After a couple months reading about some of the amazing theaters here on AVS we're ready to take the plunge and try building our own.

Our house was built last year and has a nice walkout basment that was well built for finishing. The original plan was to include a playroom for the kids, small wine room, home gym, and a TV room. The TV room (Plan A) was to have been 13 ft by 15 ft and centered around my 55" Sony HDTV. I was googling for Blu Ray information and stumbled upon AVS. (Time will tell if this was a good thing!!)

Fast forward 2 months, and we have now stolen 5 ft from the kids playroom to create a 19 ft by 14 1/2 ft home theater - Plan B. It also now includes buying a projector, AT screen, riser, and 2 rows of seating. The first row will be viewing at 9 1/2 feet, and the second at 16 1/2 feet.

Still to be determined is the screen size, projector, equipment cabinet location, sub location, and how to handle the acoustics and some of our problem areas in the build.

I welcome any and all feedback. We are borrowing many of the ideas we have seen here for seating, lighting, screens, etc.. Still have a lot to learn though.

Here is the current full basement plan
http://i413.photobucket.com/albums/pp213/badata2d/PlanBPlan.jpg

and here is the more detailed theater plan B
http://i413.photobucket.com/albums/pp213/badata2d/Theatervjpeg.jpg

Here is the theater looking from the opening door towards the screen. I built some temporary 2x3 walls just to get a better sense of the space.
http://i413.photobucket.com/albums/pp213/badata2d/PlanB.jpg

Play room in the background
http://i413.photobucket.com/albums/pp213/badata2d/playroom.jpg

Future wine room = 5ft x 7ft
http://i413.photobucket.com/albums/pp213/badata2d/wine.jpg

Future gym
http://i413.photobucket.com/albums/pp213/badata2d/gym.jpg

When I finished the 3rd floor I had an additional panel added so I have plenty of room for new circuits. The middle panel in the picture is for a backup generator.

Here is my first problem area
http://i413.photobucket.com/albums/pp213/badata2d/Theproblem.jpg

This is a clean out for our septic system. After I insulate the foundation wall and put in an interior wall it will still stick out about 12 inches. Not many inexpensive or easy options for moving it.

Challenge 2 - We dont have a lot of room at the bottem of the stairs outside the theater entrance. In order to keep things feeling open we were planning to do arches on the back wall of the theater (East Side) and also an arch on the North Wall - shown in the next picture. Some of the feedback I have been getting is the open arches with drapes will defeat any attempts at sound proofing. Would like to hear thoughts if this is true and I should just skip GG and isolation clips and just build "normal" walls.
http://i413.photobucket.com/albums/pp213/badata2d/arches.jpg

I take it you're doing this yourself. I don't know where you are located; but, that hallway width between the closet (under the stairs) and the theater wall, will not likely pass code. You might wanna check on that.

I take it you're doing this yourself. I don't know where you are located; but, that hallway width between the closet (under the stairs) and the theater wall, will not likely pass code. You might wanna check on that.

IBC code for hallways is 3' 0" mininum. That's finished dimensions (ie wth drywall), sans trim work. Can you steal space from the utility room? Even at 36", the hallway would seem narrow, given its length.

Looks like a fun project. You'll have to get creative to hide that clean-out.

Thanks for the feedback. I moved the door frame further under the stairs and got to 3 feet of width. The building dept is still reviewing the plans so I havent gotten feedback yet on any code issues.

I agree on the comments on the longer hallway next to the theater wall. That is part of the reasoning for putting in the arch and drapes. I think it will make it seem more spacious when they are open. Since all of the natural light is in the playroom we are going to use a tempered glass door into that room. It will allow some natural light into the hallway which should also make it seem more open.

I am going to do some of the work myself and the contracting and design. The latter is a bit of an exageration since I have borrowed most of our ideas from this forum! I have subs to do the drywall and electrical.

