dispersed.

2. Your chimney should be fine holding a tv of that size and weight just make sure that the fixings that you are using are of a decent size and fixed securely before you start to hang anything otherwise it could be a costly mistake.

Hope that helps.

 

[Noddy]

1. Assuming that you are drilling through your chimney breast a lot of them are single brick and therefore have no cavity. The chances of as you say disturbing asbestos is pretty slim unless you are drilling through the asbestos which usually sits horizontally. Asbestos can sit in the home fine and not cause any problems it's only when you start to break it up that fibres are dispersed.

2. Your chimney should be fine holding a tv of that size and weight just make sure that the fixings that you are using are of a decent size and fixed securely before you start to hang anything otherwise it could be a costly mistake.

Hope that helps.

Thanks for the reply.

Yes my chimney breast is only 9.5" inches in depth, so I think it is single brick only.

So the asbestos usually sits at the bottom of the chimney breast then? I was thinking of drilling the bottom sides to pass the wire inside the chimney breast. So I guess trunking would be the best option, but then I would need replastering.

 

[Noddy]

1. Assuming that you are drilling through your chimney breast a lot of them are single brick and therefore have no cavity.

Hope that helps.

Sorry, but what do you mean by no cavity? I thought there is a hole inside the chimney breast where I can drop wires through the back of the tv.

 

[dazza1883]

Sorry, but what do you mean by no cavity? I thought there is a hole inside the chimney breast where I can drop wires through the back of the tv.

Sorry when I say no cavity I mean between layers of brick because it's only single brick you will obviously have your chimney flue where you can drop your cables down. Can you not see the insides of your fireplace or do you have something in there?

 

[Noddy]

Sorry when I say no cavity I mean between layers of brick because it's only single brick you will obviously have your chimney flue where you can drop your cables down. Can you not see the insides of your fireplace or do you have something in there?

It is all blocked up, but i've seen pics of the sides of the chimney breast and they have 12 inches of bricks on each side. So where do you normally pass the wires once you drop them through the chimney flue?

Cheers!

 

[dazza1883]

It is all blocked up, but i've seen pics of the sides of the chimney breast and they have 12 inches of bricks on each side. So where do you normally pass the wires once you drop them through the chimney flue?

Cheers!

I'm assuming that you are going to knock some of the blocks out of the fireplace so you can get inside to feed the wires otherwise your completing an almost impossible task I have an open fireplace in the bedroom so i have managed to drop the wires down and i have mounted my sky box inside the chimney so it cannot be seen and is controlled by an almost invisible magic eye.

In the living room I have a similar setup but yet again i have opened that up after being blocked up. You will need to knock out at least one block just to pass the wires through the side unless you start making a huge hole in the side but i would advise against this. I will post some pics of my setup later if i get a chance to give you an idea.

 

[Noddy]

Sorry for the late reply, i'm now going to start the tv mounting!

Yes, I think I will drill through the side of the chimney breast as it is about 30cm wide, I don't think I can remove all those bricks without the whole thing falling down.

e.g. the sides are thicker than this one: