I've been lurking and reading threads here since I first purchased a Tivo several years ago. At that time, our home was a modest one-story of 1500 square feet with a master bedroom, a guest bedroom, and a small office. Most of 2005 was spent waiting on contractors to add a second story of about 1000 square feet. My plan was to convert the former master bedroom into the theatre room, but the contractors let tons of rain into the house when the roof was removed. The entire first floor had to be gutted to the studs: the plaster walls came down, the hardwood floors came up. It was a mixed blessing: the wiring and plumbing badly needed replacing and the walls and floors were showing their age. We also got all new insulation installed around and beneath the first floor.

It cost us several extra months out of the house, but it cost the contractors a hefty performance penalty, too. ;) It also allowed me time to run speaker cables for 5.1 sound in the walls, and DVI, 12VDC, and RS-232 cables for the projector overhead. We finally moved back into the house in late February of 2006 :eek: which meant loads of other work before anything could happen in the theatre room. I finally hung the screen and projector about a month ago to insure everything was okay. The wife enjoyed a couple of her favorite movies and I enjoyed the guilty pleasure that is The Rocky Horror Picture Show. ;) Now that the initial pleasure of the big screen and big sound have been tested successfully (and thoroughly enjoyed) I've started redressing the room.

Two weeks ago we picked out two inexpensive 5x7 area rugs to cover most of the new hardwood floor. We took home several paint chips to determine the darkest garnet red we could use. The living room is painted a bold red, so the theatre continues that theme. We traveled to a local fabric outlet and selected two fabrics that would work with the overall room theme of garnet, black, and gold. I contacted a local faux painter for the upper walls and she'll be coming out 7/31 and 8/1 to put up a color similar to Ralph Lauren's Balmoral Red (RL TH44) with undertones of yellow/gold. Last weekend I painted the ceiling a dark chocolate grey from Lowes. It's a Valspar/American Tradition interior flat latex called Ebony Field (4004-2C), chosen to work with the garnet walls.

Last weekend I also started the largest effort: staining and varnishing the new egg-and-dart molding for the room to a deep red mahogany. I purchased only the chair rail first to insure the stain and satin polyurethane varnish would yield the color I wanted. The chair rail got three rounds of Minwax Red Mahogany #225 stain followed by two coats of Minwax Bombay Mahogany #380 PolyShades combination stain/varnish. My goal was to create a deep and dark red mahogany that looked several layers deep, and I've been pleased with the results. So Friday after work I went back to Lowes with my shopping list for baseboard, crown moldings and door casings. I'm working inside the 12'x12' room and limited by having only two sawhorses and a single dropcloth (left behind by the painters.) This weekend I've been working on the door casings and trim, but it's been slow going due to a few thunderstorms outdoors. The stain wipes easily enough, but the first coat of varnish requires overnight to dry enough for buffing with 000 steel wool.

Pictures are forthcoming. Right now I have to insure the WAF stays high by taking her out to lunch. :D

Good man. Gotta keep her happy.

Bryan

Drat, the first reply I get is from the acoustic wizard of the forum. Guess he figured I wasn't doing full gonzo room treatments for sound. :p

Honestly, just getting the room for myself was enough of a job. Having to wait all these months while taking care of the yard, kitchen, living room, and HER downstairs room was the second toughest thing. I've already posted a few pictures as attachments to other messages here, but I've just setup a Photobucket page to collect all my pictures.

The 12'x12' room has natural oak hardwood floors now, but this is how it looked while torn down to the stud walls in October 2005. This view is from the room entrance looking back to the bump-out area where the walk-in closets used to be.

http://i104.photobucket.com/albums/m167/VorlonFog/0001_Stud_Walls.jpg

Here's one corner of the 5'x7' area rugs we chose to cover the new floors.
The red color was a good match for the paint that's going on the top half of the walls.

http://i104.photobucket.com/albums/m167/VorlonFog/0002_Rugs.jpg

Here's the fabric chosen for the wall frames. The gold design should pick up the hints of yellow/gold the faux painter will use in the dark garnet walls.

http://i104.photobucket.com/albums/m167/VorlonFog/0003_Fabric.jpg

Here's the obligatory picture of the room mess as it exists today. It might be a mess, but it sure beats the heck out of bare stud walls with no power. :eek:

http://i104.photobucket.com/albums/m167/VorlonFog/0007_Room_Mess.jpg

These are the door casings, plinth blocks, and rosettes I've been staining and varnishing this weekend. After two coats of varnish on the casings, I believe I'll add a third coat. Thank goodness the second coat dries faster than the first, and is easier to buff out.

http://i104.photobucket.com/albums/m167/VorlonFog/0004_Stain_Varnish.jpg

Here's a closeup of the door casing after two coats of varnish. I think I'll add a third coat for protection and to get a deeper color.

http://i104.photobucket.com/albums/m167/VorlonFog/0006_Door_Closeup.jpg

This is the egg-and-dart chair rail I used to be certain I could get the deep red mahogany color I wanted. It's hard to believe this was clear white wood before.

http://i104.photobucket.com/albums/m167/VorlonFog/0005_Chair_Rail.jpg

I already had a good receiver, subwoofer, front speakers and a pair of not-so-good rear speakers. Watching television and DVDs on the 27" TV with surround sound in the bedroom was always a good experience. All I really needed to start my theatre room was a projector, screen, and center channel speaker. After the renovation began last year, I purchased a refurb InFocus SP5000 directly from InFocus while there was a rebate available. They had a special on screens at the same time, so I chose their motorized 92" screen with grey material. What they shipped was a Da-Lite Cosmopolitan Electrol screen with an InFocus decal on the case. ;) Due to all the construction delays, both of these items sat unused in their boxes for over four months. The projector came out in January after the holidays were over just to insure everything worked correctly and to update the firmware.

Never being happy with what I've already got (sound familiar, anyone? :rolleyes: ) I scoured slickdeals dot net for new speakers. The fronts are Polk Audio R50s, the rear surrounds are Polk R30s, the center is a Polk CSi25, and the subwoofer I already had is a Polk PSW650. These are all driven by a JVC RX-8000V receiver with optical inputs and DD/DTS 5.1 processing. Video and audio is supplied by a home-built MythTV system. The GeForce 5200 AGP video connects via DVI-D to the M1 port of the InFocus SP5000 projector. The SoundBlaster Live 5.1 PCI audio card connects via fiber-optic cable to the receiver. DVDs are played using xine and a gigabit network connects the MythTV system to a Linux fileserver with 1.8 terabytes of storage for MP3 music files and ISO rips of DVDs.

During all the months we were out of the house, I ripped most of my music and movies to the fileserver. A good use of down time, right? Well, it was until four of the five disk drives in the file server all failed at the same time. :( All four had very close serial numbers and the fifth drive was significantly different. It just looked like a bad batch of drives and the manufacturer was extremely good about replacing them quickly Unfortunately, it means all my work ripping things was lost. Oh well, that's why I kept the original discs, right?

Nice job on the wood work and trim. I like the color of the stain. It should look great when it up.

Nice job on the wood work and trim. I like the color of the stain. It should look great when it up.

Thanks, Mike!! :D

It's always time-consuming and often tedious, but in the end it's always worth the effort.

Well, I was able to put two coats of stain on the last two pieces of door casing and three of the baseboards before settling in for Chappelle's Show, Mind of Mencia, and Reno 911. Back to the office tomorrow morning, and then more staining tomorrow: three more baseboards, and six pieces of crown molding. I've got a few vacation days scheduled at the end of the week, when I'll get to varnishing things and cleaning everything else out of the room. Then the painter will come in to do the the walls next week. I'll enjoy reading everyone else's threads until next weekend. Later....

Okay, it's three days later and I'm on my first day away from the office in months. I've been doing as much staining as I could every night, and I've just finished staining all of the trim molding for the wall frames and the corner blocks for the crown molding. This afternoon I'm cleaning off the work table and using it to varnish as well as the saw horses. The first coat of varnish will start going on and I'm hoping to finish the buffing and second coats by Friday evening. While the first varnish is drying, I've got to finish removing the existing baseboards and one more door frame, and take down the curtains from the screen wall. I'll be painting it the same dark chocolate grey as the ceiling.

This is to send out a rousing round of cheers and support for everyone working so hard on their own theatre rooms. You're an inspiration to me and to everyone else. Thanks!! :D

i love that color. how did you apply the stain/finish (did you rag it all on by hand?)and what species is the wood? (pine/oak?)

looks like you'll have a really classy room when you're done, keep up the good work.

Thanks for the kind words, MikeD. :)

I used a two-inch wide "chip brush", the inexpensive throw-away bristle brushes you can get at Lowes or Home Depot. They're about fifty cents apiece in bulk, and save you the trouble of cleaning the brush every day. The wood is soft and clear and might be birch. It looks too pale to be pine, but I can't be certain. I just brush on a heavy coat of the stain, let it sit for about fifteen minutes, then wipe it off with a cheap terry cloth shop towel. I let it dry a few more minutes, then apply another coat of stain. After the third coat of stain, I let it dry overnight before applying the first coat of varnish. I started buffing out the first coat with 000 steel wool but quickly switched to 00 steel wool. The 000 didn't scuff it quickly enough and wore out too fast. The double-ought worked just right, IMHO. For the baseboards and door casings I was able to use a medium/fine sanding sponge, since they were straight with no egg-and-dart details. I finished them with 00 steel wool after the sanding sponges.

