"Little" Project

S11YBM · 27-01-2008, 7:45 PM

Hi Guys,
Just started my first AV project, which consists of removing a load baring wall to make a through lounge. It started of with a few simple plans, but it turned out to be more complex than I first envisaged.

Firstly I had to get the plans drawn up and approved by the local council. Which was the simple part. The first problem was to find the builder to remove the wall between the two rooms. This took us 2 months!!

Before the demolition started without the furniture:

Day 1
An early start to the day for the builders. Firstly they had to put up the supports to hold up the ceiling and the joists. Then they started to knock down the wall, which took about an hour by one guy!!

Wall knocked down:

Day 2
The foundation was dug out, this measured 100cm deep by 750cm wide. This took a while, they had to use an industrial digger to go through the concrete.

They stripped the wallpaper, getting it ready to be skimmed. The skip failed to arrive, leaving our living room looking like a dumping ground

The foundation:

The dumping ground

Day 3
No builders today, so took this opportunity to run the wires for the wall lights and a ceiling light.

I also took this time to plan out the layout of the AV equipment and the furniture.

This is the proposed layout of the TV and the AV unit:

Proposed floor plan:

Anyone have any suggestions on the placement of the left surround speaker? Is it ok where it is? Or should I put it in the corner by the bay window?

Comments and suggestions are welcome!!

Scifi Lord · 27-01-2008, 8:02 PM

Hi looks like a big job mate, looking forward to the finished project.

Phil_1080 · 27-01-2008, 9:26 PM

Looks like a decent job!

How did you make that plan?

S11YBM · 27-01-2008, 9:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by big Lee

Hi looks like a big job mate, looking forward to the finished project.

Yep, its a big job, but Im sure it will be worth it

Quote:

Originally Posted by Phil_1080

Looks like a decent job!

How did you make that plan?

Used PowerPoint to make the plans, with a little work on photoshop.

Y15HAL · 28-01-2008, 11:19 AM

Looks like your making some decent progress there!

And your right about it looking like a dumping ground

But im sure it will be worth it in the end.

Keep us updated with progress pics

ramdor · 28-01-2008, 12:15 PM

Looking good

Hope you are going to put some capping over the wall light cables before they are plastered in though

Richie.

Pupster01 · 28-01-2008, 11:32 PM

out of interest y did the foundation have to be removed usually you would just reduce it to a suitable lever for the new floor to be built over it rather than fully removing it

S11YBM · 29-01-2008, 8:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pupster01

out of interest y did the foundation have to be removed usually you would just reduce it to a suitable lever for the new floor to be built over it rather than fully removing it

As the wall that was removed was a load baring wall, I will need to put in a RSJ for support, the foundation is for the pillar which will need to be built for the RSJ to rest on.

I will try and draw up a quick diagram tonight to explain it better.

S11YBM · 29-01-2008, 10:25 PM

Day 4
Still no sign of the skip!!

The builders started to prep the ceiling for skimming and filled in the channels that were dug out for the wall lamps.

I ordered the AV unit today, should be delivered in 2 weeks. Hopefully by then all the building work should be complete. I went for the Napoli Entertainment unit from Tesco: http://direct.tesco.com/q/R.100-9311.aspx

Day 5
Finally the skip arrived!!!

The room was cleared of all the mess, which was created when knocking the wall down and digging the foundation. This took a bit of time as there was a lot of rubble!! After clearing up, the first wall was skimmed.

The support pillar for the RSJ was built. This is now ready for the RSJ which hopefully should be put up tomorrow!

S11YBM · 31-01-2008, 10:32 PM

Day 6
The RSJ support went up and got boxed in.

Now that the floor space is cleared, I took the chance to run the cables. I ran the cables for the sub, rear speaker cables, tv arial and cable under the floor boards.

The skimming continued:

Day 7
Today the builders replaced the floor boards over the foundation they dug for the support pillar. Most of the wall got skimmed today. Hopefully they dry soon in this cold weather!!

We decided to keep only one entrance to the room, so we boarded up one door with plasterboard. Which then got covered with bonding.

Y15HAL · 01-02-2008, 9:04 AM

Thats looking good, Looks like alot of progress has been made in the last couple of days.

Doesnt look like much building work left, apart from finishing off the skimming, and then new flooring?

ap69 · 01-02-2008, 10:45 AM

Hi

From your proposed layout it seems no-one will have a direct view of the screen - every viewing position will be side-on, which seems a bit of a shame.

Have you thought about moving the screen further to the right, so it directly faces the sofa (I had it this way in my old property)?

Ypu could also consider moving the 3-seater where the armchair is, and move the armchair against a wall, which would open up the lounge.

Alternatovely you coule move the 2-seater firther to the right on your image, whioch makes the viewing area much more of a sqaure and self-contained.

Re. the rear speakers, perhaps you could move these further apart, and make them level with the 3-seater instead of behind?

Great thread by the way

S11YBM · 02-02-2008, 11:24 PM

Thank Y15HAL & ap69 for your comments!!

ap69 - I wanted to make the "TV Feature" such that it is in the middle of the room...I know what you mean about no one having a direct view of the screen. I have ran some extra cables for the rear speakers, so hopefully once all completed I can find the optimum position for them. I will prob experiment with the position of the sofas, again trying to find the best viewing position.

