Ok, so here's the deal. Since we finally got the last room furnished on the top 2 floors, it is now time for me and my wife to turn our attention to the basement. The basement not overly large and it has a staircase coming down right in the middle of the room, creating an 'O'. It was finished by the previous owner.

Some of the challenges of the basement include doors on the walls (due to odd foundation shape) and irregular walls (to conceal water source and soil stack"). I swear that the people who designed this basement were idiots. You have to see the pics to appreciate what I am referring to.

So, in a basement, we would like:


A large (100") screen
A permanent bar (likely a dry bar, and also likely to not have back cabinets due to space)
A game room area
A kid area (we have twin 6 year olds and also entertain other families with children.


It would be an added bonus if 1, 2, & 3 above could all see the screen in some degree. We do like to watch movies and TV shows, but we also like to entertain.

So, in the link below, I have Visio drawings (png format) of my current layout (with embedded pictures), as well as 2 proposals. I would like to get some feedback on those as well as any new ideas you may have. :)

Basement pictures here... (http://www.munichfamily.net/basement)

Thanks!

Ok, so here's the deal. Since we finally got the last room furnished on the top 2 floors, it is now time for me and my wife to turn our attention to the basement. The basement not overly large and it has a staircase coming down right in the middle of the room, creating an 'O'. It was finished by the previous owner.

Some of the challenges of the basement include doors on the walls (due to odd foundation shape) and irregular walls (to conceal water source and soil stack"). I swear that the people who designed this basement were idiots. You have to see the pics to appreciate what I am referring to.

So, in a basement, we would like:


A large (100") screen
A permanent bar (likely a dry bar, and also likely to not have back cabinets due to space)
A game room area
A kid area (we have twin 6 year olds and also entertain other families with children.


It would be an added bonus if 1, 2, & 3 above could all see the screen in some degree. We do like to watch movies and TV shows, but we also like to entertain.

So, in the link below, I have Visio drawings (png format) of my current layout (with embedded pictures), as well as 2 proposals. I would like to get some feedback on those as well as any new ideas you may have. :)

Basement pictures here... (http://www.munichfamily.net/basement)

Thanks!

You have a lot of space to play with but as always money is a factor. AS far as a furnace room goes, local codes will dictate minimum size, but typically it can be fairly small so long as access to all sides of the furnace is available, and especially the side where all the wiring and relays is located as this is typically the side that an HVAC tech would need to access to change a motor, filter, relay, etc. My unit has a single point of entry on the front and I designed my furnace closet around the entry point and put it right at a doorway.

I like option 2 better than option 1 with a couple modifications. You can make the furnace room smaller by another foot IMHO so long as said access is met. This would allow you to rotate the room 90 degree counterclockwise and put the screen on the wall where access to the crawlspace is. You could then extend the stair wall up to meet that wall. You could build the pole into a bar and place the couch against the bar and have bar stools behind. You could easily seat 3 at the bar. That would leave the whole left side of the stairs for the kids and the right side for the adults. It would not be a closed in space but would do you well to separate kids from adults during a movie.

Option 1 would be doable if you could widen it up a bit into the storage room and slide the couches to the side a bit to give an access aisle down the right side and use the sump room as your equipment closet. But then the post becomes an issue again and 8' is really close for a 100" screen.

Just my 2 cents but you are correct in that the basement flow is not all that great

You have a lot of space to play with but as always money is a factor. AS far as a furnace room goes, local codes will dictate minimum size, but typically it can be fairly small so long as access to all sides of the furnace is available, and especially the side where all the wiring and relays is located as this is typically the side that an HVAC tech would need to access to change a motor, filter, relay, etc. My unit has a single point of entry on the front and I designed my furnace closet around the entry point and put it right at a doorway.

Very good to know that it should be a problem - thanks for that.

I like option 2 better than option 1 with a couple modifications. You can make the furnace room smaller by another foot IMHO so long as said access is met. This would allow you to rotate the room 90 degree counterclockwise and put the screen on the wall where access to the crawlspace is. You could then extend the stair wall up to meet that wall. You could build the pole into a bar and place the couch against the bar and have bar stools behind. You could easily seat 3 at the bar. That would leave the whole left side of the stairs for the kids and the right side for the adults. It would not be a closed in space but would do you well to separate kids from adults during a movie.

