Everything happens before the boards go on
By the time a media wall is boarded, most of the decisions are locked in and expensive to change. The cable runs, the recess positions, the height of the TV, the lighting channels, the noggins that will carry the bracket — all of it is set at studwork stage.
That is why we set the wall out on the actual wall with the customer before fixing anything: TV height from the floor, recess sizes, where the fire sits. Ten minutes with a pencil saves cutting into finished plaster later.
The mistakes that cost money
- Recesses not set out symmetrically. The eye measures everything against the ceiling line. Thirty millimetres out is visible forever.
- Cables run after boarding. Now you are chasing into new board, or there is a trunking box on show.
- The TV bracket fixed to plasterboard. It has to land on timber noggins placed for that specific bracket, which means knowing the model before the studwork goes up.
- Lighting added as an afterthought. Concealed LED needs a channel formed in the plaster line, not a strip stuck on afterwards.
- The fire chosen last. Electric fires vary hugely in depth and in the ventilation they need. The aperture has to be built for the fire, not the other way round.
Electrics and Part P
New circuits and consumer unit work are notifiable under Part P and need a qualified electrician. Extending an existing spur and running low-voltage lighting does not. It is worth asking anyone quoting which of those applies to your job — if the answer is vague, that is your answer.
Time and cost
Four to six working days from bare wall to finished for a typical domestic media wall, plus drying time before decoration. Stone cladding adds about a day. From £2,900 built, plastered, lit and finished; the variables are size, cladding, number of recesses and whether an electrician is needed.
Worth doing with the rest of the room
If the room is being decorated anyway, do both together. The wall is the dustiest part of the job and decorating around a finished media wall is slower and more fiddly than decorating before it is clad.
Questions we get asked about this
Does a media wall add value to a house?
It sells a room rather than adding measurable value. Treat it as something you want to live with, not as an investment.
Can it be built on an external wall?
Yes, though insulation and any damp issue need dealing with first — a stud wall built over a damp external wall hides a problem rather than solving it.
Will it take a 75-inch TV?
Yes, if the set-out allows for it and the noggins are placed for that bracket. Have the model decided before the studwork goes up.