"Stealth" PJ Screen - help me set my living room

[Kronnuz]

First of all, HELLO to you all!
I've come to known this amazing forum and, since then, much did i learn with you guys (and girls ).

This is my first thread/post on AVForuns.
I would like to apologize for any ortographic error - i'm portuguese and my english is a little bit rusty...

Ok, let's get started.
My new living room looks like this: (by the way, welcome to my home )

With some measurements:

Now, two important things:
1) the screen has to come out in front of the TV and some furniture that i'm going to put on the 5m long wall;
2) i want to hide the screen projector (WAF rocks BIGTIME around the house ).

So, in order to achive these two goals, i've come up with something like this (it's not new):

The idea is to build a structure in pelmet (??????) - in portugal is "pladur" - sorry, don't know the term in english - in order to hide the PJ electric screen.

To do that, i'll have to break the "pladur" above the PJ electric screen so that i can atach the screen to the ceiling and to hide de electric cable. Once it's safe and secure, than i can build the structure (that apears in the images in red). That shouldn't be too hard.

The tricky part (which i don't know if it is possible) is to make a movable front panel...just to make access to the electric part easier, in case of need...kind of like a drawer (see what i mean??). Hoping to get some suggestions from you, in order to make this hapen

So, the general idea was to end with something like this:

I will possibly leave this job to a professional, since i haven't got the time or the means to pull this off.
From your experience, will it be very expensive?

Well, that's all for now!
Sorry for the long post. Hope you can help me!
Cheers!

[simonprr]

Hi....welcome

You do have the correct word you are thinking of "pelmet" although what you are intending to do isn't really a pelmet (but similar), more like a box with slot for the screen

Unfortunately I don't have that much experience with this type of idea, but some members have definitely done something very similar. I would think all you would need to do is make the bottom section of the red box screwable, so you could remove it if needed - you probably won't need to open it very often if at all if you are lucky!

Some photos might help too.... what program did you use to create those pictures?

[Kronnuz]

Thanks.

I used GoogleSkecthUp. It's simple but has the basic tools...

I'll try to get some real photos of the living room.
The house is being built - i know what you're going to say: "DO THIS NOW, while it's being built!" - but i just can´t. And also because i respect the rule: 1st choose the PJ and then think of the screen.

So, this project is just me, thinking ahead

EDIT: is the term "plasterboard"???

[MarkP80]

Hi Kronnuz,

Have a look at my cinema project in my signature, as that includes a hidden screen similar to what you are trying to build. It may help. I made the bottom of the box removable simply by removing the screws. To hide the screws you need to countersink the holes, then what I did was to place some circular paper stickers over the recess. This can simply be painted over and is virtually invisible, but can easily be removed if you need to get at the screen.

You might also consider having the front overhanging the undermeath a little (push the bottom surface up inside, rather than have it flat with the existing surface). You'll see what I mean from the photos of mine. This makes the slot much harder to see and I think will give you a nicer result.

Rather than plasterboard, consider making it from MDF, which has a good finish without needing plastering.

Good luck with your project, it should look great. If you have any DIY skills at all you should be able to do most of the work yourself (but leave the electrics to a professional unless you really know what you are doing).

Regards,
Mark

[Kronnuz]

Hi Mark!!
Your DIY project is nothing but AMAZING!! Congratulations for the result and for all the hard work you had in order to get it to look like that!! Fantastic!!

Really liked the overhanging front panel idea - good to hide the joint and also the IR receiver. Undoubtedly a MUST HAVE.

A couple of things i would like to ask you:
Could you send me a picture of the panel where you have the screws? I kind of get the idea, but it's a little hard to imagine it...

What's the size of the whole structure (height X width)?

Could you have done it a little smaller? Or is it the smaller as it can gets? It's just that i want to make it as small as possible, since i'll already have a structure in "pladur" of 55cm behind it...i woun't need to put any lights in (i think that's why yours is a little larger right?)

Once again, congrats for your HM room and thank you for your comments.

Cheers!

P.S. What's the size of your screen? I'm lookin to get a 100'' screen, but i haven't been able to find information about the "frame" (don't know how to call it...) where the screen goes into...

Sorry for all the questions...

[MarkP80]

HI,

Apologies for not replying to your questions earlier, but I work away and don't get much internet access. I'm away at the moment so unfortunately I can't give you any of the dimensions you are asking for, or any additional photos - they are all on my PC at home. Sorry!

Anyway, I'm glad you like what I have done, I'm certainly very happy with it, and I'm pleased it has given you a few extra ideas for your project.

Generally the structure is as small as I could make it. The frame is made from 50x50 timber and the screen housing has to be able to go up between the timbers. That means it projects from the wall at least 100mm plus the housing, which I would guess to be another 100mm or so.

The depth from the ceiling is again only as big as it needs to be to fit the screen in place, and I would guess 200mm again plus the MDF thickness, and the depth of the overhang (40mm ?)

- make yours as small as you can!

In the picture you have posted above, you are looking up at the panel through which the screen lowers. This is two pieces, and you can see the screen slot has only been cut in one of these, the far one, with a guide line for the slot drawn on the second one. These panels are removable, to allow the screen to be removed. The panels are fixed by screwing up into the frame. It is these screws which are countersunk and then have small circular paper stickers (20mm dia?) covering the screwhead before being painted over. It seems to work well, though I hope Iwon't need to access the screen for some time. To be honest though, with the overhang and the colour of the paint, you would probably not have noticed the screws if they had smply been painted over.

My screen is a similar size to the one you are proposing, the housing was around 100 to 120mm diameter from memory, but I bought the screen before I started building the frame, to make sure it would fit and that I had suitable places to install the screen fixings.

Hope that helps,
MarkP

[Kronnuz]

Thank you Mark! You've been most helpfull!
I got lucky...i talked to the man in charge of the construction of my house, told him what i was thinking about, and he told not to worry!
After i choose the furniture, put it in the living room and decide where everything will be, then i'll call him and he will send a technician to discuss some ideas with me, in order to hide the pj screen so, that's it for me!
Problem solved!

Thank you all, kind regards.

[rubenm]

boa sorte
mt bom ver portugueses por aqui

i am also trying to do something like that to hide my screen
if you consider you cant handle...a pro would be nice but should be very expensive