Living Room Project

[GMX]

That's coming along nicely Lenny

On 17/07/2016 at 9:12 AM, Lenny said:

I was reluctant to fit standard dimmable downlights as they use halogen bulbs and cost an absolute fortune to run on electricity also replacing bulbs can become a quarterly choir as they don't last very long.

I had those in my last house in the kitchen, if they had lasted quarterly that would've been something of an improvement.

It was more of fortnightly to three weekly event changing the expired halogens

[salsheikh]

Lenny,

I dont see how the downlight covers fit over the lights you have posted due to the horizontal shape of the green bit?

Keep up the awesome work man 

[Lenny]

On Tuesday, July 19, 2016 at 3:38 PM, GMX said:

That's coming along nicely Lenny

I had those in my last house in the kitchen, if they had lasted quarterly that would've been something of an improvement.

It was more of fortnightly to three weekly event changing the expired halogens

My brother has them in his kitchen with no other light source just the halogens dotted around the kitchen ceiling shining down on the worktop areas and six above the table; yeah it looks cosy and light where its needed but costs a fortune replacing bulbs.

These LED version are said to be a straight swap unit from standard Halogen, 

On Tuesday, July 19, 2016 at 4:12 PM, salsheikh said:

Lenny,

I dont see how the downlight covers fit over the lights you have posted due to the horizontal shape of the green bit?

Keep up the awesome work man 

Thanks mate,

Although it says these ThermaHood covers are suitable for use with LED version; I haven't purchased the ThermaHood's just yet, because I've lifted the landing floor to discover the plywood flooring beneath has been layed down before the partition walls and banister rail went in 😣

this means I have the same sheet running across the landing and under the walls in to bedrooms.

One option is to cut out the hall section but will result in creaking floor at a later date.

so I'm holding off on purchasing the ThermaHood's because I may be taking out the ceiling to install the downlights instead of taking up the floor meaning the hoods wouldn't fit up through the ceiling for installation.

but either way; the LED downlights are going in 😅

[Preecematt]

Love that green colour Lenny.  Great progress again, unless you've already explained it but how will those light hoods affect the running temperatures of the LED's or will it not make a difference

[Lenny]

4 minutes ago, Preecematt said:

Love that green colour Lenny.  Great progress again, unless you've already explained it but how will those light hoods affect the running temperatures of the LED's or will it not make a difference

Don't think they increase the heat much, the LED don't get as hot as halogen neither apparently 

[Lenny]

On 7/19/2016 at 4:12 PM, salsheikh said:

Lenny,

I dont see how the downlight covers fit over the lights you have posted due to the horizontal shape of the green bit?

Keep up the awesome work man 

Your right mate,

Received the downlights this morning and lucky I didn't purchase those ThermaHood's just yet because the LED downlights don't need them according to the box 👍

In other news;

im on holidays this week from work; my dad's on a three hour drive down with tools to stay and help out for two days,

So the new radiators are starting to go in today.

[Lenny]

Starting more progress now with radiator Installation in the hallway, 

 

The Milano Radiators sit closer to the wall despite still being a double layer radiator taking up less space 👌

The process was much the same as the living room but was a bit easier as we fitted some 90 degree elbows to the existing pipes exiting from the ground and fed them down along the wall to the new location:

 

Now to have pipes extended and recessed in to exit from the wall, 

I then surrounded the pipes at floor level with expanding foam;Left it for a few hours to dry out then trimmed off the excess foam using a plastic cake slicer from PoundWorld😊 less abrasive than a kitchen knife; as i didn't want to harm the pipes. 

One 700g can of expanding foam and a 5kg bag of "Sand&Cement mix" was enough to cover both areas insulating the pipes and filling level with finished floor,

The foam is easily removed if there's ever any leaks and the system was cold pressure tested to holding 2.5bar pressure for 24hrs to ensure no leaks were present prior to filling around the new pipes,
Normal operating pressure for the system is 1.5bar.

Now moving on from the radiator install;

 

The three dimmable LED Downlights were fitted today, I'm very happy with the 4000kelvin results,

 

 

I've not been able to fit the clipsal branded LED dimmer just yet as it's on special order from Schneider Electric in Germany whom are the manufacturer of the Clipsal range of switch & sockets, so here are the downlights at full illumination;

 

 

The hall needs painting and will be done soon,

I would have preferred to relocate the mains powerd smoke alarm and fit one of the downlights in its place as it seemed the ideal location to fit one,

But the Electrician (my dad) says; The smoke alarm has to be located atleast 12" inches from each wall above the kitchen door in order to comply with building safety regulations,

So it has to stay where it was and had it replaced as they expire every 10 years and this one was fitted since 2003 back when the house was first built.

 

 

A Replacement 5 year model only cost €19.50👌

A 10 year model is €74.95😦 

 

Its a bit smaller than the previous one, it also has a battery backup supply which the previous model didn't 👍

 

Moving onwards now to fitting the dimmable LED Down lights 

 

 

When installing the downlights;

My Dad showed me a great way to ensure there is enough space inside the plasterboard prior to cutting which doesn't involve lifting the floor above or making a mess of The ceiling neither; 

 

He used a wire coat hanger, 

Bent it to match the width of the downlights housing in this case the overall width of the downlight was 113mm so he bet the wire at 57mm long.

 

 

Meassured up the ceiling and marked out evenly spread locations that were centre to the ceiling ideally where we would like them to be fitted.

 

Then made a pin sized hole about 5mm in diameter.

stuck the bent coat hanger up through this hole and rotated it 360` degree's

 

If the coat hanger comes in to contact with a joice juring this rotation then we move over a bit and try again.

 

The small test hole is very easily filled if it's not a successful hit and is much better than drilling a huge hole to find its not going there.

Great tip that 👍

 

 

Im going to fill the ceiling in the hall with some filler now, that's not a crack in the image above; it's a slice he made in the ceiling in order to run extra cables down to the switch for the new lights; 

This plaster was cut out earlier to fit an additional cable to power the downlights, fed down to through the cavity to an additional switch.

 

 

Another sanding and light skim of filler tomorrow should see it ready for painting👍

 

Now; Following the raising of height on the living room light switch; I continued to raise all of the downstairs light switches up to a more comfortable height of 145cm from the floor to the centre of the switch plate panel.

Starting with the switch nearest the front door.

Filled the large gaps with some unibond WhiteTec expanding foam 

Left to dry for a few hours prior to trimming back with a kitchen knife, then applied some Ronseal Ready mixed filler, quick sanding and another paint; its almost looking as it should but I run out of filler and the wife was painting; so it needs another filling then painted again but its worked out perfectly.

Just needs another sanding and its ready for painting 

The next one was a bit easier as it's a partition wall outside the downstairs toilet; used a new Stanley knife blade instead of the hammer & chisel for this one.

Moving on then;

We recently picked up this distressed looking metal arch mirror for the wall on the landing at the top of the stairs,

Purchased from "The Range" 

Link: https://www.therange.co.uk/home-furnishings/mirrors/wall-mirrors/distressed-arch-mirror#112590 

This style of mirror is somthing the wife really wanted to have positined there, 

Unfortunately; When the mirror is mounted on the wall; it's covering the landing light switch,

So I've marked out the wall on the opposite side and drilled in to the cavity in preparation for the electrician (my dad) to re-route the cables and switch to the left side of the door at a later date. 

Having cut out the plasterboard; I stuck the top of my phone inside to take a picture in order to see where there was a horizontal partition;

Thankfully there was just one feeding to the Attic,

So I've drilled down from the Attic space in to the cavity in preparation for the reroute of the cables 

Routed the cables down the opposite side of the door; and filled the old switch location with expanding foam: 

Prior to trimming it back and filling smooth using some Ronseal ready mixed filler,

It's great stuff new on the market,

I used to use Pollyfilla ready mixed filler all of the time but this stuff is much lighter and spreads like ice-cream.

The landing area and hall still need painting at a later date but it's best go get everything marked up and hanging on the walls before paint,

 

I then booked five days Holiday off work masked up every door in the hallway using some bin liners and duct tape in preparation for filling and sanding the ceiling and walls using an orbital sander, 

The front door was the only entry and exit while the area was being sanded, we used the side entrance to access the kitchen via the back door and camped in the back garden for a night to allow the dust settle prior to cleaning with sugar soap solution the following day and applying the first coat white undercoat prior to two coats of Dulux Marian Grey 

The finished results were well worth the efforts though as the walls appear much smoother 

Purchased a matching distressed arch mirror for the downstairs hall from "The Range" link: https://www.therange.co.uk/home-furnishings/mirrors/wall-mirrors/distressed-arch-mirror#112590 

There's no trace of the original radiator on the wall at all 👍

I then purchased a small sample pot of bright red paint from tbe local DIY store to use on the wall and floor to mark the location of the heating pipes inside to ensure no nails are used in that area when fitting the skirting boards at a later date: all of the red will be hidden by tiles & skirting board when installed.

I've not gotten to changing the wooden front door yet,

I had thought earlier in the project that it was going to be replaced with a PVC one this year but unfortunately at €2,300 for its desired replacement i just didn't get to it yet, it needed to be treated against the elements this year though; so instead of varnishing it again I've painted the colour which it's replacement's going to be and here it is: 

Here's a quick Photoshop of the future planned PVC replacement 😅

Back to the present time now:

Fitted an LED 3 branch light fitting purchased from "NEXT" in to the downstairs ceiling to match in with the previously installed LED downlights further up the hallway Link: https://www.next.co.uk/g673970s1#954489 

The switch relocation from the right to the left side of the bathroom door upstsirs; looks as though it was always that way now 

 

Next we have the first cost effective item i've found is for the immersion, 

How many of us have either gone out of the house or gotten in to bed and forgotten to switch it off.

Not anymore 😀

 

This boost switch from TimeGuard Model: TGBT4 automatically turns off after the set amount of time has expired.

Very simple one button operation, press twice for 30 minutes operation etc.

I've purchased a regular immersion switch along with the TimeGuard unit and a double mounting plate as I plan on relocating the existing location of the standard switch removing it from the hallway and positioning it inside the hotpress door.

