[jamesk190]

So I've been contemplating/planning (read into that convincing the better half!) a fake chimney breast install for several months now (since we had an offer accepted on a house) Three months down the line and we've now been in the house for 3 days and the work begins for real tomorrow morning.

The two pics attached are the room as it is before I start (ish - in my haste to crack on with it I forgot to take any pics before removing the fake fireplace surround/fake hearth and the dado rail either side). You can also see where the chimney breast is going to go - middle of the wall where the gap in the skirting is.

I've been inspired by so many of the threads on here there's too many to name them all, although a mention has to go to elootos for the overall plan of the chimney breast (although if mine is half as good as that I'll be chuffed to bits!!) and MitsiTurbo for the lighting channel around the top of the room My set up is going to be as follows:-

Panasonic TX37X10B
PS3 (mainly for the blu-ray, got it cheap from a friend)
Sky HD
Wii
Denon 1705 and Eltax Sovereign 5.1 speakers (got for a bargain from the classifieds section).

The Sky HD, PS3, Wii and amp are going to be housed in the bottom of a cupboard to the left of the chimney that will also hold my dvds/BR's/games and I plan on running the cables through a couple of floating shelves from the side of the cupboard into the side of the chimney.

I'm gonna have the obligatory Ikea Dioder lights backlighting the screen, Duralite rope light lighting a channel running round the top of the room and a small 'feature hole' underneath the tv with downlights. These are all going to be controlled with RF remote sockets and the av gear is all going to be turned on/ off with the energy saver extension lead and all via a PowerMid XL IR transmitter.

I'm gonna try to post pics as I go along and although I've had a fair amount of DIY experience, this is the first time I've done anything this involved so any ideas anyone can pitch in would be gratefully received.

Cheers,
James

[Philius]

Two red crosses for me

But good luck with the install :D

[jamesk190]

Yeah, same here! I'm trying to do this all from my phone at the moment (internet not connected until Tuesday) and can't get photobucket to work!

I'll try again on Tues!

Cheers,
James

[jamesk190]

...3rd attempt, they were way too small!!!...

[jamesk190]

I've finally figured out where I was going wrong with the pics.

Today I added a double socket into the ring mains right behind where the chimney breast will be. It just needs filling in which will be done tomorrow along with the start of the framework.

[jamesk190]

Day 2....

Didn't get the filler today so that'll be done at some point over the next couple of days.

Made a great start on the framework today, building it in three sections (front, middle and rear) and got the rear section completed and on the wall and half the middle section done.

Had to redo some of the dimensions from the orignal plans today but the tricky decisions that needed making were all done today so tomorrow should progress a lot quicker - happy days!

......also had Sky HD installed today as well so hoping to at least get the Plasma mounted tomorrow so I can see it in all it's glory!!

[Beany31]

Look forward to seeing the result!!

[norty mart]

Any reason why you haven't cut in to the coving?

Other than that nice work sir, is that B&Q stud you're using...not the best timber but can't beat it for value

The more you do the quicker it gets so don't be put off if you fall behind where you want to be...and plans were made to be changed

[jamesk190]

Originally Posted by norty mart

Any reason why you haven't cut in to the coving?

Other than that nice work sir, is that B&Q stud you're using...not the best timber but can't beat it for value

The more you do the quicker it gets so don't be put off if you fall behind where you want to be...and plans were made to be changed

Yep, definately found that about the plans!! We had everything up on the wall and then realised that I wouldn't be able to get the power sockets!!.....everything down again for a small change and we're back on track.

You're also right about the timber, B&Q's CLS (63mmx38mm), a little bit wonky in places but soon sorted out with some chunky 100mm TurboGold screws!!

Just stopped for some lunch and this is where we're at - TV up to check the height....WOOHOO!!!! Just need to put another couple of cross beams in to fix the speaker shelf to and then starting on the front section.

With regard to the point about the coving, I didn't want to risk chewing it up or worse still, pulling a load of it off. I'm going to be building the 'walls' out of mdf so I'll make a template and cut the shape out of the corner of the mdf.

I've got some mdf primer to put down before painting it so I'll go with a couple of coats of that, then it's going to be finished with Dulux's feature wall paint in either Mulberry Burst or Redcurrant Glory with the rest of the room being painted in Dulux's Natural Hessian.

Cheers for the support!

[jamesk190]

Day 3.....

No more pics to put up - nothing worth taking a picture of since having the panel up at lunchtime!

