[S2Tigger]

Hi All

We are building a new property, just about to put up the SIPS frame (this Monday) and I need to sort the set up out for the audio video for the whole house! I am intending to put all the infrastructure in now and fully kit it out over the next couple or so years! This thread will follow my progress....for a quick look at just the pictures that are posted throughout the thread, goto here

This is what it will look like and the layout of the building:

I have managed to get a dedicated cupboard for the AV hub/home network (about 1mx1.2m) in during house design. This cupboard is to have the air extracted from it via our heat recovery system, so the kit want overheat when the door is shut! The cupboard is next to the lounge, so I intend to keep all the AV stuff in it for the whole house.

My current plan, unless anyone can come up with a better more cost effective solution is to use a Octava 4x8 HDMI Matrix (Cat6 based, I know you can't get a 4x8 yet, but I hopefull one is due out soon!) to distibute the video/audio around the house.

I am hoping to use an Onkyo AV Amp (TXNR906) to run a 5.1 set up in the lounge (which will be my main cinema room) driving speakercraft AIM cinema one (would like use 3's) for the fronts, speakercraft LCR one for the centre and speakercraft cinema dipole one for the rears. I have yet to decide on the bass speaker!

I am hoping (wife is yet to agree) to install a screen and projector in ceiling, well at least the wiring for one!

The whole house audio will be serviced via sonos, at least I can buy what i can affford now and add to it later, I'll just put the speakers in the ceilings and power where the units will sit.

As for screens, I've yet to decide, will look into this nearer the time (2-3 months)

I intend to put in shed loads of cat6 cable and coax, probably overkill, but it should be at least a little future proof! Wife doesn't agree, but she was the one that originally said a 37" plasma was too big only to say that we should have got a 42" after the 37" was installed and working

Darren

[leo79]

Hi Darren

Sounds good, best of luck with the build.
You might get good info posting this in the custom installers forum.
Keep us posted with pics.

Cheers
Leon

[Da_Rude_Baboon]

Hi Darren,

Your house build/setup sounds exactly like the one i intend to do if i ever find a plot!

It sounds like you have everything pretty much sorted out though. The standard advice seems to be 4x cat5e (or 6) and 2x coax to each television point.

Who is building your house?

[S2Tigger]

The project has been going for a while, originally purchased the property in April 2008, took a while to get planning....then we opted to demolish and rebuild because it would be cheaper (you can claim all the VAT back on a new build)

We are building it ourselves, well not totally correct, we are employing people to do it for us!! To date we have demolished the old property, cleared the plot, redone the foundations (glad we decided to demolish, the old properties foundations were dodgy to say the least!!), put a block and beam floor down (120 beams and over 1650 blocks!) and put down a layer of blocks/bricks for the SIP frame to sit on.

The SIP panels are being supplied and installed by lowfield timber frames on monday (16/11/09) and we have a roofer lined up to start straight after....windows will follow as soon as after.



The property will have whole house audio, video and a couple of cctv cameras for the front gate/drive area.

Photos will now be posted direct to this thread, much easier and quicker for me and everyone else

Darren

[albriscoe]

Hi Darren

apart from knocking one down first your doing what we`ve just finished

all my AV kit goes into a dedicated room with 19" 44u rack, its a great way one doing it especially with being able to get round the back for cabling purposes.

we ran 4 x Cat 5 and 2 x sat/coax to every tv point in every room, also completely wired every room for multi room audio with each room having wired controller points.

Some say its overkill but I know its not to run this much cableing, they`ll all get used eventually mate trust me.

Also to every room is a cable for IR control as well.

Audio is supplied with my Onkyo 905 and this feeds MK inwalls and an MK 5100 sub in a 7.1 setup, if you don`t need zone 2 on the Onkyo for somewhere else I suggest you wire for 7.1.

Def def def wire for a projector, your missus will love it I promise once she sees it and you`ll be the best dad in the world as well

Can I ask you mate if your gonna post pics on this thread to sign up to photobucket (free) and host them from there as they appear nice and big for us to see.

My threads are in my sig below so if you want to have a peep at our build your welcome, they are from the very beginning as well so plenty to see.

Good luck with it all btw

cheers Al

[newbie1]

I agree with Al, go for the wiring even if you think it's overkill at the moment.

