Toastedone's AV project

toastedone

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Toastedone’s AV Project




Note:- This is work in progress and i will update as i go.

After moving into a new house we felt the place was a little out dated, we decided to start work on the living room.
Here are some before pics :-

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Being new to all things AV I started off by coming up with the idea of wall mounting the TV on the chimney breast, I then had to decide where best to place the other equipment, Amp, blu ray player, cable box ect, I pictured in my mind that I would like to have all the equipment housed in the fireplace below the TV. I then went ahead with my idea in mind to contact some AV installers to quote me for the work wanted, after getting 3 random quotes I decided that the quotes given to me seemed a little excessive so I decided to try and take on the work myself.

The first step was to get the old fire out of the fireplace something I was not qualified to do myself, so I got a gas installer to do the work for me at a cost of £40 for removal and capping off.


Before:-

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After:-

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More to follow over the next few weeks, any comments, ideas are more than welcome
 
I have a feeling this is going to be a good one!!

I look forward to seeing the end results!
 
I have a feeling this is going to be a good one!!

I look forward to seeing the end results!


Thanks, I was going to hold out before posting as this may be a long drawn out install due to work commitments, but I thought if I post now I may get some feedback and ideas from people who have done similar installs themselves.

I will keep this thread updated every step of the way as and when anything changes.

Look forward to peoples feedback.

Thanks for looking.
 
Looking forward to see the progress!
Is the idea to run the cables down the chimney?

Yes the cables will be run down the chimney the front speaker cable will be chased into the wall and the rears will be run under the floorboards and chased up the wall at the rear.
 
I envy people who have the balls for such a transformation, I'd find it all a bit intimidating.

Good luck, will watch with interest.
 
I envy people who have the balls for such a transformation, I'd find it all a bit intimidating.

Good luck, will watch with interest.

I to feel intimidated by this project, not the biggest project on these boards but one i have been thinking about for a long time, I have started stripping back some of the wallpaper today but i need to get a steamer to remove the more stubborn paper, I think the last time the room was decorated was about 15 years ago so who knows what lurks beneath.

I just checked your thread and your set up looks great.
 
Loads of potential here looking forward to seeing the updates. You've done the right thing by starting a thread early you'll get loads of advice and ideas.

Good luck!
 
Well I have made a start today, I went and bought a steamer and set to work striping the first wall this evening, to be honest it went better than i thought and had it striped in an hour and half, I will do the next wall tomorrow evening and so on, With 3 young children it is hard to get anything done during the day.

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As we was in B and Q my OH had to look at wallpaper (The last thing on my mind right now) She has picked these two so far for the chimney breast, but I am not to sure how they will look behind the TV.

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More to follow soon.
 
Once it's all finished you'll be so glad you went ahead with the refurb. :thumbsup:

p.s I like both the wallpapers - which one are you going for do you think ?
 
Once it's all finished you'll be so glad you went ahead with the refurb. :thumbsup:

p.s I like both the wallpapers - which one are you going for do you think ?


Well to be honest the colour scheme will be her domain, I think she likes the brown/blue one.
 
I am going to treat this as a big learning curve as it is my first step into all things AV, I would have loved to have some floor standing speakers but with the children as young as they are it would make me very nervous, hence the Q Acoustics that will be wall mounted.

All my gear is entry level at a price I could justify at the moment, but now I have the basics I can slowly add/upgrade, After the install/decor I aim to build a HTPC to replace my Revo, then look at upgrading to a better amp and sub, as my children grow my system will also.

Being new i do appreciate peoples feedback, ideas and criticisms.
 
Sorry to bore with more progress pics but i stripped another wall last night, My posts are more about me documenting my progress although I appreciate your comments.

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Coming along nicely - half of the reason we are having an extension for another family room is so we can keep all the kids toys/clutter/rubbish in the other room !!

No idea how they accumulate so much stuff at a young age, I'm sure the plastic toys multiply at night....!

Good luck !

(P.S. How much TV do you get to watch, or is it like us with Cbeebies permanently on the TV !!)

Shady
 
Youre doing well!!

I hate stripping wallpaper.

The last room I did was the hall/stairs/landing. Which you always class as a small room but it took me ages!!