That's an interesting idea. Lemme see if I got it right: http://screencast.com/t/6saibYcn4

The only knock I see on that is that we would need a retractable screen over the "screen door". I had hoped to avoid that due to $$$$, but if that's what it takes for the best design, so be it.

Option 1 would be doable if you could widen it up a bit into the storage room and slide the couches to the side a bit to give an access aisle down the right side and use the sump room as your equipment closet. But then the post becomes an issue again and 8' is really close for a 100" screen.

Just my 2 cents but you are correct in that the basement flow is not all that great

Agreed. The major selling point of option 1 is that is requires minimal demolition. If I were to move that wall, I may as well go with option 2.

I like the idea of backing up the furnace room more if possible.

I am concerned about a retractable screen (Kids).
1. Is it possible to use the screen paint on an access "door" frame it out
nicely with wood trim, and then put it on hinges so it is only open when
accessing the crawlspace? That would be a huge "door"
2. Is it not a problem at all?

So questions on the bar-
1. Due to being open on both sides would it have like a "ledge" on the
couch side for people to turn and place drinks, grab a handful of chips?
Would it be treated like a 1/2 wall to back couch up to?
2. How would storage be handled? Probably 25 glasses, bar tools, 8
bottles (just guessing here).

Do you think the wall should be added (to separate the left and right side for aesthetic reasons, acoustic, lighting, or just to keep the kids a little separate?

Sweet -- Mrs. Spartan94 chimed in. :)

LOL ALways good to get some more advice.

And yes, you got the redo correct. There is no reason to get a retractable screen. You can just make a screen that is removable and only weighs about 10 pounds that hangs on a french cleat system over the "screen door". How much are you really going to access that space anyway? I had a crawlspace in Colorado and I maybe went in it 5 times in 2 years. I am building a rigid frame screen using blackout cloth from JoAnns and a 2x2 wood frame that weighs a whopping 15 pounds. Really easy to move. Total cost: about $50 in materials

LOL ALways good to get some more advice.

And yes, you got the redo correct. There is no reason to get a retractable screen. You can just make a screen that is removable and only weighs about 10 pounds that hangs on a french cleat system over the "screen door". How much are you really going to access that space anyway? I had a crawlspace in Colorado and I maybe went in it 5 times in 2 years. I am building a rigid frame screen using blackout cloth from JoAnns and a 2x2 wood frame that weighs a whopping 15 pounds. Really easy to move. Total cost: about $50 in materials

A buddy of mine made that same screen out of blackout cloth and his panny ax100 looks great on it. We were thinking of doing the same. I just never thought of making it removable.

As for what's in the crawlspace? Think seasonal housewares. Gotta put the Christmas stuff somewheres!

I really like your idea except for 2 things -- I don't think the extra wall is necessary nor the bar behind the couch. I rather like the openness of the basement and if I were going for a more of a "home theater" (with ideal acoustics and such) versus a "sports bar/entertainment venue", I would probably see the value in the wall going up from the stairs. Additionally, a bar behind the could would lend itself to inflexibility in the future. I think I'd rather stick my pub table back there and then I can move it if I need to.

I've updated the webpage with a prop 3 & would love to read more comments!

http://www.munichfamily.net/basement/

(if you don't see a prop 3, hit refresh)

i like 2 and 3. once you move the wall you can set the couch and see what feels best.
if your bar will be a wet bar, drain piping may dictate which of the 2 works best as well.

if you dont consider your basement overly large, id hate to see what you call my plans/ideas thread. lol

i like 2 and 3. once you move the wall you can set the couch and see what feels best.
if your bar will be a wet bar, drain piping may dictate which of the 2 works best as well.

if you dont consider your basement overly large, id hate to see what you call my plans/ideas thread. lol

I have pretty much resigned myself to dry bar as the water (and possibly a drain) are mostly in the bottom left. I suppose that it wouldn't be too bad to run water lines over then drain into the sump (shhh!)
I Think we are really leaning towards the plans that give us the most room. I was hoping to get some fresh ideas that we have not yet thought about.


I'll have to take a look at your thread :)

I have pretty much resigned myself to dry bar as the water (and possibly a drain) are mostly in the bottom left. I suppose that it wouldn't be too bad to run water lines over then drain into the sump (shhh!)
I Think we are really leaning towards the plans that give us the most room. I was hoping to get some fresh ideas that we have not yet thought about.


