Once upon a time, on an internet far, far away...

I was pretty active on the forums about 5 or 6 years ago, then we moved, nothing was going to be happening with the new basement for quite some time, so I kind of faded away, doomed to a purgatory of a 4:3 rptv (letterboxed HDTV) next to a wall of windows and Dolby 2.0.

I am very pleasantly surprised to see the progress that has been made in front projectors. Offhand, it seems like picture quality that was $10,000 in 2002 can be had for $3k-$5k. Either that or my standards have really slipped. Moral of the story: It's on!

I feel a bit like I'm the chef on Cooking Impossible or something, because what I got from the wife was "Can this basement be finished before October 12?" :eek: Of course I say "Sure." That gives me 30 days to do this. By myself. In my spare time. On a shoestring budget. This is the current state:
http://lh4.ggpht.com/nsbatcruisebikes.net/SMnx3D42G8I/AAAAAAAAAVg/uY2fueSzQGY/s720/IMG_4214.JPG
Looking one direction
http://lh5.ggpht.com/nsbatcruisebikes.net/SMnx1VgyPcI/AAAAAAAAAVM/S96hEnhoYDw/s720/IMG_4215.JPG
Looking the other direction

I have an area about 18-19 feet wide and about 25 feet deep to work with.
Here's the wall that the screen will be on. As you can see, I've got all the basement crap crammed into that one room so I can get cracking on this.
http://lh5.ggpht.com/nsbatcruisebikes.net/SMnxtXcu8zI/AAAAAAAAAVE/0hzI-3ha458/s720/IMG_4221.JPG

The wife is primarily concerned with the basement being finished for a scrapbooking gathering she is hosting on Oct. 12. She'll be happy with just a carpeted, painted box. The A/V does not need to be in fully functional final form by then, but it does need to be planned/allowed for. I don't want to rush into things and make a bunch of major compromises because I'm in a pinch. I can't afford everything at once, so I need to use what I've got and build in maximum flexibility for future changes as I figure out what I really want or need. IE, right off the bat I will probably be using some BUFlo's (Big Ugly Floor-standing) speakers that I own for my mains, but I might want to do some fancy high dollar in-walls someday. I'll probably start with painted wall screen, but I might want a Stewart with electric masking someday.

I'm not finishing the room with all the crap in it, and I'm not finishing the bathroom. I am just finishing the big room, and a workout room.

Couple questions I am mulling over at the moment:
1) What do I need to run for wiring to allow for a possible future electric retractable screen?
2) I am going to be using ceiling speakers for my side and rear surrounds. I imagine I want an enclosure for them. Is it as simple as building a box and stuffing some insulation in there?

looks like you have your work cut out for you. Originally I gave myself a deadline of the NHL PLayoffs, then this saturday for the OSU game, now I just want to have sheetrock done by nov. 1...

Yeah, I figure we'll see. Last time I finished a basement, it took me about 18 months. Got a few things done this morning. Started framing around some duct work, ran the A/V circuit. I'm putting it on a single 20 amp. I don't see myself ever running multiple huge amplifiers or anything, so that should be plenty.

I have a "situation" in the front by the screen.
http://lh4.ggpht.com/nsbatcruisebikes.net/SMqvQW84GAI/AAAAAAAAAWw/-rcK7HiiuGE/s128/IMG_4223.JPG
http://lh4.ggpht.com/nsbatcruisebikes.net/SMqvPxcmSKI/AAAAAAAAAWo/t6cnW0toras/s512/IMG_4222.JPG
That just annoys the crap out of me. I was gonna just suck it up and put a stupid looking kneewall there, but I think I have decided to just frame up the whole wall. I think that will clean it up nicely.

I wired an outlet for the projector (wire runs back to the rack, will put an plug on the end into some sort of surge protection) and put some 4" pipe in the ceiling to go from the rack to the projector location. I have no idea what I'm gonna want to run, so I'm setting myself up to be able to run anything I want, anytime I want.
http://lh6.ggpht.com/nsbatcruisebikes.net/SMqvRBFbyGI/AAAAAAAAAW4/rCdPmSmzupM/s720/IMG_4224.JPG
http://lh6.ggpht.com/nsbatcruisebikes.net/SMqvOUnuI5I/AAAAAAAAAWY/5egNNxku8ps/s720/IMG_4225.JPG

I need to get the whole ceiling speaker enclosures thing figured out. This is the awkward spot that my right side surround is going to have to go.
http://lh5.ggpht.com/nsbatcruisebikes.net/SMqvPBlOApI/AAAAAAAAAWg/c1D_ys4EL3g/s720/IMG_4226.JPG

More later. I figure if I spend too much time on this when I could be working, that's bad. :D

I have a "situation" in the front by the screen.
http://lh4.ggpht.com/nsbatcruisebikes.net/SMqvQW84GAI/AAAAAAAAAWw/-rcK7HiiuGE/s128/IMG_4223.JPG
http://lh4.ggpht.com/nsbatcruisebikes.net/SMqvPxcmSKI/AAAAAAAAAWo/t6cnW0toras/s512/IMG_4222.JPG
That just annoys the crap out of me. I was gonna just suck it up and put a stupid looking kneewall there, but I think I have decided to just frame up the whole wall. I think that will clean it up nicely.

Part of the foundation? I have the same situation on two sides of my room which used to be a 2-car garage under. I too framed it out, but rather than lose a lot of space using 2x4s on the concrete (and for me creating another problem of not being in the same plane as the rest of the wall), I Ramset'd furring strips onto the concrete. For insulation I cut some equal thickness Corning foam sheets to width and placed them b/w the strips, then sheathed the whole thing in reflective foil bubble insulation.

The furring strips are just thick enough for sheet rock screws. Worked like a charm.

If that's the screen wall you might consider an AT screen with a false wall. That way it really does not matter what is behind it. Just a suggestion.

Part of the foundation?

Yup. No way to make it the same plane as the wall without building the "false" wall in front of the existing wall for the entire 18' length of that wall. The other thought that crossed my mind was to just build it out funky, and eventually hide it behind a built in of some sort. Oh well. I think the full length wall will give me better in-wall options for future changes.

What do you guys frame for projector mount support? I figure now is a good time to create a nice solid structure to bolt up to.

If that's the screen wall you might consider an AT screen with a false wall. That way it really does not matter what is behind it. Just a suggestion.

Hmmm. That's getting my gears turning. I'm going to be doing the false wall, is there anything special that I need to do to allow for the possibility of an AT setup down the road? I assume you're talking about putting in-wall mains & center behind the screen, or is there another purpose that I'm missing?

Yup. No way to make it the same plane as the wall without building the "false" wall in front of the existing wall for the entire 18' length of that wall. The other thought that crossed my mind was to just build it out funky, and eventually hide it behind a built in of some sort.

On one side I built out a little stub wall. This created an area I can shelve in for DVDs, etc. Maybe you could do the same? It helps to hide/blend some sins too :)

:DYou have zero chance of getting that done by Nov 12th let alone Oct 12th. Just take your time rather than rushing and screwing something up.

:DYou have zero chance of getting that done by Nov 12th let alone Oct 12th. Just take your time rather than rushing and screwing something up.


Unbeliever! :cool: I'm bound to screw something up, I'm just trying to keep them to a minimum.

Day 2

After spending a chunk of the afternoon, I have an updated To Do list:

Electrical
Smoke detectors: Move one, Add three.
Wire outlets in workout room.
Clean up (stapling, double check

Framing
Fur out front wall
Frame french door
Frame utility door
Finish soffit around duct

A/V
Speaker wire to center and mains
Ceiling enclosures (gonna buy the Speakercraft ones)
Coax to workout room
Coax to front wall
Coax to rack from panel

Then... SHEETROCK!!!!

I'm sure something else will pop up. I had the HVAC done when we built, so that's golden. Plumbing is a non-factor for what's getting finished now.

Other considerations
Carpet needs about 2 weeks lead time. Once I start rocking, I should get on that schedule.
I need to find someone to do the knockdown ceiling because I haven't done it before. I'm sure I could figure it out, but I don't want to stare at my learning process for years to come.
Having the sheetrock delivered would be convenient, especially if the delivery gets it in the house.

If you have any suggestions or suspect I missed anything, chime in.

NFW.

Go out and by some tarps, hang them up on the studs and make her a room with some temporary lighting and call it a day.

Hang a string of colored Christmas lights like garland around the room and sweep the floor.

You're insane...

And that is one stuPed deadline. :)

I'm pretty sure it's doable. You have to keep in mind that it is NOTHING fancy at this point. I see a lot of AMAZING theater setups here, and they're all inspirational. I look at this as merely Phase 1 of a larger process that will lead to kickassness. When I post my victory photos (knock on wood), it will probably look pretty underwhelming, just like a normal empty room. Built-ins probably won't be coming until next year. Furniture and decorations will trickle in over time. I think the reason I am so jacked up for this is that the finishing the basement really isn't/wasn't in our budget right now, but the wife got this wild hair about how nice it would be to have the basement finished for her scrapbooking deal, and she asked me how cheaply I could get it done. The carpet's going to be the most expensive part on account of the sheer square footage (not sure exactly, I might have to run down with the tape). Once I have my big empty finished room, then I will be able to slow down and make it cooler as the budget allows.

ETA: Just measured, and the main room is just over 1000 sq ft, then the workout room is 15x14.

I think I'm one good day away from rocking-mudding-painting, then I'm sitting back and watching someone else do carpet. I suppose I need to do baseboard trim before the carpet goes in, too.

