Mounting a TV over a fireplace looks great, but it leaves you with an obvious problem: where do the cables go? Hiding TV wires over a fireplace takes more planning than a standard wall mount install, and the right approach depends heavily on your fireplace type and wall construction. Below we cover the three most common ways to conceal cables for a TV mounted above a fireplace — two in-wall methods and one on-wall method — with real installation photos for each.
- In-Wall Wire Concealment Over Fireplace
- In-Wall Wire Concealment for a Protruding Fireplace Wall
- On-Wall Wire Concealment with Wire Raceway
In-Wall Wire Concealment Over Fireplace
Concealing wires in the wall above a fireplace is a different job from standard in-wall vertical wire concealment. It requires careful planning, precise measurements, and tools that most homeowners don’t have sitting in the garage — plus a few uninterrupted hours to do it properly. Before you start, you need to know whether cables can actually be fished through your wall, which comes down to how your fireplace and surrounding wall are built.
Gas Fireplace
In a newer house or townhome (1980s or newer), the wall around a gas fireplace is typically drywall over wooden studs. In this case, wires can usually be fished through the wall without issue.
Wood-Burning Fireplace
Wood-burning fireplaces are more common in older homes, and the surrounding wall is often built with brick rather than drywall and studs. That means fishing wires through the wall usually isn’t possible — in this case, wire raceway is the better option.
Fishing Cables Through an Unfinished Basement
If you’re mounting a TV over a gas fireplace on the main floor and the basement below is unfinished, cables can be fished from the wall above the fireplace down into the basement, then run back up through a wall near your components. If the basement is finished, running cables horizontally instead means cutting drywall to drill through each stud, which is a much bigger job.
Requirements for In-Wall Wire Concealment Over a Fireplace
- A wall structure with cavity behind it — drywall with wooden or metal studs — that cables can be fished through
- An electrical outlet or Bridge-Style Power Kit above the fireplace, positioned to end up behind the TV
- An electrical outlet where the components will be placed
- A coax jack near the components if you have a cable or satellite box (not needed for a wireless Bell Fibe or Rogers Ignite box)
- In-wall fire-rated cable — FT4/FT6/CL2/CL3/CMG/CMR/CMP-rated HDMI — long enough to run from the TV to the components
- Tools: drill, auger bit, electrician’s fishing tape and fishing rod, electrical tape, measuring tape, and a hole saw
Here’s a real example: this installation required 25 ft of cable to run from above the fireplace, down through the unfinished basement, and back up to an adjacent wall where a custom wall plate was installed for 4 HDMI cables, a Toslink optical cable, and a Cat5e Ethernet run.
In a second example, the cable box needed to stay hidden inside a cabinet with closed doors next to the fireplace, so an IR repeater was installed to allow the box to still be controlled while out of sight.
In-Wall Wire Concealment for a Protruding Fireplace Wall
If your fireplace wall protrudes out from the rest of the wall, cables can often be fished within that protruding section and exit out the side, keeping everything hidden without needing to run cable down to the basement.
On-Wall Wire Concealment with Wire Raceway
When fishing cable through the wall isn’t possible — most often with a brick or stone wall around a wood-burning fireplace — wire raceway is your best option. It works on essentially any wall surface since the cables run through a paintable cable cover mounted directly to the wall rather than inside it.
Which Method Is Right for You?
Here’s a quick comparison of the three options covered above:
| Method | Best For | Wall Type Required | Visible Hardware |
|---|---|---|---|
| In-Wall (Gas Fireplace) | Newer builds, main-floor gas fireplaces | Drywall over wood or metal studs | None — fully hidden |
| In-Wall (Protruding Wall) | Fireplace walls that project out from the room | Drywall with cavity, protruding section | None — exits at the side of the wall |
| On-Wall Wire Raceway | Wood-burning fireplaces, brick or stone surrounds | Any wall surface | Low-profile, paintable cover |
Not sure which approach fits your fireplace? Our TV wall mount installation service covers all three methods, along with mounting considerations specific to fireplace installs like heat from wood-burning units and proper viewing angle. For new construction or a renovation, our pre-wiring services can also get outlets and cable runs in place before the drywall goes up, making wire concealment far simpler down the line.
