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Well the bull fix is rated something stupid, like 110kg. I don’t believe that for a second (surely it would rip through the plasterboard) but clearly they are very confident in the product. unfortunately there is not enough space to fix anything behind the plasterboard now. It is a very narrow bit of ceiling, only 10cm wide, and the void above is probably only 8cm deep.

Good point. What somos kit do you have and what streaming service do you use?

Thanks. Do you anticipate that wifi 6 capability will just be a software update then? The rumours started from a patent filing, but I guess software can be patent protected in the same way that hardware can.

SWMBO wants various things hung from the ceiling (me excluded, luckily). These seem to have good reviews, but no weight rating: https://www.screwfix.com/p/plasplugs-heavy-duty-plasterboard-fixings-10-x-36mm-30-pack/2760K?tc=IB2&ds_kid=92700048793290424&ds_rl=1249413&gclid=CjwKCAiA8OmdBhAgEiwAShr40xywzOESgMBqJ4BnKUJAhH7L4r7Yk2tSNcDrug0VXpmtvha1Djg58xoC1xkQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds Instinct tells me something made of metal would be stronger. This has good reviews, but seems too good to be true (apart from price): https://www.screwfix.com/p/rawlplug-tap-it-plasterboard-fixings-screws-metal-30mm-25-pack/7610P?kpid=7610P&ds_kid=92700048793290424&ds_rl=1249413&gclid=CjwKCAiA8OmdBhAgEiwAShr409x0A0KQRpDV3Vm6fBfLR6BUwrmnsNpMqIVWZGIBB4Z6uZ9kxICB4RoCRAoQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds#product_additional_details_container Or this product called bullfix, which might be overkill and is crazy expensive at almost £1 a fixing. Or this one, which is even more expensive at £2 a fixing (but sold on Amazon so probably cheaper elsewhere.

I have a wifi 6 enabled router (Ubiquiti Dream Router) and a couple of wifi 6 access points. The firestick on the tv and our phones have wifi 6 capability. Apparently wifi 6 is more stable, faster and more secure than wifi 5. I’ve certainly not had ANY issues with our wifi since we installed it in the summer, but I’m not sure if that is the “ubiquiti factor” or the fact that it is wifi 6 capable. Probably a combination of both. I was about to buy a Sonos sound system, but in December rumours started that Sonos’s next range of speakers would be wifi 6 capable. Is it worth waiting for and how long might that wait be?

I agree my set up is far from perfect. It’s just a question of which of the two options is better (or least worst). is the least worst option: Option 1 has the TV in an okay position, but the centre of the Soundbar is about 15 to 20cm higher than ear level, depending on where you are sitting. Option 2 has the TV 8cm or 9cm higher up, which I think is really too high, as it would occupy the space from 80cm to about 145cm, and the centre of the soundbar then sits at about 36 to 41cm below ear level. I think I will go with Option 1.

If you get a very high spec extraction fan, with an external motor, and remember to turn it on just before you start cooking, you shouldn’t really have much smells. Your front room would still be closed off from the rest of the floor space. If that’s not enough of an anti-dote for you to open plan living, then fair enough. Another thing you could consider is knocking down the wall between your front room and the second lounge, erecting a wall made mostly out of glass, and creating your gym area there. This would enable you to position the new wall exactly where you want to achieve the right balance of space, whilst letting light right in. Something like this: It is thinner than a wall and doesn’t cost that much more than a new wall. Unless you want to soundproof it better, in which case you t need to higher spec, like double glazing. The glass can also be opaque or reeded if you want light to come in, but you want privacy. Crittall style glass like this works well in 1920s, 1930s, 1940s and 1950s houses, as it is a modern interpretation of the glazing used often used in those decades.

That's an interesting idea. Are you sure? The ear position of somebody sitting in the main listening station is about 1.25m from the floor, so almost level with the sound bar when it is above the tv, which I thought was close to optimal. Optimal would be a media unit that was 20m shorter, such that placing the sound bar above the tv it would be perfectly in line with your ears. Another downside of the sound bar being below the tv is it shunts the tv up by another 8cm or so, or more if you don't want to limit yourself to a soundbar with an IR repeater. This means that the bottom of my tv, instead of being 73cm from the floor will be more than 81cm from the floor. That starts to impact the viewing angle and possibly make it uncomfortable?