If Stu bangs this out by Oct 12th (no shot)..we should all pitch in and buy him some light switch covers or something. I give you a ton of credit for being so optimistic!

I guess if you've got a good deal of free time on your hands and you're just building an empty shell of a room (and not a HT), then yes you could easily be done by Oct 12. Heck, Extreme Home Makeover demos and builds a gigantic new house in 5 freaking days (!!!) which is unbelievable. The naysayers are assuming you are just like them... having a high maintenance wife, time consuming kids/job, and building a meticulously planned HT at the same time.

I take back my previous comments. You're not insane. :) You can doo eet!!!

Great, frorule. Now you're putting pressure on me. :D I have high maintenance, but I also have a tendency to "OCD" on projects. Back on the old basement, I got 90% of it done in about 4 days while my wife was in Germany and my kids were at my parents. It was kind of funny, really. I was being super cheap about tool rental (sprayers, etc), so when I was texturing walls and painting, I would go to the tool rental place a couple hours before they closed and ask for a 3 hour rental. Well, I could do a 3 hour rental if I had it back when they opened at 7 am. So off I'd go, working solidly through the night so I could get it back in time to save a few bucks. LOL Those were the days... But yeah, if I get going on a project, I can't put it down until it's done. I'm on dinner break, so we'll see where I'm at when I call it quits tonight.

Had one more thing pop up, and had to dismantle a section of bannister/railing. The way the french doors are going to be set up are requiring a bit of creativity by the basement stairs. This will set me back a few hours plus hassle of running for more lumber. I'll get some pictures later tonight.

I'd go "Dynabox" for your speakers, that way you can put them in later, when you have some time.

http://www.dynamat.com/products_architectural_dynabox.html

Run good speaker wire to all your locations and take TONS of pics before you put in your drywall! That way you can go back and "see" what you did. Also be sure to LABEL everything. I ran a wire for a future drop down, and then I forgot I had done that. So when I was hooking up the electric for my projector, I ran that wire first by accident... A simple label would have jogged my memory.

I think you have plenty of time... Sounds like one of my projects. I framed 2,200 square feet in a week... But, I hired the drywall... It was just too cheap not to, get some bids, you may be surprised. Those guys are hurting for work...

Here's my theater/basement.


http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j29/GlennMehltretter/P1010083.jpg

http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j29/GlennMehltretter/P1010093.jpg

I'm pretty much ready for sheetrock. I say pretty much because I'm still sorting through the banister teardown a bit. It's an awkward spot no matter what I do. I think I'm gonna frame the wall and see what it starts looking like there.

Here's the last bit of soffit (from before I wired the smoke detectors, that's the empty box you see)
http://lh4.ggpht.com/nsbatcruisebikes.net/SNBcwAlPiWI/AAAAAAAAAYM/TQzkfimAA9k/s720/IMG_4227.JPG

Here's the troublesome stair issue. You can see how the stairs turn on the landing with the angle. Also, the oval dealiebobber that the railing attaches to at the wall was hanging over into unfinished area. And the bottom sill plate of the railing was sticking into unfinished area, impeding framing. So, it had to come off.
http://lh3.ggpht.com/nsbatcruisebikes.net/SNBcxuIQ_pI/AAAAAAAAAYc/3itydYXT8Z0/s512/IMG_4229.JPG

All well and good until you have to put a door right freaking there, and you end up with a really bizarre crevice that would need to be carpeted and mudded. SO I decided to frame it in and have hollow space. If we ever need an Underground Railroad for elves, I've got a spot.
http://lh3.ggpht.com/nsbatcruisebikes.net/SNBcw8j32gI/AAAAAAAAAYU/DLnR1M9aPuc/s512/IMG_4228.JPG

I'm thinking if I put the railing back where it was (with whatever trimming on the end and sill is required to accommodate the new wall & door), then I'll just have a weird little "shelf" area just outside the railing. My other option would be to straighten the railing out and take it straight to the wall, but then there is a problem with the ceiling that follows the original angle. The more I think about it, the more I think I like the useless shelf option.

I'm also still mulling a stage and some pillars. I figure I have a few days before I can get the sheetrock delivered (decided to go that route vs. making a bunch of trips with 12' rock in an 8' truck bed), so I may throw some rough in framework up for that. I just need a design that I'd be happy with. It looks like the sort of thing that goes in well enough after sheetrock. I like what Ronnie Jackson did with his proscenium (http://www.ronniejackson.com/theater/proscenium.html). I've decided I'm gonna have one now. The wife may not know or like it, but doggone it, I'm having one. Just maybe not by October 12.

But in general... on to 3200+ square feet (~1200 ceiling, ~2000 walls) of sheetrock goodness! The upside is that the space is large enough to make good use of 12' sheets, which means fewer end seams. I'll probably have a couple guys help hang, and I'm guessing that will be my next picture update.

FreeEnterprise: That looks like a slick product. I'd hire the rock, but I feel like I'm on a mission from god now. Too many naysayers, both on here and around. I have to do it, just to prove them wrong. :D

I know what you mean. Besides, it will make a good story when your done!

There are lots of hours in a day...

Bless you in your guts to take this task on. I wanted to have my basement done in 12 months from when I started framing. It's now 19 months later and I am still working on some finishing details! Good start so far though.

If you can pull this off in 30 days it would be, dare we say, "man-tastic". Tell that to the scrapebooking crowd :D.

I would defiently try to find one helper (experienced sheet rocker) to work with you on it.

heck, I'd plan 3 to 5 days to clean up the drywall dust alone. :)

Day 6 Update - Called around to price sheetrock delivered, and found a supply place that will deliver free (A buck a sheet to get it in the basement, which I think is worth it). Turns out there is 54" rock, special for 9' ceilings. Cool. Was planning to call back this afternoon so I could get it delivered tomorrow. Carpool/kid issues popped up, so I got sidetracked. Going to call first thing in the morning and see if I can get same day delivery tomorrow. Not the most productive day in the grand scheme of things. Would have been nice to have sheetrock to work with right away tomorrow morning.

No "and then"!

buck a sheet...that's a great price!
I went with a local building supply too for my lumber and rock because they forked it inside the garage for me. HD said they only drop off curbside which is why they didn't get my business. Plus the local bldg supply had very clean, straight and dry lumber...way better quality than HD.

No "and then"!

And then and then and then! :D


Day 7: I ordered the sheetrock, and it will be delivered tomorrow morning. Decided on carpet and called to set up a time for them to come out and measure so we can get it ordered and scheduled for install on the 9th or 10th, depending how confident they are of it being a one day project. Better to play it safe. I need to measure for tile and get that figured out, since that will need to be in and grouted 24 hours before the carpet guys come.

I won't have time to do anything with the rock tomorrow because I am leaving town for the weekend to do some dog training. I'll probably wish I had those 2-3 days come later in the process. But really, that still leaves me two full weeks to hang and mud 72 sheets of 12' gypsum wallboard goodness. I figure a day, day and a half to hang (will have help for that), then it's go time on mud.

You really should allow 2 days for carpet. The carpet should be put in your basement for at least 24 hours prior to installing as it needs to acclimate. Otherwise you may have seam, and fit issues down the road. Especially if you are having to put a bunch of seams in it...

They put mine down, and let it float along the walls for a day, then cut it and fastened it the next day. And it has held up great with no movement or seams showing.


Hate to have it messed up after all your work.

Two for one post!!

Day 8: It took the two guys an hour and a half to carry the rock into the basement. I'm REALLY thinking that was money well spent. They put it in strategic locations around the basement, so that should be a plus. 12' sheets are big. I've hung 8' sheets by myself. 12' would be pretty much out of the question. Maybe not on the ceilings (using a rental lift), but the walls would have to be pretty much impossible as a one man show.

Free: The carpet guys said that 2 days would be a good idea as well, so I'm going to schedule that for the 9th and 10th.

Day 9: Not a dang thing. Hanging out with my kid and dog, getting ready for hunting season (AFTER the 12th)

Day 11: Started hanging rock today! Ran into a bit of a hiccup, though. Dang floor joists are not spaced at intervals conducive to efficient work. Picked up some more lumber today so I can put up some framing at the proper intervals, then we'll have another crack at hanging tomorrow.

72 12' sheets?

I'm beginning to lose faith! :)

ps- No "and then"!

Your going to get more lumber instead of just cutting the drywall?

Hmm, I don't know what to think about that one. I probably just don't understand the issue maybe.

Your going to get more lumber instead of just cutting the drywall?

Hmm, I don't know what to think about that one. I probably just don't understand the issue maybe.

Sporadic spacing in the floor joists. The joists aren't always 12' apart, and it takes 4 sheets + to go from end to end, so the middle pieces are the issue. Butt joints suck enough with the nice clean factory edges, you don't want to try to do them with cut ends unless you absolutely have to. Introduce a few pieces of strategically placed lumber in a couple spots and then you have nice 12' spacing.

72 12' sheets?

I'm beginning to lose faith!

ps- No "and then"!
Hold my beer and watch this! :cool:

Day 12: (Is it really day 12 already?:eek:) Got most of the ceiling hung today. I will admit that it is taking longer than I thought it would. I thought it could get hung in a day (or two half days), but that whole "it takes 2 people to hang" cramps progress. I can handle 8' sheets myself easily enough, but these 12 footers are just too damn unwieldy to do alone. Hopefully the benefit of using the 12' sheets will become apparent in the mudding phase. Part of me thinks I might be mudding by now if I had gone with 8 footers. Oh well. The upside is that once I do finally have it hung, I won't be constrained to "couple hours here, couple hours there" progress. Run around for as long as it takes to get a coat of mud everywhere, open up windows and crank up some fans so it will dry faster, repeat.

