Hello,

I've been dreaming of my home theater since I was about 19 years old. I'm now 33 and I've gone from dreaming to building :D (Since I haven't actively been engaged in building my theater I've more or less been a lurker for years and just recently joined -- primarily due to green glue, I'll get to that part later.)

For the most part I had planned to simply do it all in stages, a little bit here a little bit there as we had extra money that "The Boss" (AKA my wife) would allow me to divert to my equipment or whatever. For the last 9 years my system has consisted of a set of Bose Acoustimass Vs (a gift), a Denon AVR-2600 (couldn't afford Dolby Digital at the time so I've been married to built-in decoders in DVD players which is harder to find these days) and my 36" Sony Vega (non-HD). Then last year before NCAA football started my wife (bless her heart) asked what it would take to put together an entry level projector system in our bonus room (we built the house and that has always been slated for the theater, 22' x 18'). I'm the buy quality up front, cry once, enjoy forever mindset so it was hard for me to not want to spend $5k-$10k on a projector for example. But when you get a green light like that you change priorities pretty fast ;)

With a little shopping around I ended up with the Optoma H31, a 9' screen, our local cable HD DVR, new DVD player, Onkyo (piece of crap) 5.1 receiver and moved my Bose upstairs. The picture was AWESOME!! I was absolutely stoked. Wish I had pictures of our temporary theater with studs, cast off carpet, 15 year old couch, etc but when we cleaned it out to drywall I never assumed it wouldn't go back :)

My wife was pleasantly surprised by how fantastic football was and we really enjoyed our setup for the last year -- the Orange Bowl party was excellent.

I'll post more in a bit, I want to start downloading some pictures to post.

Mike

Thanks for the read... I can' t believe your wife watches football... and college at that! Looking forward to some pics.

Thanks! Yes, I am lucky to have such a great wife. She's more or less given the blessing for a lot of the things I've wanted to do.

Here's a quick list of what will go into the theater:

Optoma H31 480p 16x9 projector
9' screen (cut from drop down and mounted to frame on wall)
Art deco column and header architecture
Wet bar with sink, pop machine, popcorn machine, and microwave
Aperion Audio 633T towers, 634VAC center, 534 Dipole surrounds (3 for 6.1), and Velodyne DLS-4000R sub
Denon AVR3806
Panasonic DV-588A-s DVD/CD/DVD-Audio/SACD
Motorolla HD PVR (from Cableone, I hate it and look forward to HD Tivo someday)
Monster PowerCenter Reference HTS-3500-MKII
Network Patch Panel
HP 10/100 16x Network Switch
Natuzzi Leather Sectional
4 Player Mame Machine (converted from Simpsons arcade console)
Harmony 659 Remote -- I LOVE this thing, it's great to sit down, press one button and have my light dim (I only had a single incandesent in the single at the time) and projector fire up, etc and then be able to control everything else at the same time. Took me about 4 weeks to tweak it just right but now you'd have to pull it from my cold dead hands before I'd give it up!!


Here's a list of what I'll be doing (or have already done):

Wire for sconces on Lutron IR Maestro (4 sconces -- 2 on wall, 2 on columns)
Wire for canned lights and directional light above screen header connected to separate Lutron IR Maestro
Hang two layers of 5/8 drywall with green glue between on all walls and ceiling
Replaced the door with solid core door (note to others using green glue -- do this BEFORE putting drywall in, wish I had, was way harder after)
Install closet shelving and base trim as well as door and window casings and headers
Design and Build Architectural Art Deco Screen columns, header and Art Deco Fan (Hired a decorator for the colors I go blank on colors)
Paint (3 colors, 4 different gloss levels, about 6 different combinations in all), I'll spray what I can and roll/brush the rest
Lay tile under and in front of wet bar
Countertop granite tile
Cherry cabinets (modern styling to fit with Art Deco theme) -- these are done by a cabinet company a friend of mine owns
Carpet (hired out)
Replace stock bathroom fan in equipment closet with quiet fan and pipe into closet as well as projector hosing
Build custom equipment closet rack and install components
Make black velvet drapes
Velcro the black out vinyl liner (which normally goes behind the drapes) directly to the wall around the window so it will be totally black :D



I've downloaded my photos, I'll see if I can't get a few that shows how far I've gotten at this point. Then I'll throw in a bit of how did I come up with the design followed by what I've learned so far :)

Mike

Congratulations on getting the green light. Sounds like your room is going to be an Art Deco masterpiece and I can't wait to see how it turns out. :)

My wife said I should include a quick "who am I" because she's read several on other theater building threads.

I'm a firmware engineer at a local tech company. My hobbies are home theaters (of course), woodworking, hiking, race walking (half-marathons are my favorite), and travel (I inherited that one from my wife). I've more or less been in school since I was 4 and hope to finish my PhD in about 4 years. One option is to become a professor at a local university.

4 years ago we designed our house (with theater in mind) and left that room unfinished when it was built. We plan to stay in it until retirement more or less and hope the theater will not only be fun for me but also for the kids as they get older -- kind of the, "if they're at my house having fun then I know where they are and who they're with," mentality.

I've always dreamed that my theater would be as close to an old style theater as possible. If I had a lot more money I'd be spending more time on the finer details (like art deco floor patterns made out of several carpets, granite patterns on the back splash, a wrought iron pattern on the back of the door, and on, and on) but, I live in the world of the real and budgets are very real. Though I must say that thanks to decreasing costs in components and increasing quality (especially in the projector arena -- I thought I'd have to spend at least $15k when I started reading HT Mag all those years ago). My budget has thankfully gone from a dreamed up (but never approved by "The Boss") $50k to about $16k or so. I'm pretty handy on the internet and have snagged some excellent online prices. Plus, since I have a full size wood shop in my 3rd garage I'm able to do most of the work myself and figure I've saved about $10k there as well.