Had a minor glitch today in that we had miscalculated some of the depths which would leave the 'feature hole' at the bottom having a depth of only 18cm!

Managed to rectify it fairly easily and we're now back on course!

Got the middle section finished and mounted and got the front section (which will form the front wall once it has mdf on it) almost finished, just got a couple of cross beams to put in then get the front section level with the front of the panel.

I can't believe I've spent 3x12hr days at it! I'm knackered but loving it!!!

[jamesk190]

Day 4....

Got the frame finished and the first little bit of the mdf up (the hole for the centre speaker), I know it's small but it all counts!!

Gonna make a start for real on the rest of the mdf tomorrow and hopefully get a large chunk of it done.

We've tried a couple of testers and we're now pretty much settled on the Mulberry Burst (the purple one).

We've also had a change of mind with the floating shelves/cupboard for the AV gear. We're now going to the cables running through the bottom of a couple of bench seats running from the left side of the chimney out to the wall. The cupboard will then sit against the left hand wall and against the bench seat with the cables going in via a small hole at the bottom.

[ukprometheus]

looking good so far fella but i cant help thinking the hole for the centre speaker is a little tiny
a nice front vented B&W CC6 centre speaker would look good in there and you can pic them up nice and cheap now

[jamesk190]

Originally Posted by ukprometheus

looking good so far fella but i cant help thinking the hole for the centre speaker is a little tiny
a nice front vented B&W CC6 centre speaker would look good in there and you can pic them up nice and cheap now

Hehe, I like your style!!

Unfortunately, the room's not really big enough for one of the B&W's, it would look a bit overkill!

I'd planned on upgrading to a set of Kef 1005.2's and the centre will fit perfectly in the space (they're also nearer to my budget but I'll still need to to use the power of suggestion to convince the significant other! )

[jamesk190]

Day 5...

Bit of a slow one today, had a few bits to do this morning and the rain held up some of the cutting (not enough space for the table saw and full sheets of MDF inside).

Got the feature hole finished and the downlights mounted in the top of the hole.

Also briefly put the Ikea LED lights up behind the screen to see what they look like and I'm loving it!!! I've seen them in several pictures on here but they are so much better in real life than any picture can do justice - even the missus agrees!!

Also popped into the Richer Sounds store in Reading today for a bit of advice as the centre speaker has a few dings in the grill (thought about possibly replacing it along with the other speakers).

As I'm happy with the speakers themselves, the guy I spoke to came up with the great idea of just creating a frame the same size of the speaker hole and covering it with speaker cloth (why didn't I think of that!? )

[scodav]

did you get that tv from john lewis m8

[jamesk190]

Originally Posted by scodav

did you get that tv from john lewis m8

No mate, got it from dixons.co.uk with a £35 discount code

[scodav]

ow kl kl just cause we got the same one from jl with a 5 year gaurentee for 500 wht do you think of the tc

[jamesk190]

Originally Posted by scodav

ow kl kl just cause we got the same one from jl with a 5 year gaurentee for 500 wht do you think of the tc

"tc"? Not sure what you're asking!? If it's a typo and you meant tv, I love it but have only had it up and working for a day or two so haven't had a chance to go through the proper set up with the settings yet.

[jamesk190]

Day 6...

Only got one thing done today but really chuffed with it! Thanks to a couple of great ideas from my sister I managed to get the holes cut from a single sheet and got the front up. Also got a pic with the ikea leds propped up just to see how they look.

It'll need some minor adjustments to some of the other bits of mdf I had already got up to make sure it's all smooth and square, but the hard part is done now. It definately feels like I'm on the home straight! (until I start to try and get the lighting channel up around the room!!)

[oliphillips]

Looking good mate!

[Grangey.]

Good work so far mate.

[jamesk190]

Day 7...last day before I've gotta go back to work

Didn't get as much as I wanted done today, from here on in it'll be small bits in the evenings and at the weekends.

On a positive side, I did get the panel behind the TV done and the left hand side panel up (including a removable panel held up with push release magnetic catches).

I also got the frame/cover made up to cover the hole where the centre speaker is going to be.

We put one of the chest/bench seats together last night and they definately need to be covered (what did I really expect for £25!?) but they'll do the job nicely. They fit almost exactly side by side in the space between the chimney breast and the left hand wall. Gonna chop the legs to drop the height a bit and going to make a new lid/seat up as the lid they supply is as flimsy as you could possibly imagine - I can just see someone going straight through it when they sit down!