Since progress updates without pictures are BORING...

Cutting around all the lights and ducts has been teh suck.
http://lh3.ggpht.com/nsbatcruisebikes.net/SNmqMeuwK8I/AAAAAAAAAY8/xHtgyNWT86Q/s720/IMG_4231.JPG

Look! My first speaker wire! (wanted to expose them to make it a bit easier to know where to start digging come speaker time)
http://lh5.ggpht.com/nsbatcruisebikes.net/SNmqMwIge-I/AAAAAAAAAZE/w3rLCZwSeiQ/s512/IMG_4232.JPG

One more full width run (with 5 more cans), then some rips, then I'll be on to the walls! I think the walls will go much faster. I hope.
http://lh3.ggpht.com/nsbatcruisebikes.net/SNmqN15mWFI/AAAAAAAAAZM/-rJhymlfldU/s720/IMG_4233.JPG

Hey Stu Pedaso....LOL, I love that name! F'ing love it!

Ok, I have to be brutally honest here, I admire your passion and desire. I have been there, many times on many projects. However, I have come to terms with projects like this and whenever I estimate the effort, I multiple by 3 or 4 and that is the actual time it takes. There are just so many unknowns that get in the way. If you can avoid the unknowns, then you have a possibility of doing it. But you will need help!

Are you mudding/taping yourself? Have you ever done it before?

kezug brings up a good point. It's the good old rule of 3. Everything costs 3 times as much and takes 3 times longer than you initially plan.

I still have your back though. Your progress looks good. I've never seen floor joists like that before. Some are 16", some are 12". Mine were all 16" even though I had a few extra joists thrown in there occasionally between the main ones.

I also wanted to admit I'm an idiot for not "getting" your name until kezug's post. Nice one!

Good luck.

I can't believe how much you have gotten done already! Shame you don't live closer!!

We should get an over/under pool going on this one!

IMHO there is no way that this can be done in 30 days by a guy who has other responsibilities (i.e. kids). It took my drywall guys 10 days alone to hang/tape/mud/sand my basement. I'm afraid that you will end up rushing things before their time. It took me two days just to get the dust out of the basement after they were done sanding!

Like I said before, bless you in your man-tastic quest to finish this in 30 days.

WOW, never would have thought you could make this much progress. Looking at the construction methods I assume you are not concerned about the noise of the theater going throughout the rest of the house?

I admire your tenacity Stu. I've got a GC going on day 23 and they're only hanging the drywall ceiling today!

This would be difficult for Johnny Potsmoker, but no for Smokey McPot! :)

Looking at the construction methods I assume you are not concerned about the noise of the theater going throughout the rest of the house?

Not especially. If I was doing a dedicated theater, I would fight the sound just for fun, to see how well I could do it. I just don't see a need for it in our situation, however, and given the time and money constraints of this project, I'm not going to sweat soundproofing too much. The only part I am a bit concerned about is sound being directed "up" from the ceiling speakers, so I have R-36+ worth of insulation in the areas where the ceiling speakers will be. Hopefully that will help keep it contained/directed toward the room.

IMHO there is no wasy that this can be done in 30 days by a guy who has other responsibilities (i.e. kids). It took my drywall guys 10 days alone to hang/tape/mud/sand by basement. I'm afraid that you will end up rushing things before their time. It took me two days just to get the dust out of the basement after they were done sanding!


I think I will rent a "dustless" sander to help minimize the mess from that phase. I've been told that when you use one of those, the rotozip cutting out the lights, outlets, and ducts is the messiest part of the project. I couldn't even tell you what one looks like, but I know they exist, and that you can rent them.
I have officially ordered the carpet, and scheduled the install for Oct 9-10, so I figure I'd like to have this done by Friday, October 3rd, which is 9 more days. That would give me 5 days to clean up, paint, lay a little bit of tile, and slap trim up (miter saw and air nailer, FTW!) If I buy my trim here in the next couple days, then I can sand and stain in the garage while my mud is drying next week.

Hey Stu Pedaso....LOL, I love that name! F'ing love it!

Ok, I have to be brutally honest here, I admire your passion and desire. I have been there, many times on many projects. However, I have come to terms with projects like this and whenever I estimate the effort, I multiple by 3 or 4 and that is the actual time it takes. There are just so many unknowns that get in the way. If you can avoid the unknowns, then you have a possibility of doing it. But you will need help!

Are you mudding/taping yourself? Have you ever done it before?

Yup, I've done it before, in my basement at the old house, and various patching, repairs, and helping out friends, etc. It goes well as long as its going. I had no timeline for that, so I'd go down and work for a half hour, then wander off for a week, etc. I learned a lot from mistakes on that, so I'm looking forward to redeeming myself both quantitatively and qualitatively on this one. I know exactly what you mean about budgeting time. My wife always hassles me for "how long will it take you?" on EVERYTHING. Well, if it's something I have done hundreds of times, it's easy. I can tell you how long it will take me to mow my lawn within 5 minutes. When I'm helping a buddy redo his kitchen floor, and I think "4 hours" I know darn well it will take all day. :D

kezug brings up a good point. It's the good old rule of 3. Everything costs 3 times as much and takes 3 times longer than you initially plan.

I still have your back though. Your progress looks good. I've never seen floor joists like that before. Some are 16", some are 12". Mine were all 16" even though I had a few extra joists thrown in there occasionally between the main ones.

I also wanted to admit I'm an idiot for not "getting" your name until kezug's post. Nice one!

Good luck.

Thanks. :cool: There's some sort of method to the joist madness, I'm just not sure what it is. I think it's some combination of span and location of upstairs loadbearing walls. I'm not gonna have to look at them anymore, though. :cool:

Thanks for the additional information on the joists. It makes more sense now.

"I think I will rent a "dustless" sander...
I just bought a drywall sanding kit at HD for ~$15.00. It hooks up to your shop vac and came with hose, sanding block, and screen mesh. It was located in same area where they sell the mud and spackle knives. I also grabbed a new filter especially designed for drywall dust. I'll find out soon enough if it works, but anything to keep the dust down is a plus.

Day 14: Ceilings are completely completed, and the walls are about half done. There are some funky shadows because the tops aren't screwed down yet, was making hay while the sun shined and I had help. I'll finish that later.
http://lh3.ggpht.com/nsbatcruisebikes.net/SNxWAoiI6QI/AAAAAAAAAZs/tat9pO9DmOs/s720/IMG_4234.JPG

From the corner you can't quite see in the first pic, looking toward the opposite corner...
http://lh6.ggpht.com/nsbatcruisebikes.net/SNxWBeLkTfI/AAAAAAAAAZ0/O8lqarHRhoU/s720/IMG_4235.JPG

The walls do go a LOT faster on the hanging than the ceiling. It's still a two person job, at least to hang the top piece. I think a person could hang the lower piece solo. I think I've said this before, but I am REALLY looking forward to having all this hung so that I can blast away at the mudding 24/7 if need be. If I had someone to help me, I'd be down there hanging the rest of the walls instead of posting pretty pictures for you guys to look at.

Other non-drywall updates: The tile place is having a sale October 3-4, 20% off. Of course, I'd like to be tiling then. They say the tile I've picked out is a stocking item, so they can have it in 3-4 days. Wha? I thought stocking meant they had it in stock. Apparently they mean it's stocked in their warehouse, so they can get it in their store then. So, I am going to see if I can sweet talk the sales consultant into "making a mistake" and ordering the tile in ahead of time so I can go in on the 3rd, buy it at the sale price, and take it home that same morning.
On the tile note, I have decided to tile an additional 36" wide area where the walk-up bar will be someday and, in a ballsy move, leave 22 1/4" of bare concrete where the future cabinetry will sit. It might be a bit of an eyesore until then, but I think I can deal with it.

Javatime: I'll have to look into that when I am ready for sanding and see how it compares to the rental unit. Speed is going to be a factor, so I'll be curious if the "commercial" setup is anything fancier.

Whoa, nice progress. How much help did you have?!?!

Shouldn't there be some projector pre-wiring visible somewhere by the dangling wire for the rears? What's up?

So that is 16 days left??? I like to count down, not up on these sorts of things. :)
A solid weeekend (this weekend?) of drywall finnishing will get you pretty far on it for sure.

So how many sqf of tile are you doing?

Good job and you are moving fast! All told my drywall took me a good solid week to hang and you are doing a much larger space. Keep up this pace an you will meet your time goal.

I'd be done if it wasn't for a budget, or lack of budget.

Good progress Stu! When mudding, don't try to cheat by laying it on thick. It is much easier and faster to put it on thin, sand, then put on another thin coat again and sand. Many guys just slap it on then they end up sanding forever and getting a crappy result.

Whoa, nice progress. How much help did you have?!?!

Shouldn't there be some projector pre-wiring visible somewhere by the dangling wire for the rears? What's up?

Me and one other guy. I have conduit running to the cavity, and I know where the place is. I'll just fish it through the conduit when I'm ready to hang a projector. This way I'll be able to put the hole in the best spot. I mean heck, this is going to be my first projector, so I don't even know exactly how it will mount until I get my hands on it. I'm trying to be as flexible as possible.


So that is 16 days left??? I like to count down, not up on these sorts of things. :)
A solid weeekend (this weekend?) of drywall finnishing will get you pretty far on it for sure.

So how many sqf of tile are you doing?