Day 8
All the walls got skimmed today. I am very pleased with the finish, just need to wait for them to dry out. Prob a long wait with the recent cold weather!!

The old flooring was taken off and the floor was prepared for the new flooring to be layed.

Here are a couple pics of the room so far:

Day 9

The floor started to get layed today. Very pleased with the progress, they managed to floor the whole lounge today, got a bit left to do in the hall way. Hopefully all will be finished tomorrow.

I am very impressed at the finish of the flooring and the quality of the fitting!!

S11YBM · 04-02-2008, 9:09 PM

Day 10

The flooring got completed including the beading around the edges. We moved all the furniture back in, just got to wait for the walls to dry.

Here are a fews snaps:

Any suggestions on colours? I am thinking of keeping the colours light!

ramdor · 04-02-2008, 11:58 PM

Looking good. I personally wouldnt have tempted fate putting the flooring down until all the moisture was out of the room. You would be amazed how much water they used to mix that plaster. Fingers crossed for you nothing bad happens.

Riche.

jolly · 05-02-2008, 6:24 AM

Wow

If that’s a little project I hate to see you idea of large!

S11YBM · 12-02-2008, 8:56 AM

Thanks for all your comments

I thought I will give an update. Nothing much has happend since my last post. The walls are almost dry (about 98%).

Hopefully I should be able to get some paint on them this weekend. I still have not decided on the colour, I'm thinking of light colours. Any suggestions??

cpt1979 · 13-02-2008, 12:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by S11YBM

Hopefully I should be able to get some paint on them this weekend. I still have not decided on the colour, I'm thinking of light colours. Any suggestions??

Timeless by Dulux works for me,

jolly · 13-02-2008, 5:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by S11YBM

Thanks for all your comments

I thought I will give an update. Nothing much has happend since my last post. The walls are almost dry (about 98%).

Hopefully I should be able to get some paint on them this weekend. I still have not decided on the colour, I'm thinking of light colours. Any suggestions??

Whatever the wife wants works for me

S11YBM · 12-03-2008, 10:08 PM

It's been a long time since my last update

Been busy with my new property. Finally started the painting today. At the end we decided to go for Dulux Natural Hessian.

Ill post pics up as soon as I get a chance.

mike69 · 13-03-2008, 2:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by S11YBM

Day 10

The flooring got completed including the beading around the edges. We moved all the furniture back in, just got to wait for the walls to dry.

Here are a fews snaps:

Any suggestions on colours? I am thinking of keeping the colours light!

Really sorry to critise but all that hard work and then you went for beading round the edges. That amazes me. You should have removed the skirting and laid the floor underneath and then used new skirting. It would have looked 100 times better. Unfortunately laying floor is easy, replacing skirting isn't and most of the "fitters" don't have a qualification between them. A true Chippy would be horrified.

S11YBM · 19-03-2008, 7:58 PM

Finally, I had a chance to take some pics:

As you can see the walls and ceilings are now painted. This weekend I'm going to start the build of the feature wall!!

I'll keep you guys posted!

jolly · 20-03-2008, 6:35 PM

Love the colours, dark floor and light wall's go well together

Graham88 · 20-03-2008, 7:01 PM

Looks superb.

Y15HAL · 21-03-2008, 10:49 PM

Looking good dude, A good choice of colours with the walls and ceilings

Now get on with that feature!

S11YBM · 15-04-2008, 9:20 PM

Finally started the floating wall today!!

Firstly I mounted the TV on the wall and built the frame for the floating wall.

Then I measured and cut the MDF to size and fixed it to the frame.

These pics where taken from my phone

....I didnt have the camera on me. I'll take better pics and post them soon.

Just waiting for the polyfiller to dry then I can put the paper up on the floating wall.

S11YBM · 18-04-2008, 1:26 PM

We got the paper on the other day:

The next morning we realised that the MDF had wapped

The only way I can think for sorting this out is to strip the paper, add some more screws to the top of the MDF and then re-papar it.

Any one have any other suggestions?

VL.VoOdoO · 19-04-2008, 9:41 PM

How thick is the MDF? Thick enough to use brackets on the framework behind the MDF to pull it back? I can't tell from the picture if you would be able to get screws short enough and with enough grip into the MDF without coming through the front of it or not.

S11YBM · 21-04-2008, 8:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by VL.VoOdoO

How thick is the MDF? Thick enough to use brackets on the framework behind the MDF to pull it back? I can't tell from the picture if you would be able to get screws short enough and with enough grip into the MDF without coming through the front of it or not.

The MDF is only 9mm thick. I don't think its thick enough fix brackets on. I decided to put more screws from the front and repaper it.

jagdeepp · 21-04-2008, 12:23 PM

...I would try smaller brackets. Even if the screw pokes through a slight bit it won't really be noticeable. Dont think you'll get away with sticking another sheet of paper on the front. Remember, its MDF. The glue will soak through the board eventually. If that were the course you were going to follow i'd have thought plasterboard would have been the better option. Hindsight is a wonderful tool.

Stick to smaller brackets. Alternatively try this... Glue a batten onto the back of the mdf above the bit where it warps... Let it dry for a day or two. Then stick a bracket to that and screw it onto your frame. Should be the better option me thinks. Its also a quick non messy option.