When modding things actually adds value....

[RONDAL]

As some of you are aware I recently bought a new place. Was utterly sick of where I was living and needed something new.

The new place is 1051 sq/ft, 2 bdrm, 2 full bathroom joint. It's like 3 years old, and I actually happend to work for the developer who built the place, and worked specifically on the building.....so i know all the good and bad things about it.

Most of the stuff is how I like it, which is nice, but there is some stuff that needs to be dealt with.

It's nice to know unlike when you mod a car, when you mod a house you might actually see some value in the future....or at least you wont LOSE value in the future hahaha. Oh how i love cars and the money pits they become.


Quick tour of the joint...

Second bedroom, with the bathroom adjacent. This will become my office


Living room








Kitchen with stainless steel gas appliances (thank god.....)





Looking out to balcony




Front hall w/ laundy on left, and bathroom on right




Boom boom room w/ views west towards downtown, can see the new Bow, Calgary Tower, etc.




Bathroom w/ stand up shower and a full size tub. So god damn nice compared to my current dump



Small walk in closet.....somehow i doubt i'll get any hanging room in here




So that's the crib in summary.....next is the fun/frustration parts

[RONDAL]

Re: When modding things actually adds value....

So first up is where the F@#K to put my TV.
Now knowing what I know from when the building was constructed I know there is steel stud, and i know the gauge for the outer exterior building walls.
I also know that to hang a TV above the fireplace ive gotta get in there and throw some wood backing to mount into, otherwise there is no way in hell the TV is staying up on the wall.


Sooooo the fun began on Saturday.


The area for my 52" TV




The blue tape marks out the 3 studs. We need two of them, but we dont know which way the steel studs open. So we gotta cut to find out.





Oh thanks drug addict framers. Instead of the studs all going one direction they go opposite ways. This will make life fun as its almost impossible to mount to just a piece of flat steel as there is nothing for any screw to bite into




After staring at the wall with 2 P.Eng's trying to figure out the best way to do this, we literally broke it down gr12 physics style and started figuring out what forces would be acting on the TV, the mount, and subsequently the anchors, and worked out a way to deal with each of them. A trip to an anchor store found me some lag screws, with a built in butterfly, that would secure through the thin steel and stop any type of pull-out.

As you can see I got the first block mounted. From there its basically like dealing with wood studs again which is nice.



The 4 bolts stop any forces of gravity pulling down, as well as twisting. The butterfly stops any movement across the wall ie. rotation, and the brace helps give a little more aid to rotation, as well as just shore everything up. THis was then repeated on the next stud as well.




The other fun part was trying to figure out how i was going to get my HDMI feed from the west wall (big window to the left) to the TV. This required fishing some wire through the fireplace. But thats not an easy feat. Cue removal of the mantle. Thank god i used to install these so i knew it was just silicone holding them down and a love tap with a large mallet would remove it




Was then able to locate a small hole i could use to fish



And as it stands now. Wire through, drywall back up. Mount holes ready to be drilled and then i can mud and paint.





I've been careful to ensure that the cable wont be anywhere near the back of the fireplace. its tucked inside some fireproof drywall, and protected that way. God that stuff itches like crazy.


Hopefully by tomorrow i should have a mount on the wall.....

[calgarydub]

Re: When modding things actually adds value....

Nice job. Interested to see it done. Looks like a tight space to fit a 52 inch TV, maybe it's just me.

Also, just looking at the pictures, I am wondering what you're going to do for eating arrangements (dinner table).

Just curious because the kitchen looks to be in an odd spot in my mind, not quite enough room for bar stools without having to squeeze by that wall there. Pictures could be deceiving though. (In school we were taught the ergonomics of different spaces and leaving enough room for traffic flow, multiple people in the kitchen, things of that nature)

Other than that one observation, most rooms look very spacious and comfortable, especially that bathroom.

[nismodrifter]

Re: When modding things actually adds value....

Place looks pimp except for the kitchen island issue mentioned above. Seems like an odd layout...from the pics it looks like if you put stools there its going to block the walkway.