 

Anyway here's some links: 

 

TimeGuard Immersion Switch:

http://www.electricalwholesaler.ie/Products/TGBT4-Timeguard16A-Immersion-Switch-Timer__TGBT4.aspx

 

2 Gang 25mm Surface plate box: 

http://www.electricalwholesaler.ie/Products/2-Gang-25mm-Dual-Surface-Box-Selectric-LG83825__LG83825.aspx

 

Sink/Bath Selection Switch: 

http://www.electricalwholesaler.ie/Products/SinkBath-Switch__DISN.aspx

 

The above item "TimeGuard Immersion Switch" can be used for basically any hard wired item; not just the water heater making it very useful for a range of devices, I later fitted one to some lights in the attic.

Here's this one now fitted inside the door 

I've also relocated the immersion switch away from view on the landing Its now fitted; inside the hotpress or Airing cupboard door along with the TimeGuard switch to automatically turn off the immersion after a set duration of time.

The immersion switch is always left in the "ON" position now by design or intention,

The TimeGuard button then control's the power feeding to the immersion.

Later upgrade to a Legrand Switch which comes with screw caps; purchased the unit from eBay, I prefer it as theres no light visible and the switches are like beach stones.

 

There's no trace of the immersion heater switch ever being on the landing wall neither 👍

I've got a bit of light sanding to do on the sides of the door architrave prior to reftting 

With the hallway painted and plans to change the downstairs doors from pine to Oak; My wife thought the stairs would look better painted white, 

So here's before:

And here they are currently filled and undercoated with "Ronseal One Coat Primer & Undercoat"

Quick rub down with some 3M 180 Grit sand paper to remove any paint runs aswell as filling any imperfections that were highlighted by the white primer,

First coat of Dulux Satinwood 

Quick rub down with some P180 sandpaper to take away any paint runs and a Second coat of Dulux Satinwood to finish 👍

The landing area seems a lot brighter too

Had half a tin of the White Dulux Satinwood left over so I give the inside of the front door two coats aswell👍

We searched online for a place where we could purchase some natural oak floating mantle's built specifically to our requirements,

We found the exact place up in Dublin close to the airport called "The Wood Factory" the guys have some fantastic pieces of artwork from desks to tables to mantles all made from live natural wood.

Here's a link to there website: https://www.thewoodfactory.ie 

 We had one made for the living room as saw later in the thread and this one with the large knot in it is to be fitted under the arch mirror inside the front door as a sort of minimalist natural floating hall table, They made a fantastic job of these with the front facing open knot 

Cost €700 for both hand crafted mantels including the hidden steel fixing brackets which was worth every cent in my opinion since there natural solid oak pieces that have been hand crafted not a mass production piece.

Here's the hall mantle fitted:

Heres a link again for the distressed Arch Mirror: https://www.therange.co.uk/home-furnishings/mirrors/wall-mirrors/distressed-arch-mirror#112590 

 

 

 

[Lenny]

Here's a quick Post highlighting some energy saving products manufactured within the UK supplied from two main manufacturers.

 

The next item also from TimeGuard Model: TGB16 is ideal for a range of uses and my main reason for purchasing is to use when charging my Phone at night,

I don't like leaving chargers plugged in overnight for fear of starting a fire which has happened others on a few occasions,

 

This item based on the TimeGuard immersion boost button design; is ideal for phone chargers, electric heaters, ironing, hair straighteners, patio heaters, electric fires the list goes on, 

Basically any item which we tend to walk away and forget to switch off.

Link: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/322229678810

 

The next item now is WiFi sockets, 

Link: http://www.electricalwholesaler.ie/Products/Efergy-Ego-Smart-Wifi-Socket-Home-Controller__EFERGYEGO.aspx 

 

 

 

These socket adaptors wirelessly connect to the internet router and are controlled via an app on your Android or Apple based device from well anywhere in the world that you have internet access not just within your home here's a screenshot of the app notice the customizable icons 

 

 

There very simple to setup and you can customize the icon for each socket on the app to match the device plugged in making it extremely user friendly.

 

The app also allows you to enter the cost of your electricity units and will calculate the usage aswell as display real time consumption of the connected appliance😯

You can also setup timeclock function.

 

I plan to use one to power the cabinet downlight when I eventually have it fitted as I won't be easily able to access the sockets at the rear of the cabinet without removing a wooden panel. 

 

Not sure what I'll use the second one for just yet but I can see myself purchasing a few more of these in the future for kitchen appliances and lamps👍

 

The next item is very affordable and doesn't use WiFi, and has a multitude of possibilities from a company called "EnergyEgg" here is there product which is also called Energy Egg

 

 

 

 

 

The kit consists of a wireless 9V battery Powered egg shaped PR sensor ☝

which is much the same as the sensor you may have fitted to an outside light but it has extra heat sensitivity which can detect if a person is in the room even if there sitting perfectly still.

The other part of the kit is the wireless plug in socket adaptor, additional plug in sockets are sold separately for a small fee and can be synchronized to operate from the same sensor;

The PIR sensor sends signals directly to these sockets without the use of WiFi to switch them on when someone is in the room and off again when nobody has been in the room for a adjustable set period of 5-30min saving energy.

 

Ideal for kids play rooms or living room where they tend to turn on all electrical devices then get board leaving the room without switching off, I like the "time off delay" feature as it allows you time to leave the room to answer the doorbell or make a coffee without everything instantly turning off,

Link: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/-/141938038847 

 

 

That's all the cost saving items I've found worth purchasing.

I hope some find it of interest, 

I'll be taking a break now for the Christmas Season to help Santa followed by returning to schedule in January.

[Lenny]

While we were busy working on the inside;

A new Telecommunications network provider was very busy chasing out the pavements in our estate outside, 

Virgin Media were laying down some high speed fibre optic cables 😁 Woop Woop!

Heres a letter we got in the door to explain;

I was absolutely delighted to see them installing now rather than later as there doing every house around town and I was hoping to have them in before I completed the living room to conceal all the network provider cables inside the walls as I have all the other cables hidden in the wall making the switch from Virgin to sky or Eir seamless, just plug out and plug in, 

Here they are laying a large diameter pipe across the road at the front of our house where there fitting a manhole sort of junction box in the ground.

They then chased out the pavements with small "rubber duck" diggers to lay the green pipes and install a small for want of a better term "Tampon" sized manhole port in to the pavement outside each house which was quite a task for them to undertake in the Hope's people would sign up to there services but the entire project is partially funded by the EU and government for a better broadband service throughout the country.

Above theres the digger on the left; chasing out the pavements, digger on the right then is digging it up to put down the green pipe which is currently empty much like garden hose.

They quickly relayed the cement the following day having put in the manhole and pipe, here they are leveling the surface;

Left it covered then to dry overnight while we had to keep the cars outside the driveway 

Day three of installation; we had full access to the driveway again and they continued the process further down the road and on to the next estate 

Day five of installation; 

They came back with a large coil of fibreoptic line and an air compressor on a trailer to blow the fibreoptic line through each of the previously layed green pipes each individually run from the manhole at each house back to a switch hub fitted at the beginning of our estate.

Heres the small manhole in the pavement at the front of our house:

Three months after they had disappeared; we had a caller to the door from Virgin Media and we were one of the first three houses in the estate to sign up for installation. 

The installation process cost me €240 for installation in three rooms; that's the main living room and two bedrooms upstairs a total of three viewing boxs were provided and a router to provide us with 360mb Broadband where previously we were getting 90mb with the old alternative provider through the telephone line.

At this point I should say; I wasn't required to carry out any sort of preparation work for Virgin Media to arrive and install there services, if I was a business person I could have stayed in the suit all day long, 

However I'm quite particular about the positioning of things and I wanted a seamless installation and I'm very aware these installation guys are paid by the job not by the hour, meaning they can get three jobs done per day they get Friday off or work it for extra payment.

So I figured if i took the day off work to greet them and i dug out the garden in preparation for there install; then they would have that extra bit of time to do a tidy job in locating the rest of the equipment. 

Heres how the installation process went:

 

The above image shows the small manhole outside the wall of our front garden, 

Inside that manhole is a green pipe feeding from the hub at the front of our estate, 

When installing the fibreoptic cable to the house, they will open the small black manhole and drill downwards in through the wall in to the garden at a 45° degree angle.

They then feed in an empty green pipe. 

As result I've taken the time to measure the height of the wall from the pavement to the top of the wall,

I then measured down the inside of the wall and removed the compost from our garden to ensure the level on the inside of the wall was significantly lower 14" lower than the pavement allowing them ease of install.

I shoveled the compost in to a large bag making it easy to put back when the installation was completed; just lift the bag in and cut it open at the bottom

They then put the fibreoptic line from the small black manhole; through the wall and down the garden underneath the compost and behind the shrubs tight to the neighbouring wall, 

Basic PhotoShop here: 

To the small red brick wall close to the house; Where they will need to fit a brown box which takes in the fibreoptic line and outputs RG6 coaxial cable in to the house,

I planned there is sufficint space for the plastic brown box to be mounted on the pebble dash wall next to the tree where it would be less visible.

They could then drill through at the bottom of the red brick wall and continue to the front wall of the house with the RG6 Coaxial cable.

However; there installation plans slightly differed from my idea of how it was all going to be🤔

I had asked them to fit the brown box behind the tree on to the boundary wall but they didn't want to put it there; unless I was willing to let them cut the tree down all all together 😂 seriously they had a saw, just an example of what your dealing with regarding any install of service.

Can't do and won't do signed: Mr. Richard Head

The expanding foam in the image below is from a previous hole drilled by Sky before I reinstalled the cable inside the house out of view instead of it running up the front wall. 

On the day of intallation three Virginmedia installers arrived apparently all skilled in different areas of installation,

👷‍♂️1 x There job is to dig up the garden and lay the green pipe from the manhole to the brown box this individual won't enter the house seems allergic to front doors and won't take tea or coffee,

👷‍♂️1 x There job is to blow the fibreoptic cable through the green pipe from the large manhole across the road to the brown box, arrives mid installation and won't come inside the gate; instead he shouts in to the lad that is allergic to entering the house and just does the digging.

👷‍♂️1 x There job is to route the RG6 cables from the brown box to the desired locations inside the house along with the router and box's they wear blue overshoes upon entering the home and will consume a cup of tea providing your taking one yourself.

I explained my preparation and plan to the three lads whom were impressed with my preparation work aswell as being delighted to see the livingroom was stripped out; made there job alot easier. 