I am working now on applying masony waterproofer on the walls and covering them in foam insulation. The basement has always been dry but this is the only chance I will have to do some of the extra steps to make sure it stays that way.

My basement has always stayed completely dry, but I'm not taking any chances. I've put on 10 gallons of Drylock on the portion of the foundation that is below grade (2 coats).

I have also started putting up some rigid insulation to give me an extra R7.5 I am just using adhesive for now to bond it to the concrete, so I had to get creative on holding it tight while it sets up. Seemed like a good way to put all this dri-core sitting around to good use. I would bet that each panel will probably get moved around my basement 5 times each before they get installed.
http://i413.photobucket.com/albums/pp213/badata2d/Dricore.jpg

Your floor's not going to be very level, what with the way you're installing that Dri-core. ;)

The water proofing is done, 10 gallons of Drylock later. Nasty stuff, both the order and the trouble of applying by brush. I just did a gallon every night after work to spread the pain.

I've got about half of the rigid insultation up now and am ready to start putting the floor down in the playroom. In case anyone thinks I'm one of those "neat" DIYers I also attached a pic of the HT right now.

The playroom
http://i413.photobucket.com/albums/pp213/badata2d/IMG_0874.jpg

The HT in progress
http://i413.photobucket.com/albums/pp213/badata2d/IMG_0875.jpg

I see that you’ll going to run into a few problems unless you move the rear seating forwards by more than a few feet because the centre back surround will not serve good with that seating arrangement. Also you’ve been reading far too many home theatre magazines because you’ve got a hole a huge hole between the centre back.

So place at least 4 on the back wall and aim them downwards with the rear seating moved forwards and the first row front seating also moved forwards a bit more. Also place a few more of the same surrounds on the sidewalls if I can do it you can, I use at least 10 surrounds because I want the surround image to surround and its not about loudness in my case, its about getting it to sound right.

The sub bass belongs behind the screen and that wall off to the left is kinder like my room only slightly different, and yet I have plan to place a false stud wall so that its flush.

So rethink again because some tend to spend so much on this hobby and the last thing you what to do is post a future post saying I’ve got surround issues can you help. All it needs is just a little more redesigning before committing yourself fully to the project.

JBL,

Maybe you could be the one to call my wife and suggest we buy the 10 surrounds and 4 back speakers !! I'm thinking that might be the final straw in this project, and I still havent finished convincing her of the projector and AT screen. I need to do a Sketchup, but right now I'm leaning towards 4 surrounds. I would put them in a pair of columns aligned with each of the seating rows. The rear column would help cover up that problem pipe of mine. The pipe will be out 9 inches once the wall is built and that would be a good depth for the column I think.

Actually I havent read too many magazines on the subject. I realize the two openings will hurt my acoustics, I'm just not sure till the walls start going up how the space outside the theater will feel being closed in. Most of the people on this forum seem to be on the extremes - going all out with DD/GG/GOM, etc.. and those that build more high end entertainment areas with theaters that are open to the other spaces. I still need to decide.

We’ve now gone over to “Plan C” from outer space :D

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk123/IndianaJones34/HomecinemaplanC.jpg

I’ve looked your home cinema over have made some cool alterations as you can see the first row is slightly forward the back row has been moved forwards and the door has been repositioned to the centre of the room.

I’ve removed one seat because I found thou it may be lucky number 7 seemed a bit odd with four seats at the back with only three at the front, so I’ve tightened it a bit with enough walk space around the seating area.

You’ll have that all what some like to brag about is their “rack space” for custom made or use professional 19” framing that can be attached to the timbre frame and then finished of for that professional flush finished look. I’ve also fitted in an extra two surrounds so that’s 12 and you’ll be the only one on the neighbourhood with the big sound! Two subs placed underneath the centre channel and behind the screen is the proper placement. You what to hear the sound with matching thee sets of the same loudspeaker, none of this mismatching nonsense.

