[Boycie99]

Afternoon and Help!

I am in a quandry and am after some advice on how to fix a problem that has bugged me since i moved in over 2 years ago now.
I have attached a couple of pictures so you can understand my issues.

The house I moved into had a wooden frame built and plastered that housed a rear projection tv. Being flat fronted this worked fine. When I put my Panasonic in the gap provided it sat too far back into the recess. Restricting viewing. Also the gap was only wide enough for a 37"

Well ive now had enough and want to hang a 42" on the wall by filling in the gap and slightly recessing it.

My problem is how to do it. The wooden frame is 4"X2". I was wondering if I could just remove the pasterboard and put some timber accross the divide and then re-plaster the frame.

The gap up the top will be enclosed and two new shelves built from timber below the panel

Does this sound feasible and if so how should i bolt/fix it all together to hold the plasma

Thanks in advance

Steve

[DaveCHCI]

Just a thought.... a cantilever (double arm) bracket may be a more simple solution. this will also allow you to get behind it alot easier for cabling.

[Boycie99]

Sorry I should have added that the back wall is pure plasterboard leading on to the hall. It seems the shell was built to accomodate the Rear projection TV and so anything attached to the rear wall is a non starter

Steve

[DaveCHCI]

So is there any structure behind this? Any bricks / blocks? If not would it be possible to remove the board and block up the hole? I would not recommend mounting a cantilever on plasterboard its asking for trouble! I think bricking up inside the recess may be the best option for the screen to be mounted securely.

[Boycie99]

Hi Dave,

There is a breezeblock wall either side of the wooden frame to which the wooden battens are attached to, to form the frame. There is nothing but plasterboard at the back making using the back for a cantilever a non starter as you mentioned.

I would like to cut some shelves in, below the screen to house the Amp etc especially as there is already the space (2 shelves very similar to the one above the main opening).

I thought the easiest way would be to cut the pasterboard out and build a frame within the original using wooden battons horizontally across the opeing attached to the existing frame. But I dont know if this would work or would be strong enough.

I guess I am asking has anyone done anything similar or seen anything similar
If not what else they could suggest.

Thanks for the reply Dave, I am just a bit loathed to brick it up if I want to use the space below the screen for shelving

Again thoughts or views would be most welcome so I can finally get started

Steve

[Boycie99]

Any other ideas or thoughts apart from Dave.
Its been driving me mad for a couple of years now and I was hoping for a bit of expert guidance on here

Steve

[MarkP80]

Steve,

I'd be tempted to bite the bullet here, and sort it out once and for all. OK, you're ready to modify it, so we accept there's some plastering to be done. You really want it removed I think, reading between the lines? But I presume you are reluctant to completely remove it due to the flooring?

How about removing it fully back to the wall, expect for say the bottom 18" or so. Keep the bottom bit for two reasons - 1) You don't need to make good the laminate floor and 2) You can put a top on it and turn it into an equipment housing.

You've now got a back wall that is flat again, as it was originally, I presume. First of all, this is going to make the room feel a lot bigger. So what about making good? You could get the whole wall skimmed, which would be fairly straight forward for a plasterer. Alternatively, build (wait for it) a floating wall. MDF a couple of inches form the wall will probably cover the damaged areas, will allow you somewhere to hide your cables as they drop into your equipment housing, and will let you put some cool backlighting in. That's my idea anyway. There's a few examples of floating walls in this section!

Cheers,
MarkP