Mission Impossible - Hiding Cables

[Nolan B]

Exposed cables are a major pet peeve of mine, and if they MUST be exposed then the should look good enough that it looks like you are almost exposing them on purpose. I have hit the biggest challange yet and could use some advice and ideas. Hiding cables on a brick wall.

Below shows a picture of where my new Elite 60" 141 is going along with my B&W FPMs which will all be mounted flat on the wall. I have come to terms that 1 main line will brining all the cables (power, 1 HDMI and 3 speaker cables). I have some half moon shapped brushed aluminum cable covers made by B&O which looks cool and will bring the cables to the set up from the left side.

Never mind the hole you see in the floor as thats where the old fireplace was and the flooring guys are in next week. Green tape roughly shows where the TV and R speaker will be.

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My problems lays with bringing the speaker cables from the speakers to behind the TV. Here is where I need some ideas. The L, R and C will have about 3" of cabel exposed from each speaker to the TV. My current ideas are as followed.


this picture shows some speaker cable I stuck on the brick showing how much will be exposed

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1.) Take out some of the concret between the bricks, lay the wire then put concrete back over top. - Problem: Conrete is over 100 years old and the new conrete will like stand out unless there is a trick to making new concrete look old.

2.) Paint the speaker wire to match the brick.

[Hdale85]

Yes there is a trick Keep the old concrete crush it up and mix it in with the new stuff. Won't be perfect but will be rather close.

[Nolan B]

Yes there is a trick Keep the old concrete crush it up and mix it in with the new stuff. Won't be perfect but will be rather close.

sheer genius ;x(

[Hdale85]

Of course your not going to want to mix a little old concrete with a lot of new concrete you'll probably have to slowly add it to try and keep it close to the same color. I saw this on a DIY channel they were repairing a fire pit they built.

[Kevin D]

Hell, if you're only talking about 3" then any type of clear binding agent with the old cement will work. Not like you're looking for structural support.

Kevin D.

[Hdale85]

Whats behind that brick wall? Is that an outside wall? Could you not somehow mount a new box there with all the connections you need that would be covered up by your new plasma?

[krips]

How about some colored panduit or some other type of tray?

[Nolan B]

Whats behind that brick wall? Is that an outside wall? Could you not somehow mount a new box there with all the connections you need that would be covered up by your new plasma?

cant..the wall is probably 3 feet thick. The building was built over 100 years ago as a storage building. Not a typical residential place.

There is a lot of brick around my place which is hidden so I can take away as much of the old concrete as I like.

Kevin's idea may be easy to since it is definately not structural.

I a very happy a solution is presenting itself.

[Hdale85]

Well you could probably run molex between the bricks along with your other cables and then install a box inset in the bricks. Then your plasma would look like its floating

[Nolan B]

Well you could probably run molex between the bricks along with your other cables and then install a box inset in the bricks. Then your plasma would look like its floating

not sure what you mean exactly? I mounting everything to the brick so it look like its floating.

Is your idea to head every cable into the brick including power and HDMI? I would need a jack hammer for that!

[Hdale85]

HAHA..... well probably not a jack hammer But a hammer drill (rent?) and an sawsall would probably do it.

[impala454]

Just drill through the mortar in a low visibility area on that wall and see if there's some open space behind it (i.e. jam a stick in the hole and see how far it goes).

[Blindamood]

I'd just go with the 'industrial' look and use plain old silver metal conduit that you can buy at Home Depot. Maybe run the wire down and then back up to the speaker, rather than straight over from the tv.

I just got done running wire to my rear speakers in a condo. Being in Florida, the walls are drywall, with about an inch gap to a solid concrete wall. Running the first speaker went fine, but the second one ran into a metal conduit inside the wall...had to cut the drywall a bit to get it through, but not too difficult to fix. Ran the wire lengths up over a window wall and behind curtains using a plastic conduit. Wife will never know how I did it...

The things we do for style! 8)

[Nolan B]

I'd just go with the 'industrial' look and use plain old silver metal conduit that you can buy at Home Depot. Maybe run the wire down and then back up to the speaker, rather than straight over from the tv.

I just got done running wire to my rear speakers in a condo. Being in Florida, the walls are drywall, with about an inch gap to a solid concrete wall. Running the first speaker went fine, but the second one ran into a metal conduit inside the wall...had to cut the drywall a bit to get it through, but not too difficult to fix. Ran the wire lengths up over a window wall and behind curtains using a plastic conduit. Wife will never know how I did it...

The things we do for style! 8)

I just re did my surrounds too and the only way people think I could have done it was under the hard wood..they will never know where the cables actually are and ill never tell.