Wire the surrounds in series along the sidewalls and give them their own power amplifier with 1/3 equalization to make any necessary trims to the frequency response to get the surrounds to have the same response as one single front channel, repeat this with the other sidewall arrays and do this for the centre back as well, that will give you leading edge.

Don’t worry about the surrounds at the back they should be placed up a bit just over the height of the door and aimed downwards all the surrounds should be placed in an ach horseshoe configuration. Listen to monaural surround there should be tight all-around sound if stereo surrounds are present with a film that has six-track Dolby or 5.1 you’ll notice the sides having differences as the enterprise in Star Trek Nemesis (2002)manoeuvres around along with phasers fanning outwards, awesome sound mix.:cool:

I agree with JBL’s walling off of the side section, It’ll give you a nice place for all your kit, plus storage, ducting etc. However I’d be wary about the seat placement – the front row is far, far to close.

I’d stick with something like your original alignment for the seats but don’t use 7.1 because it wont be a great experience for the back row (plus in a room that size you wont really notice the difference with a decent rears). IMHO, without knowing what type of rear’s you’re using, if they are direct firing, I’d wire a pair in parallel in 5.1 and mount a pair in the back corners (on the side wall) facing the back row. This’ll make both rows pretty good.

I’m not a huge fan of subs in corners; prefer the mid point of each wall. Front, then back and sides, if you can find the space and money.

I took some of the suggestions above for Plan D ( I seriously hope we're not on Plan ZH by the time this is over). I eliminated the side wall arch and now only have the one in the back. I also clarified the front row of seating will be a sofa for the kids. I moved the sub behind the screen and will put the equipment rack on the side.

For the surrounds I put in two pairs, one for each row. I will put them inside some columns, which will help deal with my plumbing cleanout issue.

I will post my equipment this weekend, but suffice to say almost everything will need to be upgraded for this build. Been traveling this week so hoping for a good weekend making some progress.

http://i413.photobucket.com/albums/pp213/badata2d/TheaterPlanD-1.jpg

I got the first HVAC Quotes back and it looks like $6400 for the HT and Playroom. The wine cellar will have its own unit which only handles cooling and humidity. The HVAC guy recommended going with ductless units, I believe they work as heat exchangers. Both are from Mitsuibishi.

The HT unit is rated to cooling at 9,000 BTUs per hour and heating at up to 12,500 BTUs per hour. The unit is in the basement which is mostly underground and very well insulated so he thought these would be fine. I had him assume an occupancy in the HT of up to 8 people for his calculations. He has done some other work for me in the past and did a good job. I need to read up on these units to get a better idea how well they work and how much the electricity will cost me as there is no fuel source used. He was highly supportive of them, makes me wonder why they would not use these in new construction if they are so good (of course they only handle one room per unit)

When the units are cooling they generate 22-31-40 dbas at low-med-high.
When the units are heating they generate 22-31-40.

I need to find some way to simulate this noise level to get a better idea how loud it really is going to be.

When the units are cooling they generate 22-31-40 dbas at low-med-high.
When the units are heating they generate 22-31-40.

I need to find some way to simulate this noise level to get a better idea how loud it really is going to be.

This might help, a little:

http://airportnoiselaw.org/dblevels.html

Thanks for the link DC.

Made fairly good progress putting in the Dri-Core flooring this weekend. The weather was great in New England so I did feel compelled to finish some of my outdoor projects, so the basement didnt get as much time as I hoped for originally. I'm also traveling over the next week which is disappointing. I got the playroom finished and the area I'm doing now is part of the HT which psychologically feels good.

First Lesson Learned to share: Keep your work area clean. The Coke you left around last weekend looks the same as the fresh one from this weekend. They sure taste different though.

This pic is looking from the HT into the playroom. Room is larger than the picture makes it look.

http://i413.photobucket.com/albums/pp213/badata2d/Oct6.jpg

It's been a long month, but finally the flooring is all complete, walls water proofed, and foundation insulation is up. And worst of all the 100+ trips back and forth from the driveway carrying all the wood is complete !! I spraypainted the wall layout on the floor to get a better sense of the space and help with framing.