We finished our build about a year ago with 2xCat6 and 1xCoax everywhere (plans were drawn up 3 years ago) and I have run up against a couple of problems as so much kit benefits from a network connection now. I can workaround it, but much better to lay a bit more cable now I would think.

For the whole house audio I looked at Sonos and some others but in the end went for the Revox system http://www.revox.ch/index.tpl??iid=l...lang=2&iid2=40

Good luck!

[S2Tigger]

I did look at other options, but sonos seemed the easy route and I can install the speakers and wire up the power and network and just add the sonos units as i can afford them. To start will just have the lounge, kitchen and maybe the master bedroom connected.

What was the cost of your system (if you don't mind sharing?!) and how many zones can play different music?

I have look at albriscoe's thread and will post pictures directly into this thread, I'm just uploading pictures to my online storage and will link directly to them like everyone else does!!

Darren

[newbie1]

Hi Darren

I'm sure you would get up and running with Sonos for much less budget and adding extra rooms will also be cheaper.

To compare like for like remember that each room needs control, amplification and speakers one way or another. In the Revox world it works like this:
- control is by remote to infrared eye, small keypad and screen on the wall, or iPhone,
- the M51 unit includes 5.1 good amplication and DVD for the main room plus integrated modules for multiroom control, radio, multimedia (internet/iPod/NAS)
- each additional room needs its own amp and this can also take a local input
- your choice of speakers
Excluding speakers the main M51 with multiroom and other modules full new price would be about 5k from memory (but you can get for much less, for example one sold recently on ebay for about 2k) and each extra room amp plus keypad controller would be about 800.

For Sonos you have:
- controller, computer or iPhone
- zoneplayer (ZP) without amp to connect to your existing kit,
- ZP with amp connecting to your choice of speakers
- ZP with speaker all in one
For comparison a zoneplayer with amp + controller is about 600, so the difference soon adds up.

With Revox I think you can have up to 4 independent sources to 4 zones, and each zone can be more than one room. The reasons I went for Revox were firstly that I was starting off with no pre-existing AV kit so I was going to need a good 5.1 amp anyway, second all the modules are in the one box, and thirdly I really like having the keypads on wall so no controllers laying about to loose and no boxes in the rooms just the speakers.

Hope this helps

[S2Tigger]

Hi All

Following albriscoe's excellent thread (which I have read a few time), I thought I would share our build. Slightly different to albriscoe's as we didn't have a clear plot, we had an existing structure to demolish first.

Property prior to any work starting...I have a front shot, but can't find it!! Will edit and add it later!

So the first step was to demolish the property and start again. We wanted to extend the property to a full blown house, but planning would not allow the increase in height.

In the end we managed to get a dorma bungalow with a small increase of height (about 1.1m). We also managed to get small extentions to the rear and front of the property.

The following pictures were taken during demolition:

Demolition was planned in 2 stages, manually taking off the roof, ceilings and windows and then bring in a small digger to demolish the rest. The reason for doing it this way was to keep the neighbours happy and keep the dust down!

First off was the tiles, these were taken away and recycled. The guy doing the demolition was very keen to recycle as much as he could

View of the rear garden from inside the roof, some idea of what the view will be from the new upper bedrooms

Old felt taken off next, exposing the timber roof, this wil also be recycled

Rafters off....

Rear view, in the new property the 2 patio doors and windows will be replaced by 2 folding sliding doors, 1 5.5m wide and the other just under 5m wide. These 2 rooms will be kitchen and lounge (were the home cinema is going)

All roof timbers off...

Front view, the bay window to the front was the kitchen, in the new build this will be our study with the av cupboard to the rear.

Front right

Further on, ceiling joists gone..

Rear

rear right

Windows out

Front

Start of final demolition with digger

[S2Tigger]

Demolition goes alot more quickly when you're driving a digger!!

Go away for the rest of the day and find the building gone

All gone!

Now the start of the new build, we left the old foundations in the ground until the start of the new foundations, this is due to the layout being slightly different to the old property, we should be able to leave in the ground about 50% of the old foundations...

Trench for rear walls

First foundations poured, we are digging and pouring....with 13 loads of concrete going in, it took 2 days to complete

left side foundations, the structral warrenty guy wanted us to use clayboard due to shrinkable clay and trees close by....

