Groove's new lounge with floating wall build

Philips Ambilight eat your heart out
 
Looking good mate :thumbsup:,
As a side note for all you rope light fans... I noticed Aldi had some in the other Sunday, but I can`t remember the price.
 
That's looking really good Groove, nice one.

to allow me to mark the cable entry holes in the panel
- I presume you mean the MDF and not the Pio :rotfl:

I have to say, there's no way that screen is going to fall down, that's some fixing you've done. Did you consider big screws into the timber, I would have thought it possible to get an adequate fixing that way?

I've always liked those rope lights, ever since I lived in the Middle East - they were very popular there, where the favourite use was to wrap them in a spiral around the trunk of the palms in your garden. I've actually got a coil in the garage ready to go round one of my trees here, but the wife's not sure it will look the same in North East England :rolleyes: It looks really effective behind the MDF, that's a great application. Someone asked about the bulb lifespan - I've used these for a lot of years in harsh outside conditions - over 50DegC in the shade, and these were in direct sun, and they are pretty durable. Odd lights can fail, but they're in parallel so the overall rope isn't affected. I have seen a degredation of light output over a long period, and a bit of yellowing of the casing, but I suspect that was due to the environment. I suspect it will last many years in this application. And at 1.99 per metre....

Groove, you've not mentioned speakers - is that cable above the mdf for the speakers, or wall lights? And what about a centre speaker? - Are you using one, and have you put cables in? Or are you using the TVs speakers?

This is looking good, keep the pictures coming :smashin:

Cheers,
MarkP
 
Just found your thread groove..... What a cracking Idea and great Progress ..... :thumbsup:

What finish are you putting on the MDF and Walls ??
 
Ok time to crack the screen out , for its inaugural hanging , and to allow me to mark the cable entry holes in the panel........

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Bracket fitted to back of screen , the lower two holes didnt line up with any of the thousands of holes in the bracket , so off to Homebase again for a 10mm HSS drill bit.......10 mins later.......perfect , all 6 moutnings utilised.

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And there she is , looking a little bare at the moment but I was in awe nonetheless -

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And the wife walks in and says " Oooh it sticks out a long way "......grrrrrr
But she was right , these Pioneer screens are really deep compared to my Panny screens before , and indeed it did seem to 'project' into the room a fair way.

So a few head scratching minutes later and a cup of tea , I decided to cut the MDF round the bracket and mount the baracket to the timber , losing the 18mm MDF thickiness......see the comparison shots -

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Much better....and the wife was happy......phew.

Ok i know you're waiting , here is a couple of hasty shots later in the evening , with some rudimentary power and just an aerial lead into the totally uncalibrated or setup 8G......just to show how the lighting effect is coming along. -

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And thats it for now......getting close to final fix of the MDF now , and then its onto prepping the walls , and arguing with the misses over wall colours :rolleyes:

Sorry for the glut of pictures, but i thought , that maybe one day , they may help somebody........nothing like seeing exactly how somebody else overcame a problem.

THanks for the words of encouragement guys......

Mark,

I was going to use m10x60mm Coach Screws straight into the timber uprights , I even bought them , but i couldnt get this vision of them tearing out of the wood and the screen crashing to the floor out of my head ! I know it would never of happened , but the vision wouldnt go away ! Ive mounted my last 2 screens with those wall bolts and never had a problem , so I decided they were the way forward. A lot more exspensive than the Screws , but for peace of mind......they are priceless.
Hanging screens is all about confidence , if you are 100% happy its never coming down you can go to sleep at night peacefully......I dont want to be lying there at night listenening for any strange noises from downstairs...:smashin:

Speakers , yup ive got KEF 5005 's to go up , you can see the placement in the first picture in the thread , the google sketchup , and if you may just see the wires coming out the panels in the last two night time shots. There are large blocks behind to ensure a solid mounting for them , and the two rears will be just above ear level behind where we sit.
The wires are for a couple of GU10 fancy pants spotlights which will be used to 'wall wash' down the panels.

Dean.....its all going to be painted , ive prepped and painted MDF a few times , takes a while , using proper MDF undercoat , rubbing down between every coat , but you can get a really nice finish.

I've copped the late shift at work this week as somebody has the nerve to take a holiday .......;-) .......so i doubt ill get much more done until the weekend now.
 
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THanks for the words of encouragement guys......

Mark,

I was going to use m10x60mm Coach Screws straight into the timber uprights , I even bought them , but i couldnt get this vision of them tearing out of the wood and the screen crashing to the floor out of my head ! I know it would never of happened , but the vision wouldnt go away ! Ive mounted my last 2 screens with those wall bolts and never had a problem , so I decided they were the way forward. A lot more exspensive than the Screws , but for peace of mind......they are priceless.
Hanging screens is all about confidence , if you are 100% happy its never coming down you can go to sleep at night peacefully......I dont want to be lying there at night listenening for any strange noises from downstairs...:smashin:

Speakers , yup ive got KEF 5005 's to go up , you can see the placement in the first picture in the thread , the google sketchup , and if you may just see the wires coming out the panels in the last two night time shots. There are large blocks behind to ensure a solid mounting for them , and the two rears will be just above ear level behind where we sit.
The wires are for a couple of GU10 fancy pants spotlights which will be used to 'wall wash' down the panels.

Dean.....its all going to be painted , ive prepped and painted MDF a few times , takes a while , using proper MDF undercoat , rubbing down between every coat , but you can get a really nice finish.

I've copped the late shift at work this week as somebody has the nerve to take a holiday .......;-) .......so i doubt ill get much more done until the weekend now.

Nice job.