I'll have to take a look at your thread :)

looking at the pics, i like #1 more now. you have a workshop down there. if you use it, thats a good convenience.

if the fridge area is dry, (just looks like a damp-prone basement, though i dont know your area) it will make a nice large pantry.

with 2 and 3 youll close off the crawlspace hatch?

if you dont remove any walls, you can set the theater in the room you indicated, or reverse things, put the kids into the room, and you put the screen on the water meter wall, rotate couch ccw 90deg, and set bar behind it.

looking at the pics, i like #1 more now. you have a workshop down there. if you use it, thats a good convenience.

if the fridge area is dry, (just looks like a damp-prone basement, though i dont know your area) it will make a nice large pantry.

with 2 and 3 youll close off the crawlspace hatch?

if you dont remove any walls, you can set the theater in the room you indicated, or reverse things, put the kids into the room, and you put the screen on the water meter wall, rotate couch ccw 90deg, and set bar behind it.

Actually, the basement is very dry. The house is situated on top of a small hill and the sump crock never has any water in it.

With regards to the crawlspace hatch, we were thinking of making the screen removable (see above posts). The storage in there is really handy.

The problem with putting the screen on the water meter wall is that I would need to build it out at least a foot to make it even all the way across. That seems like space wasted to me.

I like # 3 a lot... Being higher the pub table seats would have a good view of the screen... Unfourtantly the bar view would be blocked by the post. I have one of those "stupid" posts in my build too... It seams to get in the way no matter how I set it up...

I like # 3 a lot... Being higher the pub table seats would have a good view of the screen... Unfourtantly the bar view would be blocked by the post. I have one of those "stupid" posts in my build too... It seams to get in the way no matter how I set it up...

I really think that #3 is the way to go long term, but we would really like to have something that works in the short term as well (wife's idea).

So, for starters we are going to clean out the storage room and convert that into a very basic home theater. Then while that is up (and helping to keep the kids occupied), we can get started on demo and rebuilding of the walls, and finishing off that basement space.

I introduced myself to Google Sketchup a few days ago and came up with the following rendering (based on plan #3 above):

Thoughts?

(hmm - how do you make attachments show up inline?)

106722

I like plan 3. I think I would try to run a partial wall along the left of the theater zone for light control and sound reasons. It also creates a cove for the MAME machine when you get your pool table.

I would also consider doing a built in rack in the furnace room and showed a couple of options. You will need to enclose the backs however with a door to keep the furnace room noise contained.

Be aware there are ventilation requirements for the furnace room that may require open vents (put on the wall to the bar area) unless you can provide outside fresh air supply for the furnace and hot water heater (assuming gas).

excerpt from out local code:

MECHANICAL REQUIREMENTS
APPLIANCE ACCESS: Furnaces, hot water heaters and other appliances must be accessible without removing permanent construction and shall meet the following minimum criteria.
• 30"x30" clear floor space at front/control side.
• Doors to furnace rooms shall be 24" minimum and be of sufficient size to remove the largest appliance.
COMBUSTION AIR: Furnace rooms with fuel-burning appliances must be provided with two permanent openings to adjacent spaces: one within 12" of the top and one within 12" from the bottom of the adjoining wall. Each opening must have a minimum free area equal to 1 in sq per 1,000 Btu/h input rating of all appliances in the furnace room, but not less than 100 in sq. The openings are not required if a louvered door is provided or the furnace room area is greater than 50 ft cu per 1,000 Btu/h input rating of all appliances installed in the room.


Lastly you have a great wall space at the bottom of the stairs to make a design statement. Think about the Fog Valley Cinema wall treatment.

http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b393/bigmouthindc/DSC01473.jpg

http://drivinghamster.smugmug.com/photos/272599693_v9qaE-M.jpg

Thanks for the feedback -- I really appreciate it. A wall helping to enclose the screen is an interesting idea and something that we'll really have to think about. Like you said, it can help with noise control and separation, but on the other, you can't see the screen from that left area. We have to decide if that matters or not.

Regarding the furnace ventilation / code -- we do have combustion air coming in from outside, so that's shouldn't be a problem.

I have aother question regarding speakers. I've seen a guy selling some 4 year old JBLs (Northridge series) that look pretty nice (5.1 / 2 x e10 rear, 2 x e60 fronts, ec25 center, e250p sub). Have speakers changed much over the last few years that I should know about? Are there any risks in buying used speakers (outside of making sure they are not blown and the cones look good)?

Man, I can't wait until we have that garage sale so I can get started on this....... :rolleyes:

I'd keep the basement open concept, but with the theater dedicated.

