Media Wall in Birkdale

Birkdale. A full-width media wall, framed, boarded, wired and skimmed, with six alcoves, a television recess, a fire opening and a light in every alcove.

What the customer wanted

A through lounge in Birkdale with a long blank wall at one end and a television standing in front of it on a unit. What they asked for was the wall itself to do the job: the screen recessed in, a fire under it, shelving up both sides and across the top, and the light coming out of the shelves rather than from a lamp. The room is wide, so a small feature panel in the middle of it would have looked like an afterthought. It needed to run the full width.

What was built

Timber frame first, floor to ceiling and wall to wall. Uprights plumbed and fixed back, then the rails set out so the alcoves line through with each other right across the face, because on a wall this wide anything half a centimetre out reads immediately. The television recess was framed around a ply backing board so the bracket has something solid to bite into, and the socket and aerial went in behind it at frame stage.

The fire opening was cut to the manufacturer's figures for the exact model going in, not an approximate hole to be trimmed later. Electric linear fires want a specific opening size and specific clearances, and those numbers come off the paperwork for the model, not off a rule of thumb. The wiring for the recessed lights went in at the same time, one drop per alcove, left terminated and boxed for a qualified electrician to connect and certify.

Then plasterboard, cut to the openings and screwed off to just below the paper so nothing is dished. A bead on every external angle and on every recess return, scrim on every joint, then skimmed.

The finish and how long it took

Six alcoves, three each side, a television recess and a fire opening, all skimmed flat and ready to decorate. The returns are the part people actually look at. A recess return that is not straight is obvious the moment the screen is lit and the room lights are down, and it is obvious again every evening after that.

Most media walls are a few days from framing to finished skim. A full-width one with several alcoves, lighting and a fire opening sits at the longer end of that, and then it wants drying time before anyone puts paint on it.

More on how these are built, and the questions people ask before booking one, is on the bespoke media walls page. This job was in Birkdale.

Setting the beads out

Every external angle and every recess return on a media wall gets a bead. It is the slowest part of boarding one and it is the part that decides whether the finished edges are straight, because a skim coat follows whatever line the bead gives it.

Questions people ask about this

What customers say

4.6 out of 5 from 11 reviews on Google. Every review below is verbatim from that profile.

See all 11 Google reviews

Areas we cover

Based on Liverpool Road in Southport. We work right along the Sefton coast, down into Liverpool, and inland across West Lancashire as far as Preston. Every town below has a page of its own.

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