They did run the fibreoptic line under the shrubs as i requested and there was no problem,👍

But they positioned the brown box on the front of the house next to the garden socket instead of it being hidden inside the wall because I wouldn't let them fell a tree😂

They then run an RG6 cable from the brown box up the front of the house in to the attic where it is fitted to a splitter feeding to viewing box's in two rooms upstairs,

I did ask them to route it inside the house via the hotpress (Airing Cupboard) as I had previously routed the satellite and telephone feeds but as suspected; they weren't interested; so I'll re-do the entire process myself later routing inside the house using slightly better quality Belden cable, I'm glad they done the fibreoptic part as I wanted though as i cant change that as easily.

They then run two lengths of RG6 cable in to the living room; one is for a power adapter which plugs in to an available socket within the house and boosts the splitter inside the brown box outside via an RG6 cable.

The second feed goes in to a splitter providing two separate outputs; one for the router and one for the viewing box.

Overall the only issue's I have with the install is the positioning of the brown box outside and I can't change because there's fibreoptic feeding to it,🙍‍♂️

Also that they run a coaxial cable up the front of the house in to the attic but I will change that myself.

I plan to route a new better quality silver shielded Belden RG6 cable inside the house from the brown box outside in to the livingroom through to the kitchen and up in to the attic where it won't be visible anywhere atall; as you will see in the next update.

I can then remove the original from the front of the house myself at a later date but well worth it as there's VirginMedia in every room the same as sattelite feeds, Terrestrial & CAT7 RJ45 internet connection.

I've since filled in gaps around the livingroom sockets aswell as giving it two coats of white paint and installing the 8 port NetGear GS308 Gigabit LAN router.

Its coming together exactly as planned with all network providers now seamlessly installed inside the corner of the living room no cables or conduit running along the wall. 

[Lenny]

Purchased a set of 15 assorted picture frames in black from eBay link: http://r.ebay.com/jeoQKo

 

I quite liked the configuration of the example image on there listing ☝ and thought it would look good on the living room wall above the radiator with pictures of the family at various stages in life.

 

I plan on mounting them to the wall using screws & wall plugs, all marking and drilling is to be completed before the room is painted.

 

I went to the local DIY store and purchased some M5 x 25 screws & wall plugs along with a new 5mm Masonry drill bit.

 

This is the unfinished living room wall which I will be mounting the arrangement to.

 

Here is the delivery of picture frames layed out in the desired formation on the kitchen table:

 

Using a spirit level, a measuring tape and a sharp pencil;

 

I first marked a top line from the upper frame of the door to across the wall, making this the highest point of the picture frame arrangement.

The reason for this is that; by keeping everything in line with the height of the door frame it gives the impression of a higher ceiling within the room and more head space.

 

I then layed out the pictures on the kitchen table leaving 2" inches of space between each frame in order to obtain the overall width of the arrangement in order to find a centre point on the wall.

 

I was then able to draw a large box on the wall using the spirit level, 

This made it alot easier to line the picture up correctly.

I chose to start with the top right hand side picture frame

 

using the spirt level; I lined up the top & right side of the frame with the top right corner of the box drawn on the wall,

 

 

I then traced out the left side and under side of the frame on to the wall creating a square silhouette within the large box,

 

I then meassured the width of the picture frame to find its centre point,

 

Followed by meassuring downwards to find the distance from top centre to the hanging clip

 

I then meassured the same distances on to the silhouette frame drawn on the wall; marking it with a cross as this is the centre point for drilling the screw

 

I then meassured on the wall across 2" inches to the left and began the process again with the next picture frame.

 

Then meassuring down 2" inches below the picture frame and repeated the process filling up the large box area with markings until it ended up like this👇

 

 

The large initially drawn box is now consumed with silhouette's of each picture frame with 2" inches of space around the frame of each one, 

Centre points marked and holes drilled😥

 

It's not as huge of undertaking as it looks; because the small pictures on the right side are mounted on the same level as the small pictures on the left side, 

Provided you have a 3ft spirit level you can easily mark out the frames all at the same time. 

 

Here are the pictures termperarily mounted on the wall now for photograph purposes; I've not taken then out of the shrink wrap yet as I don't want them to get damaged, also as result of this; the horizontal frames are sitting low because there mounting clips are on the vertical side within the shrink wrap, I'm not opening them yet to correct this but when they are on the mounting hooks then they will be level with the top of the other picture frames.

 

 

 

 

I've since taken down the pictures and removed the screws ready for painting at a later date,

Only the wall plugs remain which makes things easier for the painter aswell as myself when re-inserting the screws.

 

Quick wipe down with some Sugar Soap & Water removes the pencil markings.

 

Marking out and fitting takes alot of time but it's well worth doing in a room which you use to relax as each time you look at it it's a reminder of patience and dedication achieves results, it also takes time to find the family images to fill it correctly documenting history overall a true testament to time and things that have been done all displayed within a relaxing environment👌

 

Moving on from the picture frames then; 

I plan to mount the television in the other wall at a later date within the same top and bottom border lines of these pictures to keep everything in stream rather than humpty bumpty on each wall, 

 

The one thing that was looking out of sync was the height of the light switch on the wall, 

I have a Nickel black dimmer to replace this switch when the room has finally been painted but it's current height was too low in comparison to the bottom row of pictures and the height of the radiator below.

 

So I got the spirit level and marked a bottom line across the wall to coincide with the bottom of the picture frames,

 

I then chased out the wall using a small chisel & lump hammer to the exact size of a metal first fixing insert wall plate; taking care not to damage the electrical conduit inside.

 

 

I then turned off the power at the main switchboard; and using a snips, I began to carefully cut the conduit at the new location; taking care not to cut the wire inside rather to cut the conduit from around it. 

 

I then gently pulled the wire up from the old lower location in to the new area and pushed the excess cable back up in to the conduit feeding the cable to the ceiling area which saved me time cutting and creating new connections.

I then drilled a 5mm hole and fitted the single DIN first fix metal housing.

Followed by termperarily installing the original switch in to the new location; I'll change it for the nickel metal dimmer after the walls are finally painted.

I then used some Unibond Expanding foam filler to patch over the original hole allowing it a few hours to dry thoroughly through.

 

 

I then sliced off the excess cured foam using a bread knife and used some Readymixed Polyfilla to finish the surface

 

Left it for 24 hours to dry then sanded smooth with surrounding wall then filled it again👇

 

Left for another 24 hours then sanded and its now ready for paint.👍

 

The wall has since been painted white to balance it out; in preparation for the correct colour

 

 

As previously mentioned; I have cleared out the livingroom and filled then sand the walls with an orbital sander prior to applying a few coats of paint. 

The Graphite Milano Designer radiator has been temporarily removed for painting behind it, 

When the painting is complete; The Celsi electric fire and picture frames can finally go on the walls along with the Television bracket 

The living room is now painted and I've installed all of the home decor items which i had previously kept in storage such as the ceiling light 

 

The wife had saw this "BELLA" five branch ceiling light in the shop called "NEXT" last April and really wanted it for the living room as it looks good,

It provides plenty of light and doesnt hang too low from the ceiling which can be an issue as the ceilings are 8ft and im 6ft tall 😣
But they were a Brand New design in the store at the time; as result they didn't have any physical stock of the item.

I emailed there customer support at the time to ask if any of there stores within Ireland had any of this particular item in stock and at the time; they told me there was two showing in stock at there Waterford store, however; following a two hour drive to Waterford when I got to the store they couldn't find either of them in the store and refused to provide the display model 😅 I wasn't prepared to leave empty handed after that journey.😁

Finally got to purchase one from the local store which is 40 minutes away from home, decided to drop in to see if they had gotten them in and came up trumps, 
Missus is delighted and despite were not ready to install at the time of purchase; it was comforting to finally have the exact one we wanted for the room that alot of efforts went in to sourcing.

And here it is fitted; 

I Purchased some deep floating shelves from eBay in matt black to match the picture frames which ive linked in a previous post so heres the shelves link: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Pack-of-3-Floating-Wooden-Wall-Shelves-Shelf-Wall-Storage-Display-60cm-Black/323097060870 

 

Please excuse the badly photoshopped picture frames 😅

I've got family photos in them now which I'm not interested in sharing publicly thanks

 

 

I purchased the "W" for our family surname "Woods" from The Wooden Letter Company, They make any font you desire to order

link: https://www.thewoodenletterscompany.com 

 

 

The Green Metal Model vintage car & the willow tree ornaments have all been purchased from https://www.wayfair.co.uk

The willow tree ornaments are available in various combinations; we chose two that represents all of our family; myself with our two daughters whom are close in age and my wife with our Son whom is six years younger than the girls.

The bottom of the neighbouring wall in the living room has had a bit of plaster chased out along the floor which will be hidden by skirting boards at a later date,

I chased off the plaster using a hammer and small chisel to allow three coaxial cables feed in from the brown Virgin Media box outside to come in along the wall feeding to the rear of the livingroom cabinet.

The cables are now inset to to the wall deeper than the finished plaster so the skirting boards will cover them nicely as if there not there at all.

Later filled the remaining area with expanding foam to smooth over the cables which will be at the back of the skirting boards when complete 

The Celsi electric fire has also been fitted atlast

All of the virginmedia RG6 cable's have been replaced using "Belden 1694A" cable which has cost me quite a bit of money to do around €270 for the cable but its better quality and silver shielded from radio interference which has saw the internet speed rise from 360mb to 400mbps 

Link: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BELDEN-1694A-Coaxial-Cable-Brilliance-RG6-18-AWG-75-ohm-Price-per-metre-/182121468559 

I've Routed all three cables in through the house, 

So the cable that was running up the front of the house to the attic has now been removed and replaced with Belden 1694A cable that feeds to the attic hidden inside the house along side the previously installed sattelite & Network cables making things much cleaner outside there's no cables to be saw.

I've to remove the three black cable clips from the exterior wall at a later date when I can borrow a latter which is tall enough to reach🙋‍♂️  

I've also fitted a second Edision HDMI to RF modulator in the living room; it's feeding back up to the panel in the attic where it's shared throughout the house; I've fitted this module in the living room to share the viewing of one BluRay/DVD player throughout the house which is now viewable on four televisions and cheaper and more energy efficent than purchasing two players by sharing one.

The TV bracket is now on the wall in the living room fitted in preparation for the television; but I've no plans to purchase it just yet,

I've temporarily transferred the 26" LG television on to the living room TV bracket to save on the floor space, i do plan is to upgrade to a 43" Samsung Smart tv, at later date but the LG is working fine for the moment I'll hold off for the 2020 January Sales 😅 

January 2020 arrived 🥳 I promised myself a new television for the living room and here it is; i shopped around online as always and picked up this 7 Series Samsung 43" 4K Smart TV for €479 from Currys these 7 series models were well over €1000 when I was fitting the Samsung 5 Series 32" models in the bedrooms. 

