I don't have this mount yet, but it was the one I plan on buying when I do need one.
I can't stand TV's over fireplaces. TV's should be at eye level. I watch TV sitting or laying on the sofa, not standing up.(2) There is a big question about how to orient this room. We can pay about $1000 to put a niche above the fireplace that has doors that can hide a TV. That would orient the room towards the fireplace.
Well, that is one strong vote against
I will keep a tally.
1 - No
We found out a neighbor of ours built the niche, we are going to go visit/meet them on Sunday and see how we like it. I really thought I would be opposed to the TV over the fireplace thing.. But our current apartment came with a 52 inch over the fireplace and it is no strain at all on the neck, etc. One thought is that if we put the TV over the fireplace, then people (company) can be watching TV yet not be cut off from people in the kitchen. If it is on the other wall, then your back is to the kitchen.
I should mention that my parents build an alcove to put the TV in over the fireplace. They had the TV before framing out the wall, so it only has about a 1/2" gap around the TV on all sides. We put the TV on a nice mount that adjusts forwards and backwards and allows us to put the TV flush with the wall. If we need access to the rear of the TV, you can still pull it out farther to wiring it all up. It looks beautiful IMHO. Like a piece of art because it doesn't stick out from the wall at all.
"No" vote for TV over the fireplace, but purely for the aesthetics.
I'd like to hear about what you choose for a gas sensor, and where you mount it. We've got a propane stove, and I'm not sure exactly where to mount a gas sensor where it'd have the best chance of detecting.
Lots of No votes for the TV over the fireplace. We will make the final call after seeing an example on Sunday.On the TV over fireplace my vote is NO as well. Partially for the height and partially because i don't necearilly want the TV to be the focal point of the room.
Good advice. I think that might be true as well.You mentioned a niche with 'doors'....think carefully about that...almost every house i've ever visited that had a 'tv in the closet/cabinet' type arrangement had the doors ALWAYS open, so this would defeat the purpose i think and you may as well surface mount in thart case.
Yep, Gas fireplace.. I am not really a fan of gas I like the smell of a wood fire - but the convenience of gas might mean we use it more than twice a year.Maybe i missed it earlier in the thread, but is the fireplace gas? For wood I would be a bit concerned (soot/smoke particles on the screen).
This is a sticking point. We had wanted to do a built-in fully integrated with custom doors. But the builder did this on another home with a sub-zero and apparently it has been a nightmare for him. So he will no longer do it. He has said we can talk directly with the cabinet company and have them come out after we close and install the panels - I am worried about a perfect match with that. . So that leaves us with a standard refrigerator or we could do a stainless steel cabinet depth. I have trouble stomaching the 5k for a stainless steel cabinet depth. If I am going to spend that kind of cash I want it to blend into the cabinetry. The refrigerator we were looking at was the bosch french door builtin. We need to do a french door refrigerator because the island is so close to the fridge.Not HA related but i also wanted to add my suggestion for the kitchen. The Visio shows a very deep fridge that sticks out from the cabinets. Although this is quite standard in most homes i find it quite ugly.
For a higher end home which yours appear to be since it's freakign HUGE I woudl suggest looking into a counter depth fridge so it doesnt stick out so much. The expensive solution would be a true counter depth built-in model (such a Vikings that have the compressors on top). I went with a cheaper solution and have a counter depth fridge at much lower cost, i did however give up some depth in the fridge. If you're a large family you may need the storage. I love the fridge and how it fits..they only grid is that a 12 can diet coke fridgepack doesnt fit in length wise so we have to take the cans out.
Oh, and have a good plan for your smoke/fire sensors. If you plan to install ELK or similar after you move in you will need some sort of solution in place to pass inspection. I have AC hardwired smoke sensors that are all interconnected which came as standard from the builder and allow passage of inspection. I didn't pre-wire a LV run to each so now I'm not so sure how to tie them all in. Luckilly there is only 1 on the ground floor (open floor plan) and all the ones on the upstairs i can get to from the attic to add LV wire to them.