I also got the first new component for the HT, the new Sony Blu-Ray 550. It looks fantastic on my Sony TV, cant wait to see it in the HT.

I am trying to read up each night on Projectors, Speakers, etc... so I can start purchasing the next items. Next up is the projector so I can work on the PJ placement and the screen placement. I'm hoping to keep it to about $3k and will probably stick to Sony, Epson, or Panny.

Quick question: As someone who prefers the audio at a "normal" level, how much wattage are we talking about for a 7.1 setup in a 15x18 HT ?? I know that is a tough question to answer, but i doubt my Onkyo with 7x100W is going to cut it.


http://i413.photobucket.com/albums/pp213/badata2d/IMG_1019.jpg

First off thanks to everyone who has taken the time to post their HT builds. I have "borrowed" design or contruction tips from many including: Sandman, Art House, Pope, November Sky, Wolf's Lair, Not Hers, Farm House, Poindexter, Dark Knight, Get Away, Meyer Home.

The first weekend of framing is complete. My brother-in-law does framing and carpentry professionally for a luxury home builder and he came up for the weekend. It's incredible how much he can get done in just 2 days with only my assistance (cutting, lunch making, etc..) We framed almost 1000+ sq feet in just the two days. PM me if any one might be looking for his services (CT area).

I still have to do framing for doorways and many soffits, but all the hard stuff is done. The electrician came by to give me estimates, I'm almost afraid to see the cost. He did work for me before and is quite good. I'm also trying to pick out my projector, looking at Sony, Epson, and Panasonic. I think I want to buy that now so I can figure out its placement.

Below are pictures of the framing so far, and also my highly impressive current HT setup.

http://i413.photobucket.com/albums/pp213/badata2d/Frameday1.jpg

http://i413.photobucket.com/albums/pp213/badata2d/HT1.jpg

Finally ! After many late nights and long weekends (not mention $4700 to the electrician) the framing is complete and the electrical is roughed. I think I've built more square footage of soffits than walls at this point. Things look good and I'll have the inspections done this week.

Starting now on running conduit for the speakers and insulation. Only issue I am having now is the rear surround speakers. Between a support column and all the electrical wiring for the GE the only logical space is taken up. I've temporarily put up boxes near the arches as shown below. The speakers will be out wider but this is the closest I can get the wiring.

I have also settled on the new Panny 3000 projector, its on sale through today so the cost is a little less painful. I'm loving the Sony BluRay !!

http://i413.photobucket.com/albums/pp213/badata2d/1130Arch.jpg

Here is where the column will go with the surround sides and also to hide the cleanout.

http://i413.photobucket.com/albums/pp213/badata2d/1130Column.jpg

Here is the screen view.
http://i413.photobucket.com/albums/pp213/badata2d/1130Screen.jpg

Nice job!

For the Dri-Core, were you concerned with losing headroom?

Boom,

In my case headroom wasnt an issue, the basement is pretty evenly split between areas that are 8'3" and 8' 7". Giving up the inch or so for the dri-core was not an issue at all. Frankly all the soffits I had to build were much worse on the headroom.

I never considered putting the carpet on a bare concrete floor. My alternative to the dri-core would have been to do it the old fashioned way. Pressure treated 2x4's laying flat over a vapor barrier, rigid insulation in between and TG plywood over the top. That would have been about 2 1/4" high; so actually the dri-core saved me some headroom.

It's a pretty good product and I'd use it again. My house is new construction so the floor is fairly flat. Where it wasnt perfectly level I honestly didnt use a single shim. the variation was minor and there were only a couple spots where I used a Tapcon to pull them flush to the concrete.