Mike

So this isn't when the theater actually began (it starts in your head right? you know, with the little voices that tell you that you must build it or you will never be happy), but it is where the construction technically began ;) This is our lot where our house was built (it ends on the right near the lump along the ground. That was in 2002.

http://myweb.cableone.net/mjshelton/files/images/ht/In%20the%20beginning.jpg

Here's a couple of shots of my favorite part of the room -- the equipment closet. I even had them install a bathroom fan for cooling the room :) I'll definitely be replacing it, it's too loud (I think I read people liked the Panasonic Quiet fans) and I'd need it to be strong enough to pull air from both the closet and the projector box, I'll probably ask for help on that separately.

http://myweb.cableone.net/mjshelton/files/images/ht/Wiring%20closet2.jpg

http://myweb.cableone.net/mjshelton/files/images/ht/Wiring%20closet3.jpg

Another cool shot is that of the custom built floor joists. They're stiffer and have more mass than the engineered kind (we had to do that because the room was so large above the garage, kind of a nice benefit -- I didn't ask how much extra it cost so it feels more "free" that way ;) ).

http://myweb.cableone.net/mjshelton/files/images/ht/Bonus%20room%20joists.jpg

Mike

For the next 4 years the room more or less was studs with a single 1/2" layer on the ceiling to hold the blown insulation in the attic. The outside walls (north wall where the screen goes and west wall with the window) also had blown insulation in them.

Finally, after 3 years I began to see a bit of light at the end of the tunnel when my wife asked what it would take to put in an entry level projection system. $1800 later (for Optoma H31, 100" screen, onkyo 75w 6.1 receiver, dvd player and velodyne dls-4000r sub) I was in business. Football never looked so good. Even on a 480p projector it was fantastic!!

Wish I had pictures of the room before I took everything out for drywall but I never expected to not be putting stuff back. Basically I had finally found the soundproofing solution I wanted to go with and began scheduling the drywall installation (waiting does not save money here -- the building boom is ridiculous right now and every 2 months things go up 5-20%, yes, that's right -- including my dang taxes -- almost a 50% increase every year for the past 3 years). Okay, sorry for the tangent, back to HT.

After reading here about how well green glue was working for people and it would cost the same to do 4 walls and a ceiling as just 2 walls (well, without drywall and labor added in, even with that it's still cheaper), I was ready to go.

Here's the room after my brother and I spent a weekend doing the electrical. That consisted of moving all the boxes out to support 1-1/4" wall thickness, adding cables and switch for sconces, moving boxes up on the wall for the cabinets going in for the wetbar, adding a light in the hallway for the "Theatre" art deco sign, adding a phone line, network line to adjoining bedroom, running a dedicated 20amp line from the circuit box to the equipment closet for just the equipment, taking the fan off the 20amp circuit in the room (which the sub would be on) and puting it on the kids 15amp room circuit and adding a light line and switch in the regular closet. Oh, and I forgot to mention running the speaker/sub cables in the attic while it was 130 degrees up there. Did you know you can actually burn your hands on the studs while you hold on like a monkey trying to run the cable? I have never sweated so much in such a short time in my life!! I had to come out every 10 minutes or so because my head would start to ache -- didn't want to get heat exhaustion or worse up there!!

Oh, I also spent the next 3-4 days running the insulation in the south and east wall as they were interior walls and weren't blown.

West wall (window wall):
http://myweb.cableone.net/mjshelton/files/images/ht/insul_w_wall.JPG

North wall (where screen, sconces, and Art Deco architecture will go -- imagine how much 46 sheets of 5/8 4x12 drywall weighs!!):

http://myweb.cableone.net/mjshelton/files/images/ht/insul_n_wall.jpg

http://myweb.cableone.net/mjshelton/files/images/ht/insul_n_wall2.jpg


East wall (wet bar -- cabinets along the bottom, on the left will be a small fridge below, 8 head soda fountain dispenser up top, popcorn machine, then sink with cabinets above the sink area):

http://myweb.cableone.net/mjshelton/files/images/ht/insul_e_wall.jpg


South wall (regular closet, and equipment closet):

http://myweb.cableone.net/mjshelton/files/images/ht/insul_s_wall.jpg

http://myweb.cableone.net/mjshelton/files/images/ht/insul_closet.JPG

http://myweb.cableone.net/mjshelton/files/images/ht/insul_equip_closet.jpg

Mike

I have those "W" shape floor joists as well in my house. My HT is 17 ft wide and it is apparently too long of a span for engineered joists (shaped like an "I" in cross section). So I don't have to deal with those stupid teleposts. Do it once, do it well. That's what mama always sez.

have fun. sounds like it gonna be an amazing looking room.

Shelton?? My mothers maiden name is Shelton. Got any relation in Kansas???


Scott

Not directly, but if you go back about 6 generations we more or less all came from England through a Ralph Shelton. Ever do any family history, I have a bunch, if you have any I bet we could get the connection. Even say your Grandparent's name and Great Grandparent's name might do it...

Mike

I think I'll go ahead and post my learning experiences after each photo section in case anyone is interested in what I've done wrong or what I would probably do different to help them with their own theater construction.


Have an actual drawn up plan. I initially thought I only had a couple of things to do and so why bother with a layout, right? Well my brother helped me and refused to do a single thing without the plan. Turns out he was WAY right. I was surprised by how many things we actually ended up writing down and how many decisions I had to make for wiring.
If you have a wetbar and are thinking about a disposal -- don't forget the switch :) They do have in sink switches if you forget...
If you have an attic you'll be crawling through be sure to try doing it either in cooler weather or early morning. I about died crawling around up there in 130 degree heat!
Phone cable (cat3) only goes to 10MB/s versus Cat5e goes to 100MB and faster. Take the time to buy the right stuff.
Plastic conduit is CHEAP!! Man I wish I had run some under my floor before the garage ceiling went in -- I wouldn't have even bothered with the stupid attic if I had had access to the floor.
One of my walls had blown insulation (it backed up against the 3rd garage attic). I found I could just poke a piece of conduit through the insulation to put the wiring through -- it was a piece of cake! In fact, I decided for the speaker wires to just wait until I determine their final location (might move the screen over depending on how the room "feels" once I get my cabinets in). Once I know where they'll go I'll just drill a hole and poke some fish tape through and have my brother attach the cable on the other side.
Insulation is horrible on your lungs -- wear a dust mask. If you can stand it wear a long sleeve shirt too, it really itches as well.
Look into blowing the insulation in -- you'll get more in there and I would guess it's easier to install. The 16" on center stud spaces were a piece of cake, it was all of the ones that were half that or whatever that took all my time up.
When I was looking into having to spend $200 or more on the Lutron Spacer system because I wanted both my canned lights and my sconces on separate IR controllers (IR Maestro says not made for multiple switch setups) I was bummed until I found out how the Spacer system works. Basically you get 4 favorite settings instead of 1 but all the switches still respond to the same signal from the remote, you just set different "favorites" for each level for each light setup. Hey, that can work for the Maestro as well. Instead of turning my lights off right away, I'll have it dim the cans a lot and the sconces a little, then I'll have a hot button on my remote to turn them off before I press play. Excellent!! Oh, and $70 for 2 IR Maestros is way cheaper :cool:

This was done about two weeks ago. In fact, this was what more or less kick started the theater construction into full throttle :) I was just going to do the soundproofing (green glue, 2x5/8 drywall and solid core door) when after spending 3 days getting all of the crap out of the room (it became quite the storage dump) with the carpet (cast off from a friend) being the worst part my wife looked at me and said, "get this room done!" "I'm not doing this ever again!"