Started with removing the 26" LG 

Removed the VESA plate from the main bracket 

Slid the new television out of the cardboard box and fitted the VESA plate 

Followed by lifting the television up on to the main section of the television bracket and securing in place, plugged everything in including the LAN cable and within fifteen minutes everything was setup and apps logged in. 

Moving on then; We searched online for a place where we could purchase some natural oak floating mantle's built specifically to our requirements,

We found the exact place in Dublin close to the airport called "The Wood Factory" the guys have some fantastic pieces of artwork from desks to tables to mantles all made from live natural wood.

Here's a link to there website: https://www.thewoodfactory.ie 

We measured up the width of the chimney breast and ordered a solid oak mantel to match the full width of 150cm 

The second one up with the large knot in it is to be fitted under the arch mirror inside the front door as a sort of minimalist natural floating hall table, They made a fantastic job of these with the front facing open knot 

Cost €700 for both hand crafted mantels including the hidden steel fixing brackets which was worth every cent in my opinion since there natural solid oak pieces that have been hand crafted not a mass production piece.

Here's the living room fireplace wall mantle fitted: 

The wife's going to log on to WayFair now and select a few items to compliment the mantles👍

The next item we thought about fitting to finishing off the living room walls was a mirror above the mantle on the fireplace wall.

Unfortunately I've not got a link for this mirror pictured above;

Since it was purchased fourteen years ago in a local furniture shop it's a bit bigger than the alternative option below it meassures 100 x 70cm which would leave us with 25cm of wall visible on either side of itself when mounted on the fireplace wall and was originally fitted as saw on page 01 of this thread.

The second option is an Ikea "HEMNES" black-brown Mirror 60x90cm code: 001.228.22  

The Hemnes Mirror measures slightly smaller at 60 x 90cm which would leave 30cm of wall visible on either side of itself when mounted on the fireplace wall

Which may look a bit small in comparison to the electric fire below it considering the mantle is full width 150cm and the electric fire is 120cm wide 🤔 "decisions decisions"

Personally I think it's best to have the width of the mirror and the width of the fire closely matching but we will see how the different finishes look after the mantle has been fitted,

We live quite far around 80 minutes drive one way from our local Ikea store but we quite liked this Hemnes mirror; it's a smaller version of the Hemnes mirror saw fitted horizontally in the kitchen and vertically in bedroom 02 and horizontally in the kitchen of this thread.

We decided to purchase the 60x90cm Hemnes mirror as a second option for the living room fireplace wall, while we were in dublin collecting the mantels to save fuel on two trips at a later date; if we don't use it I can  easily sell it locally to regain the funds spent without having to drive back up to Ikea Dublin again as black framed mirrors go nicely in most living spaces these days.

The black wooden framed mirror would tie in nicely with the black picture frames and floating shelves but on the other hand; the rustic wooden framed mirror would tie in nicely with the rustic oak floating mantle and the black nails tie in with the black items but were concerned it may be too much rustic🤔 

I was waiting a few weeks then for my dad to drop down on 03rd October to give me a lift with these heavy solid oak floating mantle's and get them fitted on the walls, When fitted we can then offer up the different mirrors to choose the correct one.

When the mantles were fitted we decided the original wooden mirror which we have had for fourteen years looked best above the new mantle and I'm happy it does; as it's one of the first items we ever bought for the house.

The black framed mirror was a bit small in comparison to the fire and was a bit too much black, the wooden framed one compliments the mantle.

I'll edit this post to contain further progress of the living room soon

Thanks for reading 

Last Updated January 2020

 

[salsheikh]

Lenny

the 4th frame from the left on the top (medium sized one) needs to be inline with the others - looks a little lower

other than that it looks ace

[Lenny]

2 hours ago, salsheikh said:

Lenny

the 4th frame from the left on the top (medium sized one) needs to be inline with the others - looks a little lower

other than that it looks ace

Thanks mate all the horizontal frames are sitting low because there not currently hanging on the metal clips like the other frames, no the horizontal ones were hanging on the frame which causes them to be slightly lower temporarily.

the reason for this is; the clips are currently on the vertical side and I'd have to take them out of the shrink wrap to put the clip on to the horizontal side which I don't want to do until fitting for the last time.

they will be 100% in line when fitted on the clips the same as the other frames were at the time of taking the picture👍

[Lenny]

The Kitchen 

Well first following the raising of height on the living room light switch; I continued to raise all of the downstairs light switches up to a more comfortable height of 145cm from the floor to the centre of the switch plate panel.

Filled the large gaps with some unibond WhiteTec expanding foam 

Left to dry for a few hours prior to trimming back with a kitchen knife, then applied some Ronseal Ready mixed filler, quick sanding and another paint; its almost looking as it should but I run out of filler and the wife was painting; so it needs another filling then painted again but its worked out perfectly.

 

The future plan is; to change out all three downstairs solid Pine doors & frames out replacing them with a more pleasant looking Solid Oak.

The main reason for changing is because the existing doors had saddle boards fitted; which we wont be replacing in the future when the new floors go down which would result in a 5cm gap at the bottom of the existing doors, 

The new doors and frames will be fitted without saddle boards and no gaps, the frames will also be solid rebated rather than the tacked on strips which the Pine currently have. 

As part of the door change; we also want the kitchen door to be hung on the opposite side of the frame so as it swings towards the fridge and opens in to the room rather than in to the cooker.

Since the existing Pine frames are destined for fire wood when removed; I took the kitchen door off and hung it on the opposite side of the frame in advance of the Oak replacements mainly to save myself having to remember to request the new door be hung on that side when having the replacement fitted.

Having the door hinges on the opposite side; Also meant the light switch had to be put on the opposite side of the frame, 

I first meassured the new height of 145cm from the floor to the centre of the switch plate panel and marked out the square for the insert plate; 

I then located the existing cables inside the conduit at a point close to the ceiling by tracing a straight line directly above the original switch; then tapping through the plaster using the hammer & chisel aswell as chasing out the area for the new plate insert.

Used some connector blocks to extend the existing cables and ran then down the opposite side of the door by chipping the edge of the concrete blocks between the door frame and surrounding blocks, 

Followed by filling the holes with unibond WhiteTec expanding foam and some Ronseal Ready mixed filler, 

Needs another fill and sand then it's ready for paint, The door has also been hinged on the opposite side of the frame as desired. 

The next item isint really much of a change but its somthing which always annoyed me to see in the kitchen; 

At present the fan extraction is powerd by this unsightly and unnecessary power outlet positioned on the wall as saw in the image below: 

 

I've removed this completely,

Routing a new cable with a 13Amp plug top down to the socket at the back of the fridge where it will still be fused by a 13Amp fuse and function as it previously did but without the unsightly cable exiting from a wall plate.

 

I've fitted connector blocks to the live cables and put a Clipsal flush plate over the single Din box rather than removing it completely because I may fit a socket on there at a later date to plug in a wireless doorbell chime box such as those manufactured by RING.

While in the DIY shop to purchase the connector blocks;

 i picked up 10L Extra matt emulsion, brush and rollers to undercoat and paint the kitchen side of the new wall,

We still have half a bucket of the kitchen green colour in shed👍

 

The kitchen side of the new wall has been undercoated white and painted up just another cost of the limelight green to finish it,

 

 

 

 

very happy with the finish, the cavity section doesn't look as if it was ever opened up at the top for phishing the cables it's seamless👌

Moving onwards now;

Having changed from standard to Milano designer Radiators in the hallway & the living room at an earlier date;

Were very happy with the heat output compared to the standard as theres more surface to air contact due to there design and they look great; we decided to install them throughout the house, 

In preparation for fitting the kitchen radiator then the tiles in the kitchen had to be removed as we planned on changing them soon; I thought it best to remove them before the new radiator went in to avoid it getting chipped as a later date.

I also had to fill the holes on the wall left behind from the original radiator and get it painted prior to fitting the new Milano because the gaps in the radiator allow the wall behind to be saw as result it must be perfect.

That's Sweat on the floor there 😅

Difficult job removing all of the grouting from the concrete but I got there in the end and I'm glad that job of removing tiles is over, 

Chased out some of the floor and wall to recess the radiator pipes the same as the hall and living room, looks much cleaner and easier to clean the floor without obstruction.

The Radiator's come complete with fixings and caps to disguise the bolts

Replaced the straight copper pipe with qualplex pipe which eliminates the use of 90 degree elbows when recessing the pipes inside the walls.

The mirror fitted horizontal above the Radiator is a "HERMNES" 74x165cm Black-Brown Mirror ikea item code: 101.212.52 

Also the same item is fitted vertically in Bedroom 02 

I then filled the wall around the pipes with unibond WhiteTec expanding foam which will also aid insulation, then trimmed back filling smooth with Ronseal ready mixed filler.

I'll edit this post to contain further progress of the kitchen area soon 

Thanks for reading 

Last Updated December 2019 

[Turvey]

 

You don't do things by halves do you?

 

Looking good as ever 

[zain611]

Definitely a interesting topic. My dad has done work in the house and might put pics up to give you some ideas. Next I think my room or the kitchen will be refurbished. 

[Lenny]

On 1/1/2018 at 3:20 PM, zain611 said:

Definitely a interesting topic. My dad has done work in the house and might put pics up to give you some ideas. Next I think my room or the kitchen will be refurbished. 

Nice,

Picture's are always welcome and thanks for viewing and commenting but if you don't mind mate; I'd like to keep this thread specific to my build to prevent confusion👍

[Lenny]

ATTIC PANEL Audio & Visual 

 

I've been searching around online and stock piling items required at later stages throughout the project; as saw in previous posts, 

 

At this point; I figured the easiest way to introduce the array of products was to document them in a post of there own; aside from the main project progress, so here it is.

 

The first group of items are free to air television.

I've purchased a UK & Ireland terrestrial TV aerial kit.

 

As we live on the South East Coast it is possible to recieve both UK & Ireland terestrial television providing an array of channels for the cost of aerial system €180.

Link: http://www.freetv.ie/freeview-ireland.html

 

 

One additional item I found interesting which wasn't part of the kit is this LTE signal blocker which filters out wireless 4G broadband signals from interfering with terestral viewing

Link: http://www.freetv.ie/4g-lte.html

 

 

The Coaxial cable feed from the terrestrial aerial on the roof will feed down to the living room where it goes in to this Edision HDMI modulator. The purpose of the modulator is to share a HDMI source throughout the house via coaxial cable; meaning a single BlueRay player can be used on any television within the home or a CCTV system be monitored on any television.

