what did you hate when it happened

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Houston, Texas
Every so often something occurs that brings us back to earth. We can feel ourselves flying high :D, being goood :D, everybody likes our work :D, we want to share cause we have something to say :D...........then boom:eek: something happens, no ones fault but yours truely, no escape shute, no scapegoat, no excuse :doh:.
Plan to finish my latest Monday.
Scene.... on site, nice people want a TV over the fireplace in the Master bedroom, in the recessed area above the mantle, which seems to have a poured limestone look. Very porous. The hole into which the tv will go has an arched top and is 28" deep. It is 24" to the shoulders on each side and 30" at the top of the arch in the middle, 52" wide at the base.
Since they were getting two TVs, different areas of course, and since there were three sizes, I cut the sizes of the largest two TVs out of cardboard, the 52" and the 46" Sharp, on the tablesaw before I left to discuss the options with the clients.. On the back of the 46" Sharp I drew the lines of the 42" just in case.
We found out the 46" would not fit in the hole above the fireplace so we would have to use the 42" TV. I cut the cardboard on the lines with the utility knife and it fit very nicely.
I would recess two pieces of 3/4" plywood into the hole and cover that with 1/4" ply, finishing it out at 8" behind the face of the sheet rock, so that when the bracket and the TV were mounted the image would be recessed in the hole about 1" . Also necessary was to be the cutting of two holes for the components that were to be behind the TV as there was no other good place to put them. so far so good, Right?
More later.
Shaz
 
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Cannot see, for the life of me,why someone would want a flatt screenover the fireplace... Hurts my neck, looking up and all. In have seen screens on the wall above the fireplace and have not liked it. On our houseboat we have a TV mounted on the wall, and it is OK when we are working about and enjoying the experience but that evening it requires you either to layback in a lounge or crane you neck to watch TV. Usually we fish and enjoy adult beverage and frindly discourse but lat at night we settle in to wach 'TV and the wall mount is a pain in the neck.

OK My personal opinion
 
Cannot see, for the life of me,why someone would want a flatt screenover the fireplace... Hurts my neck, looking up and all.

I agree; it always looks completely wrong to me. I worry about the heat affecting the tv too. And having the fire working whilst you're watching is uncomfortable too, since flickering flames present a peripheral visual field disturbance that has to be distracting.

Besides, what is there worth watching other than This Old House and Inspector Morse reruns?
 
Cannot see, for the life of me,why someone would want a flatt screenover the fireplace... Hurts my neck, looking up and all. Hi Bill :wave:, I agree with you on having the tv too high up. In this case it works real well as they have one of the new fangled beds, the surface is about 3' above the floor

And having the fire working whilst you're watching is uncomfortable too, since flickering flames present a peripheral visual field disturbance that has to be distracting. Hi Tim :wave:, I understand what you mention here and agree that it could be a distraction. The hole was in the wall when they bought the house. I'm sure they can get software so at least when the tv is not on, it looks like a painting.:D
Okay now where was I?:huh:
 
I do 90% of my work at the shop and then install the stuff so, I needed to get a pattern of the hole to take back to the shop. My cardboard supplies were limited to the one large piece of plywood ( approx. 49"x32" ) and the small one I had just made smaller. Thinking how do I make a pattern of this hole that will be accurate enough to carry to the shop and at least cut the two 3/4" pieces of birch plywood close enough to exact so as to slide them into the hole without problems and yet large enough to secure to 3/4" cleats ( trying to maintain a metal tolerance level to keep these patterns close) if that is what I have to use. Fortunately I was able to use 1 1/2'' for the cleats. So how do I make a pattern, do I need more cardboard, a bigger piece, and how do I crawl in the hole and trace it from the back? Do I hire a tiny person to crawl in the hole, and if so how much do I pay them? :type: Will the pattern be what I need if someone else marks it?
What do you think? :dunno:
Shaz :)
P.S. I forgot to add that the outside corners around the opening were the rounded corners being used on sheetrock in many places these days, so I had no crisp corner to mark against, adding to my delight.......
 