13 days until carpet comes, which has become the deadline for my work. I'll just be watching the carpet guys. I like counting up, because counting down makes me nervous. LOL

~135 square feet. there's a 13'6"x6' area in front of the sliding door, then a 14'6"x3 area (plus ~3x2 under the refrigerator spot) in front of the future counter.

I'm scarfing some lunch right now, then hauling drywall scraps to the landfill. Yep, that's right, you know what that implies... :cool:

Watch for the real Day 15 update (with pictures, because non-pictured updates are for suckas) later tonight. :D

Pretty much tile. :) Go man go.. I think I needed you working on my remote NM observatory project.

Day 15: Rock is hung, corner beads are on, mess is cleaned up. Tomorrow, mudding begins. I've got the tools out and ready to go. Some of them are actually a bit rusty. Hopefully my technique is not as rusty.

http://lh4.ggpht.com/nsbatcruisebikes.net/SN2O5BIab_I/AAAAAAAAAaU/2xL0rv-BgtA/s720/IMG_4238.JPG
I really hate that thingamabob around the foundation.

Drywall done, and with cornerbead no less?! I'm impressed. Doesn't your family miss you? :)

Drywall done, and with cornerbead no less?! I'm impressed. Doesn't your family miss you? :)

Brad nailer + corner bead = 100% win. It took me longer to figure out how much I needed than it did to tack it up. That went faster than I thought, especially contrasted with how the rock hanging seemed to drag on and on. I think I've decided to go rent one of those tape banjo things this morning, or else I have a hunch that laying tape will be one of those gifts that keeps on giving for a day or two longer than I think. This will be the phase where my family might start missing me. Hanging, I was pretty much tied to whenever I could get help. Now I will go into basement hermit stage. "The 3rd, it rapidly approaches!"

What a transformation in such a short period of time! Great job so far... I think the 3rd has been beaten!

Day 17: Mudding sucks. Progress is being made, though. I have FIVE fans going downstairs blowing to help it dry. I don't think I'm going to get finish on the trim during the mudding phase. The good news is that my painter neighbor said he would spray my doors and trim for me after I get it stained. That'll be a huge help. I think I might have a guy coming Wednesday to spray the ceiling.
I taped and have half the corners done. I'm thinking if I finish the corners and hit the joints with another coat tomorrow, I can final coat Tuesday, let ceiling dude do his thing on Wednesday, then sand on Thursday.
I'm going to bed.

Your getting there.

Good job.

tape banjo's are the bomb. remember put on THIN layers of mud... Else you'll be sanding till your old...

What a transformation in such a short period of time! Great job so far... I think the 3rd has been beaten!

Thanks. I think it is (after today, anyhow). Yesterday confidence was a bit low, but things are definitely looking up.

Your getting there.

Good job.

tape banjo's are the bomb. remember put on THIN layers of mud... Else you'll be sanding till your old...

The banjo was definitely the bomb. I can't imagine how many hours that thing saved me vs the old fashioned way.
I'm actually putting it on a bit thicker than my other basement. When I did that one, I was going too thin, so I ended up needing to do about 5 coats, whereas I (think, anyhow) am getting this one done in 3. It doesn't look like it should be too bad to sand.

Day 18: I get working on my mud right away this morning, and it goes pretty well. I wrap up around 1pm, and run off to get my doors and trim. On the way home, the french doors fall over (in the back of my truck). :eek: Amazingly, astoundingly, astonishingly, the glass doesn't break. The metal of the tonneau cover frame hit the wood about 1" away from the glass. I don't care about the dented wood. I'm just happy I wasn't sweeping up glass.

I get home, unload the stuff into my garage, and decide to mow my lawn, which hasn't been getting as much attention over these past few weeks as it should. I get about 10 minutes into mowing my lawn, and my neighbor (the professional painter) rolls up. I decide to ask him a couple questions about stain, since the wife and I decided to stay with the light oak we have everywhere else in the house. Long story short, it turns out that our stain is natural, which is translates into "you don't stain it." So, instead of pulling into his driveway, he pulls his trailer into mine, whips out about 16 sawhorses, we lay out the trim, and he knocks out the first coat in about 5 minutes. Then we set the doors up in the garage, and he sprayed those.
http://lh6.ggpht.com/nsbatcruisebikes.net/SOGFa10tL_I/AAAAAAAAAbM/LyUuJIxg4vk/s720/IMG_4248.JPG

So, from out of nowhere, all of the sudden, I am about an hour or two of sanding away from having my trim ready to roll. He said he would stop by tomorrow after work and put the second coat on, and then when that's tacky enough, he can put the third on. Dry and done. WOOHOO! I hate to jinx myself, but I think I might almost be getting AHEAD of schedule here pretty quick.

But wait, there's more! The UPS guy comes in midst of the spraying, bearing gifts of Speakercraft AIM8's for my ceiling surrounds.
http://lh3.ggpht.com/nsbatcruisebikes.net/SOGFbZd0onI/AAAAAAAAAbU/srfzbIG0Es4/s720/IMG_4249.JPG

How much would you expect to pay for an update like this? But wait, there's even MORE!!
My neighbor got a real funny look on his face when I told him I was going to use a 3/4" nap roller to paint the ceiling. "No," he says. He's gonna hook me up with one of his sprayers so I can spray the ceiling and primer coat of the walls, then I just have to roll the walls.

I think I have it figured out. While he is yet to make the deadline, I think Stu actually did this project over the course of a few months and it is actually finished. However, to make a great story, he is documenting it now for us pretending like he is working some kind of magic to make it done in time. he just posts some new photos of a ton of progress pretending it took him a day to do whne in reality, 3 months ago it took him 4 days to actually complete the work.:D

I think I have it figured out. While he is yet to make the deadline, I think Stu actually did this project over the course of a few months and it is actually finished. However, to make a great story, he is documenting it now for us pretending like he is working some kind of magic to make it done in time. he just posts some new photos of a ton of progress pretending it took him a day to do whne in reality, 3 months ago it took him 4 days to actually complete the work.:D

LOL Just wait, when you guys see the finished product, you'll be so underwhelmed that you'll wonder why it took me 30 days... :o
I wish I had a clearly defined plan for a kickass proscenium and screen wall. As much as I'd like to have a proscenium before the carpet guys come, I think I'm just going to suck it up and do it later, rather than rush into that. Gotta get the box done first, then I can spiff it up.

Teaser post: BIG update coming later today. Big big. So big that smakovits is going to require 'proof of life'. :D I about can't believe it myself. :cool: But now, back to the salt mine!

You had better finish the basement by your stated timeline for no other reason than it will soon be time to shovel snow up your way!

Looking good though. You impress me more everyday. You also inspire me to find a neighbor that is a painter by profession :D.

Well, it actually got even bigger about an hour after I posted the teaser...

Day 20: Past two days have been a freaking whirlwind. First off, the ceiling guy came yesterday. I think we got wires crossed on days vs. dates. I was definitely thinking Wednesday, but I think I might have told him the 30th. Or maybe he had it wrong. Regardless, it all worked out ok, and I was ready enough for the ceiling. It changed up my timeline a little bit, though. I was going to finish final coating, and get ceiling sprayed today, but I ended up getting the ceiling sprayed AND finished my final coat yesterday.

While the ceiling guy was doing his thing, I sanded the doors and trim to get them ready for my neighbor to spray them again. Seems like the ceiling guy was done by maybe 11 or so. Really didn't take him too long once he got all the windows and doorways covered. I let everything dry off for about an hour, then got in and finished my final coat on the butt joints. That order was less than preferable. Since the ceiling spray spatters all over everything, I had to scrape off all the spatter before I could tape. In the still-pretty-wet state, it scraped off the wall really easy, so it wasn't a big deal. About 10 minutes after I wrapped that up and started looking at my lawnmower again, my neighbor calls and asks if it's raining by our place. It wasn't, so I told him that, and he said "Ok, Tony's gonna be there in about 5 minutes, and I'll be over a bit later." So wham, it's off to the races to get everything dusted off and ready.

I think I said it before, and I'll say it again: brushes are fo suckas. Granted I had it all laid out for him, but it took him about 10-15 minutes when he stopped by this afternoon. He rolled up, grabbed the sprayer he left in the garage, briefly inspected my handiwork, then shot the doors inside the garage. I had all the trim lined up on 16 sawhorses just outside (2 were mine, the rest were his, borrowed yesterday), and he walked up and down the aisles, quickly and efficiently blasting them. Then he went back in the garage and hit the doors with their final, and done. Seriously, I can't imagine the hours of hell that he saved me. It would almost be like if someone came in and mudded for me in about 10 minutes. About that time the neighbor rolled up, looked things over, and we started talking about getting the paint, since I now had a textured ceiling and was ready to sand. So he calls his guy at the local Sherwin-Williams and ordered the ceiling paint and wall primer for me, and asks them to just drop it off at his house. :cool: That's the sort of goodwill that plowing your neighbor's driveway all the time generates.

So at that point, ceiling is textured, doors and trim have had their final coats. Nothing to do but crank up fans in the basement to make sure everything dries enough for sanding. About 6:30pm, I finally went to finish mowing my lawn. This is what it looked like last night. Have I mentioned how much I hate that little foundation jutting out? I can't wait until I can hide it behind something.
http://lh5.ggpht.com/nsbatcruisebikes.net/SOQPDK7M4ZI/AAAAAAAAAcE/UfUjJb8129Y/s720/IMG_4259.JPG

Fast forward to this morning... I wake up bright and early, run off to rent the dustless sander. This thing was nifty. $40 for the day. In retrospect, a busy beaver could probably get away with a 3 hour rental.
http://lh3.ggpht.com/nsbatcruisebikes.net/SOQPB_Zvz7I/AAAAAAAAAb0/37gqGdZJ5DU/s512/IMG_4257.JPG

Rotary head. It can leave some swirls if you aren't careful and let the paper clog up.
http://lh3.ggpht.com/nsbatcruisebikes.net/SOQPEUwdU9I/AAAAAAAAAcM/QuKiPhYoyX4/s720/IMG_4260.JPG

So I sand. Slicker than snot, takes me a couple hours, then another couple hours of manual sanding, since that only gets to within an inch or so on the corners. THAT makes you really appreciate how much mess it saves. Cripes. Just doing the corners made a hellacious dust mess.