Concrete part of foundations complete, we were planning on using a concrete slab, but the structrual warrenty guy insisted on beam and block, so we had to take some oversite off...

Foundation blocks going down, due to the weight of the roof, we had to use heavy blocks

Blockwork now complete...

My part to save water, 6,500 litre rainwater harvesting tank, this will feed the washing machine and toilets as well as being used to clean the cars....

[S2Tigger]

Beam and block going down, 120 beams and over 1600 blocks. This was all done in 1 day with 6 of us helping....it then took another 2-3 days to complete, cutting blocks for the infill bits...

This section was left incomplete, we had to dig a 1.5m trench for the ground to air pipe which feeds the heat recovery unit, this will cool air in the summer and heat the cold air up in the winter....

The incomplete section above now finished off, blue pipe sticking up is the ground to air pipe, the white one is the whole house vacum, this will go to the garage.

Sewage/rain water pipes going in to rear and sides of property so we can connect up and finalise when house is built....

Scaffold and blocks/bricks for soleplate to sit on gone down, wife wanted a pool, if the rain keeps up we'll have on in the rear lounge

Top left, downstairs bedroom and ensuite, the utility and right of picture is childrens playroom (dining room on planning application!)

Top left, kitchen/family room and bottom left bit of lounge

Top left lounge, then going down to bottom left the av cupboard, downstairs toliet and study with bay window.
Bottom right is hallway for front door and stairs

Possible rear views from bedroom windows, taken off scaffolding....

[S2Tigger]

First load of our new house

This contains the soleplates and first few panels plus the I-joists

Panels all wraped up and ready to be installed....

I think we need a bigger drive!!

After day 1, first sole plate down with dpm below....

First panels going up

Progress at end of day 2, second fix soleplate also fitted ready to accept panels. Also had second delivery of panels

Thats brought the project upto date, have the roofer lined up and also window people....once the house frame is complete, the garage and water tank will be installed along with the 60m of ground to air pipe which is going in drive....

[Andyjc]

this is going to be very interesting to see it progress.

the speed is amazing!

very best of luck with it all!

[S2Tigger]

Speed amazing ?!! The demolition was started in July 09!

The frame should go up in 2-3 weeks and all being well, we should have the roof on, windows in and bricks up by the end of the year.

The windows could have been ordered off plan, but we decided to play safe and measure from the real thing, the rear folding sliding doors will take the longest to arrive, so we are hoping to measure as soon as that bit of the frame is done so we can get the order in asap.

We are also have a front door specially made, we are not putting this in unitl most of the internal stuff is done, save getting it damaged, a temporary door will be installed to make it safe.

Darren

[Da_Rude_Baboon]

Looks great so far. I was expecting the SIPS panels to have a finished surface on them and conduit for services. Do you frame and plasterboard the internal walls as normal or is there another method?

[S2Tigger]

Originally Posted by Da_Rude_Baboon

Looks great so far. I was expecting the SIPS panels to have a finished surface on them and conduit for services. Do you frame and plasterboard the internal walls as normal or is there another method?

You can use various options, but we are opting for 2 sheets of plasterboard, one will go inbetween the electrical wires and the other over the top and then skimmed.

For the lounge, we are putting in a false wall to put the tv, speakers etc in.

Darren

[Bomer]

Hmm, those panels... what are they for (like, what do they replace) as I take it you put brickwork on the outer side of them yes?

[S2Tigger]

Originally Posted by Bomer

Hmm, those panels... what are they for (like, what do they replace) as I take it you put brickwork on the outer side of them yes?

The panels replace the inner skin of the house, the outside of the property will be bricked up, so when complete, you would not know what it is made of....the only difference is that it will be draft free and nice and snug


UPDATE
Below are the latest photos taken over the last 2 days....the floor joists should be going up tomorrow, more photos to follow....

Another delivery, these are the ready made stud partitions for the first floor and chipboard for the floor...

Going up quickly....

More panels on slab ready to be errected...

Go away for a few hours and.....

Top of picture is lounge and bottom right is av cupboard

More progress....

Speeding up now

Beam going accross opening that will be later filled with folding sliding door....far wall is where the tv and projector screen will be going

Top shot of my av cupboard, pipe in bottom is for sat tv cable/telephone cable as this cupboard will also contain the computer stuff... is about 1.2m square....air will be extracted from the cupboard via heat recovery system....