Hee, hee -- like candy to my ears :D

Sooo...after putting together a rudimentary budget and timeline (I'm shooting for end of August) I started slamming it out. The first part of course was doing the drawings for the screen architecture -- I basically checked out all the books on Art Deco from the library and went through and marked each page that caught my eye. After that I went through again and let my mind just start putting certain pieces together and it all evolved into the plan I have now.

So I schedule the drywall installation and take the day off to do the green glue. We hung both layers with the glue included in 10 hours!! Those guys were awesome. As I would put glue down on a sheet they'd be off measuring and cutting the next piece. It was like perfect clockwork.

It was so intense and constant that I never had time to stop and get a good shot of what it looked like getting it up, I only have a shot of what it looks like now that it's done (kind of a bummer).

Green glue before:
http://myweb.cableone.net/~mjshelton/files/images/ht/green%20glue%20before.jpg

Green glue after:
http://myweb.cableone.net/~mjshelton/files/images/ht/green%20glue%20after.jpg

West wall:
http://myweb.cableone.net/~mjshelton/files/images/ht/dry_w.jpg

North wall:
http://myweb.cableone.net/~mjshelton/files/images/ht/drywall_n.jpg

East wall:
http://myweb.cableone.net/~mjshelton/files/images/ht/drywall_e.jpg

Mike

There are a few things that I can pass on to those about to try this:

Tim at Audio Alloy suggested leaving a 1-2 inch space around the edge of the board free of glue so the installers don't get their hands in it. I think this was what kept things really clean.
Wear clothing you don't mind throwing out when you're done. That green glue stuff is nasty to get off clothes, I just dumped mine in the garbage -- no way was I risking putting them in the washer with other clothes.
Wash the knife you cut the top off of the tube with right away. Mine's covered in the glue and I think it's more or less a lost cause at this point.
Home Depot sells self adhesive carpet plastic you can put down on the carpet -- this saved our carpet for sure. Was great for mud and texture cleanup as well.
Precut the holes for where your wires (e.g. network, cable, speakers, etc) come out of the wall so you don't get glue all over them.
Leave long wires like speaker, network, coax out of the box in a long line. That way you precut the hole and then feed the cables through. Otherwise the installer may use the rotozip on the box and if they miss they can make your nice 10' of extra cable for your closet about 1' (happened in my family room when I built the house originally).
Hang your solid core door first!! That way they can run drywall right up to the jambs and you have no gaps. I forgot and hung it after and had to cut out the opening to fit the shims and new door in.
If it's too late and you've had to cut around the door and now there's a gap you can fill the space with joint compound. They make a compound that's more dense than normal -- I think my installer called it "hot mud". If you can, put some sort of vapor barier around the jamb so the water doesn't transfer to the jamb and warp it (I couldn't open the door the next morning). Also, the best way to get the mud into the gap is to use a pastry bag with the biggest cap on (so you can stick the cap into the gap and by squeezing the bag force it all the way into the hole).

Great thread, Mike! I especially like your introduction/"About Me" post, and bullet list of tips after each step in the process.. Great ideas!

FYI, the manufactured floor trusses (as well as roof trusses) are very common. I remember being surprised shopping for houses and seeing the I-beam trusses, since I had only ever built and used manufactured (did construction for a number of years, since I was 13). The only way to go, IMO.

Keep up the great work!

Thanks! I figure since I'm learning some things the hard way, why not share them with those that will follow -- that's how I've learned most of my stuff :)

Now if I could just figure out how to get my work to let me take a few weeks off for free ;)

Mike

Good tips in this thread. Thanks!

As a woodworker this is the fun part for me :) Coping joints for the baseboards is cool, I'll post some pointers in my what I learned post after this one.

First of all, I actually managed to snag a little help on this part of the project (most of this is a one man show). My oldest helped me take measurements as well as help hold long pieces of MDF as I ran it through the tablesaw.

Here's a little shot of us after the closet shelving was done (I'm the one on the left):

http://myweb.cableone.net/~mjshelton/files/images/ht/m_s_closet.jpg

She looks kind of dangerous with that nail gun, huh? No worries, she mostly was my holder, I did all the dangerous nailing (like trying to stick a 15ga nail in my hand -- twice on the same spot!! Fortunately I failed both times).

Oh yeah, I also installed the new door at this point:

http://myweb.cableone.net/~mjshelton/files/images/ht/solid%20core%20door.jpg

50 points to the person who sees what's wrong with that picture. What's that you say? The bottom is bigger than the top? Well, that's kind of weird. What's that, how do you fit a trapezoid into a rectangular hole? Well -- YOU DON'T!! Seriously, I spent about 10 minutes trying to figure out why this stupid door wouldn't fit in the hole!! Then finally I took a tape measure to the top and bottom (it had looked a little odd at first but I couldn't believe it would be wrong -- wrong!). Yep, 37" at the top, 38" at the bottom. Nice. Well, I hated the metal threshold anyway so 4 screws later it was in the trash! I'll make a wood one after I find out how the carpet guy would like it setup. Oh, and I had to cut back my gg drywall in order to get the shims in (grrr ... like I said in my early posting, install door first, drywall/gg 2nd).

Here's a shot of the mess I make as I build things (I need to get more of these shots they're way fun but I'm usually sweating, hurting, tired, thirsty, hungry, and ready to swear and the last thing that enters my mind is "oh, I should take a picture of this moment to remember it forever" -- maybe I could talk my wife into doing that):

http://myweb.cableone.net/~mjshelton/files/images/ht/trim_room.jpg

Okay, now for the actual shots of the trim.

