Morning all.

I'm in the process of mounting my TV above my new gas fire.

Yesterday I cut the chase which will carry the big bundle of AV cables up to the TV.

Now, I should probably have asked here before cutting, but well I didn't. What's the best way to repair this?

The plasterboard is insulated and then dot and dabbed onto the blocks. This gives a total chase depth of about 65mm

My rough plan is to fix battens along each edge of the chase to support the piece of plasterboard that came out (with the insulation cut off the back to give it the depth), but keep it just below the surface of the wall. Then skim over the top using each side of the chase to keep it level.
Does that soudn like it will work?
What should I be filling/skimming with? (plaster, pollyfilla, something else)
I'm only filling about a depth of 5mm.
Do I need to tape over the joint lines?
I'll be popping in to B&Q or wickes later for supplies so just putting together a shopping list now.
I have a big plastering trowel that I have never used, so now's the time.

BTW, I've not done any plastering ever.

Thanks
J

_________________
I am not a pro.

always tricky for a non plasterer so im gonna say 'easyfill'... obtainable from b&q...
youll need some paper joint tape too...
get your board in and fixed...
run the tape over the joints...
fill out to depth and leave to dry, youll see the edge of the tape overlap the joint...
when dry, fill over the top of the tape about a foot either side, this because the first coat will shrink slightly...
when completely dry sand it smooth, it sands up dead easy like car body filler..

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http://www.peterborough-plasterer.co.uk/

Thanks for the reply.

Does't the tape show up after it's dry?

_________________
I am not a pro.

not a good move to have a tv above a fire
the tv will overheat and will invalidate the warantee

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we are all ------------------still learning

There's going to be a shelf, hopefully marble inbetween the two so that there is no direct flow of heat to the TV.

I'll post about that in a separate thread.

_________________
I am not a pro.

just check with the tv instalation instructions first
most say keep away from heat sources
some will specificly mention chiminie breast and fires

_________________
we are all ------------------still learning

And on a seperate note, don't be putting any mains cables in the chase (without mechanical protection) as you're not using safe zones.

Mains is separate, comes directly from above to a separate point just off the right of my pic.

Just for my own education, I thought safe zones only applied if the cable were less than 50mm from the surface. Or is that just mechanical protection is required if less than 50mm from the surface.

_________________
I am not a pro.

I have an off-cut of insulated PB looks ideal for that, shame you're so far away.

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Pretty much, but at 65mm total depth you'd be pretty close. Mechanical protection is a bit of a joke anyway, as the capping can be drilled through fairly easily. But it is required by regs (or at least was in the 16th). Generally best practice for live cables is use safe zones.

fit some batons behind the plasterboard, (screwed through the existing plasterboard) cut a new piece of plasterboard to fit the hole, cover joints with fibre tape, give one skim over with Gyproc Easifill (I like a fairly stiff mix for the first coat) give it 40 mins, skim over the whole lot again (but with a softer mix so it feathers out easier) and about 250mm past the first skim, sand, prime and paint.

To be honest it looks like you might have been able to fish the wires behind the PB with some cable rods, as there seems to be a lack of drywall adhesive in the run

EDIT: whoops pretty much the same reply as CW

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Professional Kitchen & Bathroom Fitters | Master Painters and Decorators | Brighton & Hove

Thanks for the advice guys.

I've today replaced the piece of plasterboard screwed to two battens along the length of the chase.

When I next get time it'll be tape and plaster.

The piece is between 2 and 7mm below the finish surface. (I guess the blocks aren't exactly parallel to the PB) Hope that won't be too thin.

I've chiseled out any adhesive that came in the chase, but there were only a couple i think. As for fishing cable, had it just been an aerial connection I would have done that, but i've included every single connection there is on my TV so that I can decide later exactly what I want to connect. 3x Scarts, 3x HDMI, VGA, Freesat, etc etc, that's a lot of fishing.

-- Fri Aug 27, 2010 12:05 pm --

I taped the joints last night, and am going to plaster thi sevening.
Just wondering if the tape is going to cause a bump in the wall as I'm not plastering the whole wall. What happens if I don't tape the joint? will it crack along that line or something?

Or will the tape sand down with the rest to bring it level?

I'd planned to paint in silk vinyl, should I go for matt to help hide it?

Also, what should I put on the plaster before painting?

Thanks all

-- Fri Aug 27, 2010 5:22 pm --

Here's a picture of the chase after the first coat of plaster.

I'm not sure, but I think my plaster may have been a little too wet, It kept rolling off the trowel as I was putting it on the wall. Possibly poor technique aswell.
The joint tape hadn't stuck very well, and kept coming away as I dragged the trowel over it. I ended up putting a staple in the end to hold it.

As you can see, the chase line is still visible, I hope i'll be able to lose this with the second coat of plaster. How long should I wait before doing that?

_________________
I am not a pro.