Our media unit has ended up being higher than I wanted: 72.5cm. SWMBO insisted it needed to have plenty of sieve for the kids crap underneath. I’m building some shelves above it and leaving a gap for my TV. I can either raise the TV suit it sits on top of the sound bar (option 2), or raise the soundbar so it is above the tv (option 1): the soundbar might, if Santa is good to me one year…, be a Sonos Arc with upward firing atmos. I understand in that case, it would be best to go for Option 1. But ignoring Atmos, are there any other considerations?

i think that depends on what spec you go for. You could buy a decent bespoke wooden shed for £4k, prepare decent drainage and plastic tray base for the foundations £500, spend £2k insulating and boarding up the inside, another £300 to provide an electric supply, and maybe £500 for a basic MVHR system and maybe another £500 on electric UFH, £400 on flooring and you have a basic garden gym for less than £10k. It’s obviously Your house, and I don’t mean this to sound or be offensive, but the layout you have there is very focused on the gym. The gym has constrained all other spaces in your ground floor and limited your ability to open everything up. Yes, lots of doors and hallways was how they used to build houses, but we are now in 2023 and if you have an opportunity to redo the layout, why not redo it?

I agree. You do realise there are 8 doors on one floor, yet not that many rooms. Feels like a network of corridors. Can you put the WC under the stairs? Or is there no stairs to a second floor? What are those 5 steps for? I think the presence of the gym complicates things. Have you really thought about what kind of space you need for each of the activities you plan to do in your home and what the priorities should be. For example, couldn’t the gym be in an outhouse? What sort of gym is it? Heavy weights and bench press type thing, yoga retreat or cardio? Or all three? I think there are creative ways to “hide” your gym. For example, I have a classic road bike on an ergo, and because the bike is a thing of beauty, it looks nice in my study. Then I have a tray on wheels that hides under my sofa and in that tray I have elastic therabands of all different tensions, a Matt and a foam roller. Chin up bar in doorway to study, don’t need much else.

Unfortunately I can’t even replace a lightbulb, that’s how cr@p my skills are. i replaced the light bulb and managed to break a diffuser that covers the lightbulb when I screed it back onto the fitting. This was because I didn’t realise these lightbulbs came in different lengths and the one I had used to replace the crap one, was 2mm longer than the original.

More or less, yes this is what i had in mind. There are endless series of optimisations you can make to this layout by tweaking the sizes, shapes and styles of the sofas and then moving them around slightly, but I think placing the tv on the wall opposite, either within a media unit or on a media unit, is a very good start. For example the sofa by the bay window could be a chaise long style that is open on both sides, so as not to close off the window seat, e.g. like this: https://www.darlingsofchelsea.co.uk/helston-3-seater-chaise-sofa-pview?gclid=CjwKCAiAqt-dBhBcEiwATw-ggEOpQUS7eMGUbE93fHZt7EjmVPvsKl0p7hmFYeMIbTnr1uTljAbTbBoCWxcQAvD_BwE Or https://slf24.co.uk/covex-daybed-right-arm.html?gclid=CjwKCAiAqt-dBhBcEiwATw-ggICikkXWUHkKk56Dp0C4JDMZmGS-sMMDiBu0a_v6LgQpGCkRTnCQ1hoChVoQAvD_BwE#141=257 Many TVs actually come on a swivable stand. My Sony Bravia 55" did, for example, allowing about 40 degrees in each direction.

If there are, I don’t know how to find them. Any ideas?

I hate it when this kind of thing happens. Some contractors just have no backbone.

Can I ask, is the glass structure to the left of this drawing a window, or openable doors? Because if it is a window, I’m struggling to see why you couldn’t place a long sofa 1m or so in front of it, and place the tv on the wall at the bottom of the drawing (ie opposite the fireplace)? That still leaves room for the sofa you already have drawn to the right of the drawing and an arm chair somewhere in between the big window sofa and the fireplace. That arm chair can be angled towards the fireplace or towards the tv as and when needed.

What is your budget, both for the build and for the architectural brief? I know somebody very good, but he charges a percentage of the build which from memory might be something like 10% to 15%. I wish I’d gone with him, but couldn’t afford it. Went with somebody much cheaper, but I think it was a false economy.

