From Kirk Hallam to Cotmanhay
Ilkeston is about seven miles west of our base in Mapperley, just across the Derbyshire border, and its housing spans well over a century. The population climbed from under 2,500 in 1801 to over 30,000 by 1911, as coal, iron and lace drew people in. In Kirk Hallam, public housing went up in the 1950s around St Norbert Drive, built by Ilkeston Corporation and the Stanton and Staveley company, followed by a mix of public and private homes around Godfrey Drive in the 1960s and 1970s. We cover all of it, along with Cotmanhay, Larklands, Hallam Fields and Shipley View.
Making use of an old fireplace wall
Houses from the middle of the last century were often built with a fireplace and chimney breast in the main room. If yours has one that is no longer used, it can be the natural place for a media wall. The frame is built around and forward of the breast to create a recess for the TV and an opening for an inset electric fire, while the alcoves either side become lit shelving. Where an old flue stays in place, any vent to it should be kept so it stays ventilated. Tell us if there is a raised hearth, as the design needs to allow for it.
If your lounge has a plain, flat wall instead, you are free to choose a full-width wall or a raised centre section.
What you choose, what we build
You choose the TV, the fire and the look, and we build to it. The fire's installation instructions give the size of its opening and the clearances and ventilation it needs, so pick the model first. The recess is sized to your TV, so measure its width and height rather than the diagonal, and we can add a slot for a soundbar, niches for speakers and LED channels to light it all. Cable routes are planned inside the timber or metal frame, and all sockets and connections are made by a qualified electrician. The frame is then boarded, finished with corner beads and skimmed ready to paint.
Getting started
In the town centre conservation area, which runs along Bath Street and South Street to the Market Place, the controls are chiefly about exteriors. A listed building is different and needs consent first. Photos of the whole wall, with the floor and ceiling in shot, are the most useful thing to send. To talk about a media wall in Ilkeston, call 07877 353120 or use the enquiry form. We work every day, 7am to 5pm.
