Groove's new lounge with floating wall build

groove

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Hey guys,

In keeping with the tradition of things here, thought I would try and document my lounge overhaul , which I'm doing in preparation of a 508XD arriving from AV Sales ( when they get a delivery that is ).
It was a condition of the wife's that if I wanted a new TV , the lounge had to decorated........that wasn't a tough decision :D

So rather than slapping a bit of paint up thought id take my time , and create something that befits the new screen. Usually these plans stay at the planning stage and the easier option taken , but this time I'm actually following it through !

Please bear with me , im trying to get this done in evenings and weekends , and as the Pioneer is nowhere to be seen yet the pressure is slightly off..

So I started with a mock-up in Google Sketchup, so I knew what to aim for -


The idea being the panel if floating off the wall and will be illuminated behind for that subtle cinema style glow.......
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Nice :thumbsup:
 
In the grand scheme of things its nothing like some of the awesome installs on here , but for me , its a huge project.

This is what i started with , the off centre mounting of my previous panel was due to the god awful brick fireplace left from the previous owner. I had done my best in the past by encasing it in oak veneered mdf , and as the carpet had been cut round it had little other option.

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But the budget is there for a new carpet as well now , so it all had to come out.

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Bought an awesome SDS drill which made like work of the fireplace !

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I wanted to get rid of the many cables running under the carpet , and put in some structured CAT5 for my consoles, new phone socket for Sky HD box , and finally get my KEF 5005's wall mounted properly with hidden cables.

Took the opportunity to run new double shielded aerial cables up to the loft and upstairs bedrooms at the same time.

So it was out with the SDS drill and on with the goggles to get the walls all channelled out.

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New power sockets needed as well....

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The illumination is going to remote controlled along with the rest of the lighting courtesy of some rope light from TLC. Here it is finally wired up and drooped in place for something to admire whilst i carried on working

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Some shots of the rear of the room and more channelling !

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took a couple of days off end of last week to really get the back broken , got my first bit of plastering ever done ( this really is an art that I really havnt got the skills for , but a bit of sanding and it will be perfect ).

Framework build started and finished over the weekend -

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The rope light was installed around the frame using the proper mounting strips from TLC , I plan to paint the frame its mounted on white just to give a little more reflection

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And a shot of the lights at night , you will not see the rope light itslef when the MDF panels are installed as it will overhang the frame top and both sides by 4cm , so I should be left with just the glow from behind.

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And that is as far as i have got to date. Weather permitting i hope to get the 3 MDF panels cut tonight , they are 18mm thick and bl@@dy huge , so im not exactly looking forward to it.

Really pleased so far , has gone so much smoother and quicker than I anticipated.......
 
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Cheers fellas......managed to get the MDF panels cut to size last night , but run out of time and energy to get them mounted.

Hopefully i can get them place mounted tonight , as I cant fully fix them until the TV arrives. I need to know exactly where to cut the slots for the cables to drop through and down behind the panel. Once i can do this , I can get them mounted permanently and the joins filled ready for painting.

Come on AV Sales...where is my 508 ? :D
 
Looks good so far, cant wait to see the finished article :)
 
Looks promising. I too am planing a floating wall in my main bedroom and thought your rope light was a dodgy idea but the night shots make it look good; hurry up and finish so I can see what other ideas I can nick!
 
dodgy ???? lol

Everyone screws their face up when i mention it , but i got the panels in place last night and it is just the effect i was after , and as it is dimmable via remote control i can make it as subtle as i want.

Ill get me skates on :D
 
AV Sales just came through...Pioneer 508XD will be here Friday !

All lights also turned up today, although ceiling lights are coming from Austria so are going to be a couple of weeks. Who needs lights though ?

So ive got the day off on Friday, that gives me another 3 days straight to work my butt off whilst staring at the lovely new cardboard box. How much more motivation do you need !!??

Expect some big updates and photos starting Friday.
 
Looking good mate, I think the lights will look cool when done, keep the pics coming :)
 
looking good your giving me some ideas here :hiya:

Keep up the good work
 
I think Reuters have just announced sales in rope lights have increased across the country! :p You're leading the charge! :D :p

Looking forward to the weekend update pal :)
 
Looking forward to those pictures! This should be a great install! Good luck for today and the rest of the build :thumbsup:
 
Been lurking on this thread, I have to say I am VERY impressed by your progress and the rope lights idea is fantastic !

:thumbsup:

Quick question regarding the longevity of the rope lights. How long do they normally last before bulbs start going ?
 
Sorry for the lack of updates over the weekend....it was a choice between sit on here updating , or getting my ass in gear and doing some work.

3 10 hour days later and this is where I have got to currently -

Friday and Saturday were primarily spent getting all the new skirting on , and new coving in place. The rain didnt help as i couldnt cut anything in the garden , so two workhorses were in the lounge along with all the materials....good job i dont have a cat as there was no way i would of been swinging one !

First sheet of MDF offered up on Sunday morning , and started marking the positions of all the joists to ensure easy screwing.
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Oh...just as an aside....my motivation was covered up :rolleyes:

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I had gone through about 5 different plasma mounting solutions , and had even bought 3 or 4 different kinds of hardware , from Coach screws , to Coach bolts , you name it i had considered it.
I wanted to use projecting anchor bolts , but couldnt find any long enough that would project through the timber (47mm) and the MDF ( 18mm) and the bracket....FOcus , Homebase and Wickes all had them with max mounting thickness of 60mm but of course that wouldnt be long enough....
So itried one last place , a B&Q warehouse...and low and behold some anchor bolts that supported a thicknedd of 80mm..... PERFECT !

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After marking the position i drilled straight through the MDF , through the timber and marked the wall for the bolts postition.

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Mounted these bad boys straight into the wall....

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And started re-assembling , putting the timber back over the bolts ,

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Then the MDF panel

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Bracket mounted , just to check level etc -

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