I've fallen behind posting so I will try to catch up some. Below are a couple pics after I finished running all the speaker and AV wires. Everything that is in the rack space is wrapped up just to try and keep out the drywall dust. The drywall was delivered early since I needed to hang 3 sheets to allow for the Heating/Cooling units to be installed. There was alot of insulation before the rest of it got hung.

I'm not posting alot of how-to information since there is already so much of that in the forums. But please ask if you have any questions.

http://i413.photobucket.com/albums/pp213/badata2d/IMG_1297.jpg

http://i413.photobucket.com/albums/pp213/badata2d/IMG_1296.jpg

Here we are ready for drywall. I insulated all the walls, exterior and interior, and also packed all the soffitts. I didnt go the extra step with the cotton insulation since the arch in the back already defeats much of the sound absorption.


http://i413.photobucket.com/albums/pp213/badata2d/IMG_1311.jpg

http://i413.photobucket.com/albums/pp213/badata2d/IMG_1315.jpg

The drywall is complete. I hired this out, I cant stand doing the taping and mud. IT cost 5400 to do the entire basement, about 1000 sq ft, and took about 6 days which was months faster than I could have done it. Next up is the worst part of the project, vacuuming up all the dust from the floors and walls.

http://i413.photobucket.com/albums/pp213/badata2d/IMG_1416.jpg

http://i413.photobucket.com/albums/pp213/badata2d/IMG_1419.jpg

Work on the HT hasnt halted, but it has come to a slow grind as we try to get the other rooms complete. Given we are expecting another foot of snow tonite we really want the play room done first for the kids.

Here is a pic of the current state. You can see some of the test paint colors on the wall. We are also storing some furniture in here while the other rooms are finished.
http://i413.photobucket.com/albums/pp213/badata2d/IMG_1571.jpg
Here are our sconces - I am very happy with them.
http://i413.photobucket.com/albums/pp213/badata2d/IMG_1572.jpg
Here's about half of the wine racks waiting to be assembled. They are semi custom and I was expecting them to arrive in a form more like Thomasville furniture, but they arrived a la Ikea (pallet of flat boxes).
http://i413.photobucket.com/albums/pp213/badata2d/IMG_1573.jpg
Here is the play room.
http://i413.photobucket.com/albums/pp213/badata2d/IMG_1574.jpg

Looking good...Hurry up NOW!!;)

Nice sconces. Who made them?

The sconces are
Kings Table Antique Forged Iron ADA Sconce

We bought them from Bellacor for $146 each. We wanted something with a somewhat older iron room since much of the room will be wood and cloth panels.

Thanks. You should post them in the show me your sconces thread, perhaps when the space is more finished.

Those sconces are sweet.

I took some time off from the HT to finish all the other rooms. That was followed by a month getting the yard back to par. I have now resumed work in the HT. Right now I'm finishing up the stage and have started the riser. I am also starting to build the panels for the star ceiling (using Sandman's directions). I want to get at least one of the star ceiling panels up this week so I can see how things will look.

Stage
http://i413.photobucket.com/albums/pp213/badata2d/IMG_2460.jpg

Riser (always keep that workplace clean LOL)
http://i413.photobucket.com/albums/pp213/badata2d/IMG_2461.jpg


I also got a great deal on a rack.
http://i413.photobucket.com/albums/pp213/badata2d/HTRack.jpg

Put the top on the stage this weekend. Still need to build a small curved step to give it some character. I also got the step cut into the riser. Instead of putting it on the side or front I did it at a 45 on the corner. Probably took 3 hours with trying to figure out all the angles.

I got the first star ceiling panel done. It looks awesome and now the kids want one in every room. I think I seriously underestimated the time required though, 1 down and 11 to go.

I had my heat exchangers for the basement installed in winter. So the contractor didnt bother to see if the A/C part worked. Didnt bother to make sure the condensation pumps worked. Didnt bother to mention the pumps had to be permentantly accessible. Didnt bother to take the time to mount them as such, instead of burying them in the ceiling.