 

 

Then out of the Edision HDMI modulator back up to this splitter in the attic.

 

 

A coaxial cable from this splitter box goes back to the living room aswell as an individual coaxial cable to each bedroom containing all terrestrial channels aswell as the Edision HDMI modulator's broadcast from the living room.

 

The next item is for the existing SKY sattelite dish on the roof; it's an Octo LNB 

The existing LNB on the sky dish is a twin output providing two cables to the sky+ HD box in the living room only, 

 

This new LNB is Called "Octo" because it provides 8 coaxial outputs,

 

This means it can provide a double sattelite feed to all 3 bedrooms upstairs aswell as two feeds to the living room downstairs allowing "Sky+ HD" or "free Sat" to be paused and recorded in any of the four rooms for a single once off purchase of the hardware item aswell as some decoders and roll of coaxial cable.

Link: http://www.freetv.ie/octo-lnb.html 

 

I would have chosen a SkyQ LNB had one been available with 8 outputs but currently the maximum output on a SkyQ LNB is six feeds, There are separate splitters available from a company called Triax offering twenty or more outputs but there incredibly expensive.

 

The overall plan is to have a SKY HD DRX595 multiroom box in every room there's a television all three bedrooms upstairs each fitted with disused Sky viewing cards from the UK which provide many freeview channels making the most of the sattelite,

 

 

I favoured these SkyHD DRX595 box's as there completely silent in operation as there's no internal hard drive

which isint required for freeview channels because the sky+ box won't record without a subscription,

They also have the exact same sky menu as a main box making them very easy to navigate.

 

 

I've managed to purchase four brand new from eBay UK across six months ranging in price from £15.00-£35.00

 

 

The Sky DRX595 take a single Coaxial cable from the sattelite receiver because they don't record, but all rooms have a twin sattelite feed fitted to future proof the installation.

 

That's the Terrestrial & Sattelite taken care of; now moving on to IP television and internet access.

 

Each bedroom also has a Cat7 RJ45 cable feeding from the main internet router which provides the additional option for IPTV or amazon Fire TV box, Smart TV etc.

 

At present we get our subscription of television channels through the Telephone line provider, 

 

This method is known as "IPTV" 

 

It operates via RJ45 network cables connecting from the Broadband Router to a specific IP Decoder which then connects to the Television via a HDMi connection and operates in much the same way as sky sattelite in terms of layout and range of available channels.

 

As result I've relocated the main telephone socket in to the livingroom and installed three RJ45 Cat7 network cables feeding from the livingroom up in to the attic space as saw in previous progress updates, 

 

These Cat7 network cables will be connected to an Ethernet LAN router for the highest speed possible compared to putting everything on WiFi,

I'm trying to use wifi as little as possible within the home, 

 

A Cat7 RJ45 network cable is capable of data transfer at much faster speeds than WiFi connection with zero congestion this information is from my own personal experience aswell as reviews from others.

 

 

I've done alot of research as always prior to choosing some Gigabit Ethernet Switches to build the home network and here they are; 

 

 

 

The first one is an "NetGear GS308" 8 port unit,

Link: http://www.misco.co.uk/product/195168/NETGEAR-8-Port-Gigabit-Switch 

 

This Ethernet switch operates by taking in a single RJ45 Cable feed from the Telephone router and splits in in to 7 input/output RJ45 terminals each capable of transferring up to 1Gb of data per second to/from a device such as Smart TV, Android box, Desktop computer anything with an RJ45 connection.

 

Using an 8 port LAN router in the living room results in a single Cat7 cable connection to the main router; freeing up the other RJ45 sockets on the main Telephone router for use of other RJ45 cables feeding to the rooms upstairs.

 

These particular NetGear GS308 and GS305 models are built with metal casings for better dispersion of heat and can be vertically wall mounted which is also the way I'll be fitting out of sight at the rear of the living room cabinet feeding all devices within the cabinet with a dedicated wired internet connection to best minimise wireless communication.

 

 

Also picked up some 1.0 Metre long flat CAT7 cables to connect between devices and Ethernet switch in the living room, there very affordable price and top build quality with no excess length at rear of the cabinet reducing clutter👌

Link: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/CAT7-Network-Cables-Ethernet-Cable-Braided-LAN-Patch-Cord-Gold-Lead-Wholesale-/371728353513?var=&hash=item568cbc88e9:m:mA4V1rLOQ2dkbM_-zxF8EkQ

 

The second unit is a "Netgear GS305 Ethernet Switch" in all essence; its exactly the same as first one there except it's a smaller 5 port model meaning it takes in a single RJ45 network cable and splits it in to 4 input/output connections,

 

Link: http://www.misco.co.uk/product/2457575/Netgear-GS305-100UKS-5-port-Gigabit-unmanaged-switch 

 

 

I've purchased three of these 5 Port units for the attic; one for each room upstairs,

 

I could have bought a 20 port to cover everything but I wanted to have the ability to disconnect the internet from each individual room by simply switching off one router.

 

This Post has now covered All modern methods of receiving media & taps in to every free option available on the market to date; aswell as being best prepared for any future method of paid subscription without much or any further cable installation being required; all of the above install makes it easy to stay dynamic in the consumer market by being able to effortlessly switch to the cheapest subscription provider each time a contract expires without any inconvenience or additional installation being required👍

 

 

At present there are many areas of the home improvement process which can be addressed as there's now something to be done in every room of the house; 

So last January was a new start having the cost of Christmas out of the way,

I was in a position to continue with the home, 

Since it was January I decided to start the year with completing the home entertainment saving a bit by using the January sales to purchase three television's for the bedrooms.

 

So I first meassured up the areas in each bedroom to decide best television size and created a list of all items required to install televisions on the walls such as HDMI cables and CAT7 cables aswell as HDMI modulators and signal amplifier.

Most of the items I had already purchased and discussed on page 02 of this thread, 

I then spent the months January February and March; stock piling everything required for all three bedrooms,

 

The overall plan was to have a television wall mounted in each bedroom with the Aerial, HDMI & Network cables being routed inside the walls completely out of sight, 

Two floating box's would be mounted flush with the ceiling to house a Sky Multiroom box fitted with a Freeview card and a Virginmedia box with active subscription.

on top of that each room would have it's own LAN Router fitted in the attic; with all the devices connected to it; minimising the use of Wi-Fi in the house.

 

A HDMI to RF Modulator would be fitted to a Blueray player in the living room which would allow it to be tuned in to any television within the house,

Saving the cost of purchasing a second player. 

 

Quite alot of power cables, HDMI and RJ45 cables were required particularly in the attic area as the cables would be going from the floating box's in the room; up in to the attic then across the joices and back down inside the partition wall and in to the Television. 

The distribution box's and signal amplifier would really need some sort of central location within the attic, 

 

So I got a pen to paper and drew up a plan to create a wall mounted MDF panel which would be spaced 1" inch out from the wall to allow cables pass behind it as well as air flow, its purpose to house all the required distribution devices on the Apex block wall within the attic👍

 

I then measured the area of the block wall in order to find out the maximum size the MDF panel could be,

 

 

I then purchased a T-square and some masking tape from Poundland and began to mark out the panel by placing each device on to it then marking the mount locations aswell as cable entry/exit holes,

The masking tape wasn't essential but it results in a clean panel when finished there won't be any markings atall.

While the weather conditions were like this outside:

 

I was in the kitchen building this panel and routing cables around the attic,

It was the ideal time to do it because we couldn't really do much else and it wasn't too warm in the attic neither👍

 

Here are the Pine strips fitted down both sides of the panel creating the cavity space at the rear between the wall and panel.  

 

 

 

 

Almost ready for mounting on the wall in the attic but before I do: 

While working in the attic I was doing everything in the dark,

I only had a torch on my head which got quite frustrating at times,

 

So I decided to get some lighting for the attic space, 

I logged on to electricalwholesaler.ie and bought two plug tops along with two Osram LEDVANCE 3000K 20W LED floodlights aswell as some Metal clad sockets and a TimeGuard segment switch

 

20W LED = 150W Halogen Equivalent at full illumination & is 86% More Efficient 

 

 

 

 

I've mounted one floodlight on the top of the Apex on both sides of the attic space for optimum illumination; if I was doing it again I'd only fit one as its sufficient to be fair; I was quite annoyed at the time of purchasing two I had just been in the dark attic all day and really wanted to light it up 😂 one is fine 

 

 

My brother-in-law is an electrician and has arranged to wire up the sockets next weekend,

My dad was a lecturer for apprentice electricians and does most of the work with me but he's almost 70 now so I couldn't really expect him to assist in the attic area.

 

I then brought the MDF panel up to to the attic space; marked out the area with the spirit level followed by securing it to the block wall using some 90° brackets from Aldi 😅

 

 

 

Here It's fitted on the wall but still plenty of cables to be tidied.

The black cage on the right of the panel is a fold down shelf,

I'm going to be using it for a DVR which will connect to the HDMI RF Modulator allowing it to be tuned in on all Television's aswell as being monitored across the internet👍

 

 

 

The white downward angled surface box fitted to the lower right side of the panel; is for 6 sattelite feeds,

There are Currently 8 feeds coming from the "Octo LNB" on the standard Sky sattelite mounted on the chimney,

Two feeds go directly down to the livingroom as saw in earlier posts and there are six remaining

That's two sattelite feeds to each bedroom upstairs, 

 

I decided to separate/Terminate these cables at the panel because; in the unlikely event that one sattelite feed ever got damaged for example; by a mouse chewing through it,

 

I can easily replace it from the panel to the room rather than paying an installer to get up on the roof and run a new feed all the way through from the sattelite receiver, i can easily access the attic myself.

