Hiding my wires for my LCD TV... is it this easy?

[Al Neri]

I am working with a my TV (mounted into the outside brick wall), wall of sheetrock, with about 6 inches of empty air and then brick (the outside). I bought a drill bit to make a 2 inch hole yesterday from home depot. Can I basically just make a hole behind the TV, and a hole directly below (in front of my entertainment center, out of view when watching TV) and just drop the wires behind it? People make such a huge deal with hiding wires but this seems like a simple enough idea and I personally have never heard anyone doing this. This is ok right? BTW, I know I have enough wiring to cover the distance required.

 

[thirdeye]

Don't see why you couldn't honestly. I'd do the same, given the option.

 

[kgokal]

I was thinking of doing the samething. Do keep us updated, once your done.
With PICS!

 

[Al Neri]

hopefully will have pics up tonite.

 

[nwfsnake]

Murphy is waiting to attack on this one!

 

[DougK62]

I just bought some thin wiremold and painted it to match the wall. A lot less costly...and destructive.

 

[Josh]

Originally posted by: DougK62
I just bought some thin wiremold and painted it to match the wall. A lot less costly...and destructive.

what about the power cord...wont there just be like a plug plugged into the wall that seems odd?

 

[Al Neri]

Originally posted by: DougK62
I just bought some thin wiremold and painted it to match the wall. A lot less costly...and destructive.

cost for me:

drill bit: $1.50

cost for you?

 

[DougK62]

Originally posted by: Don Rodriguez

Originally posted by: DougK62
I just bought some thin wiremold and painted it to match the wall. A lot less costly...and destructive.

cost for me:

drill bit: $1.50

cost for you?

Yeah, that's true. I guess I was more concerned with the destructive part. I don't like poking holes in a wall just for a TV.

 

[dquan97]

there may be insulation behind the drywall that can hinder the wires from falling to where you want them. If so, fishtape helps guide the wires. Also, having two holes are unsightly and most ppl are concerned about aesthetics when running wires.

 

[aircooled]

Patching holes in drywall is easy.

Outside walls should be insulated so that will be an obstacle, but as previously stated, fishtape will help.

 

[Al Neri]

Originally posted by: dquan97
there may be insulation behind the drywall that can hinder the wires from falling to where you want them. If so, fishtape helps guide the wires. Also, having two holes are unsightly and most ppl are concerned about aesthetics when running wires.

thanks

 

[Umberger]

YUP! If you wanted to get fancy, you could buy a grommet at Home Depot or Lowes to go in each of those holes, to make it less unsightly. You might have some slight problems with the finish of the hole in the drywall, it is paper coated on each side, which will likely not drill cleanly. Also, it would cut down on the mess from the drywall over time and leaving white dust on everything.

 

[fredhe12]

A sales dork at Circuit City told me when I bought my plasma that their own in-house installation services will put all cables through the wall EXCEPT the power cord. According to them, putting the power cord into the wall is a fire hazard and they won't do it. What I haven't been able to get is a good answer to my question. Is it really a fire hazard or are they just being overly cautious due to liability?

If it is a fire hazard, are there special cords rated safe for this type of installation? I really want to hide all my cables in the wall. The hole created up high is hidden by the mount. Then I'll run cable down the wall and make a small hole to let power cord come out and be plugged in.

 

[TXHokie]

I believe it's against electric code to run power cord behind a wall since they're not rated properly. The correct way would be to have an outlet installed and you would plug directly into it. Do it easy, do it right, do it cheap - pick two.

 

[Eos]

I'd like to mount mine to the wall and run the cables in wall down near the floor to come back out and hook into video/audio crap. For the power cord in wall/not in wall issue, I would recommend wiring in a new junction box at tv level for it to plug into. Tap the new box into another existing outlet box.

The drywall repair issue is easy enough. Cut out enough of it to place extra horizontal bracing in between the studs. Once the mount is screwed into the new horizontal beams, you can put up new drywall all the way around it. Tape, mud, sand and paint and you'll never know the wall was torn apart. This is a good opportunity to run wire down to the floor level and put wall jacks in place.

It's gonna be more work, but the result will be solid and nice looking.

 

[cavingjan]

Grommet aroudn the holes and get a cover for it to help cut down on any drafts and possibly bugs coming through the wall. It all depends upon how the wall (mostly the outside wall) is built.

 

[QurazyQuisp]

I personally would just put the boxes in, it'll make it look much cleaner. You don't need to screw the boxes into a stud as you can buy ones that'll attach to the drywall. We just have a component box and a power box, that's all that is running to the tv, everything else is switched through the receiver.