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I needed to get a pattern of the hole to take back to the shop. My cardboard supplies were limited to the one large piece of plywood ( approx. 49"x32" ) . Thinking how do I make a pattern of this hole that will be accurate enough to carry to the shop and at least cut the two 3/4" pieces of birch plywood close enough to exact so as to slide them into the hole without problems So how do I make a pattern
What do you think? :dunno:
Shaz :)
P.S. I forgot to add that the outside corners around the opening were the rounded corners being used on sheetrock in many places these days, so I had no crisp corner to mark against, adding to my delight.......

I cut the card board in half, scribed as much of the opening on the right side as possible, did the same on the left, put both pieces of cardboard up at the same time and measured the gap between the two. it worked out just as I expected it should.
Shaz :)
 
I cut the card board in half, scribed as much of the opening on the right side as possible, did the same on the left, put both pieces of cardboard up at the same time and measured the gap between the two. it worked out just as I expected it should.
Shaz :)

good thinking shaz, but i'm starting to wonder about the title of the thread....does something go wrong?? Hi Chris :wave:, You are always sharp as a tack in a carpet strip, That's Sharp! :D...S Intended to be laughing with you!:rofl::rofl:

chris

Since the finished surface needed be 8" from the sheetrock face (in this case) I scribed a line with the combo. sq. 9 3/4" back all around the hole.
Prior to that, I ripped some 7" 2x4s in half, 1 1/2" x 1 11/16 x 7" then cut the curve of the roof arch on those pieces on the band saw at the shop, in order to have cleats that fit the curve. When hanging a flat screen one of the most important concerns is to secure that surface upon which the bracket holding the TV will be mounted. I then found where the braces were in the ceiling, marked them with tape, and screwed the cleats into the opening 9 3/4" back all around the curved part of the opening. The 2x4s I used as cleats on the floor had been jointed to flat and planed to the thickness of two pieces of 3/4" plywood, reason being I needed to cut two holes for components in those 3/4" vertical pieces behind the Tv and slide two components into the holes. The would need a platform to sit on.
On top of the 2x4 and the double 3/4" plywood I put a 1/2" full sized platform for each component to sit on. enclosed is a weak drawing of the cofiguration. Don't know SU so this is what is left!:rofl:
lide.JPG
Shaz :)
 
Since the finished surface needed be 8" from the sheetrock face (in this case) I scribed a line with the combo. sq. 9 3/4" back all around the hole. ( The finished surface would end up at 8" after I add two layers of 3/4" plywood and one layer of 1/4" plywood. The reason for three layers is this... I needed 1 1/2" of solid wood to screw the bracket to and be able to sleep at night! :) Then, considering I had to scribe the entire opening with a piece that needed to fit 8" back in the cavity I thought,:huh: hmmm ,1/4" would be easier to fit than 3/4". Therefore 1/4" became the facepiece.)
Prior to that, I ripped some 7" 2x4s in half, 1 1/2" x 1 11/16 x 7" then cut the curve of the roof arch on those pieces on the band saw at the shop, in order to have cleats that fit the curve. ( curved ceiling) When hanging a flat screen one of the most important concerns is to secure that surface upon which the bracket holding the TV will be mounted. I then found where the braces were in the ceiling, marked them with tape,( since I was adding 1 3/4" in front of the cleats, I had to mark where the studs and supports were that I could screw my cleats to. I did this by sticking masking tape inside the wall cavity inline with the support, about 2" out away from the cleats so that when I put my plywood in the hole I would not loose sight of the cleat attachment marks.) . and screwed the cleats into the opening 9 3/4" back all around the curved part of the opening. The 2x4s I used as cleats on the floor had been jointed to flat and planed to the thickness of two pieces of 3/4" plywood, reason being I needed to cut two holes for components in those 3/4" vertical pieces behind the Tv and slide two components into the holes. They would need a platform to sit on.
On top of the 2x4 and the double 3/4" plywood I put a 1/2" full sized platform ( 17 1/2"x 17 1/2" ) for each component to sit on. enclosed is a weak drawing of the cofiguration. Don't know SU so this is what is left!:rofl:
View attachment 14570
Shaz :)
Since I scribed the opening with a pencil, the marks if correct ,
were the radius of the pencil smaller than the opening, which allowed my 2 sheets of 3/4" to slide in easily and be secured to the cleats. So far so good. Now time for the face which I planned on fitting to within caulking, 3/32" max and that only in the widest places.
Scribing this was done differently than the 3/4".
 
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