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In the new house, it looks like I'm stuck with having to wall-mount my 58" plastma on the wall. The problem is, the built-in cabinet is not underneath the spot for TV but to the side, at least several studs away.
Do these studs usually have pre-existing holes on the side to snake some HDMI cables, etc through from the plasma? If not, I don't see how any installer would be able to drill holes on the sides of multiple studs, at least not without destroying the dry wall to get to them :(
Any suggestions?
Follow Ups:
They make some awfully long drill bits... maybe even long enough to go through 2 studs without coming out the other wall. Maybe.
Or, drill a hole diagonally through each stud (through the drywall). Then there's just the relatively small drill holes to fill. Or, possibly, just drill or rout or chisel a notch in each stud and fill that in after pulling the cable or tubing, or laying a chunk of tube in the notch so the drywall patch doesn't fill in the notch. If you can understand what I'm trying to describe.
I would either use the external (and paintable) wire channels already mentioned or remove the molding and cut-off about an inch or so of the drywall behind the molding to make room for the cables. Some people even take a router to the backs of the molding strips to make more room.
I personally would not mount a display above a fireplace. You are going to get heat rising from the fireplace which certainly will not be healthy for your display in the long run not to mention that mounting the display that high is not the ideal position unless you prefer to always be looking up and have your neck cranked back.
Wood studs won't have any holes, metal ones do, but you still have to find them. You can cut 2" vertically wide holes horizontal across the wall, just enough to get a drill with a long bit to each stud. Screw a 4" vertically wide plywood backer board inside to secure the new drywall patch pieces.Drywall itself is pretty easy to remove and replace, as long as you have matching paint to finish. If it has a plaster coating, matching the swirl is more difficult.
If you do have to open up the drywall to run wires, you could install (2"?) pvc conduit instead, then you can "upgrade" the cables later if need be.
But there are plastic and metal surface mounted raceways that might work, just run it on the bottom of the baseboard trim. You could then run the cable vertically in the wall, after you get under the set.
Luckily today we just need to run one or two HDMI cables to the set, instead of three cables for the video plus two audio per source. The Blue Jeans component cable I was using was the thickness of a garden hose!
Edits: 05/17/10 05/17/10
Nice job!
Speaking for myself and my behavior, I like the surface raceway/channel because I'm frequently changing stuff. For a bedroom TV I probably wouldn't, but for the "main" one I would. Probably because of the nature of my work, I'm of the mindset that everything must be accessible. Yeah, it ain't too pretty...
Just recently I was helping somebody who has built-in cables. They were installed during a reno that only finished last summer. Now the guy finds out he needs an HDMI 1.4 cable to be able to get full use of the display he plans to buy (3D capable). There are just enough bends in the existing 1.3 cable that no way will it budge by pulling. May not even be enough free length in the existing cable that it'll reach the rear HDMI connector in the new display.
I guess I'm saying just make sure the pretty-factor is worth the inflexibility. Current displays aren't made to last, I think they figure you'll replace them in 3-5 years. A model is rarely made for more than a year, so if something goes seriously wrong, chances are the (warranty) replacement display will be different, maybe quite different (mounting, connector placement).
People who are good with drywall can rip out and replace sections invisibly. And fast. Not too expensive.
If you have the time and patience to plod through my Image Shack "user's stream", somewhere in there is a pic of conduit in an attic space. That's a 2-1/4" ID PVC conduit I have in the ceiling/wall of my main Livingroom/HT that feeds video cables from a side A/V closet to my dino display (RPTV). And yes, I've pulled a few cables in and out of that thing. For audio, I just use CL rated speaker cables, (not in conduit) and keep the amps (Mackie pros) in the closet.
I took that pic to be posted over at the Cult of the Infinite Baffled, as the piping needs to be relocated to make room for four AE-IB15 drivers which will make up a new IB sub system...should be awesome!
Both claim able to install flatscreens above fireplace without wires showing. Any experience with either outfits?
http://www.interstartv.com/plasma-tv-installation.html
http://hdinstallers.com/
use this company http://www.audiovideoking.com/ they are very reliable and professional for TV installation
I am no good at this sort of stuff either. There *are* tools that a regular installer would have that make it a lot easier, not inexpensive, not the kind of thing you'd buy to use once. Plus requires some skill/experience LOL.
I would probably use paintable surface channel. Do an immediate vertical drop (less noticeable to the eye) from the plasma, then run it horizontally as close to the floor/moulding as possible (so there's not a separate entity to draw the eye). A variation of this would be to use the channel on the opposite side of the wall the plasma is mounted on, if a less "important" room (i.e. the room opposite my HT room is a laundry room, who cares what it looks like).
I've never seen holes drilled in studs unless there was a specific reason to do so. You are going to have some patching and painting to do. I don't see a way around it. Good luck.
-Wendell
Edits: 05/16/10
Looks like you're out of luck there JonL. You'll have to cut a strip of the drywall out going in the direction of your cabinet that is wide enough to get an angled drill in. Once over the top of the cabinet , you can then drop your lines down one of the stud cavities and into the cabinet. Been there done that before for a customer...what a pain in the ass! Good luck.Getting the thin strip of drywall replaced shouldn't be terribly expensive.Hopefully you haven't painted the walls yet. If so..then it will be a bit more cost.
I also suggest you run Cat6 lines instead of HDMI.It's much easier to work with. Plus you can run several pair just for future proofing the install.You can use the Cat6 to carry your HDMI signal or pretty much anything else. Use HDMI wall plate converters or bailings. Run atleast one extra pair of lines so if you want to add internet or remote control access(IR blaster for the cabinet) in the future you'll have it.
Edits: 05/16/10 05/16/10
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