Closet:
http://myweb.cableone.net/~mjshelton/files/images/ht/trim_closet.jpg

Door:
http://myweb.cableone.net/~mjshelton/files/images/ht/trim_door.jpg

Equipment closet:
http://myweb.cableone.net/~mjshelton/files/images/ht/trim_equip.jpg

Window:
http://myweb.cableone.net/~mjshelton/files/images/ht/trim_window.jpg

Oh,

I forgot to tell a funny story about building the closet shelving. Of course most of my "I built this" experiences have funny stories, though they're more like the Three Stooges stories ....


Anyway, it all started with trying to utilize as much space as possible in the storage closet. Our hall closet has 21" shelves that run the full length and it's awesome. My wife asked if I could make them tall enough for the bins she stores Christmas and clothing items in and I said, "of course I can". Fortunately for me I've installed shelving before and realize that once you get even one shelf in (generally) you can no longer get the other shelves in the closet to install them (no room to rotate). So I stacked them all in the bottom in reverse order (the top shelf is only 16" so you can stick things on top due to the smaller opening from the jamb). So far so good. Then I put up the first cleat hang the first shelf, the side cleats and take a look. Not bad, time for the next shelf. The second shelf is wider of course and felt like it could use more support on the side cleats than I originally put in. Hmmm, okay I'll run a full length side cleat. So I hang all the cleats first (like before) and as I'm lifting the shelf I kid you not I'm focusing on sliding it perfectly up the wall (as to not ding it or peal off all the texture) and BAM! I run right into the cleats. I'm standing there with this 40lb shelf staring at what I've done. I about crap my pants!! I wiggle it around a bit and eventually I'm able to angle it down enough to just squeeze it past the cleats (the shelf bends a little too -- that helped). Whew. Problem solved.

Except now I have one shelf left, no way I'll squeeze that one in. So I hang the back cleat and stick the shelf on it. Then realize, how am I going to hold that up while I level and nail the side cleats? Normally you'd have someone help you right? Well, turns out at 1:00am in the morning no one's around to help you :(

I was SOOOOO tempted to wake my 8yr old and have her give me a hand but knew my wife would KILL me if she found out. (I didn't even give a second thought to waking my wife -- she's supporting me enough by letting me do it, no since in pressing my luck). So I stick a piece of wood under it and bend down to nail the cleat. It falls on my head and I get slammed to the floor. Then I left it up on my neck and I'm putting the adhesive on, leveling it and nailing it (at 16" off the floor on my knees in a ball practically) with a 40lb shelf on my head. Sheez!!

Ah well, never let it be said I wasn't dedicated :D

Mike

PS. Since my wife likes to read these let me point out that she does help quite a bit by watching all 4 children all night long after being with them all day long so I can work on this -- thanks love!!

Ah yes, the 3 Stooges stories.. nice one. One of mine was when I was building apartments, and nailing in the majority of nails on the exterior sheathing of the apartment. In order to move the ladder less (24' up or so), I would set the ladder, climb up, and shimmy the top of the ladder to the left a foot or so, then work my way across, and to the right a foot off center. The friction against the plywood held it in place. As you can imagine, at one point, the friction didn't hold as I stretched for that last nail...

So I started sliding to the right about 20' up, tossed my hammer to the ground, saw a window sill (no windows in yet), and rode the ladder toward the sill, before grabbing it. So I'm holding onto the sill with my arms, the ladder with my legs (at an extreme angle), so it doesn't go crashing down... My dad happened to be in the upstairs there, and I casually asked him to go outside and reset the ladder for me.. :) Of course, he laughed and knew exactly what had happened (he uses the same technique). That's the only time that happened, though.

Keep up the great work... it's great to have a helper! Another huge benefit is that it's a great bonding experience as well as a good way for them to learn "guy skills"... Same with teaching them to change flat tires, the oil, etc... I'm sure you'll do the same when the time comes.

Great thread. Keep up the good work!!!

Ah yes, the 3 Stooges stories.. nice one.
...
So I started sliding to the right about 20' up, tossed my hammer to the ground, saw a window sill (no windows in yet), and rode the ladder toward the sill, before grabbing it.


Wow!! That's pretty impressive. Glad you had someone there to help out. (Did you have to change your pants after you got down off the ladder -- I would have ;) ).

Yep, with 4 girls I inted to teach them anything they want to know. They dig helping dad out in the garage, etc so I let them as much as my schedule will allow.

Mike

I just realized I never included a drawing of my screen columns and proscenium. The front and center speakers as well as the sub are also drawn in. I have a drawing from the designer that shows colors. I'll post that once I get it scanned.

http://myweb.cableone.net/~mjshelton/files/images/ht/Screen%20Architecture.jpg

wow, that screen wall is going to look awesome. i've always like the art deco theater look and hopefully someday will be able to build such a theater myself.

keep up the good work with the theater and keep posting those useful tips.

-miked

Thanks! I will :)

Oh, and I managed to get a few great tips on spray painting from a pro that REALLY helped. It's amazing how real experience can make such a huge difference over trial and error (even with reading up on things). I'll pass those on shortly. For now I'm busy trying to finish the trim paint (I finished priming tonight) and then start the tile for the wet bar.

Heh, a big thank you to my wife (hi love!) for asking me if I'd already cut the hole in the floor for the pop lines to come up from the garage -- doh!! I forgot :( Well, at least I only have the backer board in and not tile. I should be able to score a hole with the carbide knife and cut it out with a cold chisel. Whew, that was close!!

Mike

Heh, a big thank you to my wife (hi love!) for asking me if I'd already cut the hole in the floor for the pop lines to come up from the garage -- doh!! I forgot :(

Mike
Mike,

Love the stories -- keep 'em coming. Makes me feel better. My wife calls me "Tim Taylor" sometimes after I goof up on things. BTW -- if your wife is reading your thread, she needs to post occasionally to give us her perspective on the quality of your work :D

Wow!! That's pretty impressive. Glad you had someone there to help out. (Did you have to change your pants after you got down off the ladder -- I would have ;) ).
Actually, heights don't bother me at all. When I was doing construction, I would be the one straddling on top of the 3rd floor exterior wall that is held up by a couple braces/nails, or hanging off the edge of the roof nailing in facia. It got the job done a lot faster though.

