Gefen Equips Home Improvement Demo House

Josh Smith, Producer for the In the House radio show, is set out to demonstrate his show's home improvement expertise by demolishing an existing two bedroom cottage and building a replacement house.
Essential to the project was the mandate that the main entertainment centre can be located in the living room, hard wired for 5.1 surround sound, with an eye level, wall mounted flat panel television and no visible wires for power, audio and video using the HDMI format.
Smith explained: "The garage is equipped with air conditioning, an insulated door, plenty of storage for tools, as well as refrigerator hookups and a painted sealed floor, making it the perfect mans-cave. The garage has also been hard-wired for a wall-mounted TV, so we needed a way to allow for dual viewing of HDTV in the living room and the garage."
With the installation of the audio/video system, Smith's main goal was to avoid post-installation drilling or cutting into the finished drywall to run cables. Smith said: "I also wanted to synchronise the garage's A/V system to the living room to keep costs down. We wanted the option to view the same content in both rooms without using two cable boxes.
"In these economic times its nice to save on a recurring monthly cost like cable and have the ability to share a single box."
To allow for shared viewing in the garage and living room, Smith opted for the Gefen 1:2 splitter for HDMI v1.3. Two long Gefen HDMI cables were hard-wired into the walls for HDTV connectivity. He explained: "The HDMI cables used in the walls add a clean look to the A/V setup with no visible wires connecting the television to the cable box or power."
After the in-wall wiring was complete, the drywall was mounted and the audio/video installation finalised. He said: "The A/V portion of the install went perfectly. And the Gefen splitter allows for dual viewing in the living room and garage, which is exactly what we wanted."
Smith performed the A/V installation himself, working with Universal Roofing and Construction, the principal contractor who created the framing to support the system as well as possible expansion in the future. He said: "After the house is completed, this system will allow for the ability to watch a home surveillance system in the garage as well as in the living room."
Although the In the House radio show has covered kitchen, bath, patio and living room remodels in the past, it has not handled a whole house remodel until now. Smith said: "So, this was the perfect opportunity to give our listeners a taste of what its like to totally rebuild a house. It's been challenging, at times, but also a lot of fun."
(KMcA/BMcC)