I just need to get the right hand side panel done which hopefully shouldn't be too difficult, and I need to redo the rear panel of the feature hole (rookie mistake right at the start - I didn't think about where the panels would be once up and put the mains socket right in the wrong place!). After that it's just some filling and sanding and then it should be ready to put the LED's up permanently and ready to paint.

Once that's done I've got to make a unit to go inside the cupboard to house the av gear. Nothing special, just a couple of shelves for the amp/sky hd and a couple of vertical spaces for the PS3 and the Wii.

[jamesk190]

So first day back at work and had grand ideas about getting away on time to have an hour or so to get some more done then...

My boss decides to tell me at lunchtime I've got to sit in as note taker for a grievance hearing and bang goes all my plans! Not only did I not get away at 4.30 (the correct end of my shift, an early shift), I was even still there nearly an hour after the end of the late shift - what a crappy first day back!

I'm gonna see if I can get the other chest/bench seat put together (although I am going to have to modify the base of it so I can have the sub inside it but still resting on the floor), or maybe I'll just sit down in front of the apprentice final with a beer and a curry! (I didn't get to watch it yesterday so got it recorded - managed to go the whole day without anyone telling me the result!)

Hey ho, hopefully I'll be home in time to do some tomorrow instead!

[norty mart]

hi James, good to see I'm not the only one wishing their life away so they can get on with stuff

What are the magnetic catches you've got on the side panel?
...got me thinking of alternative storage door solutions for my build...maybe a damped drop-down using a push release...duno, sorry I'm hijacking your thread with hardwae musings!

[jamesk190]

Originally Posted by norty mart

hi James, good to see I'm not the only one wishing their life away so they can get on with stuff

What are the magnetic catches you've got on the side panel?
...got me thinking of alternative storage door solutions for my build...maybe a damped drop-down using a push release...duno, sorry I'm hijacking your thread with hardwae musings!

Oh yeah, much rather be at home finishing this off than at work!

The magnetic catches are from Isaac Lord (Push Latch - Magnetic 680 - Power Tools, Cabinet Fittings, Ironmongery & Woodworking Machinery) and I bought 8 of them (I've got some other uses for them around the house) - they cost me just over £10 including P&P.

They've done the job nicely, letting me have an access panel that should be fairly well hidden once painted yet easy to get to!

[jamesk190]

So it's been much harder than I though making any real progress with the work in the evenings. I can't really do any drilling or sawing coz the little ones have gone to bed by the time I'm in any position to do any work which doesn't leave me with much to do!

I did get the 2nd of the bench seats made up (minus the lid as I'm going to be re-doing them anyway as they're a bit flimsy!) and cleared as much as I can from the front room so you can really see what it's going to end up looking like. The old TV has now gone (sold for £50 to someone at work - nice!) and the cupboard on the left hand side will have some shelves put in for DVD's and a couple of shelves/holes in the bottom of the main compartment to house the PS3, Wii, Sky HD and the amp.

The missus is taking the boys to their grandparents' house tomorrow morning so I can make as much mess and noise as I need to - hopefully should make some meaningful progress - watch this space!

[jamesk190]

It's been a while since my last update (sorry Si!!)

Been doing little bits after work and had a bash at getting a load done today.

Managed to get the vast majority of the lighting channel done, just 1 and a bit boards to go and we're down to the filling and sanding (can't wait for that, I've heard it's the best bit!!)

Got the rope lights up to check them out and really pleased with how they look. Just like the LEDs behind the panel, they look great in pics but so much better in real life!

...anyway, that's all for the moment, hopefully finish the lighting tomorrow and make a start on the filling - that said, it's the British GP tomorrow so might not get much done at all!!!

[SeedyR]

Looks great so far mate, keep up the good work

Out of interest if you don't mind me asking, how much have you spent so far not including the actual AV equipment?

[jamesk190]

Originally Posted by SeedyR

Looks great so far mate, keep up the good work

Out of interest if you don't mind me asking, how much have you spent so far not including the actual AV equipment?

I'm not exactly sure but when i went through a load of b&q receipts that covered most of the bits i've bought since starting it was just over £300. It did include a couple of tools that i needed to buy to do some of the work as well.

It's been hard work but i've loved it so far and can't wait 'til it's finished

[jamesk190]

Had a pretty productive day yesterday and still got to watch the GP!

Got the last of the lighting channel finished and got the ropelight fixed up and wired into the remote socket (I say wired, more accurately I just plugged it in!)

Also got the hole cut in the back of the cupboard so finally started getting the cables hidden.