I like the first wallpaper best. But lets leave that up to your missus :)
 
Coming along nicely - half of the reason we are having an extension for another family room is so we can keep all the kids toys/clutter/rubbish in the other room !!

No idea how they accumulate so much stuff at a young age, I'm sure the plastic toys multiply at night....!

Good luck !

(P.S. How much TV do you get to watch, or is it like us with Cbeebies permanently on the TV !!)

Shady

lol, Yep they sure accumulate, I would love a separate room for them and there toys, but it is impossible for us, we do try and keep the two ends of the living room as separate areas.

I work all day so when they watch TV i don't really see it We make time as a couple to watch films in the evenings and as a family at weekends.

My missus is also an avid soap fan.
 
Youre doing well!!

I hate stripping wallpaper.

The last room I did was the hall/stairs/landing. Which you always class as a small room but it took me ages!!

I like the first wallpaper best. But lets leave that up to your missus :)

I don't like DIY in general, I do take my time and if I feel I can not do something myself then i get someone in to do it for me.

As for the wallpaper I will leave that up to the missus, it's safer that way.

Edit: Sorry I just noticed the multi-quote button, i will use it next time as i hate double posting.
 
well your doing a grand job. Women are always better at choosing wallpaper anyway!!

Our paper for the backboard we found in the £1 bin and B&Q. A fair bit of luck there!!!

I look forward to more updates
 
well your doing a grand job. Women are always better at choosing wallpaper anyway!!

Our paper for the backboard we found in the £1 bin and B&Q. A fair bit of luck there!!!

I look forward to more updates

Thanks, I doubt I will get to much done over the next few days as its my 40th tomorrow, but I will crack on after this weekend.
 
Well it was my 40th birthday on Wednesday so have no achieved a lot in the last few days, I did get my amp set up just for testing purposes and i have managed to get another wall striped.

I am not sure if i will need to get the walls plastered or if i will get away with lining paper, The next step is to finish the striping off, then chase the cables in.

Even tho the walls look rough in the picture, they are actually smooth(ish) anyone in the know who could recommend the best course of action, plastering or lining paper?

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Well At last I have all the walls striped down, Next will be to start chasing the cables, mounting the TV and speakers, I am going to box out the fireplace after everything is installed in a hope that I can come up with a way to hide any cabling in the recess.

Slow progress I know but my time is very limited, I think she is now getting a bit fed up with the mess so Things may move up a gear now.

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Just another thought...If your still unsure what to do about the walls you could do a little tester somwhere and see how its comes out. Also, if you say there are pretty smooth and look worse than they are you could try sanding them down and if your good with a scrapper and filler get yourself a bag of easifill (what you use for joint and taping) and this stuff will work a treat for any fine areas aswell as the larger imperfections. it sands down lovely to and i can easily day 10 times better than polyfila and cheaper. (you have to mix it up tho but read the instructions) Then light sand again and give it a coat of paint. If it doesnt come out good then perhaps its best to have it plastered.

Regards
James
 
i think i have seen sense, and have already got a quote for a plasterer, I want to get a couple more quotes, but i am definitely going for a skim over
 
Well I made some progress today, my partners brother came over and we got stuck in form 1pm until 9.15pm, I kinda wish the Tv was a little lower and closer to the wall than it is but overall I am pleased with what we have achieved today, Anyhow here are some pics and a brief description of what we done.


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First we knocked through the chimney breast for cables and we marked out where the channels would go.

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Channelling done with an angle grinder, dusty but neat and quick, Speaker cable in and starting to fill.

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Cable in, filled and plugged

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Cables coming from the side of the fireplace.

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Wall mount up and cables fed through.

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Rear speaker cable channelled and filled.

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Tv tested on the wall.

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Front speaker brackets up for Q Acoustics 2010's.

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Rear speaker brackets up and ready.

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Q Acoutics's up grilled and without.

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Rears up and ready.

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and here it is, I need to get the fireplace boxed out for the equipment ad it will tidy it all up and bring it all together.

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There you have it, a days work, I still need to box out the fireplace, get the room plastered and decorate and furnish/dress, If you have any comments questions or ideas, please let me know.

I am pleased with the outcome even thought I still need to decorate, The sound is good to my untrained ear, But i guess I will fiddle round with things in time.

Thanks for looking.
 
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