Yet another floating wall / false chimney project!

D

deutschmeister

Guest
We've decided to upgrade our telly (look at the pictures attached and you can see why!) to a Panasonic TH37PX70 and have come up with the following solution to hang it on the wall and conceal the cables as modelled in Google Sketchup. It's going to have a rope light attached to the framework behind the overhang of the MDF front (blatantly ripped off from groove - nice idea :))

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This afternoon's job was to install the uprights for the framework. Here before:

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Here's what I used to attach them. They are 160mm coach screws with flanged heads going into 12x60mm Fischer SX plugs. Don't use B&Q - Screwfix is the place to shop.

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Here is the result of my afternoon's labouring:

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Will be progressing over the next few weeks with the TV at the month end. I can't wait to see it finished.

DM
 
Yep....I would agree that TV sure has to go....:D

Are you keeping the fireplace?

Cheers Matty:smashin:
 
WOW! Those are some mighty screws, either that or you've very small hands! At least you know it'll never fall away from the wall!

Good luck and enjoy your work on it.

One thing to mention, I've just used some ropelight behind a floating wall as a feature in my bedroom, but the clips I had with it were useless and snapped off instantly. I've found that 15mm pipe clips from Wickes work much better and you just thread the ropelight through them, they just stick out that bit further though.
 
Thanks for the comments!

1 I don't have small hands at all - and they are mighty big screws! Those timbers are ROCK solid on the wall - I don't know why people mess around with steel anchor bolts. TV bracket will be screwed on with 8x70mm coach screws. Timbers are spaced at centres to match the bracket so I don't need any horizontal timbers to screw into.

2 The fire is coming off the wall where it is at the mo and being screwed to the front of the MDF as it doesn't weigh much. (using 18mm MDF) We won't use the heater part of it though with the TV going right above it - it's purely decorative.

DM
 
OOh deutchmesiter.....nice touch with the rope light. :thumbsup:

Regarding fitting it , i bought the proper mounting from TLC direct who supplied the rope as well. It comes in 3m lengths i think and is just like a clear plastic U shape that you cut to length and screw to your battens. Keeps the rope dead straight and doesnt block any light so ypu wont get any 'dead spots' on the glow.

Keep up the good work pal :thumbsup:
 
YEp... you are right... that tv has to go..... also i always try to use fischer fixings rather than toggle bolts..... far better imo....

What finish will you be doing on the panel ??

Keep up with the progress pics please :smashin:

God.... How many have i subscribed to now......
 
God.... How many have i subscribed to now......

What !! you can subscribe to threads... :)

Looks interesting build, what are you going to do with the fire leave it in place ? Does it pump heat upwards at all ?
 
What !! you can subscribe to threads... :)

Click on 'Thread Tools' choose 'Subscribe to Thread' then choose your notification method, i used to choose instant emails but got bombarded by them (i somehow have subscribed to 289 so far :rolleyes: ) now i just choose the my settings button and all new posts to my subscribed threads are ready and waiting (but sometimes they dissapear before i have read them all :confused: )...... If anyone has a better way please let me know.... ta :)

Deano
 
Have now ordered rope light from TLC and will get this in place as soon as it arrives. Took your tip groove and plumped for mounting strips to avoid the dark spots like you suggested.

Am about to place an order for HDMI, TV aerial and speaker cables but haven't decided on speaker cables yet. I'm swapping those floorstanders for a pair of KEF 5005.2s (much higher WAF but can't afford the full 5.1 setup - I already have an MJ Acoustics Ref 100 sub lurking in the back right corner behing the Ikea chair) but I'm not sure whether to spend the extra on QED silver XT or not. HDMI is going to be a QED HDMI-P.

With regards to the fire, it does pump out heat from the top but we're not going to use it so we don't toast the plasma above (it eats electricity too). It will be screwed to the front of the MDF as a decorative feature as you can see more clearly in the attached picture from Sketchup.

Thanks for all the comments so far!

DM

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..............but haven't decided on speaker cables yet. ..............

DM

'Van Damme UPOFC Studio Grade Blue Series Speaker Cable' is very popular on these Forums.. and highly recommended...... i have bought a part roll for my next project but have not used it yet so i am hoping it is...... it's available to buy on the forum aswell as other places...
 
Rope light arrived yesterday so I got to work with the hacksaw and screwdriver. Have also ordered HDMI cable - went for a Mark Grant G720 in the end - half the price of what a QED would have been and have read good reports about MG cables.

