forget about the conduit--the right thing to do is notch the sheetrock--i looked at your picture---whats inside those colums--are they hollow? do it right if your going to do it. Do you own the house? you only have to make small notches by the beams which should be easy to patch--
you go straight across to the left and then down--if you don't have experience using a drill then you should definately hire a pro-

I have one question. Why is it that when a "pro" asks for advice, everyone offers it. But when a "non-pro" asks for advice, person after person advises him to hire a pro as if he's committing a sin by attempting it himself.

gunn wants to try it himself and I don't begrudge him the effort. Besides, what's the worst that could happen? The TV could fall down, crushing some child to death or the electrical cord running through the wall against code could start a fire and burn the house down :-). Everyone has to learn sometime :-).

p.s. The first paragraph was serious. The second paragraph was a little bit serious.

This message was edited by QQQ on 07/11/03 09:37.

I'm with Q
burn the house down

Come on guys. Give the guy a break, let him try. We've cleaned up messes before...

Gunn,

Glaro gave you great advice, cut a big hole and angle your drywall saw in, so that you can replace the drywall and easily patch it. The bigger a hole you make, the easier it will be to see your obstacles and (this may seem strange) the easier it will be to patch afterwards.

The one piece of advice you haven't gotten yet is to make SURE you keep your video cables as far away as possible from the AC. You can induce all kinds of problems in your picture by running them parallel and/or adjacent to each other for more than a few inches.

Also, go the extra mile, turn the breaker off and run romex from the nearest outlet then install a real AC outlet behind the plasma.

Best Regards,

-Eric

Eric Johnson
www.hometheaterpro.com

Phone 1-800-247-7001

I forgot, you were asking for a website tutorial. I wrote a DIY guide to custom installing your home theater for Crutchfield. You can download it from their website or call them and they will send you a free copy. It describes techniques for notching the drywall, patching etc. Things you'll want to know.

Best Regards,

-Eric

Eric Johnson
www.hometheaterpro.com

Phone 1-800-247-7001

Eric,

Thanks for the tips and information...I will get my hands on that document and map out what I want to do before I attempt it.

QQQ, thanks for bringing some levity to the serious resposnses I have been getting. I am taking ALL of the information to heart. glaro, I was ROFL with your posts. I do own the home, and you have got to learn sometime. The columns are basically hollow, they are
2x4 studs covered by sheetrock.

i admire your determination gunn--if you own the house then you should definately do it the right way. the worst that can happen is the patching. you might be able to snake through those colums rather than notching. then you can just notch the rest. is that wall to the left recessed back at all or is it in line with the fireplace wall?

The worst thing that could happen is that his wife doesn't like the quality of finishing work and reminds him everyday. Nag, Nag, Nag. (Just joking)

As glaro mentioned (and you probably want to anyway) "do it the right way". In addition, one other thing you want to consider, in your journey, is understanding what the is the proper code is for this type of installation. Building to code is useful especially if you think you would want to sell the house in the future. It applies to wiring or railings.

Having a house pass inspection without having to re-do wiring is a bonus. Besides, it's a good learning process. I don't think anyone previously mentioned this perspective.

Cheers

glaro,
The wall to the left is in line with the fireplace
wall (where I will hang the plasma). FRR thanks for the info, considering that I intend to sell my home in about 2 to 3 years...

tks for the info all...