About to start this in the house – the plan is to have a scart for DVD, HDMI for Sky, 2nd HDMI just in case, standard aerial cable connection hidden inside the wall. I don’t have any home cinema gear and don’t plan on having any. anyone done this and got any lessons learned? Am I missing anything?

People are still using scart leads?

Not done it myself, but if you are going to the hassle of chopping out, why not install a nice big trunking instead? That way when you realise you’ve missed a cable, you can fish another one through. Might want a power cable for your telly for instance!

make sure you put it nice and high so you have to crane your neck all the time.

You should also install a wood burner and build an oversized wood store whilst chasing out the wall.

make sure you put it nice and high so you have to crane your neck all the time.

Above a fireplace is always good, then you run the cables up the chimney.

Here we go again……

I don’t have any home cinema gear and don’t plan on having any. anyone done this and got any lessons learned? Am I missing anything?

This.

Network cable for iPlayer etc.

My house has thermolite blocks on the wall, which are sloppily rendered in something, then lined with plasterboard with an air gap. I cut a hole in the plasterboard up top and one down low, which both seemed to have enough clearance for cables, but spent most of a day thrutching and swearing trying to get the cables through to no avail, because there was a bulge in the render.

I cut a piece of plasterboard out and had it sorted within half an hour… So if your house is made this way definitely cut the plasterboard. Top tip – make cuts angled inwards towards the channel you are making so that you can place the piece back without it falling through the wall.

I did this in our house recently, not above the fireplace though 🙂

Walls are breeze block with a gap between that and the plasterboard so as above hole top and bottom and drop the cables down then use those AV plates with brushes on to cover the hole. I dropped 3 hdmi cables, 2 network cables (one for the powerplug going into a hub and the other for the tv, optical cable, a standard aerial cable in case I ditch sky and switch to freeview, and a length of string.

Oh and just to explain waht the cables were for – hdmi – sky/apple tv/games console, network cables – powerplug plugged into double socket spur behind tv, one cable going to network hub, one coming from hub to tv, optical cable for a sounbar, string in case I need to run another cable (tie it to the cable and pull).

What are you doing about power for the tv? It’s not good practice to drop the power cable down the wall. If you’re comfortable with electrics then run a spur from a nearby socket.

What are your walls made of?

I had a power socket down low, so I ran a spur up the wall (vertically upwards of course) to a socket up high.

Yeh so did I but at the opposite side from the hdmi cables. I wouldn’t run power in the same channel as the hdmi cables in case of interference. Ran both together in another installation and the interference was terrible so had to make 2 channels – standard aerial cable though so don’t know if hdmi would be affected so much.

Make sure the speaker and HDMI cables are running the right direction.

I just spent £70 at Screwfix for a Titan SDS drill with loads of chisels, drills and other attachments. I got it to chisel through 120mm of concrete in my cellar to install a sump pump but it’s so good I’m looking for some brick walls to chase channels in and drill big holes through.

Dug plenty of channels with SDS drills in our brickbuilt house over the years.

Obviously doable but if you can beg, borrow or steal a wall chaser, they are the nuts and make the job sooo much easier.

Of course don’t use one on plasterboard or timber!

I dry lined our wall making sure there were some hefty studs to mount the TV bracket. I used square section guttering down-pipe for the trunking with 45deg end exiting the wall for a neat finish. This allows me to pass whatever cable I like down and keeps them together. It was also cheap!

I used ready made AV cables – fitted box at one end and leads the other for the equipment.
Still have a spare as I didn’t do one of the rooms in the end.