If you aren't sure, wire in a couple of tv points, ethernet points and plenty of power sockets in places you might want a tv. You can always cover the one over your fireplace with a painting. But in the past wehn I haven't been sure about something that relates to layout, I've found posting a couple of layouts here on the forum and getting people's different inputs has been really helpful.

that mount is very clever. But I still think it looks pretty bad to pace a tv there. Even when it's off, it detracts from the natural beauty of a fireplace. A fireplace should not have a large black rectangle above it. A mirror yes, a nice painting also, but not a tv. When the TV is not in use, it occupies a far too prominent location in the room. Unless the room is ONLY going to be used for tv watching, the tv should be balanced with other elements of the room. But if it really is going to be a cinema room, then you don't need a fireplace there.

Can you post a drawing of the room shape/layout? Here is mine: The projections of the cabinets is initially equal, it’s just that the second then goes out at an angle to make a corner unit. I haven’t drawn it very well here. The Ss are potential spots for satellite L and R speakers. The corner sofa could also be curved, and the armchair could be angled towards the TV when you are watching TV or towards the fireplace.

Why don't you put the tv to one side of the chimney breast, usually such rooms have alcoves either side, so it would go in one of those alcoves. We have just built some cupboards either side of our chimney breast and the one where the TV is, is angled so that the when the TV sits on it, it faces the centre of the room. We will then have a corner sofa on the opposite corner and still enough space for an armchair, coffee table etc. This way your TV and main sofa face each other down a central diagonal of the room, allowing you to place satellite speakers in the other corners (if you want) and allowing the fireplace to have its own space and the TV to have its own space, with neither affecting the other.

I couldn’t agree more. I would really try to reconfigure your set up so that your tv is not above the fireplace. Ruins a fireplace as well!

Just found an email from the SE when he commented on my crack. He said this: Removing the render you will unfortunately unvail numerous cracks especially when you replace the windows. What you have found is an excellent example of a brick relieving arch below. Where you have a timber beam / lintel with a brick arch built into the wall above the ground floor window. The movement is negligible as although there is a crack the coursing has still remained aligned. I would recommend the crack is stitched with helifix helibars. With the crack grouted not resin infilled. Can you check to see if it runs internally as well. [I checked and it didn't] The brick arch I would just leave well alone unless on removal of the windows the timber lintel settles as then we would need to provide another means of remediation whilst the windows are out. We did the helifix helibar stitching to the bricks and then grouted as recommended by the SE. For the wall upgrade we had to tackle damp under the ground floor window. A RICS surveyor designed a solution for us with assistance from the Dupont technical dept. This is basically what we did: It allowed the wall to dry from the inside, whilst staying impermeable to the elements on the outside. Outside was: covered in Kingspan Kooltherm K7 (we did about 45mm thick of K7, but do 60mm or 70mm if it doesn't ruin your architectural details that are original to the house - a lot of people here will tell you to do much more, but they are new-builders, us renovators have to accept that ruining the look of the original house with a bit of extra insulation isn't worth it) then a mesh was put up that was rendered first with cement, i believe - this was the hardest part, the tradesman was a real artisan though and did a great job then one of these finish coats from Ceresit (https://www.ceresit.com/en/products/facade-solutions/facade-finishes.html), though I can't remember which one we went for. I have left over in the shed if you want me to check. It looks bloody brilliant. EDIT: I should add that it is worth consulting a professional on what to do, because every house structure and situation is slightly different and in our case, because of the damp and the need to waterproof whilst allowing the inside to breathe, we had some complexities. But Dupont did an interstitial condensation risk analysis for me (for "free"), which my RICS surveyor checked, and this together with the fact that my RICS surveyor is very good gave me confidence the system would be fit for purpose.

I discovered something similar after we removed the pebbledash from our 1930s semi in preparation for upgrading the thickness of the wall with insulation and render (part of the pebbledash was also damp): if you zoom in, you will see there is cracking above the wooden (!) lintel. My SE recommended we use helifix to stitch the cracked bricks together. In your case, maybe you can do something similar.

Are you sure you have done your heat loss calcs correctly? 200m2 of floor space is a fairly large house, must be at least a 4 bed, no? What construction year and style is your house and how much insulation are you adding?