 

I've purchased a six port clipsal plate from electricalwholesaler.ie to go on to this angled box:

I then purchased six clipsal F-type to F-type connectors from MAD Electronics in Australia to fit in to this plate prior to installation in the attic,

 

"Schneider electric" are the manufacturer of the clipsal range,

Despite being a German name there actually based in Australia,

There UK range of stock doesn't have F-type connectors but there Australian range of connectors does; and they will fit straight in to the UK wall plate, 

 

The inserts pop straight in from the rear of the plate:

 

Now labelled up and fitted to the panel in the attic, 

 

 

Here's a plate which I've also made up and labelled for the living room Coaxial feeds:

 

 

The top satellite feeds are self explanatory, the bottom two feeds are; 

"Aerial" which is coming straight down from the Proception masterhead amplifier in the attic to this plate, 

Best way i can explain it is to say:

It's the beginning of a coaxial loop; 

It connects in to a HDMI Modulator 

 

A cable then comes out of the HDMI Modulator and goes in to the "Multiroom" connection; Sending it back up to the attic panel where it goes in through the second Edison HDMI Modulator to catch the CCTV signal then the loop goes in to the 4 channel splitter

where it comes back down to the living room in to the centre "TV" coaxial feed containing all HD Digital terrstrial channels along with the Bluray Channel and CCTV channel which are self broadcast within the home.

 

 

 

Here's a video to explain there function in  more detail 👇

 

 

 

With the panel now created on the wall in the attic;

There was a central location to feed the network and coaxial cables from down to each one of the rooms upstairs, 

I meassured up the area to get a list of cable lengths and logged on to amazon to purchase some Vandesail CAT7 cables aswell as some quality Coaxial cables.

I've run all cables down along the straight beam on either side of the Apex where they then tee off down between the Joyce's under the insulation in to the box shelves and partition wall of the room through to the Television.

 

I also meassured the area of the wooden thruses where the cables were running along and purchased some PVC 50x25mm Maxi Trunking to match the size to ensure the cables are safe from being stood on or tripped over in the attic or damaged in any way.

 

 

 

I later got the time to fit the three lengths of 50 x 25mm Maxi Trunking which I had laying in the attic to tidy up the cables around the panel,

Looks much cleaner now and no trip hazards🙃

I'll edit this post to contain further progress of the Attic space soon 

Thanks for reading 

Last Updated December 2019 

[Lenny]

.

 

 

[Lenny]

With all cables routed from the panel it was then time install the Television brackets along with fishing the cables down inside of the partition wall's.

 

 

 

 

So armed with a Stanley Stud Finder and a Dragon's Den product called "Grip-it" I started in: 

 

Bedroom 01 

This is the box room of the house, the smallest of the three bedrooms within, 

I first started with stripping out the old beech wood styled laminate flooring and having a new Semi Solid Oak floor fitted, unfortunately I don't have a before picture to display for the floor,

I also removed all of the original radiator, filled the holes that were left behind in the walls then sand smooth prior to newly painting in preparation for the installation of the new Milano radiator.

Also chiseled out a small section of the chipboard floor to allow the pipes recess in to the wall the same as they do downstairs👍

 

 

The next task in bedroom 01 was mounting the television bracket and routing some cables; due to the narrow layout of this room a tilt & Swivel TV bracket was sufficient for the wall as the Television wouldn't need to turn much since the room is quite narrow enough in shape.

 

By using the Stud finder I was able to find the centre of the wooden partition inside the studded drywall,

I then marked up the holes for the bracket prior to drilling some 3mm pilot holes in to the vertical wooden beam prior to screw.ing in three 8mm self tapping Henry Phillips head screws to secure the bracket to the wall.

I then used a spirit level and a 1 Gang plastic drywall insert box to mark out the area for taking the cables down through from the attic inside the drywall.

 

I then went up in to the attic and drilled a 25mm hole down in to the partition cavity through the horizontal wooden partition prior to fishing the cables down through the wall from attic and in to bedroom 01

Then cut out the top section of the 1 Gang drywall insert box to allow the bulk of pre-terminated cables to easily pass down through in to the room from the attic without restriction.

Finished off with a black nickel finish brush plate to tidy the appearnce, prevent heat loss from the room and prevent spiders from passing through the cavity.

The bracket was then ready for the television, but unfortunately the smallest fixing this particular television bracket takes is 75x75 and the 27" Samsung LED television I had to fit requires a 50x50 fixing🤦‍♂️

So i logged on to eBay & amazon only to discover that at the present time in 2018; it's almost impossible to source a television bracket that supports the 50x50 VESA fixing.🤔

The only thing I could find was this Vesa mount adaptor plate:

The adaptor plate was quite tricky to install due to restricted access to the bolt heads to prevent them turning when tightening down the nuts, 

But as you can see in the image below; it got the job done and worked out nicely in the end.

I then began to install two white oval box shelves up tight to the ceiling in the left corner of the room to drop down the opposite end of the preterminated television cables in to from the attic; 

The box units are designed to hang on to screws in the wall, but I'm looking to fit them flush with the ceiling; meaning I required an alternative method of mounting them to the wall,

I purchased some 4mm thick 90°Degree bent pre-drilled stainless steel brackets from eBay

Link: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/150mm-Length-Stainless-Steel-90-Degree-L-Shaped-Angle-Bracket-Brace-Support-5pcs-/302324553539 

To bolt through both of the box's then securing them to the wall using four M6 screws.

There now perfectly aligned together; ready for fixing to the wall,

The brackets will provide best weight support being positioned in the bottom shelf,

Also you can see a black hole drilled the right of the original; this is because there is a wooden beam in the attic which is corresponding directly above the original hole, so I had to drill a new opening in order to bring the cables through from the attic.

The box shelves are now successfully fitted with a Sky Multiroom Box for use as a Freesat box and a Virginmedia box with active subscription both linked to the Television on the neighbouring wall.

This type of minimalist design saves a lot of space in the room and in my opinion looks very tidy as there's no cables or plugs visible at all.

When he's older he may wish to plug in a Games console or a computer to the television; The floating box's are a bit out of reach by design.

I've planned for this eventuality;

First I purchased a HDMI socket and an RJ45 female-female adaptor designed to fit the Clipsal plate from Schneider Electric, 

These little insert fittings came all the way from an electrical wholesalers called "MAD Electronics" in Australia purchased from them through eBay and the UK wall plate from electricalwholesaler.ie 

The Schneider electric Clipsal Classic range is widely available within the UK & Rep of Ireland,

However these HDMI ports aswell as the female - female RJ45 connections are not available on there UK catalogue although they fit perfectly in to our size of UK surface plate; the same size clipsal insert fits worldwide regardless of the surface plate size outter dimensions.

I've fitted them in the wall next to a Clipsal socket in the corner of Bedroom 01 to the bottom left of the Television, 

I then had to run a HDMI cable from this surface plate to the television and an RJ45 Network cable from the surface plate to the LAN routers on the neighbouring wall in the attic. 

As illustrated in the above image; Partition wall's have horizontal pieces "Noggings" fitted at various heights to aid structural integrity aswell as block fire from spreading too quickly in the unlucky event one were to manifest itself.

Anyway; when fishing cables down through a partition wall from the attic space above; it is essential to know where these horizontal sections "Noggings" are located.

I've run the Stanley Stud Finder along the wall horizontally sweeping left to right and found one "Nogging" within line of the socket below, 

I then ensured there were no power cables in the wall, followed by drilling four small holes in the wall to remove a small section of the horizontal beam allowing for the cables to be retrieved from the partition cavity then returned to the lower cavity through the horizontal wooden beam, 

I will patch this hole with Flame Retardant expanding foam when finished to retain fire block standard.

I then removed the 2 Gang 25mm Surface box and checked for vertical beams before marking out the wider opening for a 1 + 2 Gang 25mm Surface plate followed by cutting it out with a Stanley knife.

Purchased this steel plate from: https://www.electricalwholesaler.ie/products/plugssocketsswitches/domesticplugsswitchessockets/flushboxes/25mm2g1gmetaldualflushboxes10213 

I've had to cut out the rear of the 1 Gang section to allow for the deeper space required by the RJ45 cable exiting the rear of the surface plate as saw below, 

I've bored out a bit of the wooden beam at the rear of the surface plate to allow recess aswell as free access to the plasterboard cavity above, 

Next I went up in to the attic and drilled down through the plasterboard cavity using a 25mm Flat Wood Drill bit,

Then passed the HDMI & RJ45 cable down through the cavity to the wall plate of Bedroom 01 

Connected on the faceplate and screwed in to place, 

With the cables now through; I've patched the wall with fire rated expanding foam,

Placed a bin liner on the wall with some masking tape to catch the excess foam as it swells;

left for few hours to dry followed by trimming back and smoothing with Ronseal ready mixed Filler.

All sanded, cleaned with sugar soap and masked up ready for paint;

The Wife and our Son then got the painting done while I went up the attic to connect the network cable.

 

The RJ45 Network Socket is now connected to the LAN Router for Room 01 on the panel in the attic and the HDMI is connected to HDMI 3 on the Television mounted on the same wall, The wall has also been painted and appears untouched 👍

The new socket is an ideal location for a computer or Games console or computer connection straight in to the wall and it's connected to the TV👍

All of the power cable's I've run in to the box shelves and to the Television's are all 4 metre's long purchased purposey for the job, 

There all hidden in the attic space and required sockets, so next I purchased some premium spec power supplys from amazon with Radio Frequency filtering aswell as surge & lightening protection,

The whole premium power supply thing doesn't usually interest me, however since there going to be fitted in the attic; i wanted to make very sure they were well manufactured and at 60GBP each 😅 they must be.

So when they arrived I created some stands to raise the power supplys 14" above the level of the attic insulation aswell as having a broad 25mm thick base that won'  flex and spans across the joices 

Picked up this little mitre box on ebay for 5 pounds, was ideal for cutting 45 degree lengths for the legs.

 

Screwed and cable tied for good measure there now ready to be fitted in the attic to power:

Fitted Above Bedroom 01

That completes the Audio & Visual entertainment in bedroom 01 the next item to be installed was the bed; we purchased a Solid Pine:

Vipack Pino mid sleeper Model: PIHSZG14 

In Taupe Colour for Bedroom 01 its 114cm tall 209cm long and 105cm wide,

If your in Ireland; a recommended supplier of the Vipack range is Jellybean Link: https://www.jellybeangroup.com 

Along with a Vipack Fire truck curtain Model: PICOHSGB1470 

Which attaches to the frame using velcro; 

The Solid Pine Vipack Pino mid sleeper is a very strong structure with no movement in it atall when built and was an ideal option; As Bedroom 01 is the smallest of the three bedrooms and our Son has gathered quite a collection of Bruder branded Trucks, crane, Tractors and JCB which are quite large 1:10th scale models taking up alot of space, Heres a few of his collection:

With the Vipack Pino mid sleeper; There's plenty of room underneath the bed itself to park all of them without cluttering up the main floor space of the room itself.