The results:
http://i413.photobucket.com/albums/pp213/badata2d/IMG_2622.jpg

SO did you move them or do you need to have access panels??

I'm going to have them both moved so they are behind the screen in an access panel. I obviously dont want to, but I've learned enough times if you dont take the time to do things right you'll pay for it over and over. Still p&ssed about it though !

[QUOTE=badata2d;16695612]I took some time off from the HT to finish all the other rooms. /QUOTE]

I love the sconce that you chose for the theater room. I would be interested to see how your wine room turned out. I have a similar sized space in my basement which I'm considering turning into a wine room.

Regards,
Chris

mrmckay, if you PM me an email address I will forward you the plans that were done up by IWA for the racking. I was very pleased with the design, and the racks were pretty easy to assemble.

Finally had a decent weekend. Last weekend was completely wasted doing some non-HT plumbing work and trying fruitlessly to get my riser lights working. Easily the worst purchase I've made since starting this project.

Riser and stage are now fully complete. I also settled on my wood for the room, maple. Started making the 4 columns and will do matching trim. Ordered a book from Amazon on finishing. I'm fine building them but confused on the finishing. The columns will be from maple plywood and will have maple accent pieces, and base/crown moulding attached. Just not sure which pieces to stain/poly now and which to do after install. I also think the min-wax stain is not going to work so I have to consider a dye or something. Ugh.

Hope to be carpeting by early Sept.

http://i413.photobucket.com/albums/pp213/badata2d/IMG_2814.jpg

Had a good productive weekend (finally). I finished up the stage, added a curved step to the front. I also built all of the boxes for my 4 columns; decided to use maple. Will have maple columns and all the trim/ mouldings as well. The baseboards and crown will wrap around the columns to help tie everything together. Going to be on vacation in Europe for the next 8 days so things will be on hold briefly. My goal now is to try and have things usable by the opening of football season. Pics below.

http://i413.photobucket.com/albums/pp213/badata2d/IMG_2844.jpg

http://i413.photobucket.com/albums/pp213/badata2d/IMG_2838.jpg

I was stumped for a while on how to do this; make a couple of my upper speaker columns removable. Not on a regular basis, but in an emergency. Finally solved it with a pair of 24" threaded steel rods from home depot.
http://i413.photobucket.com/albums/pp213/badata2d/IMG_3041.jpg

http://i413.photobucket.com/albums/pp213/badata2d/IMG_3043.jpg

http://i413.photobucket.com/albums/pp213/badata2d/IMG_3042.jpg

Got my brother in law to come up this weekend and help me knock out the trim. Went with maple for everything. Very happy with the results, especially the contrast with the black ceiling. I was going to darken the trim some to an amber, but am now thinking I will leave it lighter. Of course that means I'll have to darken the wall paint though. Need to build the speaker shelves into the columns now and then should be ready to start finishing the trim and columns.

This view is looking back towards the seating riser.

http://i413.photobucket.com/albums/pp213/badata2d/IMG_3045.jpg

Many hours this weekend putting filler in nail holes. What a boring, time consuming task. I cant imagine how people do their entire house in stained wood. Also worked on building the speaker shelves to go into my columns. I hope to be putting on the shallac on everything by end of week.

I finally got the column speaker shelves complete, trimmed out, and filled the nail holes. Made an error on four of them and got to redo them from scratch. Will start putting the shellac on tomorrow night. Am also ready now to order the carpet and speakers.

Just cant put into words how exhausting it was to fill in hundreds of nail holes and same them all down.
http://i413.photobucket.com/albums/pp213/badata2d/IMG_3138.jpg

Damage so far, and this is before I even start sanding the three finish coats.
http://i413.photobucket.com/albums/pp213/badata2d/IMG_3140.jpg

I just skimmed through your build thread. It is going to be a nice theater. In the first post I saw a transfer switch for a generator. It looks just like the one I have right next to my main panel. :)

Yeah, I do love my generator. My wife thought it was a total waste until that big ice storm hit the northeast last year. I'm afraid it wont be enough to supply the HT tough unless I sacrifice something else. I do have the 55" sony on it upstairs at least!