I finished all the baseboards and door casings Thursday night and put the first coat of varnish on the crown moldings this morning. I cut down the plinth blocks to match the height of the baseboards and put the second coat of varnish on the plinth blocks and rosettes. The crown moldings will be ready for buffing before 6 pm tonight, so I'll definitely get the second coat on them before heading off to bed. This afternoon, I'm taking up the last of the old baseboards and getting ready for the painter. I don't plan on nailing up any of the woodwork until the painter gets done Tuesday night. If I'm lucky I might be able to measure, cut, and test-fit everything this weekend.

Oh, I forgot to mention -- I showed the wife pictures of Ronnie Jackson's stage and proscenium earlier in the week, and she asked if I was going to do something like that, too. Man, you just gotta love it when she suggests you do something you wanted to all along, huh? ;)

Very nice job on the woodwork. Those kinds of details really can make a difference if you have the time, talent, and patience.

Any time you can get a dedicated room, you're way ahead.

And yes, it's all in the presentation. If it's HER idea, its SO much easier :D

Bryan

I really appreciate your comments. :D

If we hadn't had so darned many problems with the :mad: !@#$%^&*?@! :mad: contractor during the renovations, I'd have left the room with no sheet rock and no trim, allowing for at least some acoustic treatments. I've been sorely tempted to tear down the sheet rock, but the WAF would plummet drastically. ;) Earlier this week, I mentioned removing the wall between the room and the closet bumpouts to lengthen the overall space and she asked, "Why didn't you do that when it was all torn apart?" :eek: Well, I suppose it might have had something to do with her freaking out if I'd gone ahead and done it.

As it currently stands, I'm going to finish getting the room decorated and then build superchunk bass traps for the corners up to the chair rail. Once all the painting and woodwork is in place (a minimum of two or three weeks) I'll see about building a small stage for the front of the room. I took off the baseboards in that area Friday afternoon, so it's ready for some activity. I just don't think I am. ;)

Yeah - every time you think you've got it figured out, they pull a fast one on you - leaving you stand there going "huh!?"

You can always put up panels later on - on top of the drywall to help tame things.

Bryan

Ah, what a great (and busy!) weekend: I finished buffing and varnishing the crown molding Sunday morning. While the finish coat was drying, I stained and varnished the last plinth block to replace the one I borked :eek: while cutting it (the wrong side, at that.) I felt really energetic late in the afternoon and started nailing up the crown molding. The odd corners behind the door were short and simple and got me started. The rear wall was about two inches longer than an eight-foot stick so it got a splice. I found out exactly where my new mitre saw cuts at 45 degrees and worked out a decent splice. The two side walls were no harder than the rear wall and I was all done by 7 pm. You'd never know I hadn't used a pneumatic brad nailer or put up crown molding before. :D Hey, if the television personalities on all the home improvement shows can learn it, I can, right? I'm happy to say that none of the new table saw, mitre saw, or brad nailer inflicted any injuries on my person this weekend. Not even a bruise or ouchie. ;) I'm thanking the HT muses this morning for my good fortune.

The painter is coming in this morning to start the faux finish work, but I'll be at work in a training session all day. I tried taking pictures this morning, but an empty room with white walls, dark ceiling, and dark red crown moldings doesn't offer much for the lens. I promise pictures of the paint progress this evening, though. :)

Here's how the front right corner looked after painting the ceiling a few weeks ago and putting up the crown molding yesterday:

http://i104.photobucket.com/albums/m167/VorlonFog/Mon_Jul_31101.jpg

This is the same corner after the base coats of red are on:

http://i104.photobucket.com/albums/m167/VorlonFog/Mon_Jul_31105.jpg

Tuesday, the painter will be applying a darker red glaze over this base color and applying small flecks of gold/yellow. :D

. . . the painter totally disregarded :eek: my requests and suggestions for applying tiny spatters/flecks of gold throughout the red. I called from work mid-morning and suggested spattering the gold from a small brush (like a toothbrush) to achieve the effect I wanted. When I came home at lunchtime, she had brushed on some wide splotches of gold and covered them with dark red glaze. :confused: I repeated my suggestion for spattering before returning to work. When I got home after work, my wife had already written the check and let the painter go. :mad: Yup, the gold is completely wrong.

I believe I'm going to have a long telephone conversation with the painter tomorrow.

Were you paying her by the hour? If so, it doesn't make any sense why she wouldn't do what you wanted as it would have taken a while to finish.

It was a fixed-price quote. I suspect she wasn't experienced in what I was suggesting, and didn't want to tell me that. :rolleyes:

The painter is coming back out this Friday to spatter the gold on. Here's what it looks like right now:

Same right front corner as previous pictures, this time with dark red glaze:
http://i104.photobucket.com/albums/m167/VorlonFog/Wed_Aug_02_102.jpg

Close-up (darkened to correct flash) of the faux finish:
http://i104.photobucket.com/albums/m167/VorlonFog/Wed_Aug_02_101.jpg

The painter came back out this morning, and I spent the first hour teaching her how to spatter paint. It was evident she had never learned or used the technique before. Fortunately, my patience was long and her learning curve was short. :) After several test spatters and an additional demonstration, she started working the walls and was done in just an hour and a half. I wisely stayed away from the room until she called me in to check on it, and it was almost perfect. By the time she had made a second pass around the room, it was better than I expected. I'm glad to say I finally got what I wanted, and she learned a new technique to use in her business.

The wife came back around lunch time and liked the look of it, too. :) Right after checking on it, she asked if I was going to start building the stage now. :D :D :D Pictures are coming right up (as soon as I can take and upload 'em.)

The painter came back out this morning, and I spent the first hour teaching her how to spatter paint. It was evident she had never learned or used the technique before. Fortunately, my patience was long and her learning curve was short. :) After several test spatters and an additional demonstration, she started working the walls and was done in just an hour and a half. I wisely stayed away from the room until she called me in to check on it, and it was almost perfect. By the time she had made a second pass around the room, it was better than I expected. I'm glad to say I finally got what I wanted, and she learned a new technique to use in her business.

The wife came back around lunch time and liked the look of it, too. :) Right after checking on it, she asked if I was going to start building the stage now. :D :D :D Pictures are coming right up (as soon as I can take and upload 'em.)


Looking great. You are giving me some ideas for my room as I want to repaint. But I have to ask.....why didn't you just do the painting yourself? If you had to teach the professional, it sounds as if you are more than capable.

Looking great. You are giving me some ideas for my room as I want to repaint. But I have to ask.....why didn't you just do the painting yourself? If you had to teach the professional, it sounds as if you are more than capable. Tony: Thanks for the compliments, but my gorilla-sized hands don't have the fine motor skills to do an entire three walls in such short time. I pound the keyboard all day for a living and figured a professional faux finish painter would have all the talent and skills to do the work quickly (not to mention more constistently) than me. This painter was referred to me by the painting contractor we've used for the last twelve years. He has connections to people you can't find in the phone book or online. It just turned out this particular lady does excellent faux finishes (I'm in awe of that portion of her work) and hadn't used spatter-painting before. For someone who hadn't done it before, she did a fantastic job this morning. :D (I also suspect she has tons more patience than do I ;) )

Here's the photos I took this afternoon. The first two are test pieces done on heavy-weight artist's paper to insure we got the right effect and technique. The second two are different sections of the actual wall. I had to use a mini-tripod to keep a steady camera while not using the flash and I had to tweak the brightness and contrast to present something close to what the eye actually sees.

Test #1 - How NOT to do it (too many splatters and large drops)
http://i104.photobucket.com/albums/m167/VorlonFog/Fri_Aug_4_101.jpg

Test #2 - How NOT to do it (getting closer, but an obvious drip)
http://i104.photobucket.com/albums/m167/VorlonFog/Fri_Aug_4_103.jpg

Actual Wall #1 - Just what I wanted:
http://i104.photobucket.com/albums/m167/VorlonFog/Fri_Aug_4_109.jpg

Actual Wall #2 - Just what I wanted:
http://i104.photobucket.com/albums/m167/VorlonFog/Fri_Aug_4_111.jpg

She definitely did a great job. I'm quite artistic, but have never performed any fauz painting techniques. I've done several murals, but that's it. I love the red color with that glaze. Very nice.

Cant' wait to see the final pictures of the room.

p.s.: For anyone who's interested, there's a good photographic example of using spatter painting in many different colors to create a faux lapis lazuli effect here: http://www.emporia.edu/earthsci/amber/go340/students/haltom/effect.htm They use water-thinned gold paint and gold flaked powder to finish the effect. :)

Tony: It's a small room (12' x 12') and tough to get a complete image with any details in it. I've already painted the ceiling dark chocolate grey, and there are six eyeball spots recessed three per side near the rear of the room. I think maybe I'll bring in my 2 x 500 watt halogen work light :eek: to illuminate the room more evenly for pictures when everything's finished. :)

She definitely did a great job. I'm quite artistic, but have never performed any faux painting techniques. I've done several murals, but that's it. I love the red color with that glaze. Very nice.Here are all the details (and links) on the paint I used:

Base - DURON #372-0107 - Design Accents Velvet Flat Acrylic Latex (http://www.duron.com/products/interior_coatings/productdetails.asp?cat=1&subcat=&lineid=338#Velvet%20Flat%20Interior) Interior Finish - Neutral Base
Color formula:
CHR-Colorant / OZ / 48 / 96 / 192
W-White / - / 2 / - / -
D-Green / - / 2 / 1 / -
V-Magenta / 2 / 3 /- / -
SS-Red / - / 34 / - / -
PX-Lt Yellow / - / 29 / 1 / -

Glaze - ZINSSER #04204 - Blend & Glaze (http://www.zinsser.com/product_detail.asp?ProductID=36) Decorative Painting Liquid - Latex
Tinted with above Duron paint with additional black and brown/darker red colorant added. (There was no precise formula or label attached to the can, sorry.)