So again, I get done around 1 or so, and start to think about relaxing for a bit. I hop on the computer for a bit, and make my teaser post about the big update. After all, I'm sanded and ceilinged. The rock is done!

Well, about 2:30 or 3, my cell phone rings. It's my neighbor again. "Open your garage door!" Cool, paint is here. I go out there, and he's standing there with the paint, the sprayer, and another guy who works for him. Yesterday, we had been talking about me using one of his sprayers and he had given me all the technique directions to get the two coats done in one shot, etc. Well, he says "Let's get this stuff down there. Travis is gonna spray it, so you don't hurt yourself." Holy shnikeys! I really wasn't ready for that. So we go running off to the basement, I'm dusting out the corners while they are taping plastic up on all the doorways, windows, light sockets, light switches, etc. Then Travis puts on his space suit and starts spraying while Keith and I go up to the garage to check out the trim and load up the tools and buckets of varnish that he had left there. A few minutes after we got that done, up comes Travis. Done painting the ceiling.:eek: It's crazy how fast those pros work.

So here I am. It's Wednesday night, and I'm ready to freaking roll the walls. This wasn't supposed to be happening until the weekend. I owe my neighbor HUGE.

Here's what it looked like an hour or so ago. It looks a bit streaky in the picture because it was still wet, but due to the rock/mud, it doesn't dry at the same rate. They told me that once it all dries, it evens out. Yup, I just went down there, it's all evened out.
http://lh5.ggpht.com/nsbatcruisebikes.net/SOQPF3_hrPI/AAAAAAAAAcg/nQUPU0gM-bM/s720/IMG_4262.JPG

Wife and I are still sparring over colors for the walls, though. As a matter of fact, I am off to the store (they're open til 9) right now to get the sample the tiles I have on order so we can have round 2 tonight. Being I will roll the primer on walls tomorrow, we need to get on the final color selection for Friday.

You had better finish the basement by your stated timeline for no other reason than it will soon be time to shovel snow up your way!

Looking good though. You impress me more everyday. You also inspire me to find a neighbor that is a painter by profession :D.

Yup, we had frost this morning. Snow will be flying soon.

The neighbor has been a freaking god-send. I really think he has single-handedly launched me ahead at least 3 days. I owe him huge.

ETA: DH, just noticed you were the Fog Valley Cinema guy. I really like the details you did. WAY cool stuff going on in there. I think it was your construction photos that prompted me to ask the carpet guys if they needed two days...

Continuing to be completely amazed. I wonder though about the comments of another poster-Stu must have already completed this a while back and is just messing with the forum.

Continuing to be completely amazed. I wonder though about the comments of another poster-Stu must have already completed this a while back and is just messing with the forum.

:D Ok, ok... Proof of life: local "shopper" circular that came in the mail today (I don't subscribe to any dailies) dated Wednesday, Oct 1.
http://lh5.ggpht.com/nsbatcruisebikes.net/SOQ1Y-VlsAI/AAAAAAAAAd4/Z8BObyRG8RM/s720/IMG_4268.JPG

Painted ceiling and sanded drywall in the background (newspaper must have fuzzed up the flash/shutter speed, but you can see the same paint buckets sitting there)
http://lh4.ggpht.com/nsbatcruisebikes.net/SOQ1ZVQinaI/AAAAAAAAAeA/g0Hjloig9Ls/s720/IMG_4269.JPG

I think the wife and I settled the color dispute. If you have your Sherwin Williams color fan handy: Virtual Taupe (SW7039) as the primary wall color, with Van Dyke Brown (SW7041) as the "screenwall" and kneewall accent color. Tony Taupe (SW7038) in the workout room. Priming walls tomorrow, so should have color on them Friday.

Just a silly question, not sure if it was asked already, but what do you do for a living? For one I see you do wonderful photoshop...but really, everyday all day? If you dont want to say I can understand, but I am sure others wonder the same. If you care, I do IT work and work a late shift 930 - 630 to support the west coast, so my evening work is often limited if any...I wish I could get my basement done soon. Just make sure you dont rush, you would hate to screw something up or forget something in your haste.

I mean unless you had every detail down already. I didnt, so I can go in the basement and wast 45 minutes easy just wandering around looking at stuff thinking about what to do how to finish it, but you are moving so fast it doesnt seem like you even have time to think.

Just a silly question, not sure if it was asked already, but what do you do for a living?
For one I see you do wonderful photoshop...but really, everyday all day? If you dont want to say I can understand, but I am sure others wonder the same. If you care, I do IT work and work a late shift 930 - 630 to support the west coast, so my evening work is often limited if any...

Well, that's probably the secret to my plethora of spare time. I was a stay-at-home dad until my kids were both in school all day, then I did the back-to-college thing for educational psychology and history, graduated at the end of this past summer. That's awkward timing for finding a job in the educational field, so I will just be trying to do some subbing this year. When the wife brought up this project, I decided to hold off getting on any sub lists. So I get my kids off to school, go like hell on the basement, then pick them up from the carpool lady in the afternoon.

I wish I could get my basement done soon.

I took about 18 months to 2 years on my old basement, so I know how you feel. I finally COMPLETELY finished it about 2 weeks before we sold that house (bathroom and sauna).

Just make sure you dont rush, you would hate to screw something up or forget something in your haste.

I mean unless you had every detail down already. I didnt, so I can go in the basement and waste 45 minutes easy just wandering around looking at stuff thinking about what to do how to finish it, but you are moving so fast it doesnt seem like you even have time to think.

The whole rush thing is kinda the nature of the beast in the situation. I mean I could have put my foot down and said "No way, I want to take my time", but I figured I should make hay while the sun shines, but build in maximum flexibility for future tweaking. I have been thinking about this basement for a few years. Since we built the house, really. I learned a lot from finishing the other one, so we had the builder stub in the drain for a bar, and do all the HVAC down there (HVAC was my least favorite part of doing my old basement).
I've got unfinished areas behind every "important" part that allows me to not worry about stuff now that I don't have to. That saves me a lot of time. For instance, my rack location. I want to do a fancy Middle Atlantic custom faceplate deal, but I don't even know what components I will end up with. (I don't have a 7.1 receiver at the moment, but I am wiring in speakers for 7.1) There is an unfinished hallway behind the rack spot, so I don't have to sweat those details now. On things like speaker placement, I already did all my agonizing over surround speaker location, so I knew beforehand that I was going to have to use ceiling speakers, and had a good idea of where those were gonna go. The future bar area butts up to the utility room, so I didn't have to worry about plumbing the water pipes to it.

So yeah, I hope I don't screw anything up. The way things are currently set up, I have a lot of cushion to remedy any screw-ups with the unfinished access. That front foundation stub is a screw-up, but that will get hidden down the road when I decide what to do about my screen wall/proscenium setup. I know I would make mistakes if I tried to rush that (due to inexperience and indecision), so I'm opting to hold off. That will be the part that ends up taking a couple years, just wait and see.

I'm a bit concerned about the whole projector thing because THAT is something I have zero experience with. I have the big conduit running to a cavity where I can either mount it at 16' or 18', and I have an outlet that will connect to a power conditioner of some sort. I'll have to put a hole there somewhere to get a power cord up and HDMI down, and I'm hoping I can do that without creating something hideous, or requiring significant drywall repair. To me, all the wiring and physical construction is easy, because I have done it before. I have no idea what I am going to do for a screen. I have a couple ideas, but I'm not sure they're good ones. That's where I am worried about making a mistake.

It does seem like things are moving too fast to think, but I have confidence in the flexibility that's built in, and the experiences doing my old basement that when I started putting sheetrock up, I was ready to put sheetrock up. Everything past that is just an obstacle course before I get to test it out

Paint
Trim
Tile
Carpet

You are my hero! Awesome job, awesome neighbor, awesome room, simply AWESOME!

Just a silly question, not sure if it was asked already, but what do you do for a living?

Smakovits, thanks for asking the question all of us were wondering about! And thanks to Stu for the answer.

It is REALLY coming along. Good job.

Guess, you'll be sitting around with your feet up waiting on carpet soon.

Thanks guys. This is giving me a nice little documentation of the process. It really doesn't seem like it's been 21 days since I started this, but her we go...

Day 21: Primed walls. It took me about 3 hours to cut in the inside corners with a brush, then roll. My neighbor had a 5 gallon bucket with about 4.5 gallons of plain white primer left over from a job, so I used that. Originally the plan was to just use the same "Antique White" that the ceiling was sprayed with, but spraying the ceiling used more of that than he expected, so I might have come up a bit short.
I'm really torn on posting a picture, because primer is such a butt-ugly stage. There was about a foot of overspray from the ceiling where I didn't have to roll. That makes it even uglier at the moment, because there's a layer of white paint you can see through all over the walls, and then a real sloppy looking top where I got to the overspray (also means no cutting w/ brush, so MUCH faster). Oh well, here's the sloppy primer. The walls are now covered, so I'm go for a couple coats of Virtual Taupe.
http://lh4.ggpht.com/nsbatcruisebikes.net/SOUV1ryEkzI/AAAAAAAAAeg/oEZny_tJUsQ/s720/IMG_4272.JPG
ETA: You can really see how NOT white the Antique White is. Against plain white, it looks really dark on the walls, but the walls look much darker than the ceiling. With darker walls, it will really look like a toned down white.