Shellac finally started, and carpet ordered !! Finally starting to see the light at the end. Went with plain black for the stage and crimson with a star pattern for the rest of the HT. Will be ordering my new Aperion speakers tomorrow night and am going to Roman's to check out Berklines on friday.

Drove down and picked out my Berklines. Brought the first two back and will get the last two in a couple weeks.

Placed the order for my new speakers, should arrive on friday.

I am finally all down shellac'ing the columns and mouldings. Actually applying the shellac is quite quick, but all the sanding, vacuuming, tack cloth, etc.. is time consuming. Will be painting next weekend and should have the grand opening just in time for NFL opening.

Couple pics of the wood work, w/ and w/o flash.
http://i413.photobucket.com/albums/pp213/badata2d/IMG_3188.jpg
http://i413.photobucket.com/albums/pp213/badata2d/IMG_3187.jpg

Riser and stage are now fully complete.

http://i413.photobucket.com/albums/pp213/badata2d/IMG_2814.jpg

Hey bad,

What are the dimensions of your riser & the step leading up to it?

With that angled step on the front it looks almost exactly like what I want to do my riser... But I haven't completely worked out my plan yet... :o

My riser is 78 inches deep and 128 inches wide. Gives me enough room to have 4 Berkline 13175's in a curved pattern. I didnt have a lot of options in what models would fit, and I insisted on fitting 4 so that is the model I chose. There will be a sofa on the floor in front of the riser for the kids.

I used 2x12's as the base of the riser, so I believe that's 10 1/2 inches with 1/2 inch plywood and then another layer of 5/8 plywood on the top - so around 11 1/2 inches total height. You could probably get by with one layer of plywood, but I cant stand having the platform bouncy; this feels really solid. I filled it all with insulation as well.

The steps are at a 45 degree angle; you cant tell from the picture but knocking off that corner gives me a wider passage where the equipment closet is located. My room narrows at the front.

I'm back home on Wed and can post the exact measurements for the steps if you want.

Just got a chance to check out this thread.
Beautiful woodworking !! Anxious to see the final result

My riser is 78 inches deep and 128 inches wide. Gives me enough room to have 4 Berkline 13175's in a curved pattern. I didnt have a lot of options in what models would fit, and I insisted on fitting 4 so that is the model I chose. There will be a sofa on the floor in front of the riser for the kids.

I used 2x12's as the base of the riser, so I believe that's 10 1/2 inches with 1/2 inch plywood and then another layer of 5/8 plywood on the top - so around 11 1/2 inches total height. You could probably get by with one layer of plywood, but I cant stand having the platform bouncy; this feels really solid. I filled it all with insulation as well.

The steps are at a 45 degree angle; you cant tell from the picture but knocking off that corner gives me a wider passage where the equipment closet is located. My room narrows at the front.

I'm back home on Wed and can post the exact measurements for the steps if you want.

Thanks!
If you get a chance to post the step dimensions that would be great. The layout of my room is similar in that it is narrower at the front 11'5" widening to ~14' at the back to allow for passage beside the riser.

Just got a chance to check out this thread.
Beautiful woodworking !! Anxious to see the final result

Thanks Cuzed2; I just could not bear the thought of doing more white mouldings after all the other rooms I've finished in the house. Thought it would be fun and unique to do all wood. Seriously underestimated the work though !!

The bottem step is about 21 1/2 in the front and 41 1/2 in the back. It's cut on a 45. About 7 1/2 inches deep.

The bottem step is about 21 1/2 in the front and 41 1/2 in the back. It's cut on a 45. About 7 1/2 inches deep.