[R_Ethug]

Re: When modding things actually adds value....

andrew nice place man!

can you PM me details on the building and cost range if you dont' mind? my bro is looking to buy a place and this looks good for hime

[Shoppingcart111]

Re: When modding things actually adds value....

Nice, would you be able to get the paint code for that color? very nice. You say that the kitchen is gas apps?, cause that range doesn't look like gas to me.

[Triple G]

Re: When modding things actually adds value....

Whens the house warming

[Duby T]

Re: When modding things actually adds value....

Very nice place, but odd layout. Looks like a lot of wasted space.

Congrats

[calgarydub]

Re: When modding things actually adds value....

Very nice place, but odd layout. Looks like a lot of wasted space.

Congrats

I think that if the kitchen was facing the living room, where the future television will go, it would make a lot more sense. Instead it's looking into a bunch of doors and a dark corner, and feels a little out of place, at least in the photos.That way you could at least have a few chairs up there and have it more welcoming and opened up in the areas you want it to be open.

I guess we should give him a chance to get furniture in there before criticizing it!

[Wildfire]

Re: When modding things actually adds value....

Nice place.

Just a heads up. Have you thought about the heat from the fireplace affecting the TV? I' cant tell how your going to have the TV and I could be totally wrong in the way im interpreting your set up. But in my sisters house, they have the LCD TV above the fireplace in a similar like fashion (its the way the house was designed, don't ask) in its own embossed setting. But the heat from the fireplace causes a lot of problems for the TV. The TV gives us a temperature warning (its kinda cool that they have this) and we have to turn the TV and the fireplace off.

[Duby T]

Re: When modding things actually adds value....

Nice place.

Just a heads up. Have you thought about the heat from the fireplace affecting the TV? I' cant tell how your going to have the TV and I could be totally wrong in the way im interpreting your set up. But in my sisters house, they have the LCD TV above the fireplace in a similar like fashion (its the way the house was designed, don't ask) in its own embossed setting. But the heat from the fireplace causes a lot of problems for the TV. The TV gives us a temperature warning (its kinda cool that they have this) and we have to turn the TV and the fireplace off.

I believe they sell some sort of fan kit for this.

I had a consultation with a tech company a few months ago and we went over all of the TV, home theater, internet, security and phone stuff for my new house.

When I told them I planned to mount my flat screen over my fireplace, they also brought up the heat issue. They told me it wasn't a problem because they will make sure that they will take all of the appropriate measures to make sure the TV does not get damaged. Its been a while, so I don't remember what exactly those measures were

[smstar]

Re: When modding things actually adds value....

Value added modding by smstar.....last falls project, all mods done by me!!

Started with this, 1968 garbage bathrooms x 2, one puke green, one purple.




By smstar, shot with u760,S760 at 2009-12-29


By smstar, shot with u760,S760 at 2009-12-29


By smstar, shot with u760,S760 at 2009-12-29

Turned into this....one bathroom, proper size, bamboo wall and a heated floor!!


By smstar, shot with u760,S760 at 2009-12-29


By smstar, shot with u760,S760 at 2009-12-29


By smstar, shot with u760,S760 at 2009-12-29


By smstar, shot with u760,S760 at 2009-12-29


By smstar, shot with u760,S760 at 2009-12-29


By smstar, shot with u760,S760 at 2009-12-29


By smstar, shot with u760,S760 at 2009-12-29

All quality here...no cheaping out on the under bits!!


By smstar, shot with u760,S760 at 2009-12-29


By smstar, shot with u760,S760 at 2009-12-29


By smstar, shot with u760,S760 at 2009-12-29

[Duby T]

Re: When modding things actually adds value....

WOW!

[popp]

Re: When modding things actually adds value....

I Win!



But Smstar.... Wow! Andrew, do that so I can come leave a present in your toilet!

[R_Ethug]

Re: When modding things actually adds value....

hahahahha nice TV for taking a dump!!!!!