I am making this project one where I try to hide cables as much as possible. I have a lot exposed. All my power for my lights has to be exposed so to try and make it look cool I ran it through copper plumbing pipes all through my place. Every so often I put old antique pressure gauges etc to make try and suit it. Took a hell of a long time...hard then hidding the cables in impossible areas.

[Nolan B]

here is a picture of a test I did in an area no one sees in case it didnt work well. Im actually trying two differen things in this picture. On the left half of the cable covering I used a clear binding agent with old cement. On the right half ( you can tell it gets darker) I used a cement crack filler mixed with the old stuff. I think both would work well, but the clear binder stuff makes its harder to screw up.

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[Russ L]

How about under the flooring then up behind the stands for the FPMs? Maybe the flooring guys could help you.

[Nolan B]

How about under the flooring then up behind the stands for the FPMs? Maybe the flooring guys could help you.

I would have if I was keeping the stands. i am mouting these right against the wall as they were inteded.

Floor guys are helping a bit with some other cables thou..

[Hdale85]

That looks great. Can hardly tell.

[Hdale85]

Mis post.

[RenoReno2]

The tool you want to use is a grinder not a drill if this is the way your gonna run them. Grind the pathway you'll take and run your cables then refill mortar. only thing I would do different is run Conduit so just in case it's easier to pull new wires

Tool would be something like this

http://www.makita.com/menu.php?pg=product_det&tag=GA5010Z

[Nolan B]

The tool you want to use is a grinder not a drill if this is the way your gonna run them. Grind the pathway you'll take and run your cables then refill mortar. only thing I would do different is run Conduit so just in case it's easier to pull new wires

Tool would be something like this
http://www.makita.com/menu.php?pg=pr...et&tag=GA5010Z

i have one of those. I see if I can get some conduit that will fit and still allow for the cables.

thanks for the suggestion.

[RenoReno2]

Don't forget to get some plastic sheeting and cover any and all furniture. also seal up the room and get a good paper mask it's gonna be messy

[Nolan B]

Don't forget to get some plastic sheeting and cover any and all furniture. also seal up the room and get a good paper mask it's gonna be messy

lol...two things I would have forgot until I turned it on!

thanks.

[wkhanna]

Don't forget to get some plastic sheeting and cover any and all furniture. also seal up the room and get a good paper mask it's gonna be messy

Great suggestions!
See if you can get a helper to hold the nozzle of a shop vac near your grinder while you are removing the mortar.

[RenoReno2]

No problem. another thought, You may want to look into flexable conduit as all those turns your gonna have to make through the masonry will be tedious trying to bend the metal. Not sure though how flexable it really is as I haven't used it before. Or you can go with a pvc conduit and fittings with the plastic(pvc) you'll cut to size with a sawsall or hand saw and glue together

[Nolan B]

Done Thanks for the advice. Mixing clear binding agent and the old concrete worked like a charm


Pionneer 141 60" Signature Elite

Where I began

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It arrives

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It was such a nice day and a cruise ship was just leaving when I finished so I snapped a pic

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[Hdale85]

Wow...your lucky in more then one way... nearly waterfront property and a 60" Elite Kuro!

[RenoReno2]

Looks great!! Did the conduit work out or did you put it right into the mortar?

[Nolan B]

Looks great!! Did the conduit work out or did you put it right into the mortar?

right into the morter for the speaker wire. You can see I did all the other cables on top of the brick and covered in aluminum

[kgveteran]

Are there 4 cooling fans in the back of that monitor ? Are they loud ?

Kg

[Chris D]

Wow, beautiful view, Nolan!

[Nolan B]

Are there 4 cooling fans in the back of that monitor ? Are they loud ?

Kg

you cant hear them even if you tried

Also the set connects to a network as it has a web server and you can control things like fan speed from your computer. I have it set up so it emails me after every 500 hours of use and any time there is an issue. Even tells me how hot it is around each fan.
Its pretty fun to play with let alone watch

[Nolan B]

Wow, beautiful view, Nolan!

thanks!

[audioqueso]

I'm very curious to see the bigger view of your room. Can we see more pictures? Like from the other side of the wall so that you can see the outside view, your setup, and everything in one. That would be very interesting to see your whole view.

[Nolan B]

I'm very curious to see the bigger view of your room. Can we see more pictures? Like from the other side of the wall so that you can see the outside view, your setup, and everything in one. That would be very interesting to see your whole view.

Sure....actually it looks a lot different then what the photos portray. I am just waiting for my rug, art and new furniture to arrive before I set everything up properly.

[Blindamood]

Beautiful setup, Nolan! BTW, I was in Vancouver for just a couple of days at the end of August. Gorgeous part of the world...unfortunately I was in meetings most of the time and didn't get to see much!