Will update again tomorrow, then nothing will happen for a couple of days I suppose I can't grumble, only another 1.5 weeks to complete shell

Darren

[Bomer]

I'm going to keep an eye on this, it looks as though it's flying up and I am pretty interested in this sort of thing atm. House builds from scratch, pretty clueless now, but this forum is here to learn from

One of the hallways looks narrow on the 4th from bottom pic (the one in centre of the pic). Might just be the way I'm looking at it.

[S2Tigger]

That hallway is about a door width wide, it is a little longer than originally planned as we squeezed an ensuite in, is just over 1m wide.....maybe the camera angle...

The build is going quite quick, maybe too quick... will soon have to put all the wires in for the av stuff and haven't ordered anything yet

Darren

[S2Tigger]

Another update, these are last photos till monday

All being well (if the wife agrees) I should be able to get a projector screen inbetween the I-joists Anyone know of a projector lift or simular system to hide a projector inbetween 400mm centre joists?

More updates next week

Darren

[craigizmo2k2]

This is going to be an impressive one!!

[S2Tigger]

Another update today....a few joists put on, the steel beam is going up tomorrow, was due to go up today, but was too heavy to lift up manually

More updates tomorrow

Darren

[DJMALLZ]

hey darrell
what's up? how much roughly did the sips cost you for the whole build? which company did you get them from also please?
cheers

[S2Tigger]

Originally Posted by DJMALLZ

hey darrell
what's up? how much roughly did the sips cost you for the whole build? which company did you get them from also please?
cheers

Its Darren,not darrell

The frame supplied and errected was about £60k, this wasn't the cheapest quote we had, but the company (Lowfield Timber Frames, they have a small stand at the National Self Build Centre, Swindon) was the most helpful. It was also ordered quite a few months ago when work was drying up, so I suspect we got a stonking deal

The company have been very helpful and the advice given has been great, as complete newbies in selfbuilds, we have had tons of advice from them....all for free!

Will let you know if the finished install is upto expectation, but to date, the guys erecting it are doing a grand job, with a great eye for detail....

Darren

[DJMALLZ]

my apologies on the name, sent that message nearly midnight yday
anyhow i was asking about the price for the sips panel on their own not including services and timbers

kind regards

[jt2k6]

Originally Posted by S2Tigger

All being well (if the wife agrees) I should be able to get a projector screen inbetween the I-joists Anyone know of a projector lift or simular system to hide a projector inbetween 400mm centre joists?


Darren

Not sure of the dimensions, but have a look at this thread if you can't find an off the shelf solution.

http://www.avforums.com/forums/home-...ctor-lift.html

HTH

Matt

[S2Tigger]

Originally Posted by DJMALLZ

my apologies on the name, sent that message nearly midnight yday
anyhow i was asking about the price for the sips panel on their own not including services and timbers

kind regards

Forgiven

We did not get quotes for just the panels on there own as we wanted a complete solution. The upside of getting a supply and install is that if any problems occur, its their problem not mine and if something does go wrong, blame cannot be placed on the incorrect install as they are installing it. If you want a quote for panels only, give Garry a ring at Lowfied and he'll give you a quote... very knowledgeable and helpful guy...


Darren

[S2Tigger]

Originally Posted by jt2k6

Not sure of the dimensions, but have a look at this thread if you can't find an off the shelf solution.

http://www.avforums.com/forums/home-...ctor-lift.html

HTH

Matt

Have managed to find a company in the USA that can supply a shallow lift, I have since spoken to the guys installing the frame and it's not too late to make a minor adjustment to the joists to get a wider lift in

The company is lift-tech, the lifts aren't cheap, but I have zero skills in this type of thing and am willing to pay to get the right product...I have managed (I think) to get the wife to accept a projector in the ceiling if I can hide it out of view when not in use

I am thinking of a sanyo PLV-Z700, I should be able to install it 3.5m from wall , using the sanyo tool I gained the following information:

This should allow me to get a 90-100" image on the wall


Darren

[S2Tigger]

Todays update

Had another delivery today More panels for the roof, we still have more panels to come We should have moved the house back more to give more drive space

They have started to lay the first floor deck, I spoke to the install guys and I'm going to get a joist changed so I can fit the projector lift in Need to be on site first thing otherwise it will be too late to change.....

Will post more updates tomorrow.....