So now I have a fan blowing down there to help it dry good and fast, then I run around with the pole sander and brush over everything, and then I think I'm clear to fire up the actual paint tomorrow. My neighbor has spoiled me, because somewhere in the back of my mind, I am hoping that he shows up today and says "Alright, let's roll that sucker!" I mean, like I'm ashamed. You've probably heard the story about the dude who gives the homeless guy a dollar every day for a week when he gets off the train, and the bum thanks him profusely. Then Friday rolls around, and the guy doesn't have any cash on him, so he just walks by. The homeless guy yells "Hey, you sonofabitch, where's my dollar?" So in that regard, I kinda hope he doesn't offer any more kickass help, as wonderful as it would be. I'm feeling like a putz.

I've been a bit curious about how the speaker grills will look in the ceiling, so I put one up (with plastic dust/paint shield in place). (Speakercraft AIM8)
http://lh3.ggpht.com/nsbatcruisebikes.net/SOUV2R0AAlI/AAAAAAAAAeo/5X7d4ox8vo4/s720/IMG_4274.JPG

So what do you think? Apparently my neighbor has this same Antique White in aerosol cans for touch up on enamel work. They give some place a quart of paint, and for $150, they thin it down and put it in a case of 24 spray cans. So, it would be pretty easy to get my speakers to match the ceiling exactly. Thoughts?

I'll update again if anything interesting happens, but tonight is piano and guitar for the kids, so I'm about out of productive time.

Day 22: Ok, here's an update that's bound to make all the haters out there happy.:D I got to wondering why they hadn't called me to come pick up my tile yet, so I gave them a call. "Oh, uh, our supplier ran into some shipping problems, but they have given us a production date of October 14." http://www.ar15.com/images/smilies/anim_banghead.gif So I dunno. Grrr. I hate to have these bastards be the reason I fail. It also would have been nice to have looked for a replacement earlier. Could probably have had them by now.

Second hiccup is more of an irritable observation than anything. Why is paint more challenging than mudding? I eventually got the hang of the whole "cutting in" the corners against the ceiling thing, but not before about half of it ended up looking like Mohammed Ali and Michael J. Fox were hired to do the job. My apologies for insensitive Parkinson's joke, but I'm a bit irritated with myself for not starting in some discreet corner to refine my technique.http://www.ar15.com/images/smilies/anim_slap.gif
I got it pretty cleaned up on the second coat, but there's some spots on the ceiling that will need some touching up (see ceiling speaker pic below)

This exact moment is paintus interruptus for dinner, but I theoretically plan to head back down to roll out the whole thing tonight. I want to get done with that so that I can start putting in doors and trim tomorrow, or maybe start tile hunting.

Due to overwhelming public consensus *crickets chirping*, I decided to paint the speakers. Perfect match. With the grill on, it should virtually disappear. You can see and example of why I'm irritated with myself on the painting deal. Gonna be some touching up to do, but I figure I'll wait until I inevitably bump the roller on it a couple times.
http://lh5.ggpht.com/nsbatcruisebikes.net/SOa58k_QaAI/AAAAAAAAAfc/PuA97fdscWQ/s720/IMG_4276.JPG

I painted all the grills and the 3 other AIM8's on the ground. Plastic dust/painting covers were very handy.
http://lh4.ggpht.com/nsbatcruisebikes.net/SOa570pCpQI/AAAAAAAAAfU/GGDdL5Q9Vqk/s720/IMG_4275.JPG

So yeah, that's where I'm at. The tile deal pisses me off. It influenced our paint selection, so I'm still not sure whether to just wait on the tile, or track down a very similar one somewhere else.

I'll make a 21 1/2 update if I get anything significant accomplished yet tonight.

No courtesy to call, not a chance in the world I buy that tile.. I'd find something similar, perhaps, somewhere that has it in stock..

No courtesy to call, not a chance in the world I buy that tile.. I'd find something similar, perhaps, somewhere that has it in stock..

Good point. Plus I REALLY do not relish the idea of trying to do the tile after the carpet. I'm pretty sure there's some sort of magnetic attraction between cement/grout and carpet fibers. I already checked the interweb, and the place I had ordered that particular tile is the only distributor in the state. I got the painting done in the main room tonight, so tomorrow morning I am going to head in to the city. There are 3 major tile distributors within about 2 miles of each other, and I have got to think that at least one should have something very comparable in stock.

What's that? I got the painting done? :D Day 21 1/2: I got the painting done. I got two coats on by just going in a giant circle. By the time I was done with the first one, my starting point was dry enough to start over immediately. Ceiling still needs the touch up from my learning curve, but I figure I have the rest of my life to do that. Right now I'm tired. But not too tired to post a couple pictures...

Have I mentioned that I hate that stupid foundation thingie? I'm now wishing I would have put rock and cornerbead on it. Having a shelfboard like the rest of the kneewall is going to draw attention to it until I can build a cool screenwall. Anyhow, this picture shows the contrast between the Virtual Taupe and the Van Dyke Brown. VDB is a really neat, deep, rich color. In a twist I had not seen before, both paints darkened as they dried.
http://lh6.ggpht.com/nsbatcruisebikes.net/SOcIQmNwMzI/AAAAAAAAAgU/FPN0Lc0KntQ/s720/IMG_4279.JPG

The obligatory "same angle" shot for reference against earlier pics. I think I have enough of this same angle that I can put together a little montage when I'm done. As you can tell by comparing to the first picture, the Virtual Taupe looks darker in this picture than it really is.
http://lh4.ggpht.com/nsbatcruisebikes.net/SOcIRbN7DTI/AAAAAAAAAgc/y07K1DLc4PY/s720/IMG_4280.JPG

Very nice, you are supplying a boat load of inspiration!

Hey Stu Pedaso, my advice to you is to start drinking heavily! :D


Seriously, while taking on this extreme project....make sure you are getting plenty of rest and eating healthy. Also, watch the intake on caffeine and alchohol as well!!!

Thanks guys.

Day 22: I hit several major tile places and found an acceptable substitute. Not that I would have gotten a ton done today, but it irritates me that I had to waste so much time on that.
I stopped by Home Depot on the way home and ordered a 60"x120" sheet of WA designer white so I can have a crack at a DIY screen whenever it comes in. $99 + tax. People who try it seem to be happy with it, so what the heck. Best case scenario, I'm happy as a clam for $100. Worst case, I have something to watch while I save up for a Firehawk.
Now I have a wedding and reception to go to this afternoon/tonight, so that was Day 22.

New timeline resembles something like this, with several things that coulda/woulda/shoulda been knocked off this morning.

Sunday/Day 23: Doors and trim (except for tile area), maybe paint workout room.
Monday/Day 24: Lay tile, paint workout room, install workout room lights
Tuesday/Day 25: Grout tile, trim out outlets and switches, clean up.
Wednesday/Day 26: Carpet
Thursday/Day 27: Carpet finished up in the morning. Wrap up any loose ends.
Friday/Day 28: This is the day I was supposed to be finished. Did I get off on my day count along the way? I thought I had thirty days, but now it looks like I only had 28?

ETA: I think I figured out my schedule hiccup.
The 12th is Sunday, so theoretically Saturday/Day 29 is still available as a work day, and then in true reality TV fashion, I could still be working the morning of Sunday/Day 30, which is D-Day. Realistically, I want to be done Friday so we have Sat to mess around and figure out if we own anything that fits down there decoratively.

Good to hear you found a substitute!

OK, OK. I know it is probably in here somewhere, but I can't seem to locate the place in the thread. What brand paint did you use? I really like the color combo.

Thanks

OK, OK. I know it is probably in here somewhere, but I can't seem to locate the place in the thread. What brand paint did you use? I really like the color combo.

Thanks

Sherwin Williams. Virtual Taupe (SW7039) is the primary wall color, Van Dyke Brown (SW7041) is the front wall and knee wall accent color.

Shawn - Me too, very relieved. I'm going to pick the tiles up Monday after I drop the kids off at school, then come home and try to get them in.

I hope you have some good knee pads...

If you lived closer, you could borrow my wet tile saw...Make sure if you cut inside, you put up plastic on your walls around the saw, those things sling water like crazy, and will make marks on your walls.

Tile is fun. Make sure you watch the "pattern" in the tiles and vary between boxes as they sometimes vary in color. If you pull from one box at a time, you may end up with a dark or light area in your tiles...

Oh, and don't forget your schlueter strips. Makes the edges look professional...

I picked up a wet saw a few years ago when I was doing a paver sidewalk. Those things are so nice. I bought a cheap Harbor Freight type one, and its paid for itself about 20 times over with the various projects. The plastic isn't a bad idea. I don't want to do it inside, but I'm actually going to be tiling tonight yet, and I'm thinking it might piss the neighbors off if I'm out on my patio running that thing. I know it's noisy on bricks, maybe it's better on tile. Or maybe I'll just be neat and careful when laying all my full ones tonight, and put the cut ones on in the morning (easy to avoid stepping on those before their 24 hours), grout tomorrow night, then cover with a sheet of plywood as a bit of extra insurance against the carpet guy traffic Wednesday morning.