How about using that closet space as the bar work space? Run a bar along the whole left hand wall and drop it down in the current tv area to serve as a tv shelf. Use some cabinetry for storage and to hide a plumbing run from the water meter to the now wet bar. A flip top section of the bar would offer access. The fridge and freezer would now go on the left wall.

If you can give up the understair closet, then the mame cabinet could go in that space and consume no floor area.

The theater is dedicated. The av rack is where the sump pump access door is now. The door gets moved further up, to serve as access for the rear wiring of the av rack as well as the sump pump. The theater riser level could extend outside the theater and have a landing at the end of the stairs if you use the height of a step or 2 as the riser height. Then you'd need a step or two between the bottom wall and left hand wall of the step landing.

You could match up the bar with built in seating (with toy storage underneath) between the furnace wall and the stair wall, in the kid's play area.

I like the first proposal with the dedicated theater - it's more like what I have.

We find it works great for entertaining - we can have a big group over - some end up playing cards - eating, drinking and talking - another group can watch a movie.

And, of course, there is nothing like a dedicated theater for really immersive movie experiences.

Good luck!

Randy

I'd keep the basement open concept, but with the theater dedicated.

How about using that closet space as the bar work space? Run a bar along the whole left hand wall and drop it down in the current tv area to serve as a tv shelf. Use some cabinetry for storage and to hide a plumbing run from the water meter to the now wet bar. A flip top section of the bar would offer access. The fridge and freezer would now go on the left wall.


A very interesting idea but i think that closet space may be too small. Currently the room is roughly 6' across (not finished) and the electrical / alarm is in there as well. Some work would have to be done to remove an old water softener and pipes, but that could be done as well.

I think the knock on putting the bar in that room is that it doesn't leave us with a whole lotta storage space. My wife is a teacher and she's got 2 filing cabinets in there full of supplies (in addition to the fridge & freezer).

If you can give up the understair closet, then the mame cabinet could go in that space and consume no floor area.

I believe that closet is too small to hold the cocktail cab, but I could perhaps back of the NBA Jam in there. I'd have to wire in a dedicated switch though to turn it off and on though b/c there would be no way to get behind it. Nevertheless, I don't think we could give up that small but useful storage space.

The theater is dedicated. The av rack is where the sump pump access door is now. The door gets moved further up, to serve as access for the rear wiring of the av rack as well as the sump pump. The theater riser level could extend outside the theater and have a landing at the end of the stairs if you use the height of a step or 2 as the riser height. Then you'd need a step or two between the bottom wall and left hand wall of the step landing.

You could match up the bar with built in seating (with toy storage underneath) between the furnace wall and the stair wall, in the kid's play area.

Hmm -- there's those "dedicated theater" words again. So far we have been leaning towards an open floorplan where you could be seated at the bar or the pub table to the see the screen (and not just the loungers), but.....

I like the first proposal with the dedicated theater - it's more like what I have.

We find it works great for entertaining - we can have a big group over - some end up playing cards - eating, drinking and talking - another group can watch a movie.

And, of course, there is nothing like a dedicated theater for really immersive movie experiences.

Good luck!

*sigh* You guys with your dedicated rooms aren't making it any easier to make this decision! All along we have been talking about trying to somehow incorporate the bar and gaming into the mix (and not have it too segregated). Maybe there is still some thinking left to do on that front... :rolleyes:

I need to get my wife to chime in here. :)

I realize that it's probably a little early to be thinking about sound, but I've decided not to go for the used NorthRidge E Series and instead pick up a set of JBL Studio L's which seem to be darn cheap right now. (Closeout prices are sweet)

Initially, I plan on getting 2 x L820 and an LC2 and seeing how those sound. If I feel like I need a little more, I'll pick up a set of either the L880 or the L890 and use the 220s as the rears, otherwise I'll go with 4 L220s. The sub and receiver are still to be determined..... but I am really liking that Pio 1018 that is coming out in June. I'm reading up on receivers right now (Yamaha 663, and Onkyo 805 are also in the mix).

One last try....;)

Dedicated = martial bliss :D

You get to play that latest action flick that the Mrs has no desire to see, LOUD. And she doesn't have to keep asking you to turn it down, or put up with all the noise to keep you happy.

