first build

o O MARK O o

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Hello everyone,

Just started our new HC build as well as doing most of the house as we go,

We have have lived in the house for 5 years and have never been 100% happy with the finish,

All the work is DIY with help from some very good friends and family, and a plasterer,

After having a new combi boiler fitted last year we had a new roof as the old one leaked,

once the house was water tight again, we decided to do the main bedroom as a test to see how good we could get it so we ripped everything out, placed all the plug sockets were we wanted them, fitted flush lights, and got it ready for plaster,

Sorry but the only AV in this room is a 22" lcd tv :D

pics of the room being gutted...

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We then plaster boarded the ceiling and the bay window, as well as fitting the down lights,

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Once all this was done we called the plaster in.....

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Once the plaster dried My good friend supplied and fitted the floor FOR FREE!!

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Very pleased with the floor, I wanted it down before fitting the skirting board

Then it was a matter of painting and filling with furniture :clap:
 
Very nice finish and you owe your mate big time for the floor! it makes the room :)
 
On to the living room....

this is the old set up, and have slowly been upgrading the components last year before i took the plunge and gutted the room,

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Samsung 42" plasma (only 720p :( )

samsung 3d bluray player,

Sky box (up graded to HD box)

X box 360 elite (up graded to the slim line version) (kinect)

10 year old yamaha av receiver (up gaded to onkyo NR609)

Gale front & rear speakers mission wall mounted center speaker

JPW active sub, (bought with amp 10 years ago)

Logitec remote with docking station,

All the old AV equipment will be moved into the conservatory as it all still works fine,
 
the old setup now the 'new' conservatory set up,

this will be our escape while the rest of the work is carried out on the house,

all the old AV equipment is in here we just bought a new cabinet from Ikea,

Samsung 42" plasma,
Yamaha amp,
Gale front & rear speakers
Mission center speaker,
JPW sub
Sky hd box, (had multi room installed)
X box elite,

I also picked up a cheaper logitec remote,

Very happy with the result :thumbsup:

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new toys for the living room have arrived!!!! :clap::clap::clap::clap::clap:

Kef Speakers,

Samsung 55" LED smart tv,

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Could not wait to see the what the Tv looked like....

And yes the fire is is going, just waiting for the corgi guy to take it off, hopefully all the AV equipment will be going in its place :D

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So started the stud work in the front room, and dropped in the network cable from the loft. Lowering the ceiling at the sides to run all the cables,

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thank you for the kind words people.. :)

Work has been a bit slow with going back to work...

But the gas fire is finally out and the pipe is capped off and I have managed to do some more of the stud work and position the center speaker, after some careful consideration we have decided not to put the AV equipment in the chimney breast due to the lack of space (the TV is a bit big size for the size of the room :D )

We are looking at a cabinet to go in the alcove to the right but not sure of the best way to go about it, any ideas?!?!?! :lease:

Anyway on to the pics :D

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Also finally got the network switch up and running, :clap:

We are putting the pc in the loft as well as a network switch,

Please don't laugh :) this is my first attempt at anything like this, but the plan is to plug any device into the network if it has a network socket,

obviously the pc and the x boxes, but I want the onkyo amp, smart TV and blu ray player plugged in aswell,

I have never been a fan of wireless unless it is for a device you NEED to move around the house,

The plan is to only go in the loft when needed and browse files internet etc on a tablet in the house, I still like a tower PC and it has 2TB at the moment full of media that I stream down to the two x boxes,

work so far.......

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What thickness of insulation did you put between the rafters? You must leave a 50mm air gap between the insulation and the felt to allow water to evaporate....it looks like you might have pushed it all the way in....?
 
small update... been busy with work :(

Finished plaster boarding the loft,


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Its a very small room, but as I said it only ment to house the desk top pc and maybe some storage, it is quite a small house and we are trying to pinch as much space as we can, We are going to let Kims (the missus) brother plaster the loft, he has been doing a course at college for the past 12 months so it will be good for him and free for us :D
 
Also got a bit more of the living room done, Its slow work and I only have the weekends as I am drilling against next doors joing wall, and cannot do it late evenings after work :(

Anyway....

Finished the box for the centre speaker,
run the power for the TV,
Mounted the front speakers,
Bit of plaster boarding,

Looking at it its going to be a pain in the a**e to run the Kinect wire, I may have to leave it in while the room is plastered,

Does anyone know if it is a standard USB cable?? Maybe I can use a USB extension??




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Hello,

This is all looking very nice, your tv is rather drool inducing. I have a question regarding your temp setup though.

