Mounting inwall speakers in exterior wall.

Italianwinelove

Can somebody help me with advice on mounting an inwall LC65i in an exterior wall in my house? Before I cut, I would love some direction...I don't want to cause long term issues with the speaker or the house.
Thank you.

disneyjoe7

I assume the inside wall of a porch? I wouldn't mount it on an outside wall which could get some rain or snow. I would work on the inside wall to find the studs then find were you where outside then start with a small hole to find the studs. Then open the wall to install the speaker, now figure out how to get the wire there.

Stilly74

disneyjoe7 wrote: »

I assume the inside wall of a porch? I wouldn't mount it on an outside wall which could get some rain or snow. I would work on the inside wall to find the studs then find were you where outside then start with a small hole to find the studs. Then open the wall to install the speaker, now figure out how to get the wire there.

If your getting rain or snow in your exterior walls you have bigger problems.
I would not mount them in exterior walls unless you know what your doing, as you would need to break the vapor barrier ( poly) to do it. If not properly resealed you will get a lot of heat loss through it.if resealed properly it can be done providing your walls are thick enough to still get the R value with insulation needed to keep the heat in.

disneyjoe7

Stilly74 wrote: »

If your getting rain or snow in your exterior walls you have bigger problems.

HeHe wrong again.

Italianwinelove

Just making sure here, with the two different meassages...
To clarify, I am puting in 7.1 set up in my living room. I have a pair of Polk LC80FX and a pair of LC65i that I am planning on using for surrounds and rears. Not sure in what configuration yet. My couch backs to the rear wall so I had initially planned on placing the 80 FX pair in ceiling intending for them to shoot directionally at wall behind couch and reflect off the wall. If I were to do that I planned on putting the 65i's in the walls to each side of the couch. One of those walls is an exterior wall. That is where I was worried about the vapor barrier, due to things I had read. Now I am wondering if it would be best to place the 80FX pair in ceiling close to walls, facing towards couch(since they are an angled speaker) and put the 65i's over the couch in the ceiling as well and avoid cutting into the exterior wall....

disneyjoe7

Is this wall a cinder block wall? Anyway this wall is the one that is going the speaker too work or not. I did the same for my master bedroom the speaker was going to be up / down so the tweeter was the top, because of some serious support wood in the wall it became sideways making the other speaker sideways also. I wasn't to worried about the vapor barrier, since I didn't find in there.

Italianwinelove

The exterior of where the speaker would be placed is brick. I too would have to mount them sideways as the space in the interior side wall is only partial. I had knocked out a section of that wall a few years back and the portion that is left will only allow for the speaker to be turned sideways. Not sure if ceiling mounting both pairs might be better from an audio perspective anyway...Certainly easier install...

leroyjr1

You might want to post some pics so we can get a better idea of what you're talking about.

Italianwinelove

So this is the layout of the livingroom. I am putting LC265i's over closet doors in front of the room. A LCic center below the TV and then trying to decide what to do in the rear of the room. I also took a pic from outside the house, where the speaker would be mounted (mounted in that wall inside of course...) if I were to go with the 65i's mounted on the sides. The room is 18' deep and 15' wide.

Italianwinelove

I did post some pics for you, Leroy.
Thanks.

leroyjr1

Have you thought about mounting them in the ceiling?

Syndil

I just wanted to say you have a nice house and good taste in decor. Certainly a lot better than what I've seen from other members here.

Italianwinelove

Thank you Syndil.
Leroy, I had posted a couple of different scenarios earlier in the thread. I am welcoming any feedback on the two scenarios. I am leaning towards a ceiling decision for both pairs.

disneyjoe7

Hmm.... If you're still wish to mount speakers in the wall, I would like to know the space between the brick and the wall. Knowing that you will know if that even possible. Perhaps you could push a metal shirt hanger to hit the brick wall, to tell you what is the space.


Steve

BTW nice house.

Italianwinelove

Thanks for the help and the compliment, Steve. I enjoy doing home improvement projects and not without checking with a pro first, love to tackle things like taking out the wall between the kitchen and living room. I was pretty proud of that one. Took a long time to convince the wife that it wasn't going to bring the house down or cost an arm and a leg. Two hundred dollars later and some close attention to detail I left that argument feeling pretty good! Wish I had some before pics. I have made a lot of changes. Anyway, I can find no reason to not mount both pairs of speakers in the ceiling. Unless someone has an argument against it, I think I will do that. LC80FX's back close to the corners (out 2' or so, facing the couch) and the LC65i's above the couch. Being that the tweeters are adjustable, I had thought I might fire them towards the walls (like the Bose concept). Any thought on that?

Tony M

All wall constuction in the past 100 years is 3.5 inches deep and some even have 5.5 inches but those are rare. Most stud spacing is 16 inches on center between the studs. Some super rare ones are 24".

But as mentioned earlier, stud spacing varies and you need to know where your studs lay. Most walls don't have a "fire stop" cross brace between studs.

As mentioned above; Go get a 5.00/10.00 stud finder from your local hardware store and x-ray your wall for stud locations.

It's simple. it really is.

Good luck.

disneyjoe7

I'm thinking because this wall is an exterior he may have only a 1/2" ferning strip.

Tony M

The studs have to be 3.5 inches or greater spaced according to codes to support the roof trusses, drywall and exterior sheathing. Gable end walls just conform to the rest of the structure for uniformity reasons I'm sure.

The brick fascade(sp) is always set off 1" from the houses framing structure for moisture / condensation control after exterior sheathing has been applied and covered by some form of moisture barrier wrapping.. From picture 7, I think his wall is 3.5" studed framing. But pic. 7 is vague so....

If somebody bricked it and then firring stripped it, they were shiester carpenter con artists. It could've happened for sure.

A cinder-blocked wall could've easily just been firred with 3/4" strips and or thicker and then styrofoam sheet insulation between. That would suck for sure but in a tight squeeze an inwall could be installed. Vermiculite insulation used in some cinder-block construction could spill out of a hole punced into an older wall. that should be replace through puching another hole up top after the install was done and sealed from future insulation replacement. Or leave the cinder-block walls insulation property violated and forget about it.

I'll bet his is 3.5" deep after the drywall though.