rude-dogs lounge install

lord-dudester · 25-05-2008, 9:15 PM

ok folks, thought it was about time to get my main viewing area (lounge) into shape as its always been a bit shabby

we've now lived in this house for a year, and we bought it as a bit of a renovation project. its around 120 years old and generally was a right mess when we moved in. so now i've got the major probs like central heating and bathroom and kitchen sorted out, ive finally got the spare cash to sort the lounge out

before!! (a few weeks back)

the project i reckon is gonna take around 4-6 weeks to complete, so its gonna be a work in progress, and i'll update as things progress...

the original plan was just to buy some new AV gear and give the room a quick lick of paint, carpet etc etc, but as always its now gone completely out of control

over the last few weeks this lots arrived:

and ive also ditched the 32'' toshiba in favour of a 37'' for the time being (gonna see how it go's and may stretch to a 42 at a later date (cost depending!)

so far over the last few days, we've had the room cleared and discovered that the quality of the walls and ceiling was really bad. i was chasing the cables out and the walls were completely crumbling, so a complete re-skim is gonna be needed! the walls in the house crumble like biscuits when you drill in for the first 10mm then they're like granite, a real pain to work with!

lord-dudester · 25-05-2008, 9:24 PM

most of this was done today...

i ripped the fire place out and bricked it up mid week, so ive dabbed a board on the wall today and got it ready to run the cables and power up to the tv

today ive also run most of the speaker cable in (QED micro), luckily when i removed all the skirting board the was about a 2-3 inch gap in the render and plaster on the walls to the floor so ive been able to tidy it up and run most of the cables into it

i've also shifted the phone master socket, for some strange reason it was originally at the height of the window !?!?!? so i've got the bits and extended it myself to hide it away out of sight

luckily i've a mate who works for BT and he sorted me out all the bits for nothing and its a doddle to do, so i've just extended the cable internally and plastered over it, took about 5 mins to do and i was well pleased cos i expected it to be a nightmare

lord-dudester · 25-05-2008, 9:33 PM

tomorrow im going to crack on with getting the rears in, probly gonna run them under the floor somehow then up the walls. i've got to get it sorted tomorrow as i've booked the plasterer in for mid week to come and skim the lot (ceiling and spots install too) so i really want to get it sorted and do a test run before he gets here

also whilst i've the time tomorrow i'm going to order the new skirting board and coving, i'll fit this myself as im desperate to keep the cost down!

further update tomorrow pm

RD

jolly · 26-05-2008, 5:02 AM

A good start, what are you thinking of putting non the floor?

lord-dudester · 26-05-2008, 2:30 PM

the floors gonna be carpeted somehow. not really thought too much about decor yet. the other halfs moaning away about how much she loves wooden floors, but ive laid down the law, i never bothered explaining why!

lord-dudester · 26-05-2008, 3:06 PM

managed to get quite a bit done today:

got the rears in ready to go...

chased the wires in, took about 2 secs as the walls on the rear are crumbly too

ive run the sub lead and power under the floor boards to where it will sit under the window, and managed to nick a few lengths of skirting from my mate so i've sized it up and got it cut ready. i decided, one again due to cost to pull the cables through the skirting as it wont be seen when the subs in front of it, im also gonna do this with cables as they run into the amp etc, as this wont be seen either. im gonna place an av cabinet of some sort in front of it

this ones where the cables will come in to the back of the amp etc. the sub power lead was a bit short, so i'm going to pull it through the skirting in the corner

finally a question and some help is required from my fellow members! when i dabbed a board on the chimney breast i had to level the wall out and it caused a bit of a gap behind the board in the middle of the wall. im concerned about fixing the tv to it due to the weight.

the coach bolts that came with my bracket seemed a bit short so i've bought some longer ones that i think will give a better hold

the bracket allows for eight in total, i think/hope they will hold it ok

let me know what you think.... i thought of maybe using 4 of each (8 in total) as at a guess the shorter ones wouldn't go into the chimney breast deep enough

the bracket i bought is an imount that offers a 16mm depth for 30 quid

final pic for today is where the tv will mount the wall, i'm running 2 5m hdmi's (1 for safety, as the onkyo will do the rest) and the centre speaker will mount just below, im also waiting for a plate to come through to finish it off nicely.

and thats about it for today, the plasterers booked for this week, so im going to get everything hooked up tomorrow night for a final test before he comes...

more tomorrow

RD

Blackmage · 26-05-2008, 3:17 PM

Nice stuff so far

KobeoneHD · 26-05-2008, 4:40 PM

Excellent work

, would be interested on you thoughts on the Toshiba as im really considering trading in my 32" samasung for a 40" Toshiba?

Thanks
KobeoneHD

lord-dudester · 26-05-2008, 4:54 PM

i looked at the 40'' but thought the standard def was a bit wafty compared to the 37''... a friend bought the picture frame 40'' model and i was well impressed on HD playback but thought the SD was a bit off the pulse

also the 37'' was a steal in price compared to its bigger borthers, ive made sure though that my wall is wide enough for a bigger model in the near future though!

jolly · 26-05-2008, 7:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rude-dog

the floors gonna be carpeted somehow. not really thought too much about decor yet. the other halfs moaning away about how much she loves wooden floors, but ive laid down the law, i never bothered explaining why!