Gold - Delta Ceramcoat GLEAMS Acrylic Paint (http://www.deltacrafts.com/Paint/Ceramcoat/techniques/CmcColorChart.asp) - #2604 Metallic 14K Gold - 2 oz.
Purchased at Michael's (http://www.michaels.com/art/online/home) and thinned with tap water.

Spattering brush - #6 Royal Soft-Grip SG405FB Fan Brush (http://www.royalbrush.com/dcat/cat.php?k=7314&p=RYLSG405FB-6) - also purchased at Michael's.

For applying the base coat and decorative glaze, the painter simply rolled on two coats of the base paint. The sheet rock walls were already primed and painted an eggshell white by the builder. The first coat of the red base was quite thick, but still allowed some white/pink to show through. A second coat a few hours later brought it to a very nice Balmoral Red. The painter worked the glaze over the base coat on the second day. She applied the glaze in wide-spread X patterns over a portion of the wall. She then used another large water-moistened brush to work the glaze into swirls. She often misted the fresh glaze with water from a spray bottle to keep it workable.

The glaze had two days to dry and cure. She applied the base coat Monday, the glaze Tuesday, and the gold Friday. The best technique we found for spattering on the gold was to load the fan brush with thinned gold paint and knock off the excess. Then, holding the fan brush steady from three to five inches from the wall, pull back against the bristles with the edge of a paint stick (we used the freebies from the paint store.) This causes the paint to be flung at the wall with little back-spray getting on you. (It also beats the heck out of using a toothbrush and your fingers.) The spread of the fan brush gives the spatter a wider pattern and smaller droplets.

Hope this helps someone else, and good luck with your painting! :)

Thanks for the explanation and the paint color. That looks so much better than just a plain 'Red' wall.

Thanks, Tony. The wife and I were discussing it at breakfast this morning while she was reading the homes section of the Charlotte newspaper. Seems someone had a dining room painted in "red leather" and the article was just gushing over it. I predicted in a few months we'll see pictures and an article on one of these new super high-end homes in town with my exact paint scheme in it. I imagine the newspaper article will report it as "an original and elegant design idea" by the home owners or their artist. ;)

Well, I got quite a bit done :D this weekend, but no pictures because the camera batteries need recharging :rolleyes: I hung the black carpet on the bottom half of two of the three walls. I gotta dig out my stud finder, as the studs in this room are all original to the house, and warped beyond belief. :eek: I found enough of them to put the chair rail up over the carpet and baseboards below. Making returns for the chair rail to butt against the door frames was a new experience. I cut the returns a bit longer than necessary, glued and nailed them in place, then used a coping saw to remove most of the excess. Finally, I used the belt sander to get them just right. What took some time was mitering the baseboard around the air conditioning duct. I ripped an inch off the bottom of some baseboard, miter cut it at 45 degrees to go up the sides of the duct, and miter cut another piece to go over the top. I applied glue and nails to the side pieces, then weighted them down on the table saw for the night. I'll get pictures tomorrow evening, after the batteries are recharged.

Oh, and we got broadsided :eek: by an idiot :mad: Saturday evening driving to dinner. He lost control coming up an exit ramp off the Interstate, jumped the curb, plowed through the grass, went over another curb, across two lanes, then over the median curb where he hit me just behind the driver's side door. It spun me around and over the median into oncoming traffic. Fortunately for us, they had time to stop and not hit us. The accident trashed the door and rear quarter panel, ripped the rear bumper off the car, and broke the rear wheel off the axle. I got a bump on the head and the wife was fine, but it looks like our BMW Z3 convertible is a total loss. :(
http://i104.photobucket.com/albums/m167/VorlonFog/08-05-06_1724.jpg

Wow!! Glad to hear you're okay. Bummer about your car.

Mike

I think all the energy I expended Sunday in the HT room was delayed frustration :mad: after the accident. I don't recommend it to anyone as a motivational tool, by the way. ;)

Here's a view of the middle of the rear wall. It's the first wall section that's almost completed. It still needs trim molding to cover the carpet edges against the door casing, quarter-round shoe molding at the floor, and paint on the faces of both white doors. The door on the left is the bathroom (not even decorated yet, that's a completely different project.) The door on the right is the entrance to the room.

Did I mention it's going to be kind of dark when the lights are down? ;)

http://i104.photobucket.com/albums/m167/VorlonFog/Mon_Aug_07_104.jpg

What type of black carpet are you using around the bottom of the walls? You going to add any acoustic treatment to the room as well?

What type of black carpet are you using around the bottom of the walls?Rats!! I just knew someone was going to ask me that question. :p I originally planned to use charcoal black fabric below the chair rails. I figured I'd have to paint the sheet rock black first, so nothing would show through the fabric. Then while shopping at Lowe's several weeks ago, I was walking by the huge rolls of carpet they have on the back wall of the store. It's a general-purpose "marine" carpet of the sort you put in boats. It's really BLACK and comes in a six-foot width which worked out well for my three-foot high chair rails. When cut down the middle, I get two usable strips of carpet. It's also about seven dollars a square yard. Had I bought fabric, it would have been higher priced and only four feet wide. And this carpet has a rubber backing on it which works better sound-wise than plain fabric would have.

You going to add any acoustic treatment to the room as well? If you look back on page one of this thread where Brian Pape first commented, I admitted I wasn't doing any full-gonzo room treatments for acoustics. :eek: I know it's heresy to many, but I had had enough of construction and renovation for over eight months and I didn't feel like tearing out all the sheetrock they installed, primed, and painted. Plus, the WAF would have sunk drastically. I plan to build a couple of superchunk bass traps for the back corners when the room is complete. I'm constructing decorative wall frames with fabric over polyester batting to soften the reflections a bit. Finally, I'll be building a small stage and proscenium in the front of the room, where the wall will be completely covered in Linacoustic from floor to ceiling. Far from perfect, but more than good enough for just the wife and me. ;)

A co-worker is planning to build out the bonus room in his house for a home theatre in a few months, and commented on the red faux finish with the gold inclusions. He mentioned how he'd like to paint his ceiling with a dark blue faux finish and possibly include the gold flecks. If you consider it, any strong primary color (red, blue, green) could work very well in this situation for the walls. :)

Here's a view of the middle of the rear wall. It's the first wall section that's almost completed. It still needs trim molding to cover the carpet edges against the door casing, quarter-round shoe molding at the floor, and paint on the faces of both white doors. The door on the left is the bathroom (not even decorated yet, that's a completely different project.) The door on the right is the entrance to the room.

Did I mention it's going to be kind of dark when the lights are down? ;)

http://i104.photobucket.com/albums/m167/VorlonFog/Mon_Aug_07_104.jpg

I love that paint job, Vorlon. Do you think that am amatuer could do that faux leather look? I think I'd like to do it with blue/black instead of red/black. Do you know of any online tutorials for doing this type of thing?

I love that paint job, Vorlon. Do you think that am amateur could do that faux leather look? I think I'd like to do it with blue/black instead of red/black. Do you know of any online tutorials for doing this type of thing?I definitely think anyone could do it. I paid someone to do mine so I could get it done in just two or three days, instead of a whole week or more it would take by myself. (I'm neither very patient nor very artistic :( ) The Ralph Lauren section at HomeDepot has several free color glossy brochures describing the techniques they recommend for all of their faux finishes. Ralph Lauren has an absolutely wonderful color selection - so take their color chip to any other paint store that has a color match system (most do) and they'll mix you that color for a much better price ;) I know there are several different web pages describing faux methods, but it boils down to three different techniques : basecoat with decorative glaze worked into/over it, basecoat with glaze applied over and then partially removed, and basecoat with glaze partially applied.

No matter which method you use, the only part you can do quickly and in one step is apply the base color to the entire room. Anytime you're working with decorative glazes, you need to work in smaller areas at a time. The glaze has ingredients to lengthen the drying time, but misting it with water extends this even longer. I've seen pretty much the same patterns for applying the glaze on many different websites. They shape the smaller areas so that you have time to work it well, and so the edges of each area blend well into the next area. This Benjamin Moore page is similar to how the painter did my walls: copper patina finish (http://www.benjaminmoore.ca/howto/techniques_copperpatina.aspx)

I performed a Google web search for "faux finish techniques" and this is the first site to come up (http://interiordec.about.com/od/fauxfinishing/) It's an about.com site that references other websites, but gives you a good starting point. Good luck if you tackle this yourself and always remember it's just paint. You can always paint over it with something different if you don't like how it turns out. ;)

Great job on the painting. It looks very elegant. I wish I had done that in my theater.

Great job on the painting. It looks very elegant. I wish I had done that in my theater. I wish I had had the time and patience to have double-drywalled the room with GreenGlue between the layers. ;)

Monday was spent dealing with the wrecker, the insurance agent, the body shop, and the car rental places. Needless to say, absolutely nothing got done in the room that day. I went back to work Tuesday and really wished I'd stayed home instead. I argued with local police over the phone Thursday about the gross inaccuracies in their accident report and met with them face-to-face Friday afternoon. Thursday on the phone they refused to update or revise their report. Friday, after seeing the photos I took of the accident site with my cell phone, they issued an addendum to the original report. The adendum raised their estimate of the other driver's speed 10 MPH and now accurately represents his path jumping two curbs, crossing two lanes of traffic, and jumping a median divider before striking my car. A small victory, but an important one. :cool:

In the room this week I finally hung carpet on the remaining wall and found out I was about two inches short. Fortunately I have a smaller piece remaining and can mate them together in the back corner behind the door. A piece of trim molding will go in the corner to hide the seam. I was missing one corner block for the chair rail and had one extra for the baseboards, so I swung by Lowes for the missing block and some trim molding. They got three coats of stain Thursday night and their first coat of varnish Friday night. I spent two hours Wednesday night just cleaning up the room after last weekend's baseboard and chair rail extravaganza. This weekend I'll finish up the chair rail and baseboards on the last wall and install the trim molding. Then I can think about lining the front wall with Linacoustic and building a stage. Oh boy oh boy oh boy :D

CORRECTION: After returning from dinner, the note from BellSouth explained how they repaired our phone connection - they completely replaced the box outside that got struck by lightning last night. :eek: I tell ya, I don't get no respect. :confused:

I wish I had had the time and patience to have double-drywalled the room with GreenGlue between the layers. ;)

We should all make a list of the things we wish we had done but skipped because we didn't want to spend the time on it. I can think of a few myself ...

