How feasible is a brick veneer fake wall?

Question

We want to brick veneer our chimney breast (Which has a TV mounted to it) but I had a thought that would allow us to hide the wires, brick veneer the wall and also keep the wall behind in a clean state that would allow us to easily revert the brick veneer if we so wish. However... I'm most certainly a DIYer and don't want to jump head first into it without exploring whether or not it is a wise idea.
My plan is to use a piece of ply wood that is the same size as the chimney breast.

Channel routes for the TV cables into the back side of the plywood.

Cut hole out of the plywood for the TV mounting bracket.

Apply brick veneer/brick slips to the front side of the plywood with the mortar leaving 8 exposed holes around the edges for mounting purposes.

Attach plywood to chimney breast with 8 large screws and rawl plugs.

More information:

The chimney breast is not plaster, it is some form of brick or concrete.

The fireplace is not in use. It is blocked up and has an electric fire mounted in it's place. (never used)

The house is a UK semi detached 1960s/1970s construction

The this is the wall mount bracket for the TV

Does this sound like a wise idea? I've had concerns over the weight of the brick slip tiles but having never undertaken a task like this before I'm not sure.
Here is a pic of the wall in question, the bit above the mantle piece is the bit we would like to brick veneer

Eric F · Accepted Answer

I actually did a very similar thing this year. I thought about making a "fake brick wall" as you are now. My main concern, as is yours, is weight. The weight of all those bricks adds up to be quite a bit to be supported from the wall. You may want to add up your weight and compare with veneer ones. What I eventually concluded was to use brick veneer tiles similar to these guys:

Menards Brick Veneer

In terms of putting them up, I followed an identical process for laying tiles down since they are tiles:

Mix up Mastic / Mortar Product like this one
Lay a bit of Mastic down on wall. Only do a small section at a time like 4 bricks width so it doesn't dry out too quickly
Place bricks on wall. Use spacers similar to those in tilework to keep a uniform spacing. Aim to have the brick middle at the edge of the prior row's brick.
When to the end of a row, cut last brick accordingly.
Repeat until all rows are done.
After all bricks have been placed up, go back with grout. Put grount in a plastic bag with the tip cut off and fill in the cracks like a cake decorator. Be very careful not to get any on the face of the bricks though! It is very hard to get off from the face.

Ecnerwal · Answer

I think you might have better results with construction adhesive rather than mortar for sticking the brick chips. Mortar would just be for the joints, for appearance sake.

In the US this was popular decades ago - and I have to say, I never saw one that looked convincingly like real bricks.

How feasible is a brick veneer fake wall?

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