October 15, 2014

DIY PETE TV Tutorial

There are a couple things that can NEVER be big enough. The work shop and the TV screen! I recently upgraded tv's to get one that was a little bigger for football season. I am a HUGE Nebraska Cornhuskers fan and love watching games on the setup. GO BIG RED!

Once the TV was hung I had to figure out how to disguise all the wires. I also needed to figure out where to put all the components. The living room was starting to look like a college dorm room. So, I did a little research and decided to get a behind the wall wiring kit on Amazon. Kits range from about $50 to $90 and are code compliant. Hiding TV wires is a simple do it yourself project any of us can tackle!

3 Main Benefits to using a TV wiring kit

  • CODE COMPLIANT in the USARunning a standard tv plugin cord behind a wall is against code. This kit provides a Romex wire that is code compliant and can be run behind a wall. No modifications to any existing electoral circuits and no direct contact with live wiring is required.
  • HIDES WIRES – You can hide the all wires behind the wall. This includes the Romex wire and your audio video, HDMI, and component cables.
  • PROFESSIONAL RESULTS – Your flat mount TV will look sleek and the wall will be clean of wires. The new configuration looks professional and works great.

Supplies Needed

Wiring Kit – I used this one made by PowerBridge TSPBIW – $49

*since filming this the kit is only available in Black as they came out with newer models that are even easier to install. So,  look at the new kits which are very similar and even have some features that make them easier to install. The CK series eliminates the need to connect the wires manually because they have a harness that simply plugs in. So cool! (all the new kits have a very similar install process to the one in the DIY video tutorial)
PowerBridge Solutions ONE-CK Cable Management System – $89 (One outlet and works great)

PowerBridge Solutions TWO-CK Cable Management System – $99 (Two Outlets and a little bigger hole for running more wires)

 Tools

*Please note that many of the links to tools and supplies in this project are affiliate links. By going through an affiliate link you are helping support more free tutorials on the DIYPETE.com site. You can always help support the website by going to www.DIYPETE.com/Amazon prior to purchasing anything on their entire site. Thank you!

Wire Stripper Tool
Pencil
Phillips and Flathead Screwdriver
Drywall Saw
Level
Utility Knife
Needle Nose Pliers
Steel Fish Tape Reel (makes it easy to run wire behind drywall and needed if insulation is behind the drywall.)

Before-and-After-Hiding-TV-Wires
MY TV SYSTEM SETUP

Samsung 60 Inch LED SMART TV – Has Pandora, Netflix, Amazon Instant, Spotify, MLB, and many other Apps. Love it!
Articulating, Swivel, and Tilt TV Mounting Bracket – Heavy Duty and works great.
Sony STR-DH550 Receiver/Amp – Plenty powerful, lots of HDMI ports, and affordable.
Sony SA-W3000 Subwoofer – Plenty powerful, good bass, makes it feel like a movie theater.

DIY-PETE-TV
I did build an entertainment center to house the components for the setup. In addition, the entertainment center works great to cover the extra wires and plugins behind it. I did not do plans for it yet but may be adding them in the future.

DIY home Entertainment Center Ideas
Overview of the Process

Install an outlet behind the tv and another down low. Use Romex cable to connect the two. This is a code compliant way to run the wires behind the wall. Feed the component cables through the wall. Plug the lower outlet into a normal plugin to activate the TV's circuit. Then plug the TV into the new outlet behind it. That's the basic overview! See diagram below.

TV wiring Kits
Please watch the tutorial toward the top of the article for step by step instructions. It will show you exactly how easy it is to complete the Do It Yourself project of hiding TV wires behind your wall.

Hide TV WiresThanks so much for checking out this tutorial and please Like, Pin, and Share if you found it helpful. Cheers from Montana! – DIY PETE

UPDATE:

I've had numerous requests for plans to this project and I finally got around to making some! Free plans and a complete video tutorial are now available. This is essentially the exact same as in the How to Hide TV wires video, except I stained it a little darker. Here is the link to the tv console tutorial, video, and plans. Enjoy!

tv console, tv, console, wood console, woodworking, how to

{"email":"Email address invalid","url":"Website address invalid","required":"Required field missing"}

Shop DIY Project plans!

Instant PDF Download

>