I like #3 the best. Have you checked into moving the walls? Are they needed for support? We have a very long open room in our basement and they doubled up on the floor joists to make up for no support walls. Also how much noise comes from the furnace when it's running, or when the fan runs for the A/C?

How about this... Place the bar where your 19" TV is now, put the arcade machines in the area where you couch is now, place the theater seats facing the furnace room where your bar is now. Build a wall from the right edge of the staircase to the outside wall. So when you walk downstairs and turn to your left it would be a hallway all the way to the outside wall. This would create more of a sound barrier between you and the furnace, and create a nice wide screen wall for you. The way I picture it you would walk downstairs, turn to your right and be in the bar/arcade area. Then as you walk to the back of the room it's your theater area. It should be less expensive than moving those walls, and give you plenty of room for the theater area.

I like #3 the best. Have you checked into moving the walls? Are they needed for support? We have a very long open room in our basement and they doubled up on the floor joists to make up for no support walls. Also how much noise comes from the furnace when it's running, or when the fan runs for the A/C?

There is a post hidden in that middle wall that divides the 2 rooms on the right. The a/c fan isn't too bad, and even if it was, it's very cool in the basement and the a/c only runs for 3 months out of the year anyways (gotta love Michigan)


How about this... Place the bar where your 19" TV is now, put the arcade machines in the area where you couch is now, place the theater seats facing the furnace room where your bar is now. Build a wall from the right edge of the staircase to the outside wall. So when you walk downstairs and turn to your left it would be a hallway all the way to the outside wall. This would create more of a sound barrier between you and the furnace, and create a nice wide screen wall for you. The way I picture it you would walk downstairs, turn to your right and be in the bar/arcade area. Then as you walk to the back of the room it's your theater area. It should be less expensive than moving those walls, and give you plenty of room for the theater area.

I am having a hard time visualizing this. (I even brought my wife in for assistance!) Anyhow, take a look at this. Maybe you're thinking that the furnace is in the lower room?

http://www.screencast.com/t/HHDqeAn7qB

http://content.screencast.com/media/e704c9c2-f732-4ede-84e5-f958cfdd926c_ec2d6611-ed16-4a6b-a756-93f719880e3b_static_0_0_Basement%20ID.png

My suggestion was based on your current layout without removing/moving any walls. If you left everything as it is now and added a wall from the upper right corner of the stairwell (looking at the picture) to the outside wall (top of the picture) you would create a hall way on the right side of the wall, and a screen wall on the left side. This wouldn't give you as much room as you have in option 3 above. It should give you plenty of room though.

Maybe this will help... again just an idea...
http://amesenbrink.com/img/png_1.jpg

My suggestion was based on your current layout without removing/moving any walls. If you left everything as it is now and added a wall from the upper right corner of the stairwell (looking at the picture) to the outside wall (top of the picture) you would create a hall way on the right side of the wall, and a screen wall on the left side. This wouldn't give you as much room as you have in option 3 above. It should give you plenty of room though.


Ah, I see now. That would be sort of a poor mans solution in case I never get up the nerve to move walls around! Actually, my wife and I had kicked around an idea similar to that in which we would put the screen on the wall where the furnace room is, and relocate the furnace room door so that it would open up into the room directly below it. That way no walls would have to be moved/created (and no floor/ceiling work as a result).

That works nicely and with minimal disruption and cost.

I'd still get rid of the hallway on the right side of the stairs and use the newly created closet as an av closet.
If you dismantled the wall from the storage area carefully, that lumber could be recycled to fill in the doorway
and frame the av closet.

Some of the gaming cabinetry could be placed backing onto the stair wall, and still leave lot of space for
the kids play area. That would clear out some space in the lower left hand room for an expanded wet bar.

Sorry if I missed it, but what are the dimensions of your room?

Sorry if I missed it, but what are the dimensions of your room?

No problem, I have a link in my first post with all of the details, but here it is again...

http://www.munichfamily.net/basement

If you click the current layout link on that page, it will open a doc where you can see dimensions as well as a "walkthrough".

Well, now that the garage sale is out of the way, I think we can actually get started with the real work. My wife and I are still leaning towards plan #3, but we have some time before we have to make a real decision.

First up is to continue the clean up. Because we are losing a large storage room, I'll be building shelves elsewhere around the basement to better take advantage of that space. Once that is done, then we can start knocking down some walls. In the meantime, I'll have to determine if a pole is going to be a problem or not. It is likely going to wind up being right in the middle of the seating, but I'll have to take a more accurate measurement to be sure.