Let me know if you want any sweet Kef 5005.2 gloss black speaker stands for the rears ! My are now on cabinet so surplus to requirements. May put on classifieds soon.
 
Cheers mrm , but ive got 4 of those stands back in their box's in the loft ! I had all 4 on stands originally , but they are all going to be wall mounted now.

Lovely stands , but i wanted to go for as minimalist look as i can , hence getting them off the stands and on the walls.......
 
Speakers , yup ive got KEF 5005 's to go up , you can see the placement in the first picture in the thread , the google sketchup , and if you may just see the wires coming out the panels in the last two night time shots
- I can now I've turned the brightness up on my monitor:oops:

There are large blocks behind to ensure a solid mounting for them
- Yep, good planning always pays dividends with jobs like this. I reckon I spend as much time "thinking" as I do "doing", - my wife certainly thinks so :lesson:

Hanging screens is all about confidence , if you are 100% happy its never coming down you can go to sleep at night peacefully......I dont want to be lying there at night listenening for any strange noises from downstairs...
- And I certainly wouldn't argue with that. I'm in the process of hanging a plasma myself at the moment, very much in the "thinking about it" phase (anchor bolts or resin, anchor bolts or resin.....)

Keep the updates coming, enjoying your thread.
MarkP
 
Mark.....im definately from the same school of thought as you regarding the planning and thinking.......I dont like nasty surprises and had spent weeks running through all this in my head. I had planned nearly every last detail down , and found a solution to every problem i could think of before i was faced with it.

With limited time at weekends and some evenings to do it , i dont want to be driving around looking for solutions to a problem , or a tool , or a piece of hardware , I want to have it ready and know exactly what im doing next.

It may seem slow to start , but then once i do , i have a clear picture of what im doing and how im going to do it.

There is no such thing as overkill when hanging a plasma....just peace of mind. :thumbsup:
 
im definately from the same school of thought as you regarding the planning and thinking.......I dont like nasty surprises and had spent weeks running through all this in my head. I had planned nearly every last detail down , and found a solution to every problem i could think of before i was faced with it.


Hi groove :hiya:

I know what you mean about planning, nasty surprises and what have you.:eek: You ought to have a go at what i`m doing mate thats when you have to have your thinking cap on.:lesson:

Seriously I think what you are doing is ace and I know will look brilliant when its done, keep up with the pics as well as we`re all like sponges soaking it up.

Cheers Allan :thumbsup:
 
excellent idea and well executed.

BUT

Did you know its illegal to watch the Chase on anything other than a 14" portable?
 
Cheers guys....

I have a few more pictures , but after a weekend of sanding , sanding and more sanding ( im sure my fingers are a bit shorter now.....they are sure sore enough) it doesnt look a great deal different.

I was always dreading this bit....i hate all the prep work of walls and woodwork. The thing is as its open plan im having to do the stairs and landing at the same time , there were times over the weekend i wondered if it was all worth it ! Especially when you work that hard , and step back and cant really see much prgoress :-(

Im still prepping the walls and stuff after work , and I am to start getting some painting done this weekend.

Ill get the latest pics up tomorrow.

Cheers
 
I really like this alot. Lost of inspiration for my own home, keep up the good work.
 
I was always dreading this bit....i hate all the prep work of walls and woodwork. The thing is as its open plan im having to do the stairs and landing at the same time , there were times over the weekend i wondered if it was all worth it ! Especially when you work that hard , and step back and cant really see much prgoress :-(

Hi,

Know exactly what you mean.

It is times like this you really need a helping hand. Two people is much much quicker than one, more than twice as quick. And time flies when you have someone to talk to while working.

Ask a mate for a few hours help!

Thanks.
 
yep....

we recently sanded our hallway, you couldn't see for dust, so glad we bought a b and d mouse though, makes sanding so much easier.....
 
yep....

we recently sanded our hallway, you couldn't see for dust, so glad we bought a b and d mouse though, makes sanding so much easier.....

My Dad once dry lined a huge lounge and then belt sanded the joints. Could not see him across the room !!!!

Might be to late. Once saw a decorator on an office refurb using one of these on plaster board joints, looked effort less (almost).
http://www.screwfix.com/search.do?f... Sundries-_-Decorating Sundries-_-pole sander
 
THanks for the tip.....a bit too late though....my fingers are actually sore as Type this !!

Anyway a few more pictures from last weekend.....im a bit further along now , walls are nearly all sanded now , a few little bits to do tonight when the light is better and hopefully a coat of white over all the walls just to show any imperfecitons i may have missed ( im too fussy about this stuff sometimes and a bit of a perfectionist )

The MDF panels are now fixed with final fixings and filled and sanded with PS38 EasySand. A tip i picked up on here as this stuff will not crack or sink like polyfilla and i need a perfect finish between the boards that is going to last. Sanded really easily and the finish is spot on.

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One little tip....do not , i repeat do not use a Dyson to vaccum all the sanding dust up. They tend to keel over and die.

RIP

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Here is a close up of how I managed to sink the bracket into the wall a bit more just to get the screen that bit closer so it didnt stick out quite so much.

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I managed to get a thin base coat of thinned down emulsion on this wall to highlight imperfections.....needs to be pretty much perfect as the glow from the rope light will catch any little dings or scrapes as it washes up the wall.

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I think I'm over the worst of the wall and woodwork prep now so back to the exciting stuff of actually painting this weekend......I can start to see the light at the end of the tunnel :clap:
 
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nope....it has got to the point where it overheats every 5 minutes , and now is blowing the seal out over the motor and pumping fine dust everywhere.

Ive junked it , bought a £40 cheapie to get me through the build and then ill get another when its done and the new carpets are down.
 

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