Mike

Rats!! I just knew someone was going to ask me that question. I originally planned to use charcoal black fabric below the chair rails. I figured I'd have to paint the sheet rock black first, so nothing would show through the fabric. Then while shopping at Lowe's several weeks ago, I was walking by the huge rolls of carpet they have on the back wall of the store. It's a general-purpose "marine" carpet of the sort you put in boats. It's really BLACK and comes in a six-foot width which worked out well for my three-foot high chair rails. When cut down the middle, I get two usable strips of carpet. It's also about seven dollars a square yard. Had I bought fabric, it would have been higher priced and only four feet wide. And this carpet has a rubber backing on it which works better sound-wise than plain fabric would have.

How did you secure the carpet to the walls? Is it wrapped around the outside corners, or cut to fit? How did you do the iside corners?

How did you secure the carpet to the walls? Is it wrapped around the outside corners, or cut to fit? How did you do the inside corners?phisch:
The backing on this marine carpet is thin and flexible. I used 9/16" staples to hold it at the top and bottom before installing the chair rail and baseboards. The speaker and electrical boxes help secure it too. I stapled around these boxes before using Carlon box extenders to install the outlet covers. I wrapped the carpet around the one outside corner with no problems and tacked it vertically at the inside corners with staples every six inches. The nap is just high enough to cover the staples and so they're not visible. In the one back inside corner where I had to join two pieces, I originally thought I'd have to put trim molding to cover the join. Nope, it's good as is. :)

Do you have pictures?

Mike

Do you have pictures?Stapling the carpet up and installing the chair rails and baseboards? Nope. :( My wife isn't much of a helper or a photographer. Our two little Yorkshire Terrors can't hold a hammer or the camera, either. ;)

I did post a picture of the rear wall (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=8159617&&#post8159617) back on 8/7 though. I was pleasantly surprised how well the inexpensive carpet absorbed the flash. :D

Oh wow!! Yeah, I remember that photo. I didn't realize that was carpet at the bottom. VERY NICE!

Mike

Your work ain't too shabby, either! ;)

... with internet, as opposed to at home without (lightning struck the telephone box on our house Thursday evening and the cable box is right beside it.)

I finished the remaining side wall Saturday and came up two feet short on baseboard for the back corner because I went up and over the two baseboard HVAC ducts with the molding. Each duct has two six-inch high sides, explaining the two-foot shortage. Lowe's is a block from our favorite Chinese restaurant, so after dinner Saturday night I got one more baseboard and some oak quarter-round shoe molding to finish things. I put three coats of stain on last night, but quit before 9pm. They'll get their first coat of varnish today as well as the egg-and-dart molding for the wall frames. I stained it weeks ago but never started varnish because the painter was coming in to do the walls and I didn't need it to finish out the room. As long as I'm going to varnish, I might as well do all of it.

For just a few hours yesterday I had picked up all the sawdust, emptied the garbage can, cleaned and sorted the tools, and swept the floor. :eek: Even the drop cloth beneath the sawhorses got shook out in the back yard. I probably won't start cutting and nailing anything again until Wednesday or Thursday of this week. Hopefully I'll have net access at home again by that time. Only Time-Warner :rolleyes: knows for sure. :(

It is nice to cleanup once in a while. I surprised my wife by cleaning up her half of the garage, washing her car, and parking it in there for her :D It's the little things that keep us from going insane, right? :rolleyes:

Mike

We received the Horchow catalog (http://www.horchow.com/) intended for one of our neighbors in our mail last night. This beautiful sconce (http://www.horchow.com/store/catalog/prod.jhtml?itemId=cprod20360155&parentId=cat000100&masterId=cat000097&cmCat=cat000000cat4100735cat000097cat000100&index=18) was on page 4 of the catalog which led me to check their website for others. They have several pages (http://www.horchow.com/store/catalog/catM5h.jhtml?itemId=cat000100&parentId=cat000097&masterId=cat4100735) of ornate, detailed, and absolutely beautiful sconces available.

Enjoy, and I hope you find something you like! :D

Keith,

I've been watching your thread from the beginning. I love that faux finish. I need to keep my wife away from your HT pics because I know she would want it in our room. I'm trying to devote as little time as possible to changes (you know I've had a bunch along the way) ;)

Looks like you are more on track than me. Stay there so you can get it done on time! Keep up the great work!

Looking good, Keith!! Great faux finish.

I've been watching your thread from the beginning. I love that faux finish. I need to keep my wife away from your HT pics because I know she would want it in our room. I'm trying to devote as little time as possible to changes (you know I've had a bunch along the way) ;)

Looks like you are more on track than me. Stay there so you can get it done on time! Keep up the great work!

Steve: Thank you !! :D :D :D If I'm anywhere near on track, it's only because: (a) I'm not going super-tweaky with acoustic treatments (yet) and (b) I've been watching guys like you, Ronnie, Ruben, Bud, and everyone else do it extremely well. The examples, pictures, and explanations you all provide and share are just as valuable to someone with a small room and modest budget as they are to huge rooms with healthy budgets.

Thanks again, it means a lot to me. :)

Looking good, Keith!! Great faux finish.My wife was skeptical (at first) but her WAF has multiplied many times over since the painter spattered on the gold and I finished the carpet, chair rails and baseboards on the lower walls. Once all that was done, she was absolutely eager for me to build the stage. I couldn't ask for a better reason to get started on it. ;)

My friend and co-worker Craig helped me get lumber home from HomeDepot after work today: 2x12s, 2x6s, 7/16 OSB, LiquidNails, SillSeal, and deck screws. He also gave me the 30-pound roofing felt left over from the bathroom remodel he's finishing up. After juggling cars in the driveway and taking the garbage to the street, I started cutting. My room is roughly 12 feet wide, but I needed to trim a bit off the 12-foot boards to build the frame. Because the room is only 12 feet deep, my stage will only be about two-and-a-half feet from front to back. That should allow plenty of depth to hide my subwoofer and front channel speakers behind black fabric panels. I spaced the supports at 24 inches just to keep things easy and placed SillSeal beneath the frame to protect the hardwood floors. This weekend I plan on building out the front curves and attaching them to this frame.

I can't post this picture without first expressing my HUGE THANKS to Ronnie Jackson and Ruben/SandmanX for their incredibly well-documented stage build-outs. Without their superb examples, I'd still be scratching my head over what to do next.

http://i104.photobucket.com/albums/m167/VorlonFog/StageFrameLeft.jpg

Yeesh! :eek: I started early and worked all day drawing and then framing all the curves for the front of the stage. I cut strips of masonite/hardboard to make the curves and applied them to the frames using LiquidNails and deck screws. After that I framed the left and right steps and attached hardboard to them, too. Finally, I stained several 2'x4' panels of 1/4-inch oak-faced plywood that will get applied over the hardboard curves when everything is assembled. I'm too darned tired and the room's a mess, so pictures will just have to wait :( until Sunday afternoon.

I'm too darned tired and the room's a mess, so pictures will just have to wait :(

LOL!

Now there's a feeling I'm VERY familiar with ;)

(Still, I can't wait to see the pictures though -- if you're that tired then it means they'll be worth seeing.)

Mike

LOL!

Now there's a feeling I'm VERY familiar with ;)

(Still, I can't wait to see the pictures though -- if you're that tired then it means they'll be worth seeing.)Mike: I'm not so sure about that. I loaned my compressor to my buddy Craig so he could finish up his bathroom remodel after his compressor went belly-up :( last week. I don't have a framing nailer (Craig does) so I was swinging the hammer at 16p nails all day. The two center supports in the main curve wound up with a gap :eek: between them at the front (where they should have been perfectly sistered together.) I think I'll just center one of the oak quarter-inch plywood panels over that gap to cover it.

My camera's been charging and the stained oak ply panels have been drying on top of the stage frame all night. After we head out for Sunday breakfast, I'll get the pictures taken and posted. I can't start mowing the lawn until after noon at the earliest, anyway. ;)

That's another thing I've found -- a good craftsman knows how to coverup his mistakes (not "prevent making them") ;)

Good luck with the coverup, it is frustrating when something goes wrong though, although at this point I'm so used to it I almost expect it anymore...

Mike

Okay, after a really good Sunday breakfast and cleaning up the room (see the sawdust?) I took pictures of the stage framing. First, here's one of the reasons I ran two feet short on baseboard molding last week. The white window frame along with the inside faces of the two doors will eventually be painted with a color custom matched to the finish on the door frames, chair rails and baseboards.

http://i104.photobucket.com/albums/m167/VorlonFog/Sun_Aug_18_104.jpg


As previously mentioned, there's a gap in the hardboard at center stage which I'll cover with the quarter-inch oak plywood panels.

http://i104.photobucket.com/albums/m167/VorlonFog/Sun_Aug_18_101.jpg


Here's the left-side step (and more sawdust - ya gotta love flash photography.) I need to add another very short block where I can fasten and trim off the excess hardboard.

http://i104.photobucket.com/albums/m167/VorlonFog/Sun_Aug_18_102.jpg


The right-side step needs the same short block and trimming.

http://i104.photobucket.com/albums/m167/VorlonFog/Sun_Aug_18_103.jpg


Cutting the small blocks and completing the steps is about the only thing I plan on doing today (well, aside from mowing the lawn early this evening.)

