Disappearing panel and flat screen TV
carpenter97
| Posted in Construction Techniques on
Hi guys and gals,
I have a fireplace/bookcase project where the customer wants to conceal their TV behind the center of the wood paneling that will cover the fireplace. Is this something I can fab myself? Basicallly the idea is to have the TV fixed but the panel concealing it move vertically into the ceiling.
Has anyone done this before? Got Pics? Got advice?
Regards,
carp
Replies
Google
vertical TV lifts. I did yesterday, as the DW wants a TV in 'her' room, but doesn't want to see it when it is off. I figured I would hide the thing behind a chair in the corner and let it lift up when needed. For a mount to lift a panel instead of the TV should not be a problem.
I found a number of options, was quoted a price of $1k, but that was the retail list.
They are out there waiting for you.
Good luck.
not too hard
what you need is tracks of some kind to guide the panel, and a lift/counter balance system to raise it.
The hardest part in my mind is building in enough height for the panel to disapear into.
Where is the panel going? Do you have enough height in the attic to take it?
If not you will need some kind of hinged sections like an overhead door. If you want to keep the vertical thing going you could pocket it to the side.
Another option is a tambour door that can be rolled up pretty tight.
Big hole in the ceiling.
If it does go up into the attic or otherwise go outside the climate controlled envelop, you will need either a good weatherstripping/sealing system or have a sealed pocket for it to go up into or else you will have just punched a big hole in your ceiling for all your heat to leave through.
Planned to lift it into the attic - plenty of room there.
Someone mentioned the obvious, but important, task of sealing up the attic box that the panel will go into. I'm thinking this could be framed with metal studs and wrapped with plywood or drywall, caulked and mudded to seal it off.
Ditch the entire idea - TVs over fireplaces are way too high for any sort of normal viewing and will cause neck strain.
Maybe they should make the fireplace lower into the floor to reveal the TV.
The man has a point
In general, a TV over a fireplace is way too high, unless it is a very short fireplace. If you have to bend your neck backward (as you will unless you are laying on a recliner) TV viewing quickly becomes uncomfortable.
This is a short fireplace. The center line of the TV will be about 54", about 10" higher than it is now. I don't see comfort being an issue.
But then again...
My preference for (what passes anymore as) a small TV is about 30 inches from the floor. I'm guessing this set will be larger, and 54" sounds way to high to me.
[I'm talking about from the floor to the bottom edge of the screen -- missed the point about 54" being to the centerline.]
I didn't read the last part of your post :).
In any event, to answer your question, it's a 42" TV.
So the screen's about 25"
So the screen's about 25" high, with, say, 4" below the bottom of the screen. The center of the screen's about 16" above the bottom.
How about doors that slide to the side instead? You could build a false wall w/ the doors slightly recessed. Maybe they look like a piece of art (split in the center) and slide to the side rather than up. Dude ... think outside the box a bit ... a solution will begin to present itself ... along with some of the thinking you get here!
Anyone care to share photos of similar jobs?
30" from where?
30" from
30" from where?
30" from the floor to the bottom of the TV?
30" from the floor to the centerline of the TV?
Comfortable viewing, when seated, is about 45" from floor to the centerline of the TV screen. I don't think another 10" would make much of a difference, but I could be wrong.
Of course, a lot depends on the seating scheme -- place the set farther from the seating and it can be higher. And if the set is just being used as "background noise" in a setting where many people will be standing it can of course be higher still.
But picture in your mind the classical "guys watching football on a couch" setup and the set you'll imagine is fairly low, like an old-fashioned console.
TV over fireplace
Flat screen TVs are sensitive to heat. A fireplace under it is not a good idea. Might look good in a magazine but you will be sad if you have to replace your $$$ TV.
They also will have to clear the flue line which brings it too much away from the wall, then looks boxy. Think also about cables and connections and ACCESSABILITY to connect and disconnect other AV equipment
If the priority is to hide the TV maybe a sliding bookshelf cover might work
Or make the fireplace rotate into the wall when you pull a candlestick, like in one of the old ghost movies.
Yeah! A rotating fireplace.
That wouldn't cost much at all, right?
You know what I hate most about forums like this?
Jagoffs that make wisecracks but never offer an actual solution. Maybe that's because they don't have one. They just love to hear themselves talk. They'll talk s%#! all day long, blah blah blah, but when it comes down to it they're paper champions. They'll tell you how they'll work circles around you...
Shove it in you ear.
You know what I hate about posts to oneself?
you never find out who the jag-off really is.
OK, are you off your meds?
First, you are asking desperately about some 30" measurement, but not in relation to any other post... then you reply to yourself to tell yourself too... shove it in your ear... Hmmmm.
Do I have to make a call to the county to talk to the guys with the padded van?
& BTW, those little thing that annoy you (like this post for instance) also serve to keep a thread entertaining and maybe get your post extra consideration.
Part and parcel. You don't like it, post on an accounting forum.