I was quoted a price of $160 an hour to install my equipment, run cables, hang projector, and program remote for my theater room which is going to involve cutting into the drywall to place in walls in the rear and cutting the drywall ceiling to hang projector and run cables. Is that a reasonable rate for the work that needs to be done or should I continue to shop around? I had another company said they could do it for $700-1,000 but they would need to see the room to get an exact figure.

I wish I could do this stuff myself and save me some $$$!!! I have a completed drywalled basement and probably would need a professional that knows what they are doing to do the job.

Open ended hourly rate contracts could end up being very costly. I would image that they will make sure it consumes a full day or more.

I would go with a fixed price but get in writing exactly the services to be performed. It needs to be specific. It can't say just "run cables to projector" You need to specify what cables, the fact that they will be in wall/ceiling, who will patch and paint the drywall to return them to the original state, etc.

Just a FYI many of us have DIY what you think requires a professional. It's just a matter how confident you are in your DIY skills and if you have the time and tools.

Snaking wire in walls and ceilings takes a little study and a few tools ($100-$200)

I was quoted a price of $160 an hour to install my equipment, run cables, hang projector, and program remote for my theater room which is going to involve cutting into the drywall to place in walls in the rear and cutting the drywall ceiling to hang projector and run cables. Is that a reasonable rate for the work that needs to be done or should I continue to shop around? I had another company said they could do it for $700-1,000 but they would need to see the room to get an exact figure.

I wish I could do this stuff myself and save me some $$$!!! I have a completed drywalled basement and probably would need a professional that knows what they are doing to do the job.

What company gave you that quote? I'm not far from Wilmington (Delaware County, PA), and might be able to use such a company soon.

Oh, and by the way, when I had work done a year ago, I was given a fixed price -- see below -- for the work (this was a company based in Delaware -- but I think they are not in business now) -- the cabling was already in place:


THEATER ROOM
Home Theater Services Services to include physical mount of Epson Projector,
Carada Projection Screen, 2 Paradigm Surround Sound Speakers, 2
Paradigm Rear Center Speakers.
Work effort is for physical mounting only of existing equipment and
does NOT include any wiring, integration, calibration or connection
of any components. All mounting hardwire is to be provided by
customer. $300.00

1 TRIPPLITE-ISOBLOK2 Tripplite ISOBLOK2-0 2 Outlet Surge Protector for Projector $48.00

FAMILY ROOM
1 SNAP-D3-T-BLK Strong Tilting Mount for 32"-60" Flat Panel TVs (Black) $199.00
Tripplite-HT500PC Audio Video Power Conditioner for Flat Panel Television, 2 Outlet
Isobar, Low Profile Housing Allows Mounting Behind Flat Panel TV,
5100 Joules $299.00

Home Theater Services Services to include the physical wall mount of a 50 inch Panasonic
Flat Panel Display, Front Speaker Wall Mounting and Left/Right
Surround Speakers for a 5.1 Paradigm surround sound system.
Work effort is for physical mounting only of the existing equipment
and does NOT include any wiring, integration, calibration or
connection of any components. All mounting hardware (except flat
panel mount) is to be provided by customer.
$225.00

MASTER BEDROOM
1 SNAP-D3-T-BLK Strong Tilting Mount for 32"-60" Flat Panel TVs (Black) $199.00
Home Theater Services Services to include the physical wall mount of a 42 inch Panasonic
Flat Panel Display only.
Work effort is for physical mounting only of the existing equipment
and does NOT include any wiring, integration, calibration or
connection of any components.
$75.00


Other Notes:
We will connect any existing wiring that is already in place for the
speakers, TVs and projectors. If we need to get into
trouble-shooting mode for any issues w/pre-existing wiring or faulty
equipment, that will obviously add some time to the install that is not
planned for in our estimate. We can help with this but if it adds to
our time, we will need to charge extra.
The projector will be properly mounted at the designated location.
We will ensure that the image is properly aligned to fill the screen
and eliminate keystoning.
We will reserve Feb. 26th to do the work. We require 50% payment
up-front and the remaining due upon project completion.

Thanks for the repies!!! I will take everything into consideration. As for the company in Delaware that gave me that hourly quote is BLINK LATER. The other quote came from HiFi House in Wilmington.