Why not remove the baseboard behind and on the side of the stage?

Why not remove the baseboard behind and on the side of the stage?I'm trying to keep the room available for possible use as a bedroom in the future. The stage frame isn't attached to either the walls or floor so I can take it up without damaging the room. The only thing to be semi-permanently installed will be the ceiling where I attach the proscenium. Up there 1x4 furring strips will get nailed into the ceiling joists through the sheet rock. I'll be attaching everything else (planned to be reasonably light) to those 1x4s. Whenever I remove things, the repair work should be limited to patching a few nail/brad/screw holes and repainting the ceiling. The front wall behind the stage should pretty much be the same thing.

Very cool looking stage!! That'll be fun when it's done. Imagine all the hours of karaoke you could do on that thing ;)

You filling it with sand or something?

Mike

Very cool looking stage!! That'll be fun when it's done. Imagine all the hours of karaoke you could do on that thing ;)

You filling it with sand or something?I probably shouldn't. Half the framing and subfloor in this room were completely rebuilt during the remodel, but it's NOT the end where the stage sits. :( Although I might be able to do it in the back right corner cell, since I know that's got a brick pier and double rim joists supporting it.

It's kinda funny the Polk PSW650 subwoofer spec says it only weighs about 60 pounds. Having lifted it a few times, I'd swear it weighs well over 100 pounds. After lifting and moving the 2'x12' frame into place, I know that weighs a considerable amount, and the main front curve adds even more. I'll probably just go with fiberglass insulation throughout.

I haven't done a stage but in one of the other threads the guy was ripping his up because it made the room sound awful (he'd put insulation in). Something about resonant frequency or vibration or something like that, can't remember. Sorry, I'm not trying to add to your work load (I hate when that happens) but I'd hate for all of that beautiful work to end up being an annoyance that could have been avoided earlier ... just an FYI. Maybe ping SandmanX or Bpape or something??

Mike

Yeah, I should probably ping those guys. Thanks for mentioning it, Mike. :)

Edit: Here's a thread (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=704577) where both bpape and BasementBob discuss it.

Sand is the best option but you absolutely have to consider the strenght of the subfloor and the weight of the sand - especially with a stage as deep as yours is.

The reason for the sand is to make the stage inert - especially if you're going to have speakers and a sub on it. If you can't do the sand, then you can do insulation but pack it relatively tight so you're damping the top as much as possible. Another option is to add more bracing to the stages structure so that each cavity has a higher resonant point. Also make sure you use 2 layers of 3/4" MDF as the top of the stage - potentially with Green Glue in between.

Bryan

I really appreciate your taking the time to comment.

What if the speakers are placed on speaker stands that themselves can be filled with sand (say 25-50 lbs a peice)? Wouldn't that somewhat lessen the need to fill the stage with sand?

I knew the subfloor on the stage end of the room was original and sagging :rolleyes: somewhat compared to the seating end where it had been completely rebuilt during our renovation. Yesterday I picked up a bundle of shims at Lowes and tonight I began leveling the rectangular main portion of the stage frame. Except it needed more than three shims :eek: in the center to get it level. I wound up slicing my own shims off the end of a 2x6 after measuring how much was necessary under each 2x12. The worst was at the front center of the main curve, where it required an additional inch and a quarter to be level. :eek: :eek: :eek: Once everything was leveled front-to-back and side-to-side, I attached the main curve and the two side curves using four-inch long half-inch hex bolts and washers.

I'm short a couple of nuts and bolts, but I've got poly sheeting ready for the right end chamber which will receive a few bags of play sand. The other chambers will all get at least two layers of six-inch thick R-19 pink fiberglass insulation. If it compresses well enough, I'll add a third layer before attaching the OSB on top. I just hope I can get it done before Saturday morning. If not :( I can't work on attaching the top for another week.

I think you'll be alright with some strategically placed sand and plenty of insulation, especially after you think about it with good pad and carpet on top of multiple OSB layers. Now, back to work......you know I needs my pics. :D

Right now, the pictures won't look much different from the last ones. :( Well, except for the six-inch steps. I've already cut and attached the last small blocks and trimmed the masonite/hardboard. But it's not a big difference.

I think you'll be alright with some strategically placed sand and plenty of insulation, especially after you think about it with good pad and carpet on top of multiple OSB layers. Now, back to work......you know I needs my pics. :DAfter work today, I started by cutting a notch and drilling a hole in the side of the right step for the rope lighting going underneath the stage lip. When that was done, I started cutting OSB outside on the deck. The first layer went left to right, in two strips: two feet wide across the rectangular portion of the frame, the left and right curves got their own strip, and the main curve got its own strip. I put a couple of screws into each piece so I could work out the second layer. It was all two foot strips front to back, cut to match the curves. With all the rough cutting complete, I've taken the table saw, mitre saw, and drop cloth all out to the sunroom. I even swept up. ;) From now on, everything else is getting cut outside. Saturday after breakfast, it's time to pick up some rolls of R-19 and at least four bags of play sand.

http://i104.photobucket.com/albums/m167/VorlonFog/PICT1248.jpg

Keith, you are too kind. :) Looks great, too. You guys are gonna have to slow down or I'm gonna have to work like mad once this shoulder thing is straightened out. I go back to the ortho doc Monday so he can look at it again and schedule the MRI. I'm keeping all possible body parts crossed. Does it feel good and solid with two layers of OSB? Seems like it would.

That darned 2x12 frame is so freaking heavy, it's ridiculous. Just the first layer of 7/16 OSB was good, even without screws. When I screwed it down to draw out the second layer, it felt great. I didn't bother screwing down the second layer yet. Tomorrow after stuffing everything to the gills, I'll break out the Liquid Nails, roofing felt, and deck screws. It's definitely gonna be solid. :D

p.s. Ya know what REALLY ticked me off this week? Lowes in Charlotte dropped the price on their 1/2-inch Plytanium to about $10 a sheet. That's two bucks less than HD was last week when I went with OSB to save a few bucks. Worse, one HD a bit further from my house was almost two bucks cheaper on the OSB earlier this week. Darn it. Drat. Fudge. :mad:

Saturday, the closest I came to working on the stage was going to HD for fiberglass insulation and play sand. Well, I did load them into the car at HD and out of the car into the house when I got home. ;) Sunday morning, I've stuffed five of the main cavities with five layers of R-25 and started stuffing the front curves with what was left. I almost bought a third roll Saturday, but didn't. :rolleyes: Now I've gotta go back out today. I really want to get this thing stuffed, filled, glued and screwed down before this evening, so I can finally take next week off. :D

Don't forget the plastic to line the cavities that the sand is going in.

Don't forget the plastic to line the cavities that the sand is going in.It's been tucked in waiting since earlier this week. ;) I got lucky, too. :) Since a bag of sand is supposed to be 1/2-cubic foot and the corner chamber is only slightly less than four cubic feet, I should have needed eight bags. I started with four bags and bought two more, and it's packed full to the top. It was all stocked inside the store and was extremely dry to the touch, so I'm going to go ahead and get started gluing and screwing at least the back portion of the frame.

But I stayed inside and got as far as I wanted on the stage, anyway. :) It's a darned good thing I remembered I'd never be able to glue, clamp, and brad-nail the 1/4-inch oak-faced plywood to the curves if I glued the tops down onto them. :eek: I still need to put a final coat of stain and two coats of poly on the strips of oak ply, anyway. But that's always something simple I can do during the week, too. See you all next weekend....

Very nice, love the black and red. cant wait to see the finish

The room had been stark white for so long, I felt I needed to get the side and back walls done before starting on the stage. (Yeah, I know, bass-ackwards from most. :rolleyes: ) There was healthy skepticism tempering the overall WAF before those walls and all the wood trim on them got completed. Now it's turned to honest support. After stuffing the stage Sunday, she noticed how the sound of the room had improved. I imagine getting Linacoustic up on the front wall and building everything else for the stage/proscenium should make quite a dramatic difference, too.

From working on the room, that is. Instead :rolleyes: I put my new clamps to work, also using LiquidNails and screwing down the 1/4-inch oak plywood to the hardboard fronts of the stage curves. The screws are only at the very top and bottom where they'll get covered with molding when it's done. When everything was firmly in place, I applied a final coat of mahogany stain to the oak and wiped it down. I'll post a picture after I get two coats of polyurethane on the front and finish laying down the roofing felt and second layer of OSB.

Today at work I decided I want to get this stage finished before the upcoming holiday weekend. When I got home I used Liquid Nails and clamps to bond together the two layers of OSB I cut last night for the left step. While that was setting up, I drew out and cut the two layers for the right step. Cutting so many curves in multiple layers of OSB has consumed one jigsaw blade so far, but I'm just about done with it all now. We finally got a little bit of that rain I've been waiting for this afternoon so I had to take a break, but the temp dropped from 94 to 80, so I can't complain. :) When it cleared I ripped the final pieces of quarter-inch oak plywood for the faces of the steps and called it a night.

