Telly AV household wiring stuff

[Tom]

Right, I've had the flat roof at the back of my extension replaced with a pitched slated roof:

So while that was going on, I thought I'd rip the back room ceiling down (you can see it in the above image, on the lower right of the brick). Because it was old lath+plaster and only the woodchip was holding it up.

So in this image the extension is the bright bit on the bottom right. Basically, the back room has always been really dark so I've never done anything to it. Hence the skylight. It's now nice and bright (and you can see the moon through the skylight, which is cool). I've also more or less finished installing 6 LED downlights, 3 for the sofa and 3 for the chimney/telly area.

Now I don't have a telly right now, I plan on buying some 40-50" HD thing shortly. I need to wire in some surround sound stuff and rather than have wires trailing around the floor, I thought that while the ceiling is exposed, I might as well wire everything in up there. So what should I put in? I'm thinking:

2 rear speakers (they will be in the wall, slightly above and behind the sofa)
A network cable, purpose of which I don't yet know but why not since it's cheap to do

Anything else I should put in? What about more speaker cable, do I need more than 2 rear channels? I'm asking because someone might know about some amazing new "thing" that I'll always regret not installing the wiring for. There's no hifi in this room, the front room is for music, so I don't think I need ceiling speakers or 'owt like that.

 

[DaGaffer]

Why don't you just install trunking with access points rather than worrying about specific wires? That way updgrades/additions aren't a pain in the arse. Its impossible to predict the future, so just try to give yourself room to manoeuvre.

 

[Yaka]

Why don't you just install trunking with access points rather than worrying about specific wires? That way updgrades/additions aren't a pain in the arse. Its impossible to predict the future, so just try to give yourself room to manoeuvre.

this i was gonna to this for our place so if the time came to elace hdmi cables or put in extra cables id be able to do it. sadly due to work i never got the chance. so in the near future i will be ripping the walls and cieling up:/

if you dont wana put trunking in then atleast put a few cat5/6 cables in as well. put in twice more than you need just to be sure as the cables are cheap

 

[Tom]

I'm not sure about trunking, realistically I don't think there's enough depth in the plaster to accommodate any, and I really, really don't want to start chiselling brick.

 

[DaGaffer]

I'm not sure about trunking, realistically I don't think there's enough depth in the plaster to accommodate any, and I really, really don't want to start chiselling brick.

You can get pretty flat trunking (say - 50mm?) and you could run it down a corner and then decorate over it. Its not really a great idea to just slop wires into plaster anyway (even if clipped); they've got their own weight and will gradually pull themselves out of the plaster over time if its thin enough for trunking to be an issue.

 

[Tom]

Nah, wiring will be protected by shields (flat bits of plastic/metal with a slight camel hump in the middle). I can't decorate over much as some walls will be exposed brick and the others painted plaster. 50mm would stick out like a sore thumb.

Basically, the wiring has to go in now.

 

[MYstIC G]

As DaGaffer suggests you could put them in the corners of the room so they look like features and have the cables coming out at skirting level?

Something like this might do the job?

http://www.d-line.co.uk/decorative-trunking.php

You can get it from places like Screwfix.

 

[Tom]

Change of plan, wires are going under the floor now (its mucky but accessible without ripping the floor up). I didn't want to use architrave or similar Meg because, well, I just don't like the look of that stuff. You'll see, once it's all finished I'll post a pic.

So now I need to find some decent budget in-wall speakers.

 

[Yaka]

whats you budget?

also you are aware in walls are more likly to sound somewhat differant to a demo room once its installed.