I made sure the tile was all from the same lot, so hopefully that should minimize any box variation. It's easy enough to mix them up, so maybe I'll do that just to be safe.

The tile place had some really cool titanium anodized aluminum schlueter strips. They match and look awesome.

Off to the salt mine! Will post AAR pics.

Ok, too tired for after tiling pics. What a PITA that was. I finally decided to screw the spacers about halfway and just eyeball it. Looking everything over after, the stuff I was eyeballing appears straighter than the stuff with the spacers. Tomorrow I will fire up the wet saw and get the cut pieces done early enough for those pieces to be set enough to grout tomorrow night about this time (not supposed to walk on it for 24 hours, but I won't be walking on those pieces).

Tomorrow is going to be a big day.

Finish setting tile (cut pieces)
Finish hanging doors.
Casing around doors.
Finish base trim.
Cut last two rubber mats for workout room subfloor.
Grout.
Clean up for carpet guys.

Gonna wait until after carpet to do the outlets.

And my wife is out of town this week, so I'm on my own with the kids. Good news is that there aren't any activities tomorrow night, but the bad news is that I won't be able to get started until about 10 am. We'll see how this goes.

Also noticed that I'm an update behind. Sunday I got the rubber mats arranged in the workout room (had to slice a couple, that wasn't easy), painted the workout room, and installed the lights. I'll include pics of that in the next photo update.

So this is day 24?

I really am following along here. :)

Dude...this is legendary! Did you quit your job? Nice work!:D

Correction? Day 25?

Sounds like time for a babysitter!! Can't fail now, too close!!

Correction? Day 25?

They're all blurring together, I had to go back and look...

Day 25:

3:19 am, rolled right into day 26. Finally ready for the carpet guys who are coming in about 4 hours. I did go back down and take a few pictures, but right now the 10-15 minutes of messing around with them would be better spent sleeping. The good news is that I can't (or at least shouldn't) help with the carpet, so I'll have a good chunk of time, and promise to get them posted.

Oh, just remembered one irritating irritant. I ran out of grout, not enough to finish the bar tile area. I had the foresight to do all the spots next to where the carpet is gonna go, so I don't have to work right up next to the carpet when I pick up more grout. I had a 25 lb bag, I thought that would be plenty. So did the lady at the tile store.

Free: I had the saw, schleuter, and knee pads covered, but you forgot to remind me to wear rubber gloves when sponging grout. I've put lotion on my hands about 5 times in the last hour. They're so dry, the lotion just gets sucked right up.

Whoops, your right... I have a pair of latex gloves in my bucket of tile stuff...

Man, your hands will be like that for days...

Can't wait to see pics.

Your judgement call on doing the tile where the carpet meets up was a real good one.

Grout is a tough one to gauge, I have been left short a few times and been way over a few times -vs- what was expected quite a few times as well.

4 days left... carpet today right? Complete tile, trim, ect..ect... in three days? Looks like you are going to make it for sure. :)

Alrighty... Pics from end of Day 25...

Front wall, and future home of a screen, and eventually a fancy screen wall setup.
http://lh5.ggpht.com/nsbatcruisebikes.net/SOzNw4UdU7I/AAAAAAAAAhE/1FHbR4x1Iac/s720/IMG_4344.JPG

The same angle I have been taking a pic at each stage.
http://lh6.ggpht.com/nsbatcruisebikes.net/SOzNxq-fdII/AAAAAAAAAhM/8CvI-f4CTgk/s720/IMG_4345.JPG

I wanted to fit another door in that corner, but...
http://lh4.ggpht.com/nsbatcruisebikes.net/SOzNyAn3e9I/AAAAAAAAAhU/LtxxfQBxo-E/s720/IMG_4346.JPG

Grouted tile in need of a bit more cleanup. Note the corner that was going to be sticking out into the room. I realized that with two pieces intersecting, there would be a sharp corner that could wreak havoc on anyone unlucky enough to encounter it while barefoot. My solution was to cut out some bottom material so that I could make a 90 degree bend, then (because of rounded corner on strip and sharp corner on tile) put the tiles flush against the strip on the long edge, and the grout line between strip and tile on the short edge.
http://lh5.ggpht.com/nsbatcruisebikes.net/SOzNy3xh6vI/AAAAAAAAAhc/wbrYJx1svgQ/s720/IMG_4347.JPG

More dirty tile.
http://lh4.ggpht.com/nsbatcruisebikes.net/SOzNz1g8YJI/AAAAAAAAAhk/6r_caMihpIw/s720/IMG_4348.JPG

But yeah, so that's what it looked like at 3 am this morning.

Tomorrow & Friday
windows
kneewall shelf/top/thing
sliding door (then I can do the base over the tile)
Electrimical trim-out

I just talked to the carpet guy about the rubber mats in the workout room, and we've decided that the best solution is (rather than gluing the carpet to the mats) to put a 4" perimeter of plywood down w/ liquid nails, then they can use a thin pad and install it normally. So, I don't get a day off. I picked up more grout while I was out taking kids to school, so I think I will get busy with that after the carpet guys are done for today.

Looking very sweet..... I love the tiled entry way for sure. Sets it off real well.

:)

I love the foundation wall thingy, I think it really compliments the room well
http://lh5.ggpht.com/nsbatcruisebikes.net/SOzNw4UdU7I/AAAAAAAAAhE/1FHbR4x1Iac/s720/IMG_4344.JPG

:)

I love the foundation wall thingy, I think it really compliments the room well
:)

I'll sell it to you for a buck. :D

PM update: Carpet is looking good. Really changes the feel down there. I'll post pics when they're done for the day.

Quoting Meatloaf.... "Holy cow, I think he's gonna make it!" Nice job Stu!

I wanted to fit another door in that corner, but...
http://lh4.ggpht.com/nsbatcruisebikes.net/SOzNyAn3e9I/AAAAAAAAAhU/LtxxfQBxo-E/s720/IMG_4346.JPG



I dig your colour choice. Looking forward to seeing pics with carpet.

Don't leave us hanging to long as your comming down to the wire here. :)

Don't leave us hanging to long as your comming down to the wire here. :)

Will have a photo update tonight. I promise. :cool: My parents are here visiting, so it's extra busy. I even have an extra surprise coming. It may or may not be hung. :D

ETA: Brief update - all the carpet is in, trim is up, furniture is moving in... Only downer is that the window trim will NOT be done. I decided to order the Anderson Windows extension jambs rather than trying to reinvent the wheel. They have tongue and groove around the windows, slick deal. I could have gotten pine right away, but oak is a 2 week order deal. So, windows notwithstanding, I am a few outlets and a top secret project away from declaring an end to major action.

Looking forward to additional photos. Have to add that my GC is up to day 31 and not even close to finishing. After this, you will need to rename your thread to "30 Days: A Really Stu Pendous Project".

First off, I would like to preface this update with a special thanks to the people out there who work in the wood putty factories. I have really been doing my part to support their industry in these uncertain economic times. :p

I believe I am very, very close to being finished. Exceedingly close. Extraordinarily close. Really close. I need a doorknob for the door to the future bathroom. I still need to do outlets on 2 circuits. That all would have been done tonight, except I got sidetracked. It's amazing how much time little stuff takes. Like the freaking recessed lighting surrounds. Because of the design, I have to run around and lower the thingamajiggers inside about 1/4" so the bulb can screw in far enough. :mad: Here's a picture of the ladder after I figured that out.
http://lh3.ggpht.com/nsbatcruisebikes.net/SPApJ6GbMgI/AAAAAAAAAiM/lgYRaeyO6B0/s720/IMG_4350.JPG

Gave me an excuse to take the time to paint the rims to match the ceiling, to keep the illusion that it's white.

Here's the sectional couch. I'm not in love with it there, but it provides 3 good seats, 2 mediocre seats, and 1 bad one. It's also comfortable as heck when reclined. The weights are laying there on account of getting quickly moved out of the way when carpet guy came this morning to finish the workout room. We used some weights to keep some pressure for the liquid nails around the perimeter. The wood was solid as a rock this morning, so he was good to go.
http://lh6.ggpht.com/nsbatcruisebikes.net/SPApKrvH4jI/AAAAAAAAAiU/88IWCjPoYMs/s720/IMG_4351.JPG

More mess. :o
http://lh5.ggpht.com/nsbatcruisebikes.net/SPApLb5PutI/AAAAAAAAAig/piQMbBG6uLY/s720/IMG_4352.JPG

Oh look, what's that laying on the floor?
http://lh4.ggpht.com/nsbatcruisebikes.net/SPApJCqblUI/AAAAAAAAAiE/hep7bKGVPOs/s720/IMG_4349.JPG

I bet I could try to use that for a DIY screen...
http://lh4.ggpht.com/nsbatcruisebikes.net/SPApMKZ3BVI/AAAAAAAAAio/657HgKu1Mho/s720/IMG_4353.JPG

Yeah, that got me sidetracked. Being I don't have enough spare change in my pocket for a Firehawk, I figured I'd give the el cheapo DIY options a shot. 5x10 sheet of Wilsonart laminate became a 111" wide screen. I think I already f'd up, though. 16x9 is 1.78. For some reason I was thinking 1.85. I should have made it 107" wide. Oh well, that's only 4", which can easily be remedied when I frame the screen. Which won't happen until I actually have a projector, so I know what size I can actually get away with.

Have I mentioned that I hate that foundation thingy? I haven't heard back from smakovits on my offer to sell it for a buck. I suppose shipping costs might be scaring him off.

