Anyone done this well? Small TVs built into side master and bow stateroom waaaay overdue for replacement but the "built in" to the teak cabinetry make it a real challenge. Suggestions??? Thanks!
Are you a wood worker? When I had mine with the mahogany interior I carefully cut away what I needed to get the TV out (old CRT) and then made trim as needed when I installed a flat screen.
Beau - Understand - you have the same problem I do!!! Hopefully we will get some good replies!!! I suck as a cabinet maker!!!
The problem for our model years, as you know, is that the TVs were more "square", and the newer elongated TV's don't fit comfortably in the old beautiful cabinet space. Be interested to see how you tackle that problem
Every man to his trade. We have some good finish carpenters on L.I., and many would love some work right now.
In my 46 the master TV was a recessed little old jobbie also. I filled that hole with plywood and mounted a flat screen on an adjustable surface mounted bracket. It does allow us to tip the flat screen down to get a better picture from the bed. The wall has wallpaper. The plywood does not but I painted it the color of the base color of the wallpaper and unless you snoop behind the flat screen you can't see it. It is not recessed but that doesn't bother me.
We had the little square tv also, I had this surround built, and put a door to access behind. Note the bottom, the tv electronics are behind that plexiglass on the left 1/2...just covering the wall on the right but it added balance.
I've done upgrades like that by finishing out the emptied cabinet as necessary to use it to accommodate the sat box, DVD player, and DVD library. Then, mount the largest flat screen that fits on a swing arm to cover the opening. The hardest part is securing the flat screen for sea, but bungee cords or web belts anchored inside the cabinet do the job and disappear when at your destination. The advantages include being able to adjust viewing angle or swinging the monitor to a more central viewing location. Oftentimes, the original built in monitor didn't ergonomically suit, as opposed to just fitting the bulkhead. The best mounts are by Sanus, and the best method is mounting the swing arm base inside the cabinet to reduce the depth of the whole installation. It may seem daunting to get an acceptable mount, but bear in mind that you won't be able to emulate a flush, fit-in installation. If you compare installations to many newer boats, the flat screens are now flush mounts hung on the bulkheads. Otherwise, if you don't want to utilize the cavity, it can have a filler fitted to mount a flat-screen "flush mount". When planning the install, think about getting the whole mount higher so that shoulders don't bump into it so easily. There are some really nice thin LED units available, these days
After I removed the old tv and trim. A tv surround was built to accommodate the tv, it looked like a glorified snack tray at first, then using a tracing of the tv back, cut outs were made, holes drilled to mount the tv. Surround once color matched and completed was then screwed to the wall, mounted the tv by reaching in the new cabinet door cut into the wall and installed, then power and sat connections were completed. Note: You should pick a TV with the inputs on the right side back as the left is blank and measure the total tv so that the four mounting bolts are inside the width of the existing cabinet. Enough space was left at the bottom for the directv receiver. The bottom of the surround was routed out for the plexiglass to hide up under the edge, the rest was trimmed out.
We have some small flat screens mounted with articulating arms, the dvd/day boxes in the cabinet. We barely use them. Will try to send pics
Hey Seth - How do you keep them from flying around underway? We probably won't use much either but we're paying for an extra DTV box to drive them so it would be nice to have a decent picture. We still have the ones that came in the boat. Oh yeah, say HI to Taymore!