My false wall project completed

[andyrap]

I've finally got the final piece of my AV setup up in place (Mac Mini as HTPC) so thought I'd share a few of the pics here. Found a lot of really helpful information about false wall projects that proved invaluable to me as I'd never embarked on anything like this before and if I can help anyone else as a result then I'm happy to return the favour!

We took on a full refurbishment of our 1880 built Victorian maisonette this summer. Pretty much every surface - wall and ceiling - was covered in layers of woodchip or other textured wallpaper and the entire lower floor needed at best skimming, at worst false ceilings, bare plaster and rerendering. I took it as an opportunity to move my plasma from it's temporary place above our old fireplace into something a bit more integrated and properly installed.

Before the main work started. This is how the chimney/fireplace was when we moved in. I 'temporarily' attached the plasma directly to the brickwork. I knew the plaster itself was quite blown but not to the extent it was (as you'll see...)



After removing the mantelpiece and hearth, there was quite a bit of rubble to get rid of and I was worried about the gas pipe at one point but fortunately it fitted behind the final wall and can be reinstated at any point.

[andyrap]

The plan was to level up the chimney which was leaning forward and to the left a bit (it's an old house) and build a frame as a base for the screen and false wall. This meant the blown plaster had to come off so I could straighten things up properly and attach the frame directly to the brickwork. The plaster was almost 2" thick in places around the chimney and I removed over half a ton in total!

[andyrap]

Few steps forward here and you can see the main shape of the frame in place. 4x2 as the base on the wall which was built out using batons and then 4x1 for the front face. The plasma mount was to be attached through the MDF backplate using coach bolts into the 4x2. It's solid as a rock!



Wall bracket in place here and you can see the frame for the hole in the wall fire I was including.



Most of the plasterboarding completed here and I've added the LED backlights. These are 4 strips and each contains 12 groups of 3 RGB LEDs. A controller allows them to reproduce any colour in the spectrum and is remote controllable via infrared. Various programs either slowly cycle through the colour range or can be paused at any time. Love them - the effect is great whether watching films/TV or anything!



All boarded up and ready for plastering. I used fireboard in the firehole to be on the safe side. The back of the inset vents into the original chimney.



And the final thing: plastered, painted, speaker in and screen mounted. The only job left is to properly hide the speaker cables in the corner (behind cupboard). Not happy with the gel fire either but it looks OK for now. Can't be used though as gets too hot. All jobs for another day....

I'm really pleased with the end result and the Mac finishes it off a treat. Great bit of kit - just perfect for an HTPC - and it all sounds and looks fantastic. A Virgin HD box and 1.1TB of storage are in the cupboard for all my music, photos and movies.

[pixelpixel]

Nice work

[shynsingh]

Very nice, neat finish, looks really good.

[FunkyMunkey]

Very nice

[leon]

very nice are the led lights working on 240v ?? and where did u get em

[andyrap]

Originally Posted by leon

very nice are the led lights working on 240v ?? and where did u get em

Yes they are 240v. The only place I found them was in the US - http://www.superbrightleds.com/light_bars.htm

They are the RGB-2 light bars. I bought the appropriate transformer from this site as well and simply changed the plug to a UK standard 13 amp. They did need a bit of modification as the interconnecting leads between each bar are very short (couple of inches) and I needed to extend them. Easy enough job to do with a soldering iron, some heatshrink and a bits of wire.

The difference when watching anything is amazing. It's similar to the Philips ambilight although not representative of what's on screen obviously.

[Paul Rushton]

Very nice and like the led's might invest in some myself!

[Ruudfood]

Gorgeous setup. Is the TV the 508XD?

[andyrap]

Originally Posted by Ruudfood

Gorgeous setup. Is the TV the 508XD?

Thanks. It's the 436XDE. I left myself enough room so if I do decide to upgrade at some point there's room there but I really like the size of gap at the moment and love the screen so it will stay like this for some time I think!