In the meantime, we had some extra money lying around so we picked up a 12' shuffleboard table (we always wanted one!) off of craigslist. I'll be picking it up on wednesday. It's not super fancy, but we got it for about 1/2 of retail, so not a bad find. Plus the fact that it's 12' means that we can actually fit it in the basement.

Second, I purchased a set of JBL Studio L Series speakers. 2 x L890 for fronts, an LC2 center, and 2 x L820 for surrounds. I plan to get a Pioneer 1018 whenever that comes out to go with. In the future, if I want to go 7.1, I'll pick up another set of L820 for the backs (or perhaps L810, depending).

I am undecided on the sub for now, but will wait a while on that. The speakers were too good of a deal to pass up, so now I have motivation to get to work!

Well, we decided to get started on the first phase -- basement cleanup. I went out to Menards and bought 4 wood/steel racks to put all of our extra junk on so we can move it out of the future bar area. These racks went into the room with the fridge & freezer like so:

110566

...and here's what is left in that room (still a bunch of junk to clear out):

110567
110568

Finally -- here's a pic of my ultra modern setup with my new JBL L890s! :D A buddy of mine gave me an old receiver that is slightly newer than my old Kenwood 2 channel amp. His at least has ProLogic. I'm gonna set that up this weekend just to see how it goes.

110569
110570

So the next steps are to finish clearing out the future bar room. Once that is done, it will be time to tear down some walls! :eek:

Here's the shuffleboard table we got off of CraigsList:

110571

Just a thought on the subwoofer situation. Keep in mind that if you want to feel that impact from the sub coming from under the couch that it will not feel the same if your seating is over carpet/carpet pad/concrete. You can feel the bass with a setup like that but you won't feel it on the floor. When I did my HT in the basement I split treated 2x4s and used liquid nails and glued them to the floor 16 inches on center(or was it 18? I've forgotten already :)). You'll loose a little bit of height in your room but if you really want to feel the bass it will make quite a difference.

Also, you'll need more power in a situation like this as opposed to using a sub in a family room where the floor is suspended over the basement.

Lastly, if you do an enclosed room at the size you proposed you may want to look into how this could affect your bass. I have a dedicated HT room about 18x16 and bass can sound a bit boomy. At some point I'll take some time to look into this issue.

Good luck!

Just a thought on the subwoofer situation. Keep in mind that if you want to feel that impact from the sub coming from under the couch that it will not feel the same if your seating is over carpet/carpet pad/concrete. You can feel the bass with a setup like that but you won't feel it on the floor. When I did my HT in the basement I split treated 2x4s and used liquid nails and glued them to the floor 16 inches on center(or was it 18? I've forgotten already :)). You'll loose a little bit of height in your room but if you really want to feel the bass it will make quite a difference.

Also, you'll need more power in a situation like this as opposed to using a sub in a family room where the floor is suspended over the basement.

Lastly, if you do an enclosed room at the size you proposed you may want to look into how this could affect your bass. I have a dedicated HT room about 18x16 and bass can sound a bit boomy. At some point I'll take some time to look into this issue.

Good luck!

That's interesting. Could I go with some buttkickers instead of raising the floor to get the same effect? I see what you're getting at, but in all honestly, I think that's more work than I am willing to subject myself to...

That's interesting. Could I go with some buttkickers instead of raising the floor to get the same effect? I see what you're getting at, but in all honestly, I think that's more work than I am willing to subject myself to...

I've felt buttkickers only once in a HT store and it wasn't the same.

The raised floor really wasn't that difficult to do or that expensive and it could be completed by someone who's inexperienced in a day. The only area that would need raised would be the floor where the furniture is and if you could put the sub in the same area that would work also.

It all depends on what you want. Just thought I'd give you a forewarning before hand:).

Good luck!

I've felt buttkickers only once in a HT store and it wasn't the same.

The raised floor really wasn't that difficult to do or that expensive and it could be completed by someone who's inexperienced in a day. The only area that would need raised would be the floor where the furniture is and if you could put the sub in the same area that would work also.

It all depends on what you want. Just thought I'd give you a forewarning before hand:).

Good luck!

I really appreciate the feedback. I am a far ways off from thinking about construction and carpet as we are still in the cleaning out stage. Once cleanout is done and we find a place to store all of our crap, we can begin tearing down walls and ripping up the carpet. Anynow, once we get there, I'll keep this in mind!