Media walls: what to decide before anyone builds it

Four things get decided before a media wall is built: whether a fire goes in and what aperture it needs, the television height, where the sockets and aerial points land inside the carcass, and the finish. All four are awkward to change once the frame is boarded. The fire aperture is the one that catches people, because it is fixed by the model and has to be chosen before the carcass is set out.

A media wall is a built-out false wall with the television recessed into it. It looks simple and it is, provided four decisions happen before the first sheet goes up.

What size screen should you plan for?

The recess gets built to a size. Widening it later means taking the front off the wall. Tell whoever is building it the largest screen you would realistically go to and it gets built for that, with the current one sitting in it happily.

Is a fire going in?

Electric fires have clearance requirements and the aperture is built to the exact model, so the make and model need deciding up front. Adding one afterwards is a rebuild, not a retrofit.

Where is the power going?

Sockets, spurs and aerial points behind a media wall are electrical work and get certified by an electrician. That is a separate trade and it happens at a specific point in the build, so it gets programmed rather than discovered.

How much room does a media wall take?

On a chimney breast the build often sits within the existing recesses and costs you almost nothing. On a flat wall the whole thing projects into the room. In a small living room that can be two hundred millimetres you do not get back, and it is worth marking on the floor with tape before agreeing to it.

What costs nothing now and a lot later?

Conduit. Running empty conduit through the carcass as it is built means cables can be pulled through in future without opening anything up.