Nice rendering of the front.. I like those styles. Like Chris Armbruster and Ronnie Jackson's theaters almost (not the same stage concept though). Have you considered hiding the speakers behind AT material? That often gives a great cinematic/theater feel when they're hidden.

Have you considered hiding the speakers behind AT material? That often gives a great cinematic/theater feel when they're hidden.

Ehhhh...yeah, I kind of did but I've always kind of liked the look of nice speakers. I ordered the Aperion 633Ts for the front (and their new 634VAC for the center). The finish is a high gloss black -- I really like it, you can see yourself in them :)

So, yeah, I'm kind of torn on this issue. (well, not totally, I'm already past being able to do this at this point ;) .) I agree that it would definitely give it more of a theater feel and I probably could have gotten away with it in terms of room size but I would have lost counter space on my wet bar at the same time (the false wall to hide the speakers behind would have sucked it up).

Of course, I guess I could have backed into the attic space, that wouldn't have been too hard. But it would have been time and more money (and I'm already over budget so it's probably a good thing I didn't). And this is a bit more flexible if I ever want to change speakers (doubt it, but who knows).

So, I guess I'll kind of shrug my shoulders a bit and say, ehhhh one more time :D

Off to cut tile. I sprayed the trim tonight (satin black) -- it looks sharp!! My wife was saying how it's really starting to come together and she can kind of see it now -- yeah!!

I'll have plenty to post about what I've learned on spray painting. Man, if I'd only known before hand...

Mike

Love the stories -- keep 'em coming. Makes me feel better. My wife calls me "Tim Taylor" sometimes after I goof up on things.

Thanks Steve!

Heh, wait until I write about tonight's little blunder. I was just stupified. I guess I'm kind of getting used to it now, I didn't even get angry :p

Mike

Hello,

So I actually painted the trim last night and laid tile today. But those are stories for another day. Today's story is paint prep.

The prep is pretty straight forward. Basically you fill the nail holes and caulk the seams (assuming you're painting). One thing I messed up was to use something called "Painter's Putty" from Sherwin Williams. I trusted the store clerk (I usually ask around or hit the internet for my info) -- this stuff was pretty much not for what I was trying to do. I wanted to fill, sand and prime before we left for vacation for 4 days. I filled and then looked on the can to see how long to wait before sanding and it said "at LEAST 24 hours". Great. No primer today. We got back and it was stiff but not hard. Must be because I hadn't primed with oil first? Apparently it's an oil based product and did not like my bare wood and MDF. Grrr.

Anyway, I did the best I could and I will say I'm not happy with the results (they're okay, but spackling paste is what I should have used, live and learn).

The caulking went great. Wayyyy better than the last time I tried this. Basically I just barely cut the tip (probably a 16th of an inch to be honest). I didn't even think I'd get caulk out. But turns out not only did I get caulk out but it was more or less exactly what I wanted. I filled a bucket with water and threw a rag into it. I'd dip my finger in the water and quickly run it along the caulk (only do one section at a time, this gets harder as it starts to set). That was it, no mess all over my finger (from too much caulk) and no trailing side lines (also from too much caulk) like the last time I did this. The rag in the bucket is to quickly rub your fingers against to get the caulk off. Couldn't have been easier!! Oh, and for areas that had a bit bigger gap I ran two separate beads (one a couple hours later after the first had set up).

Here are a few photos.

This is of the storage closet door header and casing:
http://myweb.cableone.net/~mjshelton/files/images/ht/caulk_header.JPG

This is of the closet shelves (I did these last, by that point I was moving a mile a minute, pretty easy to get good at quickly). I'd suggest starting in the closet since there are so many seams to caulk, then by the time you get to the outside stuff you're pretty good at it and it'll look better.
http://myweb.cableone.net/~mjshelton/files/images/ht/caulk_shelves.JPG

Here's a shot of some of the trim. I did miter joints on the outside corners and coped joints on the inside miters. I didn't take any photos of me coping the joints but I figured out a quick way to cut these with a miter saw, jig saw, and coping saw if anyone is interested. Oh, and I also did 45deg returns on all my headers for the window and doors. I can give pointers on those too if people are interested.
http://myweb.cableone.net/~mjshelton/files/images/ht/caulk_trim.JPG


Tomorrow I'll try to post my priming experience, tips from a professional painter and my flooding debacle (of course something went wrong -- it's me :) ).

Mike

Looking good, Mike!!

The guys who painted the inside of our house a few months ago did such a fantastic job priming, puttying, and caulking before they painted. I couldn't believe how they caulked every individual seam in the room. Of course, I found this out the hard way :rolleyes: , trying to remove door casings, window casings, and baseboards.

Yeah, everything is caulked isn't it :) . I had to remove the door casing in the hallway for the new door and it wasn't too bad once I cut the caulk with my utility knife all over the place (miter joints included). I was pretty careful with the left and top piece -- gently prying them away from the wall a bit at a time using a small pry bar and a piece of 1/4" MDF as backing to prevent marring the finish on the wall. Everything went well until I got in a hurry on the right piece and tried to use my foot as leverage (which quickly snapped the casing into 3 pieces -- doh!). I was able to salvage it with some tricky gluing and sanding, sanding, sanding. I don't suggest the "foot method" for removing casing needless to say ;)

I will say I used a handy trick I saw one time of taking nail pullers (they look like big pliers with a special head for pulling nails out) and pulling the nail from the backside of the casing and the nails came out easily and didn't mess up the face. That way I only had one set of nail holes to fill and paint (from the new nails when I rehung it).

Mike

What's the purpose of caulking the trim? I've never seen that done.. only caulking of the structural elements for noise control.

Gives a smooth transition from one wood piece to the next (joints, against the wall, etc). Helpful for the fact that things don't always line up (crooked walls, not quite a perfect miter/cope, etc). You run a quick small bead of caulk, run your wet finger over it to smooth it out and then when you paint over the top it looks really smooth and clean (no gaps).