Clampage factor four, Engineer Scott!!
Aye, cap'n, but that's givin' 'er all we've got. :eek:

Wednesday at lunch I went with Craig to the discount carpet warehouse. He needed carpet for his guest bedroom, and I wanted to see if they had anything for my stage. I got lucky and found something that's black wool with a small gold pattern running throughout. It should go well to break up the all black lower half of the walls and add a bit more detail. (The wife liked it, too.;))

I sorta took the night off Wednesday. I made a trip to HD for more construction adhesive and another set of clamps. Then I glued and clamped the other step and wired a dimmer for the rope lights going under the stage lip. Thursday evening I glued and clamped the oak plywood to the fronts of both steps, using brads to hold everything together for after the clamps came off. I put the last coat of stain on both step fronts, then the first coat of poly on the stage front curves and after that poly'ed the steps too. It's been raining heavily for almost two days now, so that poly is going to be very slow drying. If it's ready Friday night, I'll sand it down and apply the second coat then.

First stop after breakfast this morning was Rooms To Go where they had a tan microfiber two-seat recliner w/center console for $699. When we got there we found it had dark brown leather/vinyl arms and foot rests. :confused: They had another red leather/leather match two-seater (http://www.roomstogo.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=showItem&ipac_id=10551) but it felt really light and flimsy. :( We finally found a black leather/leather match two seater that was firm, well built and would have been perfect, except for the $1099 price tag. :eek: Went to their Outlet store and found one just like it with a few minor scuffs for $599 and talked them down another hundred bucks with no problem. A black Sharpie pen and some black paste shoe polish later, and it's sitting in my room tonight. :D

Second stop today was the carpet discount warehouse where I picked up the black wool carpet and padding for the top of the stage and steps. In between the shopping trips I got out the belt sander and worked on the steps, grinding them down so both layers of OSB were even and rounded over the edges, too. They'll still take a bit more work tomorrow to fit just right.

Last thing today was attaching the rope light to the top of the stage front. I know many people here don't care for the plastic clips included with most rope lights, but these worked just fine. I drilled pilot holes in the stage front before screwing down the clips and didn't have problems with any of them. I'm glad I wired a dimmer earlier in the week, because at full brightness the lights might be distracting.

Sunday will be spent mowing the yard before assembling the rest of the stage and re-hanging the drapes on the front wall. Pictures of the seats and stage progress coming Sunday. :)

Good find on the seats. Persistance pays off, huh? Looking forward to more pics!! How's the knee, by the way?

The knee stopped hurting after a day and a half, thank goodness. I remembered after the fact what I did to hurt it - I banged it into a door frame. :rolleyes: I just finished taking pictures. Here's what's happened in the last few weeks:

The work table was moved out to make room for the loveseat, so everything is setting on the stage for now. You can see the fiberglass stuffing in the front curves, but the sand-filled chamber in the right rear is covered with OSB.

http://i104.photobucket.com/albums/m167/VorlonFog/Sun_Sep_03_1001.jpg


The quarter-inch oak plywood panels have been applied to the front of the stage and the rope light has been attached. Mike Shelton will appreciate how the gap between the front pair of 2x12 supports is now covered up. ;)

http://i104.photobucket.com/albums/m167/VorlonFog/Sun_Sep_03_1002.jpg


This is the right-side stage curve with oak and rope lighting:

http://i104.photobucket.com/albums/m167/VorlonFog/Sun_Sep_03_1003.jpg


Remember when I said I'd have to do something with the two stark white doors in the room? The faux artist suggested I contact the Duron store for a custom-matched latex paint, and I did that a week or two ago. They color-matched a piece of the door molding for me. I originally removed this white molding from beneath the window sill to install carpet, so it became my test piece. I sanded it to break the semi-gloss and applied one coat of the custom-matched flat latex paint. It left a lot of brush strokes and even showed some white through the paint. Rather than applying more paint, I tried the Minwax tinted varnish over the paint. When I checked it the next day, it was perfect so I varnished the rest of the molding. Here's what it looks like:

http://i104.photobucket.com/albums/m167/VorlonFog/Sun_Sep_03_1004.jpg


This is the carpet that's going on top of the stage and steps:

http://i104.photobucket.com/albums/m167/VorlonFog/Sun_Sep_03_1005.jpg

Finally, here's the $499 black leather (and leather match) loveseat. It's a wall-away motion mechanism and the seats go almost completely horizontal. :D There's a center console, but no cup holders. I may just build a two-cup tray to go inside the console.

http://i104.photobucket.com/albums/m167/VorlonFog/Sun_Sep_03_1006.jpg


Now, I've gotta clean off the stage and finish assembling that sucker so I can get to installing the carpet. :) :) :)

Worked on the room, instead. :D Cleaned EVERYTHING off the stage and then: glued and screwed down the front curves, rolled out the tar paper and cut it to fit, screwed down the second layer of OSB, ran out of screws :rolleyes:, ran to HD for more screws, finished screwing it down, rolled out the carpet pad, trimmed it to fit, and finally hit the shower. I tried taking pictures with the lights on and off, using the auto-delay and tripod, but they still came out blurry. :(

Since those didn't work, here's a picture of the big screen rolled down from earlier today. It's a 92-inch motorized Da-Lite Contour Electrol purchased from InFocus along with the projector. It's wired with a 12VDC relay line from the projector.

http://i104.photobucket.com/albums/m167/VorlonFog/Sun_Sep_03_1007.jpg

Sweet, a screen! Things are really coming along great for you. Love the mahogany stain!

Ill be interested to hear how you like the Dalite. Been shopping around for screens. That was one of the first ones I thought about getting. How hard was it to mount n level?

David: I used a stud finder to locate studs nearest the ends of the screen, but still within the ends. I used a laser level to draw a perfectly level line for mounting the brackets. My original goal was to place the screen directly above the accessway to the closets, so I tried to mount it as close to the door frame as I could. The only problem was that the door frame itself ISN'T level. :( So, the bottom of the screen case starts above the door frame on the left side and ends up just barely in front of the door frame on the right side. :rolleyes: It IS level, though. ;)

As I'm getting closer to finishing up the stage, my next priority is to take down the screen and mount a 1x4 behind it into the studs, then re-mount the floating mounting brackets. When that's done, it should give me the clearance I need to avoid the unlevel door frame. It might also help work out hanging the black velvet drapes on the black wall, but I've got to purchase some Linacoustic first.

Keith,

Checked your thread today. Very nice work, very nice. I love the colors and the wood work. That stage is going to be really nice.

Gary

Gary, thanks for visiting!! :) I can't get nearly as much done each week as I'd like, but I suspect that's a familiar feeling around here. ;)

Ill be interested to hear how you like the Dalite. Been shopping around for screens. That was one of the first ones I thought about getting. I cant speak for Vorlans screen but I was at a Hometheater meet last winter and they had this exact screen but the one I saw was wrinkled ( fairly bad)
the owner said he tried everything to get them out including bungie type things on the bottom corners, I found this very distracting during bright colored scenes like Blue - white sky shots. Movies like the Worlds Fastest Indian would be hard to watch because it casts darker shadows vertically on all the edges of every wrinkle

Maybe Vorlon can elaborate on this once he gets things up and running

Hey Keith - nice progress on the room. You'll love it when its done, but I'm gonna spend some time talking you into some acoustic treatments :). Really, will make a world of difference...

Where around Charlotte are you?

I can't speak for Vorlon's screen but I was at a Hometheater meet last winter and they had this exact screen but the one I saw was wrinkled (fairly bad.) The owner said he tried everything to get them out including bungie type things on the bottom corners. I found this very distracting during bright colored scenes like blue - white sky shots. Movies like the World's Fastest Indian would be hard to watch because it casts darker shadows vertically on all the edges of every wrinkle.

Maybe Vorlon can elaborate on this once he gets things up and running.My screen has been up since about April when I first hung the projector to insure all the wiring in the room was okay and the image alignment would be good. I've been fortunate in that since I received the screen, it had always been stored in the factory shipping box in a horizontal position. It sat in the room along with all the other unpacked boxes for almost two months, so it definitely had time to become acclimatized to the room and house. I used Da-Lite's floating mounting brackets to install the screen case. A stud finder and laser level helped insure the brackets were perfectly level before the screen case went up.

The very first time I rolled it down (with all the improvised wiring, wire nuts, and electrical tape :eek: ) it was flawless, with no wrinkles, no waves, nothing. Maybe I just got lucky, because I've read where many people have problems. That first time, I left it down for an entire week to insure any potential irregularities would have time to work themselves out. I'm just glad there weren't any. Like I said, apparently I'm very fortunate. :)

Hey Keith - nice progress on the room. You'll love it when its done, but I'm gonna spend some time talking you into some acoustic treatments :). Really, will make a world of difference...

Where around Charlotte are you?You're preaching to the choir. ;) I got tired of the last few months with no tunes so last night I hauled out all the speakers and fired up a few favorite CDs: Yes - Fragile, Jethro Tull - Aqualung, and Scoot Pittman - Up Down Across and Back (local guy, featured on WSGE Gastonia @ 91.7 FM.) [ The new reclining love seat is fantastic, by the way. :D ] The Polk R50 front mains are angled inwards towards the seats and the Polk R30 rear surrounds face sideways towards the seats. The Polk PSW650 sub sits in the rear right corner of the stage with three cubic feet of sand packed beneath it. I can honestly say the sound was wonderful, but that's probably because I've been missing it :rolleyes: for so long. Right now, I'm planning full treatment of the front stage wall with Linacoustic covered with lined black velvet curtain panels, superchunk/minichunk bass traps for the rear corners, and framed decorative fabric panels on the walls with polyester batting stuffed behind them.

I'm behind the Park Road Shopping Center at the corner of Woodlawn Road and Park Road, at the very edge of Meyers Park. We'll definitely have to exchange visits when I finally get things done. At my current rate of progress / exhaustion, that should be about 2008 or 2009. ;)

Nice,
This guy should have sent his back then. Wrinkles was a bad term, they were waves, ever so slight of waves but very noticable as soon as the projected image hit them with lighter colors.

