If you're in the market for a new home and planning to build, you'll be pleasantly surprised by all the options available to you. These days, builders are offering all kinds of incentives to get customers through the door. Among them: free upgrades to higher-end appliances; decorative lighting fixtures; and the option of getting wood, tile, carpet, or a combination of the three installed at no extra cost.

But perhaps the most popular incentive is the offer to pre-wire the home for convenience and entertainment. Today's new home construction incorporates three levels of A/V built-ins: whole house audio; home automation; and home theater.

Whole house audio includes wiring for a speaker or speakers in every room for music and intercom; home automation involves connecting all systems in the house to a central computer that can do everything from turning lights on and off to preheating the oven when you're on your way home from work; but perhaps the most popular addition to new home construction these days is putting in a home theater.

The options in this arena are endless so it will require careful planning to make sure you get exactly what you want. The most important thing to decide before the wiring begins would be all the places you want a TV to go. In the kitchen, that may be under a cabinet to save counter space. In the bedroom, family room or even the bathroom, it may be the wall to save floor space.

"If you'll be hanging a flat panel TV in your home it's important to let your contractor know ahead of time. They are thin, sleek and classy looking but they are also quite heavy and need to be securely fastened to the wall, " says Keith Pribyl of Sanus Systems, a St. Paul, Minnesota-based company that designs and builds a broad variety of audio/video furnishings, mounts and accessories.

Deciding the location and size of your flat panel TV prior to building allows the contractor to place wall studs where they are needed, assuring the walls are strengthened for their load. It also allows for more options when it comes time to mount the device.

Flat panel TVs are getting thinner every year, but even the thinnest are still two-and-a-half to three inches thick so they stick out when mounted, unless you get one of Sanus Systems' new flush mount kits. They fit right into the wall and contain the mount and all the wiring you need in one convenient package. The kit can be put in after the house has been built, but is easiest to install during construction.
"Flat panel TV users love the thin, unobtrusive look," says Pribyl. "The flush mount kit is a decorative box that lowers the TV profile, while hiding the wall mount and wires. It lets homeowners take back their room."

The Flush Mount kit is available at home electronics stores nationwide. To find the retailer nearest you, log on to www.sanus.com.
Courtesy of ARA Content

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