Communications closet

Early on I came to the conclusion it would be a bit irresponsible, given the walls were all open framing to not take advantage of that fact and wire the place for television, computers, printers, sound, etc.    A prelude to that was researching home networks.

I staked out the location, the right side closet space behind on the right side of the fireplace.  Originally it was going to house the stubby hot water heater but because of the pressure release valve drainage pipe, I opted to move it over to the closet on the flip side of the fireplace box leaving the closet fully useable.

I opted to go with plywood backing as it provided a much more sturdy mounting surface than what  drywall might provide.  I didn't want anything to inadvertently detach itself.  To maximize the available interior space, I created a plywood insert that would allow the use of what otherwise would have been 3.5" of dead space inside the wall cavity.  It covers over the backside of the brick wall just as well as drywall.  I've been contemplating whether to layer it with dry wall for esthetics or, because it's a utility closet, to leave it as it.s

Anyway, the routers, wireless modems, etc, will mount on the inside right of the closet while the heavier equipment will be placed on some heavy duty closet racks mounted on the back wall.

I added additional framing for
better rigidity and support

 The closet also provides access to that side of the cupola up and behind the recently installed AC system.