Mark: If I had seen anything worse than the very slightest hint of a wave when I first rolled it down, I would certainly have sent it back. For the money I paid for this motorized screen (as opposed to an inexpensive pull-down screen) the thing had better be darned near flawless.

When I saw the prices on tensioned screens and then noticed my office had one, I took a good look at it. I was surprised to see the tension was maintained by fibre strings rather than metal wires, so I'm certainly glad I didn't bother with those. For their astronomical prices, I would certainly expect a tighter, flatter screen. I honestly don't see the advantage :confused: on the one here at the office.

I think assembling the stage and hauling in the love seat last weekend wore me out. Monday afternoon I built a small box from scrap 1x4 and applied a piece of leftover 1/4-inch stained oak plywood for the top. This will fit snugly into the console of the love seat as a cup-holder when the inserts arrive next week. Thursday night I drew and cut out the two 3 5/8-inch holes. There was a 3 5/8-inch hole saw at Lowes for about $17, but it needed an arbor which was another $15. For this small a job and because the cupholders have a lip that covers the edge, I used my drill to make several holes around the inside of the circles and then cut and sanded them with my Dremel. A bit more sanding and a second coat of poly and it looks pretty good, but I'm thinking a third coat of poly can't hurt. I still need to borrow or rent an air-driven stapler to attach the carpet to the stage, but that's on hold until next week.

Keith? Updates???

Come September, it's lawn renewal and maintenance season for me. That means a lot of work raking out the lawn and throwing down lime, minerals, fertilizer, and seed. That all started several weeks ago, and my new grass will get cut for the first time this weekend. In addition to the lawn, I've got a seven foot tall ligustrum hedge I've been taking down. I can cut down about four clusters a week and get them cut up enough for the city to take them away from the curb. Right now, I've got about seven or eight clusters of shrubs remaining to clear away. Now that the rain's let up this week, I might be able to get more done Thursday evening.

Also, since the days are getting shorter and the weather's finally getting cooler, I'll be able to spend more time inside working on the room. The wife was VERY good about letting me work on it so much while it was ridiculously hot outside during the summer. Fall is also my favorite season to be outdoors working, so that took a temporary priority these last few weeks. Now that I'm just about fed up (uh, I mean "complete") with the yard work, I can return to work in the HT room with a clear conscience. ;)

Thanks for asking!! :D

The big green monster that was a seven-foot ligustrum hedge along our driveway has been reduced to many little green monsters. I've wanted to cut that sucker down for ten years, and it's finally done. The new grass in the front lawn is all up and has even been mowed once already. The landscapers have renovated the back yard, so hopefully we'll have new grass back there soon. I've handled a ridiculously long string of honey-do's the last several weeks, and re-hanging decorative window treatments in the living room was the last one today. :D

So, what about the room, huh? ;) I still need to straighten up and move everything away from the stage, just to have enough room to work on the stage and proscenium. I measured and traced two curves for the sides today. I rolled back the carpet padding, drove a nail in the back corner and stretched a wire for drawing curves about three inches in from the front lip of the outside left and right. I put down a three-foot section of 1x12 clear pine and drew the first curve, then shortened the wire another three inches and drew a second curve inside the first. After drawing the two end lines, I took it outside and cut it for a template to draw several more pieces. Cutting two of them took less time than expected, so I cut them all before quitting for the night. Together with 1x4s, black spray paint and speaker fabric, these will form the fabric walls hiding the speakers on either side of the stage.

I just went to take a picture of the pieces (because I know you're all skeptical that way) and ran into two problems: the camera's not charged, and my memory card has wandered off somewhere. I promise now that I'm working on the room again, I'll provide some new pictures. (Honest!)

Can't we at least get a picture of the hedge?

Here's how it looked before (http://www.flickr.com/photos/keith721/169150902/) I cut it (and this is less than half the length of it!)

Here's how the upper half looked in the spring after (http://www.flickr.com/photos/keith721/169150995/) I whacked it.

Since the camera has now charged overnight and I found my memory card this morning, I'll take pictures of the recently-whacked bottom half of what used to be a hedge after I get home this evening. :D

Nice hedge :D Now get back to the theater, will ya?

But it certainly isn't seven-feet-plus tall and three-feet-plus wide any more. I had to work late tonight, so no picture of the current carnage. Just for your patience, here's a picture of the curved pieces I cut Sunday evening.

http://i104.photobucket.com/albums/m167/VorlonFog/PICT0297.jpg

Keith,

Nice work on the room.

I just found your thread and I really like the color of stain you put on the front of your stage. Is it a common brand/color found at home depot or ?? Multi-stage stain and varnish right. IS that gloss just from the stain?

I'm trying to do something similar but attempting to match the Cherry Red color of my Von Schweikert speakers.

Mike B.

Thanks, Mike! :)

Check back a few pages where I was staining all the trim molding for my room. You'll see where I provided the Minwax color names and numbers. I can't even remember the specifics right now, but it's three coats of the Minwax mahogany stain, followed by two or three coats of the Minwax tinted satin polyurethane. The stage curves you saw only have a single coat of polyurethane on them right now. I still have to sand them and put on a second coat. ;)

I'm trying to do something similar but attempting to match the Cherry Red color of my Von Schweikert speakers.


You should look up Bud's thread (chinadog) he used some service to get a matching stain and it turned out pretty good for him.

Blazing Ridge Cinema (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=549924)

Look toward the end of the thread -- where he does the install for his wet bar.

Mike

You should look up Bud's thread (chinadog) he used some service to get a matching stain and it turned out pretty good for him.

Blazing Ridge Cinema (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=549924)

Look toward the end of the thread -- where he does the install for his wet bar.

Mike

Yeah, I did the same thing but went to a local Sherman Williams that was specially equipped to match colors of stains. I took in one of the speaker tops (removable) and left it with them. :( and a sample piece of oak plywood like the wood I'm going to apply it to. I was sweating bullets until I got my speaker top back. They said they did the best they could. They stressed the point that the depth is what created the intense color. Now by reading this thread, I see that it's a many step process but it may be attainable.

I'm going to experiment with the stain they made up and some varnish this week.

Craig,
What is the curved wood pieces for? I am also going to make similar curves for the curved face bass traps I'm planning. It will match the curved face of my stage.

I really really admire the first few posts you put up with your Crown Moulding, chair rail and corner piece. I want that look! Being that the stain is very dark, I wonder if wood crown with a few finger joints in it would stand out? I bought about 300 feet of 5 inch crown for 15cents per foot back when a local home improvement store went out of business. I'd love to use it up.

I'm going to experiment with the stain they made up and some varnish this week.

Something else you might consider is to call around to various fine furniture stores and ask about who they use for fixing and restoration. Those guys are AMAZING when it comes to color matching. They just mix a bit of this and a bit of that and voila it matches. I asked the guy who fixed our table how he does it and he said he can just see what colors need to be added (uh, how do you learn that skill??). Anyway, it occurred to me that you might be able to hire one of them to figure out your color issue (depth of finish, what type(s), etc).

Or you can practice, practice, practice :)

Good luck,
Mike

And look what happens: you guys get started talking about finishing wood trim. :D

MadTexan: The curved pieces are for the speaker walls on the two sides of the stage. I'm not ready to build them yet, but figured I could use up some of the scrap 1x12 I've had hanging around since our renovation completed in March. Plus, it was something easy to get back into working on the room after a two-month break. ;)

And look what happens: you guys get started talking about finishing wood trim. :D



I guess it's better than the discussion about the Hedge??? :rolleyes:

:D

Yeah, it's better than the hedge. By a long shot. :)

For the last two months, the theatre room has been where I stash things when I'm done working with them. Tonight after work, I had to clean it all up. The tools were all put back in their boxes and the subwoofer, speakers, amplifier, and carpet pad all came off the stage.

Earlier this week I picked up several 1x4s and tonight I laid them out on the stage for marking up and cutting tomorrow. The ceiling joists run left to right across the room. After the proscenium frame is cut and fit together, I'll nail the top pieces through the 1x4s and sheetrock and into the joists. Then I'll finish attaching everything beneath them. Just like the stage, I'll use masonite and quarter-inch oak veneered plywood strips to form the curves.

Other than working overhead, I think I'll like using lighter weight lumber to frame the proscenium. More of it fits in the car in a single trip, it's easier and faster to cut, and it's cheaper ;) too. Pictures coming after I actually get things cut and fit together. Comments and suggestions greatly appreciated. :)

Morning was spent running errands, including more lumber. I needed more 1x4s, masonite, and oak-veneer plywood. Laid things out on top of the stage, marked the curves, spent all afternoon cutting things, but haven't pieced anything together yet. We're goin' out for dinner. I gotta keep my energy up to work into the night, right? ;)

Edit:The Double Dark Chocolate cake at Buca di Beppo outweighed the two cups of really good coffee I had with it. :o

I started with the jigsaw before 9 a.m. just to make up for the lost time last night. (At least I got a heckuva good night's sleep, anyway.) Fortunately, one set of neighbors was away this weekend, and the others were already up and out for the day. :D I laid out all the pieces cut Saturday and this morning and started assembling. This week, I'll cut and apply the masonite for the curves, then stain and apply the oak-veneer plywood.