The next addition to Bedroom 01 was;

The "STIKAT bed pocket" / remote holder saw in Green purchased from IKEA item code: 402.962.93 

which is also available in black "STIKAT bed pocket" code: 803.783.38  

I've purchased a further two in black as saw in Bedroom 03 later in this update, there a practical and very affordable item, ideal for storage of books, headphones and remote controls.

The final addition to Bedroom 01 was replacing the "Massive" Lunardo Model: 30268/55/10  "The Man on the moon" ceiling light and dimmer switch with somthing different. "Massive" is the manufacturer name there ☺️

The main reason for changing the ceiling light at this time is because the existing "man on moon" light; hangs a bit low in the centre of the room and I cant avoid hitting my head off it unless I higher it a bit but i like change 😅 and Bedroom 03 is getting a new light as you will se later in the thread; which I figured the occupant of Bedroom 01 here would want a similar unit when he see's there light fitted.

So here it is; 

We chose this 40x40cm dimmable 30W LED remote control panel which fits closely to the ceiling at 5.5cm from company "Lampenwelt"  Model: BRENDA CCT 9624204 

Link: https://www.lights.ie/led-panel-brenda-cct-with-remote-40-x-40-cm-157870-ie-en.html 

shipping was free and the light arrived within three working days via DPD courier.

Its capable of three levels of white from a soft 3000k up to a clinical 6000k 😎 its 30W LED 

30W LED = 250W Halogen Equivalent at full illumination & 88% More Efficient 

It also has an ambient light feature which operates independently to the main light; capable of any colour of choice and theres also a disco mode ☺ 

First I removed the existing light fitting to find a few more wires in there than I was expecting to see;

But I've figured it out and I'll explain what there all for; the live feed to the ceiling lights from the main switch board are on a daisy chain loop in around the attic rather than individually run from the switch board to each room, 

All upstairs ceiling lights are on the same daisy chain which results in having extra connections inside each light fitting which carry the power on to the next room but less cables from the switch board to the attic.

Quick photo edit below to explain the terminals.

Two blue neutral are one in from the fuse board and one out onwards to the next ceiling light, 

The four brown live then that's interesting; one in from the fuse board and one out onwards to the next ceiling light,

The other two brown live are a feed down to the switch on the wall in the bedroom and a return feed back from the switch;

I've left these disconnected from the light fitting as there not required with this particular type of unit as its remote control.

The earth is just the one outward feed as expected.

Moving onwards now;

The two large screws above; are plasterboard fixings which screw in then take a 6mm screw the same type of plasterboard fixing later used for the wardrobe;

I've removed these particular ones from there original location and re-used them again to support the new fitting.

The Lampenwelt Model: BRENDA CCT 9624204 separates in to two parts making it easier to install as theres no bulky fitting to be supported or worry of damaging anything when wiring it in.

Centering the light is quite easy as there is a pre drilled hole in the centre of the bracket to allow the cables pass through, 

I put the cables through and marked the area for the first plasterboard fixing; followed by inserting the first 6mm screw, 

It was evening time when I was fitting; and the sun sets on the front of the house; you can see lines of light on the ceiling made by the shadow of the venition blind which helped me to align the fitting perfectly Square on the ceiling;

I didnt take for granted that the shadow would be correct 😅 I checked with a measuring tape, measuring across from the wall on both ends to get it perfectly Square; and at that particular time of the evening the shadow of the venition lined up perfectly Square.

Fitted the second plasterboard fixing followed by the second 6mm screw; 

The "H" frame bracket allows for a total of four fixings to be used however; these plasterboard fixings are capable of supporting a considerable amount of weight; as result I figured two fixings were sufficient. 

Time now to wire it in: 

Theres a nice little compression connector; press down and insert the cable no screwdriver required for this part of the process,

I used a phase tester screwdriver to source the permanent live and connected it in along with the live cable which daisy chains on to the ceiling light in the next room, the earth and two negative feeds are also connected, 

The other two brown cables are a send & return to the wall switch; I've taped them up inside the light as there not required for this fitting as its remote control.

With the bracket then secured & wired in; I hooked on the second part of the light fitting the LED panel, 

The earth & power cables to be connected to the LED panel by just plugging in to the main bracket.

Ceiling has gone from this: 

To this: 

Looks tidy on the ceiling and ties in nicely with the surrounding items maximising space while retaining plenty of features, 

Since the new ceiling light is operated via; remote control, it requires a constant power supply, 

I've been looking online at electrical wholesaler.ie and found some blank inserts from the Clipsal classic range by Schneider Electric which allow me to pop out the light switch and pop in a blank cover, 

Excellent result; the light switch panel will remain on the wall with the blank piece replacing the switch;

The switch will then remain inside the blank faced panel where it will continue to function; but permanently switched on much the same way you see it in the image above 👍

Removed the existing dimmer switch; 

Fitted the clipsal switch inside the panel and covered with the blank plate; the switch can be easily restored to the same surround if ever required at a later date.

In the image above there is the supplied remote control which looks and feels alot like an amazon Fire TV remote;

I've positioned it next to a Sky+HD remote to give an idea of scale; it's also nicely rounded underneath to sit comfortably in your hand; The buttons are soft to press & theres not a loud clicking sound which is also a plus for using in a bedroom area.

The Image above there is an explanation of the features the remote does to the light fitting;

I particularly like the "Flash" mode which turns the room in to a Disco and the "sleep" mode which provides a soft 3000k dimmed light much like a moon light in the room.

Here is the ambient Lighting activated in light blue; it also does navy, pink, orange, purple, red, green, yellow, white, static, slowly fading, normal cycle or disco mode.

The main light then is super bright on full illumination and can be changed to appear as natural sunlight 

Full 100% 6000K 👇

Natural sunlight 👇

Sleep mode soft light 3000k👇

Heres "Flash" Mode 🕺

I'm really happy with the results; well worth every penny or cent spent on it, really is good quality.

That completes the progress and plans for Bedroom 01 for the moment; we will look in to having a wardrobe custom built to fit behind the door st a later date and update this post accordingly.

Thanks for reading 

Last Updated December 2019 

[Turvey]

I doff my cap to your wiring skills, forward planning and research into products needed. 

[Phil21185]

11 hours ago, Turvey said:

I doff my cap to your wiring skills, forward planning and research into products needed. 

and seemingly limitless budget!!!

Just kidding, that's a fine looking project, Lenny.  Makes me itch to do some work in my house, but I know I'd only Uck it Fup

[Dan P]

Great work Lenny, your attention to detail is superb - not that I'm surprised. Looks like an incredibly tidy install.

[Lenny]

Now moving on to Bedroom: 02 

Ive removed all of the original radiator, filled the holes that were left behind in the walls then sand smooth prior to newly painting in preparation for the installation of the new Milano radiator.

Also chiseled out a small section of the chipboard floor to allow the pipes recess in to the wall

Next I began to install the Audio & Visual Entertainment in bedroom 02

I plan to mount a 32" Television on the centre of the wall at the bottom of the bed,

With the entertainment devices such as Sattelite decoder; being positioned on top of the wardrobe to the right of the television.

I first meassured lengths for cables and purchased from eBay👇

The cable management method is much the same as that saw in the living room;

where I've used a 1.5" flexi drain pipe to house the cables within the wall allowing for free movement of cables aswell as making it easy to add other cables at a later date if required.

Rather than chasing out the block wall to house the 1.5" pipe,

I've only removed the plaster and I plan to sheet the wall with 1.5" insulated plasterboard which will cover the pipe and also keep noise levels down from next door.

Ive since relocated the sockets to the attic space but I'll insert both methods here as both were done; I initially fitted a surge protected six socket adapter to the wall above the wardrobe, fitted a 5 metre figure 8 power cable from this socket strip to the television on the neighbouring wall,

initiall I then fished the cable from the six socket adapter on the solid block wall; through the partition plasterboard wall to yhe right there and hard wired it to a newly installed fused spur switch which is powered from the rear of a double socket that was already there on the same wall.

The newly installed; fused spur switch is hidden from view as it's no the wall with the right side of the wardrobe covering it; there's just enough space to fit your fingers in to switch it on/off

I've also fitted a Netgear GS305 Gigabit LAN Router on the wall which is also linked to the Television using CAT7 RJ45 cable.

I've since relocated the Netgear router from the bedroom wall in the room, up on to the MDF panel inside the attic space above this ceiling instead, 

I've also removed the six socket power adapter from the bedroom wall and relocated in the attic above this ceiling replacing the original white six socket masterplug branded adaptor with a premium Tacima Mains conditioning unit which conditions the voltage supply from the mains aswell as protecting from surges,

This unit regulates the power flow eliminating fluctuations caused by wind generated energy which has a negative impact on sensitive electronic devices,

Here they are fitted in the attic, one for Bedroom 02 on the left,

The reason I relocated the socket adapter and LAN router in to the attic space; instead of the original place on the wall; was to hide them from view in the bedroom making things look cleaner above the wardrobe as well as grouping all connections together in one central location within the attic, 

Back inside bedroom 02 now

I've also fitted a piece of 55mm x 110mm PVC air duct on to the wall above the wardrobe to cover the cables feeding down from the attic, Link: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Rectangular-Ducting-Channel-55mm-x-110mm-75mm-x-150mm-Ventilation-Flat-Pipe-KP/221763353599 

I've painted the air duct conduit the same colour as the wall making it much cleaner looking.

Next I went to the local DIY wholesaler chain store sort of like B&Q and purchased

 two 8ft x 4ft sheets of 52.5mm thick insulated plasterboard sheets, an 8mm x 210mm SDS masonry drill bit, a can of Tec7 Expanding foam, two tubs of Ronseal smooth finish filler, 1 Gang plastic drywall insert, 2 Gang galvanised 32mm extension box and a pack of 50 express fixings,

The fixings don't come in any smaller pack sizes but I only need around 30 of the fixings.