Brave man

lord-dudester · 26-05-2008, 8:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jolly

Brave man

you gotta put your foot down every now and then!

jolly · 27-05-2008, 4:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rude-dog

you gotta put your foot down every now and then!

So true

leew914 · 27-05-2008, 1:48 PM

Looking good so for. Wall mounting is definatly the way to go, finally got mine done after upgrading to a bigger tv as the 32" wouldnt have looked right in my room. Your tosh looks like the baby brother to mine, if so you shouldnt be disappointed. I dont watch any SD sources, but through HDMI everything looks good and now have a HD DVD ad-on for the Xbox and that picture is sweet!!

Lee

crimsoneagle · 27-05-2008, 3:27 PM

This will look the dogs when its finished

lord-dudester · 27-05-2008, 5:03 PM

thats if i can ever afford to finish it! its running seriously over budget already!

gonna run a test tonight, so i'll post back later

RD

Event Horizon · 28-05-2008, 3:02 PM

hi mate!!
great job

i will look forwards to seeing your progress.
i guess your neighbours are going to get to hear war films as they should be heard

keep up the good work mate.
best regards
nick.

lord-dudester · 28-05-2008, 4:01 PM

thanks nick, nice to hear from ya too

i think im gonna make them think its a battle field in my house the amount of bullets they're gonna here flying!

i've got platoon ready to go when its all done! you just can't beat the sound track!

also i can't wait to get it on call of duty... should sound sweeet!

go easy

nick (RD)

lord-dudester · 28-05-2008, 8:18 PM

final update before the re-skim

just whipped out the amp, screen and a speaker tonight for another quick test before the point of no return, just mainly to check all the cables/wires were cool with no probs. anyways alls good so more tomorrow...

rd

jolly · 29-05-2008, 4:48 AM

Looks miles better with the fireplace gone

lord-dudester · 29-05-2008, 8:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jolly

Looks miles better with the fireplace gone

i completely agree... i hated it - messy as hell

was a nightmare talking the other half into getting rid of it, in the end i settled at 10 foot massages and a bottle of perfum to get her to agree!

what she loved about it was the fact that she never had to bl00min clean it!!!!!

jolly · 30-05-2008, 4:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rude-dog

i completely agree... i hated it - messy as hell

was a nightmare talking the other half into getting rid of it, in the end i settled at 10 foot massages and a bottle of perfum to get her to agree!

what she loved about it was the fact that she never had to bl00min clean it!!!!!

Got away lightly then

lord-dudester · 09-06-2008, 9:21 PM

a bit of a minor update for you, basically ive been quiet due to extensive decorating.

plasterer came and skimmed the lot out last week, so i've been painting like mad... its boring me to tears now, and i'll be so glad once its finished - im really missing having the room to use too

more pics later this week

jro7563 · 09-06-2008, 11:39 PM

This is looking really good, im after doing something very similar, but im still only at the "trying to convince the wife to lose her precious fire place" stage

Look forward to seeing more

jolly · 10-06-2008, 5:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rude-dog

a bit of a minor update for you, basically ive been quiet due to extensive decorating.

plasterer came and skimmed the lot out last week, so i've been painting like mad... its boring me to tears now, and I'll be so glad once its finished - I'm really missing having the room to use too

more pics later this week

Glad I'm not the only one who finds painting boring

After 10 minutes I'm bored witless

lord-dudester · 10-06-2008, 6:05 PM

ah its the worse DIY task of them all. especially painting fresh plaster, a million coats later and its still not finished

install WILL be finished SOON!!!!

delboyuk2005uk · 10-06-2008, 7:09 PM

I might start a home diy project myself fed up with my 50" panny I want to get an hd projector but its hard to put it in my room ill try and take pics of my room later

lord-dudester · 10-06-2008, 9:28 PM

ive been thinking the same really, should i have put a projector in... mmm? its not too tricky to add one at a later date, but im worried about the viewing distance i could get... decisions decisions....

Event Horizon · 10-06-2008, 11:09 PM

hi mate!!
looking forwards to seeing some more pics,

its looking good bud

i would deffo go down the PJ route if possible . you probably know of this site anyway, but its great for rough calculations.
http://www.projectorcentral.com/proj...ulator-pro.cfm
keep up the good work.
best regards
nick.

jolly · 11-06-2008, 5:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rude-dog

ah its the worse DIY task of them all. especially painting fresh plaster, a million coats later and its still not finished

install WILL be finished SOON!!!!

I just water down the first coat, tends to seal new plaster fine

Then it's 2 more coats and Bob's your uncle

lord-dudester · 14-07-2008, 10:19 PM

ok finally getting there!

been so busy at work the installs been put on the back burner, but ive finally got the decor sorted.

went for a light grey colour scheme, looks nice and bright in the day, with the spots looking good on it too, and darkens down well with low light for film watching

all the wires are in and tested, and the mounts for the speakers are sorted too.

due to great reviews i went for the alphason cabinet to store all the goodies, had to mod it a bit to fit the 606 in it as its a super snug fit, but really pleased with it for the money, £150 with great service and delivery from chaseAV... only took an hour to build too.

carpets being fitted this wednesday, so i'll be back for an update on the final hardware install. gotta pick up a few leads over the next few days too to hook everything up. i also picked up a cheap ex-display tosh E1 from comet and a great deal on a 360 elite off 'advantage998' from the classified here so im nearly all ready to go!

more wednesday....