Thanks for the repies!!! I will take everything into consideration. As for the company in Delaware that gave me that hourly quote is BLINK LATER. The other quote came from HiFi House in Wilmington.

Oh, Blink Later is who I used. Steve Resnick is a good guy.

I thought they were out of business, since the website no longer exists.

So did Steve do the install I see in your pics? I have been trying to get him to show me some of his work before I committed to his services.

So did Steve do the install I see in your pics? I have been trying to get him to show me some of his work before I committed to his services.

Well his brother in law (I forget his name) does most of the actual physical work. Steve is more of the owner (he assists with the physical work though).

Anyway, they mounted the projector, the screen, the side surrounds and the rear surrounds that you can see in the pics of my theater room.

They also mounted two plasma TVs (upstairs) and mounted fronts and side surrounds in my family room.

They did no cabling or wiring -- all of that was in place already. So all they did was the actual physical mounting of the hardware (all of which I owned and purchased on my own -- other than the projector which I purchased from them).

FAMILY ROOM
1 SNAP-D3-T-BLK Strong Tilting Mount for 32"-60" Flat Panel TVs (Black) $199.00
Tripplite-HT500PC Audio Video Power Conditioner for Flat Panel Television, 2 Outlet
Isobar, Low Profile Housing Allows Mounting Behind Flat Panel TV,
5100 Joules $299.00

MASTER BEDROOM
1 SNAP-D3-T-BLK Strong Tilting Mount for 32"-60" Flat Panel TVs (Black) $199.00



Not to rub your nose in it but just a word of advice to others. These prices are outrageous. (kind of like buying cables at Best Buy)

Total is $697. you can buy the Power unit for less than $100 (http://www.beachaudio.com/Tripplite/Ht500pc-p-95231.html?utm_campaign=froogle&utm_content=AD_ID&utm_term=ht500pc&utm_medium=cpc&utm_source=froogle&GTKW=ht500pc&GCID=C12585x003) and get good tilting mounts for under $50. So total wasted is about $500.

Not to rub your nose in it but just a word of advice to others. These prices are outrageous. (kind of like buying cables at Best Buy)

Total is $697. you can buy the Power unit for less than $100 (http://www.beachaudio.com/Tripplite/Ht500pc-p-95231.html?utm_campaign=froogle&utm_content=AD_ID&utm_term=ht500pc&utm_medium=cpc&utm_source=froogle&GTKW=ht500pc&GCID=C12585x003) and get good tilting mounts for under $50. So total wasted is about $500.

Yeah, I was aware that I was paying a premium for that hardware. But I didn't mind -- since it was tough enough to find anyone to do what I basically wanted -- just physically mount stuff (where I wasn't buying tons of electronic equipment from them). Most installers don't want to get involved in such a small job -- particularly where it wasn't their equipment they are mounting.

I owned everything already (speakers, speaker mounts, Carada screen, plasmas). The only major piece of equipment I bought from them was the projector itself.

Plus, I wouldn't know exactly what to buy for the mounts or the power unit -- so I guess I was paying for their expertise as well.

So that extra $500 was (I'd say $400 really with shipping costs, etc.) really part of them dealing with obtaining that hardware without me even thinking about it or dealing with it. So I just looked at it as the cost of the overall job.

If you total the mounting prices -- it was just $600.00 for all that mounting -- and they were there a while for that (the projector was a tough job with about 6 inches left between the joists -- due to tons of HVAC duct work in that location). I would never have been able to mount the projector myself (or the 114 inch screen). Not to mention I didn't own the proper tools for doing this work (including drilling the holes in my ceiling tiles, etc.) -- so that would have cost alot as well . So I thought that was a bargain.

I'm not sure what those "strong" brand plasma tilting mounts actually cost. It looks like that company only sells to installers.

We were moving into a brand new home, so all of us this was calculated as part of the move-in costs.

I actually thought about not buying the surge protector/power conditioner for my plasma (in fact I didn't buy one for the bedroom plasma) -- as I have never in my life had issues with power surges. (And if the TV blew, homeowner's insurance covers it --less deductible -- and a good excuse to get a brand new TV then). But my wife thought it a good idea.