Speaker on PVC


Although this is slightly off topic could you tell me how you fixed that speaker to what appears to be a PVC frame?

I'm looking at how to use my conservatory all year round as a media room and I want to fit thermal curtains & poles but I was concerned about the weight, I was also considering a wooden roof frame to hang insulation off but again thought maybe the pvc wouldn't take it but that speaker looks chunky!

What is the weight? How and what did you use to fit it? Any problems?

Similarly isn't your conservatory a bit cold at this time of year, how is it heated and does your AV seem to mind the temp?

Cheers
Sun
 
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Hello,

This is all looking very nice, your tv is rather drool inducing. I have a question regarding your temp setup though.

Speaker on PVC



Although this is slightly off topic could you tell me how you fixed that speaker to what appears to be a PVC frame?

I'm looking at how to use my conservatory all year round as a media room and I want to fit thermal curtains & poles but I was concerned about the weight, I was also considering a wooden roof frame to hang insulation off but again thought maybe the pvc wouldn't take it but that speaker looks chunky!

What is the weight? How and what did you use to fit it? Any problems?

Similarly isn't your conservatory a bit cold at this time of year, how is it heated and does your AV seem to mind the temp?

Cheers
Sun


Hi Sun,

The speaker brackets are fixed directly to the upvc frame with self tapping screws, I will post a close up picture for you if that helps,

They are very secure,

I bought the conservatory second hand off ebay 4 years ago for £750.00 and built it myself with the help of some friends in the building trade, the whole job cost around £3000, we wanted it as an everyday room so I used foil back underlay on the floor and when we had a new boiler fitted we had a radiator fitted with its own thermostatic valve (its behind the sofa) we use the room everyday and it is nice and warm :)
 
Hi o O MARK O o,

Thanks very much for the response, if you could post a close up pic of the fitting that would be really helpful for me, so many people have said you can't do it (but have seemingly never tried) but I've seen very little info from people who have actually hung anything from the frame.

Did you need to use any particular self tapping screws for upvc or just standard ones from B&Q?

£3000 seems like a bit of a bargain for a room you can use all round, I bet you you and your wife are thankful for a dust free place whilst all the work is going on. Have you had any noticable increase in fuel costs for keeping it usable?

I have my own scatty thoughts here on My thread . I hope to insulate my conservatory with Celotex & Superfoil but need to build a frame and attach it to the upvc I have an uninsulated tiled floor but maybe a rug and a heater will suffice :) .

Anyway I don't want to derail your thread, I hope I can make just a fraction of the progress that you have, really great to see these projects build up.

Cheers
Mat
 
Hi o O MARK O o,

Thanks very much for the response, if you could post a close up pic of the fitting that would be really helpful for me, so many people have said you can't do it (but have seemingly never tried) but I've seen very little info from people who have actually hung anything from the frame.

Did you need to use any particular self tapping screws for upvc or just standard ones from B&Q?

£3000 seems like a bit of a bargain for a room you can use all round, I bet you you and your wife are thankful for a dust free place whilst all the work is going on. Have you had any noticable increase in fuel costs for keeping it usable?

I have my own scatty thoughts here on My thread . I hope to insulate my conservatory with Celotex & Superfoil but need to build a frame and attach it to the upvc I have an uninsulated tiled floor but maybe a rug and a heater will suffice :) .

Anyway I don't want to derail your thread, I hope I can make just a fraction of the progress that you have, really great to see these projects build up.

Cheers
Mat


Hi Mat,

Sorry for the late reply, We have not noticed any rise in the fuel bills but actualy a drop since the new boiler was fitted, We would have most likley saved more without heating the consevatory but over all we are better off. also the old plasma tv gives off a bit heat aswell :D

Pictures of the speaker bracket close up, they are only held on with 2 self tapping screws but are still solid after 2 - 3 months the blinds are also fixed directly to the PVC frame,


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More toys bought aswell...

Yamaha ceiling speakers,
7.2 speaker plate,
1 x 2 metre QED HDMI,
3 x 1 metre QED HDMI,

I have decided to mount all the av equipment in the right alcove and put the sub in the left, I also want to be able to remove/replace any of the av without ripping everything out so I am making 4 shelves each with its own socket and twin gang brush plate, the amp will live on the bottom shelf,


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I am using van damme 2.5mm speaker cable, but I have ran out... Just waiting for some more then I can run it to the rear speakers,



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Hello,

Really interesting thread, keep the pictures coming.
Like the look of the ceiling speakers.

Dave
 

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