Fireplace mantle and flat screen install

Here are some pics of my fireplace mantle install.

As always good planning and scale drawings are a must. This is a view of the plans for the mantle.

I use graph paper and come up with a scale that will allow the project to fit the sheet.
I sometimes use paper that is large enough to allow for full scale drawings.

First the demolition.
Lines were drawn on the sheetrock and then I carefully cut on the lines to remove the rock.

I had to move the fireplace flu pipe.
A new length of pipe and some elbows were needed.

I wanted to make sure there was plenty of clearance between the pipe and the wall.

Here I've added some of the frame work for the mantle and alcove for the new Flatscreen TV.

More Framing and electrical.
The Grey Pipe is to bring in Satellite and take speakers wires up to the attic.
The Blue box is for the wiring, a dedicated 30A circuit was added.
The 2X12s on the back are to mount the TV on...I may have had a little overkill here.

Sheet rock being installed.

Another shot of the sheet rock being installed.

Tv stuck in the hole.
I taped and textured then painted the walls.

Here you can see the front three speakers mounted in the ceiling.
I installed 5 speakers total.

A shot of the finished project.
The stones are fakes stuck to the wall with mortar.
There aren't any pics of the mantle build and install because I didn't take time off
from the build to take pics. Jus wanted to finish.

Another shot of the finished project.
Here you can see many of my smaller projects displayed.

A closer pic of the stonework.
When I sealed them with water seal the color really showed up.