Under Stairs Install - Advice Please!

[johnsm1ffey]

Hi,

This is my current setup, Panasonic 42PX70, Onkyo 875, AE109 speakers, Vibe Alpha sub, Sky HD, BT Vision, PS3, Buffalo NAS (with Twonky), WII. Homehub 2.0. In a cheapo IKEA stand that wont even take the weight of the Onk! It all looks a bit of a mess really........

I have been toying with the idea of creating a false wall (flush with the existing wall) to mount the plasma and an in-wall rack/cabinet behind some nice doors (probably matched with the wall). I'll probably keep the front speakers, not sure about the centre possibly a new in-wall job or just an in wall shelf

I am looking for some advice ;

1) How hefty does the studding need to be to mount the plasma and the best way to secure it to the existing concrete floor and joists/stairs above.

2) Am I best to use plasterboard or mdf for the wall, bearing in mind I want to mount the plasma recessed into the wall?

3) If I make a recess for the 42" plasma, can I design the wall in such a way that I can enlarge it for the inevitable upgrade to a larger screeen, without wrecking the whole thing?

3) I suspect that I will need to change the sub, SWMBO will not allow me to move it out into the room (it's currently at the back of the alcove). So I am looking to probably have a recess in which to put a forward firing sub into - will this be a problem? Wall mounted subs seem a bit pricey.

There must be a raft of things that I need to think about - cooling, access, IR distribution - all thoughts gratefully received!!


Cheers,

John

[nickers]

if you we're to build off (say about 5") from the current wall (stairs) that would give you enough depth for the wall bracket and tv and would allow you to have the t.v more central to the room. you could continue the wall to board up that cubby hole under the stairs. that will give you plenty of space to mount a rack or shelving recessed under the stairs for all your av gubbins. but remember to put a small door next to the av rack so that you can access the back of the AVR etc. or you could make another recess next to the AV rack and fit a forward firing sub in there. in that case leave enough slack in your sub wiring so that you can pull the sub out to access the back of you AVR etc. those AE? floorstanders could then fire off a flat wall rather than in the nook under the stairs

Cooling could be an issue, but providing you left the front of the rack open then you could probaly get away with it or at most box top coolers. you wouldn't have to worry about I.R repeaters that way either. but you could house all your a.v gear under the stairs and use an IR repeater and a bit of cooling

[johnsm1ffey]

Thanks for the reply.

What the photo doesn't show is that the wall has a door at the end at 90 degrees to the wall (if you see what I mean), if I were to build out the wall I couldn't open the door.....

So I'm stuck with recessing into the alcove, though I can hopefully reposition the plasma more to the right and a little higher.

Thanks again

[johnsm1ffey]

Bump

[mark_curd]

Originally Posted by johnsm1ffey

I am looking for some advice ;

1) How hefty does the studding need to be to mount the plasma and the best way to secure it to the existing concrete floor and joists/stairs above.

2) Am I best to use plasterboard or mdf for the wall, bearing in mind I want to mount the plasma recessed into the wall?

3) If I make a recess for the 42" plasma, can I design the wall in such a way that I can enlarge it for the inevitable upgrade to a larger screeen, without wrecking the whole thing?

3) I suspect that I will need to change the sub, SWMBO will not allow me to move it out into the room (it's currently at the back of the alcove). So I am looking to probably have a recess in which to put a forward firing sub into - will this be a problem? Wall mounted subs seem a bit pricey.

Standard 38mm x 63mm stud timer would fine. Fixing it to existing materials is fairly painless just work out what the material it is and get suitable fixing for that type. So for stud work use something like heavy duty couch bolts, for concrete use either masonry frame/stud fixings (basically a massive wallplug and long screw) or anchor bolt, but this would be overkill for studwork.

Plasterboard would be better, don't forget you have not got to plaster the plaster board if you don't want the hassle you can just tape the joints and paint it (although plastering is better).

You can design it to suit your current set-up and also design the build so that you can upgrade to a larger screen. Just have a look at the tv sizes that are available and make the recess bigger. Say you have a 40" now and you make the recess to suit that screen for example 1500mm x 750mm but then get a 50 and its too big. During the planning make sure you do the recess bigger so maybe 2200mm x 1000mm to allow for the future upgrade. Ok so you might have a large gap around the edge but lighting affects etc can make this look superb.

Could you post a picture from further back in the room to show where the door is?

One thing that comes to mind would be to build a false chimney breast to house the screen which you could recess, if designed about right you could also make it so your equipment could be sunk into the bottom lower right of the alcove.

I would stud the alcove up so it was flush with the existing wall, with the exception of leaving open the bottom lower right, and maybe the lower left to house the sub, then you will have a flat wall that you could build a slimline chimney breast on, say only about 10" from the wall. This allowing the screen to look flush plus you will have a good amount of depth for your equipment to go lower down, and because it wont be the full size of the wall you should be good with the door too.