Mike

So laying tile backer isn't exactly a rocket science sort of thing. I don't really have any tips other than to either take one of Home Depot's free classes (or buy a decent book on it) or talk to a friend who's done it. But I will say this -- laying tile (and even the backer board) is flat out THE MOST BACKBREAKING LABOR I've done so far on this project. I judge that by the fact I could barely move the next morning and I thought my knees were just going to spontaneously combust while I was trying to sleep after finishing. I did buy some knee pads for the tile install which totally helped my knees out but the pinching of the straps scraped all my skin off behind my knees by the end of the day (even with jeans on) -- but it'll be worth it, right :cool:

Here's a shot of the backer board down:
http://myweb.cableone.net/~mjshelton/files/images/ht/backer_full.JPG

And just so everyone knows that I've TRULY put not only sweat and tears but actual blood, sweat and tears here's what happens when you do construction without pants on. (Uh, I did have shorts on, that would be weird: "Um, Mike, where are your clothes?" "Well dear, I didn't want any static electricity to ruin my components." "But you're laying backer board!!")

Anyway, I happened to look down amidst my hundreds of nails I was pounding in and thought, "that's weird, that looks like blood. Oh, it is blood." Nothing major, just stuck my knee into a nail is all :)
http://myweb.cableone.net/~mjshelton/files/images/ht/backer_blood.JPG

Ahhh, now we're starting to get to the point where the room actually feels like a room -- a little bit of color on the wall (gray primer isn't all that exciting, but it's different and that's pretty fun at this point).

Here's a shot of things primed (including the doors, columns and proscenium):
http://myweb.cableone.net/~mjshelton/files/images/ht/prime_room.JPG

So I was pretty nervous at this point when it came time to actually start the next step which is the final paint colors of course. I've never sprayed a room before (fence staining doesn't count). Okay, that's not true, I used an HVLP I had on the last room I did but it was too hard to use so I sold it and bought an airless. The priming went okay but I had a few tough spots and wanted help before I hit the final colors. One of my friends at work overheard me talking about spraying the next morning (this was last Wed or Thurs) and said her brother was a professional painter and she'd be willing to ask him a few questions for me if I wanted -- boy did I "wanted" :D

For one thing I ran out of primer with about 8'x10' left on the ceiling:
http://myweb.cableone.net/~mjshelton/files/images/ht/prime_out.JPG

Make sure you have enough paint or primer for the job. I might have on primer but definitely didn't on paint. I gave the calculations to the store clerk and went with their recommendations and needed another gallon (which is painful -- especially when you see what happened after I cleaned up waiting for more paint).
Make sure your gun is the right pressure -- follow the manufacturer's instructions. I just set it where I had on the primer for the pre-texture priming and that may have been too high for this primer (different brand) and I shot too much paint.
Make sure you use the right sized tip for each area. I should have used a 212 (Graco XR7 is my setup) instead of a 515 for the trim and closet interior. (4" vs 10" fan size). For example when I shot the trim there were 3 edges on door casings and 4 edges on the window casings. Imagine making 3-4 passes with a 10" fan over a 2-1/2" area :( woops, major orange peel going on there, flowed out okay in the end though.
Also, when doing the closet I'd go with the smaller tip as well. The 10" has a lot of kickback when you squeeze it and depending on how your shelves are setup (this is the storage closet) you may not be covering much space in a short period of time so you end up not getting a straight line (which means having to spray it again) and the entire time you're laying down a 10" fan. A LOT of primer went into my closet. I'll use the 4" when I do it again (the 212).


Here's a list of things my coworker's brother (paint pro) shared with me:

Use the smallest tip you need (see above). I did like the 10" on the ceiling and walls in the open areas. I'll shoot the closet first with the 4" before doing the walls with the 10" (the trim is already painted with the 4" and I'll roll the ceiling as it's a different color).
When taping over a painted area wait 2-3 days (ask paint supplier). Okay to use 3M blue tape. Press hard over tape edge for the entire run 3 times in a row to get a good seal. Remove immediately when done.
When brushing/rolling against taped edge don't paint over the tape with a brush. Cut to the tape with a dry brush. [I wasn't able to actually ask what this meant but I believe it means to paint towards the tape (cut) with a brush that has just a tiny bit of paint on it (dry).] Then once you've cut to the tape use the edge of the tape as a shield (don't really paint over it, paint away from it).
Don't need to add flow additive or thinner to paint before spraying [Although I noticed that without the floetrol (or whatever) when I oversprayed and would wipe it thin with a brush the marks kind of stayed after it dried -- but when I added the floetrol with the paint coat and brushed a couple of overspray areas (too much paint) it flowed out nice and there were no brush marks afterwards -- but my guess is that he's good enough to not worry about this :) ]
To get a nice finish on trim hit it first with a tack coat (you back the gun away further than normal and run it real fast so it barely puts a splatter coat on the surface). Wait a few secs (2-3) and then hit it with a full coat. It lays out better [I did this and it worked GREAT!].

So this has probably been my most educational part of the project so far. I don't think any of the mistakes I've made have been terminal but they've either slowed me down, gotten me down, or just really annoyed me. Most people will probably never know to be honest (unless they read this :rolleyes: of course).

I shared some of the how-to and painter-pro tips in my previous post, this is more of a what went wrong and how I'd avoid it post.

1) Dust. We all know it gets everywhere! But what I found is that no matter how meticulously (okay, I probably didn't go quite that far, but I did a good job) we clean, the dust doesn't seem to leave the room. I swept twice and thought the floors looked pretty clean. But as soon as I started spraying trim along the floor I found out otherwise. Notice how the dust from the floor manages to be kicked up in the air and land on your nice wet paint :( I PROMISE that dust was not next to that trim before I sprayed it! Solving this either requires a quick mop of the room (after dust settles from sweeping) or laying plastic down beneath your trim. For trim on the wall I'd use a paint shield (I had one but didn't think about it until I was done).
http://myweb.cableone.net/~mjshelton/files/images/ht/prime_dust.JPG

2) Caulking. Tim asked what caulking was for. I can show you what things look like when you don't caulk. This is one of my columns. The gap is tiny but in this light color it stands out for all to see. Hopefully once it's black you'll never see it. I could have solved this by either filling the gap with spackling paste or joint compound or used a touch of caulk.
http://myweb.cableone.net/~mjshelton/files/images/ht/prime_gaps.JPG

3) Make sure you buy enough paint BEFORE you start spraying. I ran out of primer (not that big of a deal) but look how the two sets DON'T match even though they should have. The way to fix this is to buy enough before hand and mix it all in a 5 gallon pail before spraying/rolling/brushing (this is called "boxing" the paint).
http://myweb.cableone.net/~mjshelton/files/images/ht/prime_match.JPG

