[sbarto]

Currently, my 36" television is in a large cut out over my fireplace in my living room. There is also a panel in the sidewall of the hole that contains hookups for electric, cable, and stereo. Although the tv is nice, it is not an HDTV, and I would like to replace it with a flat panel LCD HDTV. Problem is, none of the larger units will fit in the hole, so I want to drywall over the hole and mount the new 52" LCD where the TV is now. The hole is about 42.5" wide by 37" tall by 25" deep, and the bottom is level with the mantle on my fireplace. Any ideas on the best way to get the hole covered up and mount the TV? Think I'll have to fill it in for better soundproofing? Thanks!

[450donn]

Cut pieces of ply wood or any scrap wood to fit inside the opening. Screw these pieces to the back of the existing sheet rock. Cut a new piece of sheet rock to fit the opening and screw it to the wood pieces. Tape and finish as usual.

[glavine]

you'll need to remove the corner beads, it's a little messy, take a hammer and beat the corners till you expose the metal bead, you'll need to remove this all the way around the opening, after that take some 2x4s and place these on both sides then one on top and bottom, after that cut the sheetrock about 1/4 smaller than the opening, use 1 1/4 drywall screws to attach, you also need to place a 2x4 every 16" before you install the drywall. From top to bottom,

after this , you'll tape the all 4 joints , apply 3 coats of sheetrock mud and sand, prime , paint