Mounting Screen & Hiding cables

[LDJ]

I'm soon to be buying my first house. This will allow me greater flexibility to do whatever I want in terms of an entertainment system. I’ve been looking through the galleries on this site in awe of some of the setups and want to replicate something similar with no visible cabling, screen and speakers wall mounted etc.
However, I have a few reservations.

I read somewhere that plasma screens cannot be mounted on chimney breasts above a fireplace – is this correct? If true, what about LCD’s? Which is best for this type of scenario?

Also, the rooms are currently wallpapered – we plan on having the whole house plastered but first I need to bury all necessary cabling. These are solid walls, not plasterboard (which would be easier to do right?).Are there any guides on how this is actually done? Sounds daft but how does one go about chasing cables into walls for power, speaker cables etc. etc? Are there any good guides on setting up a system and chasing cables in the walls?

TIA

[clockworks]

The only problem with mounting any TV above a fireplace is heat. Plasma and LCD TVs get quite hot, and need to be well ventilated. If you've got a shelf or mantelpiece above the fire, that might deflect the heat away from the TV. If the wall itself gets hot (from the chimney or flue behind it), you need to be careful.
You really need to try the fire out, and see how hot the area gets, before you mount the TV.

3 ways of chasing a wall:

Hire a proper chasing machine. Fastest, but very messy - loads of dust. Best to hire one with a dust extraction system.
Use an angle grinder to cut 2 grooves, and chisel out the middle. Equally messy.
Use a cold chisel and a large hammer. Creates less mess, but it's hard work.

If you've got an empty house and a lot of chasing to do, hire the proper machine.

Whichever method you use, be careful that you don't cut through any cables or pipes - get a detector (pipe finder/wire finder)

[LDJ]

Thanks for the reply. Plenty of useful info there.
Are there any guides on chasing cables (i.e. the best practices, do's and don't, which way to lay the cables (e.g. should I go vertically down to skirting level, then around or something different), things to do before chasing etc. etc.)?

[T800]

Do you want to use your fire for heating purposes ?

I removed my fireplace and have fixed an LCD on the chimney breast and the cables run down inside the flew (spelling?) and then into behind the skirting and around the other side of the room. An electric fire is fitted but only the flame effect works.

Depending on your walls but you could possibly feed the cables (speaker etc) inside the wall cavity.

[clockworks]

Originally Posted by LDJ

Thanks for the reply. Plenty of useful info there.
Are there any guides on chasing cables (i.e. the best practices, do's and don't, which way to lay the cables (e.g. should I go vertically down to skirting level, then around or something different), things to do before chasing etc. etc.)?

Yes, it's good practice to go vertically to skirting or ceiling, then horizontally. It's OK to go horizontally between sockets/wall plates for short distances.
It's very bad practice to go diagonally.

Basically, you need to avoid running cables where someone might bang a nail or drill a screw hole.

It's also a good idea to use conduit or a capping strip to shield the cables. While the shield won't stop some idiot drilling through, the change in feel (as the drill breaks through the plastic and into the air gap) will alert most people that something is amiss.

If you run at skirting level, go as low as you can.

Try and avoid running power cables and audio/data cables parallel to each other for long distances, as it can cause interference and hum pickup.

[andyCZ]

Hi guys. Have spent most of the last two months prepping and chasing walls out for the installation of an AV system - discovered many plaster and wall defects on the way too, so it's been hard work. Plasterer came and did his stuff and the room now looks great, although I've got to wait a couple of weeks before I can do the final coat of paint, put the shelves up and then have fun plugging all the gear up!!

Intend to add some heat reflective material to the base of a new mantelpiece to counter the heat from the fire, although I rarely have it on full pelt these days.

Would love to hear thoughts on this.