4) Priming MDF edges is tricky. It absorbs the paint like there's no tomorrow! If I had this to do over I'd rub a bit of joint compound (drywall mud) over the edges and wipe off the excess -- this would be fast and easy and you could even do a quick sand after it drys if you need a really sharp edge. As it was I had to spray a few times to get it to finally take (I'd rather spray several primer coats than multiple color coats -- in case I overspray and get orange peel or drips).
http://myweb.cableone.net/~mjshelton/files/images/ht/prime_mdf.JPG

5) Be careful you don't miss trim spots (go over the room again when you're done visually). My problem was most likely a lighting issue (I haven't installed lights yet so I only have a shop light on a stand -- which was in the hallway shining through the plastic not providing much light). It's easy to miss spots like this (fixing = spray again or brush). Mmm...actually, I think this is a photo on TOP of the casing of a door. You won't see it unless you're 7' tall ;) But you get the idea (I did have this problem somewhere else in the room though).
http://myweb.cableone.net/~mjshelton/files/images/ht/prime_missed.JPG

6) And FINALLY -- the worst OOPS of them all: cleaning out your gun. I have found that when you're done spraying you immediately start cleanup. It's a piece of cake when the paint is still wet in the bucket, on the inlet hose, in the gun, on the tip, etc than to wait for it to dry a bit. However, there was a minor/major mishap where I cleaned the gun up after finishing the primer (I had run out the night before remember) and wanted to wait 2hrs for it to dry and start the trim paint that I left the gun semi cleaned waiting to finish later. When I came back I found about 2-3 gallons of water all over the floor, the backer board (and under it) and couldn't figure out what happened!!! The seal on the plastic for the door was just like I left it so that ruled out one of the girls and the motor was off and the prime/spray in prime position so what could it have been? The only thing I can think of is somehow it started to flow out of the spray hose (I'd removed the gun to clean it) and it started a nice little siphon (curse you Laws of Physics!!) and it more or less sucked the bucket dry. Nothing like cleanup for the next 1-1/2 hours to really make your schedule go well. This also resulted in me not getting to bed until 1:47am that night because I had to start tile cuts for the next morning (diamond pattern and I needed the outer edge done for layout). Ugh! So I'd suggest you either empty the bucket that the inlet hose is in, cap the spray line (with the clean gun for example) or hang the line above the bucket and let the end dangle in the bucket -- you get the idea.

These are AFTER the cleanup:
http://myweb.cableone.net/~mjshelton/files/images/ht/siphon1.JPG
http://myweb.cableone.net/~mjshelton/files/images/ht/siphon2.JPG


Mike

Mike,

Bummer on the painters putty. I've never used that one before myself but now I know to never use it ever! I think I normally use elmers stainable putty and it works out well. Drys hard but is still sandable if needed.

Oh and don't fret too much over the mistakes as I have plenty if them in my room, too. Hopefully when everything is done, you'll be the only one that knows about them.

A friend of mine is into furniture building too (one of my other hobbies) and his comment is: A true artisan is the one who can cover their mistakes in a way that no one else can see them :D

People always ask what I don't like about something I've done or if anything's wrong with it and I never tell them. If they can't find it, it's not wrong :cool:

Mike,

What sprayer are you using to paint? I been wanting to buy one but just have not pulled the trigger yet.

I bought the Graco Magnum XR7 (http://magnum.graco.com/products/M_Pages.nsf/Webpages/MagnumXR7) from HD for $450 ($500 plus I had a 10% off coupon).

Right now they're running a special where you get 3 tips on rebate if you buy it now. I got the rebate for the roller attachment (which I'll try out on the ceiling, hope it works well!).

So far I'd say I've been really happy with it. I've used it on my fence with the 313 tip (6" fan) and on the room with the 515 (walls & ceiling) and the 212 (trim and closet). It's been great. It takes me longer to mask than it does to paint ;)

In the beginning it definitely takes a bit of practice (but not much, just do what the instruction manual says) -- I've owned and used (if you want to call it that) an HVLP and those things are 10x more complicated to use!! It comes with a video but it's VHS and I've booted that technology out of our house so I haven't watched it (probably worthwhile).

Cleanup in the beginning takes about 1-1/2 hours but now I can do it in about 30-40min. I've mentioned this in my thread above, but let me repeat it -- the second you're done, get this thing cleaned out, it's SOOOOO much easier than waiting! Out of the sun is good too (like in the shade or at night -- but again, don't wait ;) ).

The guys at the pro paint stores scoff at the magnum line from Graco (which I'm sure isn't as quality as the regular line) but to be honest I'm not a pro painter, I'll probably use it 1-2 times a year (except right now where I'll use it about 8 times) but I imagine if I take good care of it, that it'll last close to forever (the pump is replacable if it ever fails so what's the big deal?).

If you're seriously considering it I would definitely give it two thumbs up and tell you to pull the trigger (no pun intended -- I hate puns :p ).

Mike

Wow.... nice sprayer, but $expensive$.

I picked up the Wagner 2-gallon-hopper based (not the little handgun jobs)sprayer at Costco for $180. SO far I've primed and sprayed 4000 square feet of latex with it, Mark (aka BritInVA) borrowed it to spray latex in his basement, and my buddy just applied 5 gallons of oil-based stain to a fence.

Has worked like a charm. And I can clean it in 15 minutes, 20 if I need to oil it for long-term storage. ;-)

Wow.... nice sprayer, but $expensive$.

I picked up the Wagner 2-gallon-hopper based (not the little handgun jobs)sprayer at Costco for $180. SO far I've primed and sprayed 4000 square feet of latex with it, Mark (aka BritInVA) borrowed it to spray latex in his basement, and my buddy just applied 5 gallons of oil-based stain to a fence.

Has worked like a charm. And I can clean it in 15 minutes, 20 if I need to oil it for long-term storage. ;-)
Steve,

Thanks guys for your help. I guess I need to go take a look at both and go from there. Thanks again.

Yeah, can't speak to that. Of course it helped that I bought my HVLP used for $600 and then sold it on eBay for $1200 :D It was easy for me to buy a replacement at $450 and pocket the change ;)

Mike

PS. Another thing you might try is watch your classifieds. I had just missed the same model I have now for $300 in the paper. I buy used tools all the time. I do a good inspection before I buy, then when I buy them I totally disassemble and clean everything out (all parts, etc) and then I have a nice quality tool for sometimes 75% of the cost (and half the fun is getting the bargain too ;) ).

