House Projects

[Halon]

So the kitchen is basically done. Just need to paint the little wall. That won't get done for awhile though because I'll do it when I paint the whole level.

You will notice there's a huge chunk of area that is missing carpet now. That will be getting carpet when I re-carpet the whole level this spring!!

[turbotalon1g]

Looks nice.

[scheides]

I've done dick with my house for the last year, went crazy! The weekend before thanksgiving we picked up a new king size euro-top bed for makin sweet sweet love on, re-arranged a bunch of stuff in the bedroom.

Last weekend we ended up re-insulating our attic (perfect timing!) and it worked out pretty awesome! $240 worth of insulation, face masks, and eye protection at Home Depot, free blower rental. Three people loading the hopper/blower outside and Rosey and me up in the attic at the other end of the 100' hose. Sprayed for about 3 hours straight, added 8-12" and brought the whole attic up to between R38 and R49 standards. Overall I'm SUPER pleased, I've noticed a difference already.

Oh, also cost me some beers and meals, taking care of my helpers :) My parents paid someone $.99/sq foot to get this done this spring. 1000 sq foot house (attic area) is pretty typical, plus they charge cost of materials on top of that. So I got mine done for ~$300 and they paid $1350. Ouch.


During prep for the insulation project, I managed to get some time in on this tv project at the same time. Got a new 40" LCD for the living room and moved my old 32" samsung lcd into the bedroom.

I WAS going to wire power from the attic down into the wall, but my house is pretty old (1913) and has undergone some changes through the years. Half of the current master bedroom used to be a porch or deck (please note the kink in the wall to the left of where I'm mounting the TV in the following pics), and getting any wiring into the walls turned out to be a nightmare. So, I ended up going with this kit:
http://www.mycablemart.com/store/cart.php?m=product_detail&p=1448
https://www.mycablemart.com/store/images/products/1448_large.jpg

For anyone else doing this, get some new single-gang boxes as the ones that come in the kit are garbage! Also the extension cord that comes with it is way too meaty imho; I used my own for a bit lower-profile. Mycablemart.com is awesome since its local, I picked it up the same day I ordered it :)

http://www.scheides.com/albums/bedroom_tv_project/IMG_1500.sized.jpg

http://www.scheides.com/albums/bedroom_tv_project/IMG_1506.sized.jpg

Also went with this mount from monoprice. ~$21 shipped, best deal ever, comes with built-in level (which I verified):
http://www.scheides.com/albums/bedroom_tv_project/IMG_1510.sized.jpg

http://www.scheides.com/albums/bedroom_tv_project/IMG_1508.sized.jpg

And here it is all installed!
http://www.scheides.com/albums/bedroom_tv_project/IMG_1511.sized.jpg

http://www.scheides.com/albums/bedroom_tv_project/IMG_1512.sized.jpg

Sooner or later I'll pick up a HD cable box and a nice long hdmi cable and set the box over on the dresser. There might be room to mount it behind the tv, not sure.

Bedroom project is about 90% done, going to get a dressing table and mirror from ikea for anna to do her hair/makeup at. Prolly a stool and some lighting to go with it, I'm sure I'll end up spending another $250 pretty quick on that last part of this project.

[A//// Guy]

Lookin good! what is that box on the floor under the tv for?

[scheides]

Basically its an extension cord that runs behind the wall.

I couldn't actually get power to the outlet behind the TV, so I used the kit I linked above. You take your average extension cord, plug one end into an outlet somewhere, or power strip. Then plug the other end into the outlet beneath the TV (it has a male plug on it). It then supplies power to the normal outlet that is behind the tv mount.

It's a *bit* goofy but it's clean, meets code, and also has the low-voltage ducts to run media cables (gotta get coax, hdmi, or something to watch on the thing up there!) through as well. Given the way my house was built, it was my only option. If someone were less handy with wiring electrical and had a normal drywall, this kit would be a freaking breeze to install and you wouldn't have to hire an electrician to do it.

[A//// Guy]

Ahhh ok nice! That makes sense. You couldnt run any new wires from the basement up that wall? Im guessing the walls are stucco and arent hollow 2X4 style.

[Swifty1638]

even so, how are you getting the cable to the back of the box you installed behind the tv? run it through the wall. I wouldn't think this is any more difficult then running wire through the wall, and cutting out a square for a box and wiring it up! Am I missing something here?

[Kracka]

Looks good!

[scheides]

Ahhh ok nice! That makes sense. You couldnt run any new wires from the basement up that wall? Im guessing the walls are stucco and arent hollow 2X4 style.

Nope the outside walls are off-set from the foundation slightly (on purpose). Yes they're hollow but there's 2-3 layers of different kinds of sheetrock on top of old wood paneling and nothing is consistent, horizontal 2x4's in random spots (old railing/window framing?) etc etc etc. I promise, I would have just wired it directly if I could have. :)

[scheides]

even so, how are you getting the cable to the back of the box you installed behind the tv? run it through the wall. I wouldn't think this is any more difficult then running wire through the wall, and cutting out a square for a box and wiring it up! Am I missing something here?

Getting through various parts of the wall is possible but really not the problem. Getting power, cable, cat5 etc into said wall from the attic or basement is basically impossible. THAT is the problem :) Unless of course, I were to simply run the wires on the outside of the house!