Perfect! Thank You! :)

Yeah ! New speakers made it just in time this week. Spent today patching sheetrock, and lots of painting. Carpet to be installed on Monday.

Also had to re-install some of the cheap, crappy, step lights I got from AQL. Biggest disappointment of the project to date.

I also realized I have a bit of a stage/riser problem. I'm going to have to use the router to round over the plywood lip. Hadn't planned on doing that but realized the carpet will not look right otherwise.

Beautiful work! I'm just getting going on my own HT room, and am at the Drylok and installation of Dricor stage, so lots ahead of me. Seeing your step by step work is definitely an inspiration.

I was curious, those mini-split a/c & heating units, did you go that route for a specific reason, rather then doing something like a zone system off your main furnace? That's an interesting idea, and I've tried to look at my options.

I was curious, those mini-split a/c & heating units, did you go that route for a specific reason, rather then doing something like a zone system off your main furnace? That's an interesting idea, and I've tried to look at my options.

Couple of reasons; I have two furnaces in my house and the one that is for the lower part of the house is single zone. Really didnt want to go through all the trouble of adding another zone. I also already have a lot of ductwork, beams, and propane lines on my basement ceiling. I already had a ton of soffits to build and could not bear the thought of building any more. It would have been tough to run more ducts around all the existing ones anyhow.

In my basement the temp stays around 55-65 most of the year. So on any given day the units are not typically raising/lowering the temp more than 10 degrees. To be honest in the last year I've probably only had to run them 20 times.

Long, long day. But I think we're ready for the carpet installers in the morning and the opening tomorrow night.

I was hoping for a little more contrast between the wall paint and the wood, but I'm reserving final judgement till the carpet's all in. It took an unbelievable amount of brush work with all the wood and columns. Just not sure I have the energy to repaint. Any opinions ?

http://i413.photobucket.com/albums/pp213/badata2d/IMG_3201.jpg

Long, long day. But I think we're ready for the carpet installers in the morning and the opening tomorrow night.

I was hoping for a little more contrast between the wall paint and the wood, but I'm reserving final judgement till the carpet's all in. It took an unbelievable amount of brush work with all the wood and columns. Just not sure I have the energy to repaint. Any opinions ?

http://i413.photobucket.com/albums/pp213/badata2d/IMG_3201.jpg

First, (and I'll say it again) Very Nice Work!!

I share the same concern with my HT wall paint choice - being too light?
However; give it a go and live with it, against the new carpet for a while. You will know if (and when you have the energy) to repaint.

The carpet installers were here yesterday (monday). Then I installed the av equipment, new speakers, projector, screen, and the first two chairs. Then for the first time I finally got to sit down in a chair and use my HT !!

There are still a bunch of small projects to do to finish things up and one big project in the star ceiling. But we can finally start enjoying the new room.

Thanks to all of you for your suggestions, encouragement, and answers to all my questions in other posts.

Note: My HT and I are personally taking full credit for the Patriots come from behind victory ! That was the first thing we watched, and has been my deadline for a couple months now.
http://i413.photobucket.com/albums/pp213/badata2d/IMG_3208.jpg

http://i413.photobucket.com/albums/pp213/badata2d/IMG_3212.jpg

Looking good..Now get it done man..lol.

Nice job man. I really like the woodwork and sconces.

Nice!
What a difference the carpet makes

AWESOME! Down right sexy! Carpet really does make a difference! So why the black carpet for the top of the stage? I like it, don't get me wrong, just curious.

oh yea more pics please.

Regarding the black carpet on the top of the stage... On the front wall I wanted to see absolutely nothing, but the screen. I'll try to get a better picture, but the three black speakers and subwoofer completely disappear when the lights dim. I also put no crown or baseboard trim on the front wall; I didnt want to have that maple stripe cutting across the wall above/below the screen. I need to replace some of the speaker wire with black speaker wire, but I really like visually seeing just the screen and nothing else.

Thanks all for the feedback.

Update?