I took the afternoon pics before I trimmed out the sliding door, I see. That turned out nice. It's a bummer that I have to wait for the oak window trim, but I am comfortable in the knowledge that I COULD half-ass it, but I want to do those right, and there's no way around the order time for oak. I have to run up to the family cabin tomorrow and help my brother take out the docks and boat lift, so we'll see what happens with those outlets. I just might be running around at the last minute Sunday morning. :p

I'm going to have to figure out some acoustic treatments down the road. There's definitely some echo/reverb going on.

Simply Awesome... So if I provided a place for you to stay, could you finish a basement in 30 days for me? :) Course, it still needs to be dug out... Congratulations. Looks to me like you could call that project done..

I have been checking out this thread since you started it. Really great job, simply amazing!

Simply Awesome... So if I provided a place for you to stay, could you finish a basement in 30 days for me? :) Course, it still needs to be dug out...

This might take him 32 days to complete, 33 tops ;).

No doubt it was my faith in you 30 days ago that provided the extra bit of motivation required to get that thing finished. I won't take all the credit though, you did a pretty good job also. :)

Seriously though.. Awesome, awesome, awesome. I am thoroughly impressed.

Thanks, guys. I appreciated the support/accountability aspects during this project. We decided to take the dock out a different weekend, so today was kind of the polishing. I think I've said it before (or at least thought it while posting), but it's amazing to me how putsy some of the finals steps are. Finishing up the electrical outlets was a pain in the butt. Finger, actually. Pain in the finger, not finger in the butt. I'm pretty sure I'm gonna wake up with a blister on my wire stripping finger. So there was lots of playing with outlets, putting up the painted recessed light trims, picking up tools, hooking up speakers, playing with my receiver, adjusting doors so they all latch properly, the requisite run to Home Depot when I realize I don't have enough outlets...

But in the end, it's all done, except for the window trim, and the knee wall shelf on account of it connecting to the window trim, and the other knee wall shelf on account of my plan to use the leftover from the "nice" one.

These pics don't look much different from the ones I posted prior, but they illustrate how quickly it got taken over for the Day 30 scrapbooking gathering.:(

http://lh4.ggpht.com/nsbatcruisebikes.net/SPF19cKx01I/AAAAAAAAAjI/hX4zwiQW8Ls/s720/IMG_4354.JPG
http://lh5.ggpht.com/nsbatcruisebikes.net/SPF1-E5HaKI/AAAAAAAAAjQ/IiR83X1lVEM/s720/IMG_4355.JPG

Now I've really got a hankering for a projector so I can start tweaking screen size and placement, and take the 7.1 for a test run.

The place will be a-rocking when the scrap bookers come-a-knocking!

Sorry, couldn't resist. You made a believer out of me though. Didn't think you could do it in 30 days. Shame on me for not believing in the power of an AVS'er! Makes me feel lazy for taking a week to do some touch up paint though :rolleyes:.

I must come forth and admit that I was one of the haters saying this was not possible, when obviously it really was. Good work!

I was a doubter too...NICE WORK!!

awesome!

Thanks again. I'll post updates as the rest trickles along, such as the rack building (once my components are set), projector install (when I decide what projector and can actually afford it), frame for the screen (one I see the size the projector is happy at), that sort of thing.

Second hiccup is more of an irritable observation than anything. Why is paint more challenging than mudding? I eventually got the hang of the whole "cutting in" the corners against the ceiling thing, but not before about half of it ended up looking like Mohammed Ali and Michael J. Fox were hired to do the job. My apologies for insensitive Parkinson's joke, but I'm a bit irritated with myself for not starting in some discreet corner to refine my technique.http://www.ar15.com/images/smilies/anim_slap.gif
I got it pretty cleaned up on the second coat, but there's some spots on the ceiling that will need some touching up (see ceiling speaker pic below)

http://lh5.ggpht.com/nsbatcruisebikes.net/SOa58k_QaAI/AAAAAAAAAfc/PuA97fdscWQ/s720/IMG_4276.JPG

A little late for this, but...

With a little caulk and tape you can have perfect ceiling paint lines. I learned this after creating a few of those "artistic" blemishes you got there. ;)

Great build - congrats!

Congrats!!

Haven't even caught your breath yet and it's under heavy use already. :)

Now the other stuff is going to start trickling in. I think I have officially decided to pre-order the Panny AE3000 tomorrow. I was going back and forth between that and the Epson 1080UB, but I think I've decided to go w/ the Panasonic.

I also ordered a couple 36 space rails. Not because I think I need 36 spaces, but because I don't know how many I'll need yet, and they were like $5 more than the 24 space, and I can always cut them down.

So I have to ask, where the heck do you store all the scrapbooking stuff - tables, chairs, racks, etc? That's a lot of space!

So I have to ask, where the heck do you store all the scrapbooking stuff - tables, chairs, racks, etc? That's a lot of space!


Good question... I think she's taking over the back corner nook/room for a permanent work area, but the rest of the stuff folds down enough to fit into the utility room. That said, it's still set up.:confused:

Alrighty... Pics from end of Day 25...

Front wall, and future home of a screen, and eventually a fancy screen wall setup.
http://lh5.ggpht.com/nsbatcruisebikes.net/SOzNw4UdU7I/AAAAAAAAAhE/1FHbR4x1Iac/s720/IMG_4344.JPG

The same angle I have been taking a pic at each stage.
http://lh6.ggpht.com/nsbatcruisebikes.net/SOzNxq-fdII/AAAAAAAAAhM/8CvI-f4CTgk/s720/IMG_4345.JPG

I wanted to fit another door in that corner, but...
http://lh4.ggpht.com/nsbatcruisebikes.net/SOzNyAn3e9I/AAAAAAAAAhU/LtxxfQBxo-E/s720/IMG_4346.JPG

Grouted tile in need of a bit more cleanup. Note the corner that was going to be sticking out into the room. I realized that with two pieces intersecting, there would be a sharp corner that could wreak havoc on anyone unlucky enough to encounter it while barefoot. My solution was to cut out some bottom material so that I could make a 90 degree bend, then (because of rounded corner on strip and sharp corner on tile) put the tiles flush against the strip on the long edge, and the grout line between strip and tile on the short edge.
http://lh5.ggpht.com/nsbatcruisebikes.net/SOzNy3xh6vI/AAAAAAAAAhc/wbrYJx1svgQ/s720/IMG_4347.JPG

More dirty tile.
http://lh4.ggpht.com/nsbatcruisebikes.net/SOzNz1g8YJI/AAAAAAAAAhk/6r_caMihpIw/s720/IMG_4348.JPG

But yeah, so that's what it looked like at 3 am this morning.

Tomorrow & Friday
windows
kneewall shelf/top/thing
sliding door (then I can do the base over the tile)
Electrimical trim-out

I just talked to the carpet guy about the rubber mats in the workout room, and we've decided that the best solution is (rather than gluing the carpet to the mats) to put a 4" perimeter of plywood down w/ liquid nails, then they can use a thin pad and install it normally. So, I don't get a day off. I picked up more grout while I was out taking kids to school, so I think I will get busy with that after the carpet guys are done for today.

In this image I thought that the tile was completely covered with grout and thought that you would never be able to clean it off. After a second look I realized that the tile was green with just a little bit of grout haze on it. By the way good job on hitting your date and from what I have read the 3000 is a good choice for the projector. Jason is currently testing one now and he has said it is better than the 1080UB.

In this image I thought that the tile was completely covered with grout and thought that you would never be able to clean it off. After a second look I realized that the tile was green with just a little bit of grout haze on it. By the way good job on hitting your date and from what I have read the 3000 is a good choice for the projector. Jason is currently testing one now and he has said it is better than the 1080UB.

Yeah, I went over it twice with the sponge right away, but didn't want to bug it until the grout had a couple days to cure. It cleaned up very well.

re the 3000: It's sounding more and more like that's the right call. The only nagging doubt in my head is the $300 rebate + free bulb on the 1080UB, but that doesn't make up for the reported quality difference, so I'm feeling pretty confident in my decision.

I think you will love the Panny. I use an AE1000U long time now, very happy still.

I think you will love the Panny. I use an AE1000U long time now, very happy still.

I put it up tonight. I had planned to be stealthy about it, and get it all set up and figured out before anyone saw it. Of course my nosey wife decided to come down. So, I ended up watching stuff rather than being able to figure out, adjust and tweak.

I think it looks awesome, so I figure I better stay out of the projector forums from here on out so no one can convince me of the contrary. :D

I put it up tonight. I had planned to be stealthy about it, and get it all set up and figured out before anyone saw it. Of course my nosey wife decided to come down. So, I ended up watching stuff rather than being able to figure out, adjust and tweak.

I think it looks awesome, so I figure I better stay out of the projector forums from here on out so no one can convince me of the contrary. :D

did you end up getting the 3K? you will have to post some screen shots here and in the projector threads as you would be one of the first to have your 3k already and installed as many dont expect theirs until today and tomorrow...

did you end up getting the 3K? you will have to post some screen shots here and in the projector threads as you would be one of the first to have your 3k already and installed as many dont expect theirs until today and tomorrow...

Yes, I'd be very interested in the screen shots as well!

Yup, the Panny 3000. I pre-ordered it from Projector Point and was within the 1 day zone for UPS from them, so it showed up yesterday afternoon. I'll see about trying to get a couple screenshots tonight. Never done one before, so I'll probably have some trial and error.

Can't find my tripod... Grrr.

Just wanted to check and see how everything has been going with your new theater... Is there anything you would have done differently now that you have been using it? Any changes already?

Hey Stu.

Just wanted to know if you had gotten the projector up and if you had any finished photos of the basement?

Mark