Total cost for all items €161.76 inc. A delivery charge of €15.00 for the plasterboard sheets which they arrived with the following day,

Here are the sheets delivered in the hallway, There not as heavy as they may look as the foam and plaster are quite light around 20Kg per sheet, 

I don't currently own an SDS Drill and required the use of one to fit the sheets, thankfully the maintenance manager from work was happy to lend me there cordless SDS Drill for the weekend saved me around €30 not renting a drill and transformer,

So here is the bedroom wall to be covered with the insulated plaster board sheets,

I've turned off the electrical sockets and removed the socket from the wall,

Thankfully the cable at the back of the socket is long enough to reach out to the new surface without extending,

We first cleared out bedroom 02 then myself and my wife carried the first sheet up the stairs taking care not to scuff the plasterboard, 

Im just going to explain the above picture here; Our house was built in 2002 during what they called the building boom as demand was high for houses, as result many builders threw up the houses with less attention to detail,

Some property's were badly affected with various types of problems such as drainage issues or light switches had been plastered over completely thankfully we didn't have such issues only the living room window which didn't close correctly, 

However; when fitting these sheets we encountered the second build issue with our house; The standard ceiling height is supposed to be 8ft from floor to ceiling,

When we tried to stand up our 8ft sheets of insulated plaster board it wasn't possible 😅 our floor to ceiling height is 7ft 11 inches 

I meassured up two inches from the bottom of the plasterboard sheets using a T-square then cut along with a Stanley knife followed by cutting with a saw, 

I wanted to leave a 1" inch clearance at the bottom of the sheets to ease fitment and allow the floor to be lifted at a later date without disturbing the wall,

The skirting board will cover this space, 

We then lined the plasterboard sheet up to the wall and marked the areas corresponding the pipe containing the television cables, marked it with a pencil then cut away the insulation layer using a Stanley knife and flat screwdriver to sort of chisel it out.

I then marked out the location to fit a 1 Gang plastic drywall insert box and cut it out from the front of the plasterboard using a Stanley knife, 

Here's how it looked before fitting the insulated sheet to the wall,

We then fed the cables through the opening and put the plasterboard sheet close to the wall, 

My Supervisor in work advised me on the best way to fit the insulated plasterboard,

I remember he had taken a week off from work to do his entire hallway last January,

So I asked him about fitting the stuff and I'm doing all of this following his advice which has saved me a few hundred not having to get someone in to do it for me, 

We sat the 52.5mm thick plasterboard sheet close to the wall with the bottom resting on a length of saddle board which has a horizontal length of wood underneath much like a miniature see-saw,

The plan was that I will be on a ladder close to the sheet of plasterboard with the SDS Drill, 

The second person will stand one foot on the opposite side of the saddle board which will push the sheet of insulated plaster board up tight to the ceiling, 

I will then measure down 12" inches from the ceiling and in 12" from the corner,

Where I will then drill the first 8mm x 120mm hole through the plasterboard in to the wall followed by hammering in an express nail fixing, 

When the top two fixings are in the wall; the second person can remove the see-saw pieces,

Then the rest of the fixings can be installed spacing them 12" inches in from the edge of the panel to prevent warping the edge of the sheet aswell as spacing the fixings 12" inches square from each other as saw below.

I then measured in from the left wall and up from the floor to find the location corresponding with the double electrical socket on the original wall, 

I cut it out using a Stanley knife by drilling four small holes in each corner of the square then run the knife repeatedly from hole to hole until the square punched through.

I then fitted a 2 Gang extension box in the plasterboard to house the original double socket Purchased here: https://www.electricalwholesaler.ie/products/switchgearfuses/switchgeardistribution/cablejointboxes/2gang35mmextensionboxgalvanisedsb68210224 

I then cut out the top of the 1 Gang plastic drywall box to allow the bulk of cables freely pass through without restriction which allows them to be pulled back in to the attic or further down from the attic through the brush plate which will be fitted later, 

Fitted the plastic drywall insert,

Then meassured up and cut the second 52.5mm thick insulated plasterboard sheet to the correct size and fitted it in place following the same see-saw technique as the first panel aswell as keeping in 12" inches from the outer wall when drilling in the fixings.

I then used some Ronseal Smooth Finish filler to cover the fixings and joint between the two panels, this Ronseal filler dries out like foam it's very light and smoothes out easily much the same consistency as whipped cream making it the ideal choice for smoothing plasterboard because you don't want to be sanding it too much as the cover is only paper.

Fitting the sheets using the see-saw method has kept them level with the ceiling but has also highlighted the uneven plastering of the wall to the left, 

However I had anticipated something like this would occur and had a can of Tec7 Expanding foam at the ready to fill the entire gap prior to trimming it back with a bread knife when dry.

I then used Ronseal filler to smooth over the gaps that were filled with the expanding foam leaving it overnight to dry out completely,

I figured it would be best to meassure and Mark up the wall for trial fitting the tv bracket prior to sanding and painting the wall to prevent any markings on the wall after the painting has been done aswell as ensuring the wall fixings for the bracket don't meet the plasterboard fixings.

Purchased this Tilt & Swivel TV bracket from amazon it's Puremounts PM-Motion-37 Link: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B006COG2QO?psc=1&ref=yo_pop_mb_pd_title I like it's flat design which when folded flat only comes out 1" inch from the wall compared to other extending brackets which have a minimum distance of 3" inches from the wall, 

However I don't like the price because the bracket I've purchased for bedroom 03 which you will see later in the thread is exactly the same design called a Brateck LPA16-224 purchased from eBay for £18.99 

Link: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Tilt-Swivel-Corner-Mount-TV-Wall-Bracket-For-Samsung-LED-TVs-32-37-40-42-inch-/322043284918 

But sadly there no longer available unless I ship one from NewZealand and I wanted the same design in both rooms which cost me £27.43 more than was really nessacerey.

Anyway rant over regarding tv brackets and on with the fitting in Bedroom 02, 

Since theres a solid block wall at the back of the insulated plaster board i used some RigFix anchor bolts to go through the insulation in to the block work, 

There available in M6 and M8 sizes,

I've chosen to fit M8 which requires a 16x110mm hole to be drilled, 

Link: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/M8-RIGIFIX-Heavy-Duty-Plasterboard-Wall-Fixing-Cavity-Kit-Plasma-LCD-LED-TV-x1/190798826141 

I first meassured and centred the television bracket on the wall and marked out the holes with a spirit level and pencil,

Then drilled three M16 holes 110mm in to the wall,

Followed by inserting the large wall plugs and using an 8mm Allan key screwed in the 16mm anchor bolts which have threads on the inside to take the 8mm Henry Phillips head bolts which will secure the Television bracket to the wall.

Unfortunately the hole on the top right was drilled a bit deeper than the required depth of 110mm and the wall plug has sank deeper in to the insulated plasterboard as result of this error, 

However I have ensured the surface depth of all three anchor bolts are identical so the TV bracket will fit perfectly when the wall has been painted.

I've sand down the wall using some P240 sanding discs on the orbital sander,

It didn't take very long to sand as the coating is quite thin and the filler dries out fairly soft for ease of sanding,

A few coats of paint will soak in and harden it up.

Two coats of Dulux Total Cover Matt White then left overnight to dry, 

I wanted to get a few coats of paint on before sanding too much in case I damaged the plasterboard,

The white paint and shadows caused by the sun shining in the window; helped to highlight the areas requiring filler,

Left for a few hours to dry,

I then sand it smooth again followed by another coat of Dulux Total Cover Matt white

Followed by three coats of the room colour which is Dulux Vinyl Matt Merrion Grey leaving adequate time to dry between each coat, The sun through thd window highlighted a sliggt indentation on the filling so another fill was required, 

Left to dry overnight then sanded back,

Followed by another two coats of thd final colour, then fitted the brush plate and television bracket,

Followed by the 32" Samsung LED television itself, I'm very pleased with the results, unfortunately the brush plate is visible at the top centre but the finish of the brush plate matches the finish of the television surround,

Another item fitted in Bedroom 02

"ALEX" (white) 9 Drawer unit from ikea item code: 501.928.22 

Next to the 

"HERMNES" 74x165cm Black-Brown Mirror ikea item code: 101.212.52 

It looks like a lot to build, but it's not that difficult once the frame goes together it's just nine drawers, 

My wife chose this specific drawer unit because; there's a makeup blogger whom makes customisable plastic inserts designed specifically for the Ikea ALEX unit heres a link: https://thebeautifultruth.ie/product/customisable-organiser/ 

"Insert image of custom inserts fitted" 

Final item fitted in Bedroom 02 is this compact fold out; clothes hanging rail, 37cm long fits vertically on to the wall says it can hold up to 27kg 

I found them on amazon and decided to purchase one for our bedroom as the wife is always hanging items of clothing on the front face of the wardrobe with the intention of wearing the following day, but they always fall off when I attempt to open the wardrobe door, 

This tidy little bracket will stop her from using the front of the wardrobe as a hanging space.

Link: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01DQD9RPG/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_awdb_t1_WQ4XBbZM1KTJ8

I've used the Stanley stud finder to locate the centre of a wooden partition in the wall close to the large ikea Hermnes mirror here's a link to the 74cm x 165cm Hermnes Mirror for anyone interested

Link: https://www.ikea.com/ie/en/products/decoration/mirrors/hemnes-mirror-black-brown-art-10121252/ 

If the wooden partition hadn't been in a sutable location on the wall; I would have used some Gripit fixings to secure instead of some self tapping screws.

The Gripit fixings really eliminate the limitations of partition walls allowing you to fit what you want where you want regardless of the beam locations as you will see demonstrated in bedroom 03 further down this thread.

Here it is fitted: 

I've also fitted an LED light fitting fitted in the ceiling purchased from "Next"

I'll edit this post to contain further progress of Bedroom 02 soon 

Thanks for reading 

Last Updated December 2019 

[Gripit Fixings]

Hi @Lenny

Just been taking a look through the thread and really enjoyed seeing how it's all progressing. Seems like quite an undertaking though so rather you than me!

Was made aware of your thread because you've been using some of our fixings to hold up your TV and was just wondering if you'd mind us using some of your pics on our website and/or social media channels in future (credited to yourself)? We're always keen to show off what our customers have been using our fixings for and these would be great for that.

 

Thanks!

[Lenny]

On 5/30/2018 at 4:57 PM, Gripit Fixings said:

Hi @Lenny

Just been taking a look through the thread and really enjoyed seeing how it's all progressing. Seems like quite an undertaking though so rather you than me!

Was made aware of your thread because you've been using some of our fixings to hold up your TV and was just wondering if you'd mind us using some of your pics on our website and/or social media channels in future (credited to yourself)? We're always keen to show off what our customers have been using our fixings for and these would be great for that.

 

Thanks!

Hi,

Firstly thanks for manufacturing an excellent product that does exactly what it says it will do and secondly thanks for taking the time to join the forum here to comment and get in touch, your recognition has honestly made my day feel free to use the images no problem atall

Thanks very much 👍