Getting MDF on Saturday ready to paint before I mount it. I'm glad it's only 1 sheet with no joins and I'm going to secret fix it using angle brackets so I don't have any screw heads to fill and sand. The TV bracket will be screwed on with 70mm coach screws through the MDF providing extra hold.

DM

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Here are the results of yesterday's shopping trip...

A nice shiny pair of Kef 5005.2s to replace my huge floorstanders. Considering their size they actually sound better than the old Eltaxes and integrate very well with the MJ Acoustics Ref 100 sub which I had already. I can't afford the full surround setup at the moment so it's being staged, starting with the stereo pair. Connected to amp with QED silver micro and high level sub cable is my own custom QED micro bi-wire with one core removed.

As for colours, the MDF will be painted the same as the lounge walls in the pictures currently. The wall opposite where the telly is going is bright pink like the colour on the canvasses hanging on the wall. We only decorated the room less than a year ago so it's staying as is.

The beast lurking in the corner... currently c/over at 100Hz, not really had time to play yet.
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Speakers mounted in a temporary location until I have the MDF so we can at least listen to them.
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Looks like I really am blagging groove's idea what with the same speakers and all but I had decided on them before I saw his lounge..
DM
 
Latest update:

Everything is now in place apart from the TV and a new equipment rack.

MDF primed with two coats of PVA (cheaper than specialised MDF primer) and then two coats of emulsion. Levelled off as we discovered that the floor wasn't level (10mm difference over the 1220mm width of the board), then hole cut behind where the fire hangs to access the cables. Cables then hidden under carpet and MDF screwed into place behind where TV will hang. Varilight remote/touch dimmer added inline using a surface mount plastic backbox and hidden behind the MDF (still receives signal from the remote no problem). I then mounted the speakers and am now waiting to get the TV. Have an Edbak bracket from tvfixings.co.uk which seems incredibly sturdy which will be screwed straight into my timber studs through the MDF using 4 8x70mm coach screws. I'll drill a hole for TV cables using 70mm hole saw once I know where the hole needs to be when I have the TV in front of me to measure off.

See attached pictures:

DM
 

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TV arrives on Friday - Panasonic TH37PX70 from Dixons for a shade over £650 but then with 4% cashback through quidco. Good job I finish work early on Fridays so I can get home and get it mounted with my brother who is kindly coming down and accepting the delivery for us.

DM
 
Finally - TV arrived yesterday afternoon and my bro and I got to work as soon as I got back from work. Brackets attached to back of TV no problem, measured and measured again height that we needed to attach backplate to wall, spirit level out, pencil line drawn, pilot holes drilled for top screws, screws in, pilot holes for bottom screws, screws in, TV on to check height, measure holes for cables, 70mm holesaw for HDMI + power and 13mm drill for TV aerial. All in all about 40 mins and it was up. Looks great - HD through the PC is amazing and even DVD upscaled to 1080p is pretty respectable. The rope light looks the part - thanks for the idea groove :)

Thanks for your comments so far!

DM

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Gr8 work DM, these floating walls really do the job :smashin: mite have gone for slightly darker shade on it tho, but gr8 all the same

Tony
 
Looking good. Can see why you didn't go for a wider wall when I see how the room is laid out. Any chance of a photo in the evening with the lights on ;)
 
Wider wall would have been an option but then it would have been a lot more work getting a really good join between the boards - see groove's thread for the amount of sanding that took him!
1 sheet of MDF turned out to be just right, leaving a bit of space between the screen and the speakers. The TV also doesn't look lost on the wall - it still dominates!
As we weren't doing a total redecorate of the room we needed the least mess solution possible. What I've done didn't actually take very long - you could have done it in less than a day if you had all the bits in front of you.

DM
 
Great Look you have ended with DM.... Super Job :thumbsup:

as you say, quite straight forward but very effective, I would also like to see a pic with the rope lights on in the darkened room..... :smashin:
 
As requested...... I'm very happy with how it's turned out and so is Mrs DM. Remote control lights are very cool - only issue is that the TV remote won't dim them - only on and off as the buttons don't send out a constant IR signal when pressed and held down!

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Looks great.

Did you attach the TV to the wall or to the MDF panel? If so, does the MDF hold the weight of the TV ok?
 
Thanks for the pic. That looks spot on :smashin:
 

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