Wall mounting a TV - best way to hide the cables?

[myxiplx]

Hi folks,

I’m looking for some input for a spring project, and hoping somebody here can give me a nudge in the right direction, or point out problems I need to watch out for.

Essentially we're re-organising the lounge in the new year, which will mean moving the TV, and all the cabling that goes along with that. I want to do a proper job and hide all the cables, but could do with some advice on the best way to do that.

For hiding the cables, it seems I have three options:
- Bury the cables in the wall
- Run the cables through the chimneybreast
- Run the cables behind the mantlepiece, and just box them in for the 12” from there to the TV

Since the fireplace is unused, just boxing the cables in is very tempting. I could run a small box above the mantlepiece (probably 6” wide and 1” deep), run the cables from the TV down inside that, then drill into the mantlepiece so I can hide the cables inside there, before coming out behind the skirting board allowing me to run them to where they need to go.

We're going to be decorating anyway, so I can either paint or wallpaper that box to match the rest of the wall, and we have a vase on the mantlepiece too which will pretty much hide it.

I could run mains fairly simply the same way, I can make a box large enough to keep the mains separate from the signal cables, and we have plug sockets on both sides of the fireplace so I could run the signal cables around the left of the mantlepiece, and the mains cable around to the right.

A slightly more professional option if I didn’t want a visible box would be to drill into the chimneybreast, and bore out a 2-3" hole to run the cables through. That’s going to be a bit messy, and will need sealing up, but all the mess will be out of sight behind the TV.

Failing that it's a case of going the whole hog and burying the cables in the wall, and adding proper mains and signal sockets behind the TV. I've no concerns with drilling the hole and fitting the sockets, but the routing of the cable is going to be more messy, and while the fire is unused, I suspect there may still be regulations for both the cable and the socket running around the chimneybreast.

I’d love some thoughts on those options (or any I haven’t thought of). What would you guys suggest?

Cheers,

Myx

 

[kbdiy]

Any of the above will work, depends what you want the final finish to look like and how much disruption you are prepared for.

But, I know several people who have had wall-mounted TVs and ended up bringing them back down to a more normal level. The reason being that it becomes quite uncomfortable having to lift you eyes up to view the TV. There is a reason why most TVs are placed on a TV stand/table of some sort and that is for comfortable viewing. My advice would be to try it temporarily first, before you commit to the final fix.

 

[myxiplx]

We already have a raised TV, we have a reclining sofa, so putting the telly up at that height makes it the perfect viewing angle, I used to get neck ache when it was lower down

 

[Sam Gangee]

Continued here: //www.diynot.com/diy/threads/moving-a-tv-need-advice-on-signal-cables-and-wall-panels.421650/

(It's generally not helpful to post the same or similar question twice.)