[chillerz]

Hi guys,

I have been looking around the galleries and builds of the other members and I have been inspired and want to have a floating wall install built for myself. It is still at the early stages so bear with me.

Here is what the room and chimney breast looks like at the moment

As you can see the room is pretty cosy and the chimney takes up a lot of space in the room. Initially I was thinking of taking the chimnet out altogether but decided that it was not worth the it and now I am going to just build the floating wall on the front side of the chimney only.

I want to the final look to look clean and practical while not taking up much space in the room. I was thinking of removing the fireplace and after taking out the bricks etc make a storage unit that will house my components for the tv underneath.
Here is a basic picture of what I want it to look like once finished

I will be leaving the majority of the work for the tradesmen but the basic I will probably be able to do myself. I am stuck on a few things at the moment and was looking for advice on the following points.

1. As the chimney is large I dont want to the new wall to take up that much more space than it is currently taking. I was thinking of no more than 12 or 13cm from the front of the chimney taking the whole depth to no more than 65 cm. Would this be be possible. If so what size battens would you recommend for the frame etc and does anybody have any ideas on how much this should roughly cost to construct.

2. How do I go about boxing up the hole for the fireplace. Some members have extended the batten frame to the inside of the hole itself and plasterboarded while some members have constructed a box out of wood and boxed it up that way.

3. I am looking to get extra plug sockets to be fitted within the new storage cabinet itself. I think this will look cleaner and house all the wiring all in one place. Is this a good thing to do or is there anything else you can suggest.

Any other suggestions are always welcome.

Thanks guys.

[Geps]

You've already got a deep fireplace so if it were me, I'd ask a tradesman to put in a lintel about 300-400mm above the top line of the TV. You can then cut the wall out underneath this lintel and put the TV within that hole.

The advantage of this method is you can then batten the front of the wall with 18mm timber and then stick plasterboard on the front and skim giving you a maximum depth of 33mm into the room.

Extra sockets is always good but get an electrician to put them in.

[chillerz]

Thanks for the reply. So put get a builder to put in a lintel above the top of the TV and then remove a row or so of bricks under this from the chimney breast and then construct half a frame under this? Would I still be able to fix a tv mount to the brickwork rather than the frame.

[Geps]

Personally I say no. Take all the bricks out of the front face leaving just the two side walls of the breast and then you can insert the frame behind the front face of the chimney breast so that when the TV is put onto the bracket it's level with the face of the chimney breast.

[elliotskywalker]

my dad who is a builder says ...put a metal chimney framed lintol you bolt together up in the loft above the ceiling of your chiney breast...then simply remove the bricks underneath in your room...you then have a bigger room...its a bit messier but better in the long run.

[chillerz]

Originally Posted by elliotskywalker

my dad who is a builder says ...put a metal chimney framed lintol you bolt together up in the loft above the ceiling of your chiney breast...then simply remove the bricks underneath in your room...you then have a bigger room...its a bit messier but better in the long run.

so you think it is better if i take the whole chimney out?

[chillerz]

Originally Posted by Geps

Personally I say no. Take all the bricks out of the front face leaving just the two side walls of the breast and then you can insert the frame behind the front face of the chimney breast so that when the TV is put onto the bracket it's level with the face of the chimney breast.

ok thanks for clarifying. I will have a look into this. I wasn't expecting to take take the chimney apart lol. Do you have an estimate of what this should cost me or any pictures of a similar install. thanks

[Geps]

You do as Elliot says and you need to file a party wall notice with the neighbours. It's also not recommended (read - you'll need to convince LABC with calculations) if your neighbours have already taken theirs out.

No, best way IMO is my way. To put in a lintel like that is probably a days work start to finish as it's about half a day to do and you'd have to return to make good after the mortar has set. Depending on finish you're looking £200-250 for the lintel.

Are you doing the studs yourself? If not consider it as it's quite simple....else probably add on another 250 with (plaster) boarding out as well.

There's a thread on here by 'the noob' or a name similar that will give you ideas.