rude-dogs lounge install

[rude-dog]

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!

[rude-dog]

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

[rude-dog]

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]

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

[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!

[rude-dog]

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]

Nice stuff so far

[KobeoneHD]

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

[rude-dog]

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]

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

[rude-dog]

Originally Posted by jolly

Brave man

you gotta put your foot down every now and then!

[jolly]

Originally Posted by rude-dog

you gotta put your foot down every now and then!

So true

[leew914]

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]

This will look the dogs when its finished

[rude-dog]

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