Here's the results of this weekend's framing work:

Left side:
http://i104.photobucket.com/albums/m167/VorlonFog/01_left.jpg

Center:
http://i104.photobucket.com/albums/m167/VorlonFog/02_center.jpg

Right:
http://i104.photobucket.com/albums/m167/VorlonFog/03_right.jpg

Keith,

Nice progress on your stage. I completely understand about the neighbors. Luckily none of mine have complained (yet). I always feel bad when I'm making so much noise. Even during the day, I try to keep the garage door shut when cutting/routing to help contain things a bit. If I ever see them outside, I just tell them I'll have them over when the room is done :)

That's exactly what I did Sunday afternoon. Mrs. Neighbor noted "You're always out here working on stuff!" so I explained how I was just getting back to the theatre room after two months. I promised her they'd be the first ones over whenever I finally ;) get things done.

Hey, don't anyone tell my wife, but I ordered a pair of Aura Pro bass shakers from PartsExpress last week. Guess what's gonna get installed into the reclining love seat next week? :D

I relaxed over the long Thanksgiving weekend, but worked on the ceiling portion of my proscenium for a day and a half. Quarter-inch masonite strips were applied over the 1x4 frame, using construction adhesive, two-inch brads, and clamps to hold the curves in place while the adhesive dried. Last weekend the Aura Pro bass shakers got installed beneath the loveseat, the quarter-inch oak veneer plywood got stained and this week that's been attached to the curved frames. Each night there's been a bit more construction adhesive, several more brads, and all the clamps got moved. Now that the smaller outside curves are attached, it's time to fasten both sides together and apply the longer oak strips to the middle. Pictures coming :rolleyes: only after it's firmly bolted into the ceiling joists.

Have a safe and productive weekend, everyone!!

The wife is away this weekend, so I've had the day all to myself. :D The first priority was de-installing the screen, its wiring, and brackets. After that, the door frame was removed. To get the frame halves close to the ceiling, I stacked several plastic storage crates (from our renovation), then lifted the frame onto the top of the crates. This got it within an inch of the ceiling. With a few long pieces of 1x4 I was able to get it almost snug to the ceiling, where I adjusted it for the proper distance from the rear wall. When it was located correctly, I drilled through the 1x4 frame into the 2x12 ceiling joists. There's a triple-joist 16 inches from the wall, so hitting it was a breeze. At 26 inches from the wall, there's a double joist, so it was easy, too. Three-inch x one-quarter-inch lag bolts with 1-1/2 inch fender washers were screwed through the frame into the joists above.

http://i104.photobucket.com/albums/m167/VorlonFog/003LagBolts.jpg

Here is the left side attached:

http://i104.photobucket.com/albums/m167/VorlonFog/002UpperLeft.jpg

and the right side attached:

http://i104.photobucket.com/albums/m167/VorlonFog/001UpperRight.jpg

The gap between the two halves is to allow access to the alarm system sensor box, and will be concealed by quarter-inch oak-veneer plywood. You can also see the storage crates I used to hold everything against the ceiling.

http://i104.photobucket.com/albums/m167/VorlonFog/004BothSides.jpg

Tomorrow, I'll cut and attach the final pieces of oak-veneer plywood, and trim and replace the crown molding on the sides.

Nice!

Are you going to stuff those with any insulation? If not they may act like a drum and resonate.

Looks really good, Keith. Are you just using 1/4" oak plywood for the veneer?

Nice!Thanks, Kirk! :)

Are you going to stuff those with any insulation? If not they may act like a drum and resonate.Yup, lotsa fluffy stuff ;) gonna go up in there.

Looks really good, Keith. Are you just using 1/4" oak plywood for the veneer?I applied 1/4-inch masonite to the frame first, then attached 1/4-inch oak veneer plywood to the curves. I've still got to attach the larger strips of oak plywood for the main / center curve tomorrow. Liquid Nails construction adhesive, 1 1/2-inch 18-gauge brads, and clamps will hold it while the adhesive dries. Then it's time to work on either kerfing a bunch of matching trim, or finding something attractive that's flexible, too. :)

Sunday, I replaced the side wall crown moldings and cut away excess material from the bottom of the overhead curves. Weight wasn't my main concern so much as acoustics. I'll probably need to loosen all the lag bolts at least an inch so I can clamp the oak-veneer plywood over the center curve. Or I might just glue and nail one-foot sections starting from the center over the next several nights. I also cleaned up and sorted all the tools laying about the room. Wheeee..... :rolleyes:

Last week I bought decorative synthetic/polystyrene quarter-round molding for the ceiling on the front of the curves. It cuts and flexes nicely, so it will get glued and nailed into place, then stained and varnished with everything else. The small pine corner mold intended for the bottom of the curves flexed enough for the broader and shallower center curve, but won't work for the smaller outside curves. It looks like I'll use a thin flat piece of decorative trim instead.

I spoke with Suzanne Donovan at Acoustic Panel Resources in Washington, DC Monday morning. They are the east coast distributors for Acoustic Cotton. She was quite helpful and I should be receiving several 2'x4' panels of their one-inch material early next week. It's Class A fire rated, and will be stuffed in two layers behind the ceiling curves. This provides two inches of acoustic absorption without any health concerns over fiberglass.

Before I can apply Linacoustic and black Dazian Expo cloth to the front wall, I need to re-install the screen. The original placement was completely above the framed entrance to the closet area, for convenience's sake. It will get dropped at least six inches (if not more) to allow more comfortable viewing when the seats are partially reclined. I'd rather build a shallow riser for the seating, but that would partially block the door to the bathroom behind the seats.

That should certainly be enough work to keep me busy for the next few weeks..... :cool:

Replaced the crown molding on both sides, applied the center strip of oak veneer ply, and finally found trim molding that works. Started work on stage lighting (two sides and one center) where I cut scrap pieces of 1x12 to hold the light cans. Acoustic cotton should arrive Tuesday or Wednesday, and Dazian expo fabric should follow a few days later. After cotton is stuffed behind the curves and the lights are in place, the fabric gets stapled in and the lower piece of trim molding will cover the fabric edge. Hung the holiday lights on the front porch this weekend, too. ;)

Over a month and no updates??????????????? Hopefully not the hedge again! Hope everything is going alright in the Queen City.

Yeah, Keith, how's it goin'?

Thanks for checking in on me, guys. :rolleyes: My lower back went pfffffft!! the Friday before Christmas and I spent two weeks laying in bed taking muscle relaxants and anti-inflammatory drugs. Two weeks after that, my lower spine was still about two degrees off vertical :eek: but I was back at the office working anyway. I've only done low-impact projects around the house since then: new electrical outlets, closet organizers, shelves, and getting my desktop computer, Tivo, and Rio Receiver MP3 players all back up and running on the network.

I'm hoping Spring will re-energize my construction efforts in the theatre room. Major items remaining:
carpet the stage
stuff insulation in the proscenium overhead
install trim molding everywhere
apply insulation to the front wall
cover the front wall with fabric
build and cover the speaker walls
re-hang the screen and projector
connect all the audio gear in the closet

I'll start with a standalone DVD player, then work on customizing the MythTV and LIRC infrared control systems. Wish me luck!!

Keith,

Sorry to hear of your back problems, hope it heals quickly so you can get back to the HT.

Good Luck.

Cheers,
Mark

Thanks, Mark. It's pretty much completely healed these days, thank goodness. That was the first time in over two years it's done it, so I'm thankful for that. It was also considerably milder than the previous time, for which I was extremely thankful.

How's the build coming along?
Just wondered, hope all is well...

Tom
Chinaclipper

. . . and I'm not ignoring things here or in my room, honest. :o

To be truthful, real-life work ramped up incredibly in the Spring, and I got totally burned out at work and at home. I took a week off in early summer just to stay at home and get some rest while the wife was at work. I slept late, enjoyed the newspaper over breakfast, and did a whole lot of nothing for the entire week. Since then, I've tried to clean up things in the room, but couldn't find enough time or motivation to really get back into it. :( Last week, I started a course of really-strong antibiotics to clear up a nagging staph infection, and I haven't physically or mentally felt this well in over a year. I think somewhere between too many months of dogging the renovation contractors, the effort moving back in, and the increased load at work, I picked up a staph bug and have been living with it for months. I've got a follow-up visit with the doctor in two weeks, then I think I'll start trying a little harder again. Besides, I really wanna watch the big screen and blast the soundtrack through all the speakers. ;)

Hey, Keith!! Good to hear from you again. Take your time and get back right, as there will always be time for working on the old HT. I can relate to the burn-out factor. Did all the framing, electrical, and insulation, then my shoulder went out requiring another surgery. After that, we had a baby, and bye-bye free time, but it's all good. Anyway, glad I caught this thread again, and keep us posted.

Hey, Keith!! Good to hear from you again. Take your time and get back right, as there will always be time for working on the old HT. I can relate to the burn-out factor. Did all the framing, electrical, and insulation, then my shoulder went out requiring another surgery. After that, we had a baby, and bye-bye free time, but it's all good. Anyway, glad I caught this thread again, and keep us posted.

Wow! two people from waay back when I started here last year--- Eddie and Keith.
I am so anxious to see you guys progress, please keep me informed!
Take care, the both of ye

Best,
Tom
Chinaclipper

The first sign that the theater bug is catching a hold of you is starting to post again in this forum. Be careful. Before you know it you will be pulling all nighters. Good to hear you are feeling better.

Bump (just so you don't get archived). How are you feeling? Any work within the HT?

I agree with Gonzo. Any new news to report? I having be perusing past threads and came across this one and wanted to see more. I am in Charlotte (Ft Mill actually but I work in Southpark area) and was hoping you have been progressing on the HT. Keeps us informed and feel free to ask for a push if you need it. I can be a good motivator now that I am motivated LOL.

John

Yeah, Keith - where are you? We need to keep the area theater builds going.

(I can't do it all myself ;))