That painter's putty is pretty worthless, like you discovered, it takes way to long to set up.

I see you're using the same baseboard that I put in my Deco theater Good choice! :) I installed mine "upside down" so the thickest part is at the top. That way the shadows really actentuate the stepped pattern. Either way I think it is perfect for the Deco style.

I installed them upside down on top of the doors and window. I tried it upside down on the floor but with the lighting the shadows actually made it look like one solid piece of wood so I opted for turning it rightside up on the floor and upside down on the headers. It looks pretty good.

I'd love to see photos of your theater -- obviously I dig art deco and enjoy any chance I get to see other people's work.

Thanks,
Mike

I'd love to see photos of your theater -- obviously I dig art deco and enjoy any chance I get to see other people's work.

Thanks,
Mike

I bought a condemed victorian house in '96. I had to totally redo it, from new roof to new foundation, and everything in between, I mean everthing, total gut, new wiring plumbing etc. etc. etc. The new foundation gave me an excuse to add a finished basement and a dedicated theater. :D

I need to redo some of the theater, I mad a number of rookie mistakes. :o I've learned a lot and still have so much more to learn. Mostly I need to redo the stage (fill it with sand, and isolate from the slab and walls), redo the riser, make it taller, add butt kickers, and in general finidh tricking it out. My columns are too basic. I have a new design for those as well. ANd then the most mysterious part, acoustical treatments. I "finished" the basement level first (in '98) then finished the other tow floors, so I never really got the theater completely finished. Good thing now that I need to go back and fix some thiings. Your Deco theater design caught my eye, that's why I'm following it.

I've never posted any pictures on AVS but I can email you some. They would be of version 1.0. 2.0 is coming soon!

Todd

Mostly I need to redo the stage (fill it with sand, and isolate from the slab and walls...And then the most mysterious part, acoustical treatments.

Uh, so I keep reading about stages -- are they necessary for sound treatment or something? I wanted one but don't have a lot of room so I scrapped the idea -- should I change it? I have about 4 days to decide, carpet is coming on Tuesday (I can delay but once it's in ...).

Also, I haven't put much thought into sound treating until I'm done. I was going to have someone come in and tell me what I needed and do it then -- sounds like a bad idea (I figured bass traps in the corner as a minimum).

Thoughts?? Anyone??

I should probably email bpape and ask him his advice too (Bryan, feel free to comment, I'm listening) ...

Mike

The stage provides a nice theater look to the room.. something very unique from any other room. That's the main thing. It probably adds a bit of acoustic benefit by isolating the speakers from the floor, but is not technically "necessary" that I know of. You can't spare 8" or so of height?

Uh, so I keep reading about stages -- are they necessary for sound treatment or something? I wanted one but don't have a lot of room so I scrapped the idea -- should I change it? I have about 4 days to decide, carpet is coming on Tuesday (I can delay but once it's in ...).

Also, I haven't put much thought into sound treating until I'm done. I was going to have someone come in and tell me what I needed and do it then -- sounds like a bad idea (I figured bass traps in the corner as a minimum).

Thoughts?? Anyone??

I should probably email bpape and ask him his advice too (Bryan, feel free to comment, I'm listening) ...

Mike
I'm not sold on a stage unless the space can handle it.

To me, the ideal space is no less than 9' to handle a stage. Then, you have to consider the depth of the room and width. Point is, it'd have to be a decent size room to not overwhelm the space with a stage.

Not everyone has these ideal dimensions.

I'd probably be more interested in it if we did karaoke, I guess...

The acoustic benefits would probably sway me over if we had the room though.

But, we don't.... so no stage....

Next home maybe :rolleyes:

Mike, your room looks great!!! Keep it up! More pic's are always welcome. ;)
These threads just keep getting better and better. :)


Craig

Thanks!

It's my wife's birthday and I'm taking the day off from the HT. But ... I did finish the grout in the tile last night and painted the ceiling black. Holy cow that was AWESOME!! I don't have light installed yet so I've been using my halogen shop light which illuminates the whole room just fine and about 1/3 the way through spraying the ceiling and it was like a black hole opened in my ceiling and sucked all the light out!!! :D My wife was sitting in the hall watching me spray through the plastic on the door opening and her comment was, "Whoa, it's like a cave in there!"

YEEEEHAAA!!!!

Yeah :D

Mike

PS. More pictures are coming...I'll see if I can sneak some in today, probably should mow the lawn first, but hmmm...we have to leave in 15min to meet my daughter's new piano teacher, maybe I'll get some photos in now ;)

The stage provides a nice theater look to the room.. something very unique from any other room. That's the main thing. It probably adds a bit of acoustic benefit by isolating the speakers from the floor, but is not technically "necessary" that I know of. You can't spare 8" or so of height?


Ugh, maybe ... If you look at my screen drawing you'll see above the speakers a long thin rectangle. That's actually a custom made 3"x3"x2' brushed aluminum scone (lights at top and bottom). I worry about how it would look with the speaker another 8" up.

AND... we have carpet scheduled for Tuesday. Not that I couldn't install one anyway. Crap, I just don't know...

Well, you know, I've kind of taken a "be unique, but not complete" type of attitude. Hmm, let me see if I can explain that better. At work the latest buzz word for quality is "Six Sigma" -- six standard deviations in statistics. Basically 99.9999% or something like that. My theory is that for MOST things you can get away with 2 sigma (which is roughly 87%). Why? Because it covers almost all cases and solves most problems, etc. And the more sigmas you add -- THE HIGHER THE COST. And at some point you have to ask yourself if it's worth it.

For me, the cost is probably not the issue, but rather the time. I need to be done by Sept or it won't get done for a long time. I'm going through movie withdrawal already and my wife has just about HAD IT with me working on this thing all day and all night (especially all night).

So, back to the original question. Do I have 8" for a stage. Yeah, probably. Could I do one, absolutely. Is the money there, not really (over budget already) but wouldn't kill me either. Will it ruin the room, not really since it was never in the plan to begin with and I loved the plan from the beginning anyway. Will anyone else come over and think it needs a stage? Doubtful, since most people will be blown away by what I have anyway (that's humility for ya, huh? ;) ).

BUT, that's not to say that one year for my birthday I don't build myself a stage anyway. LOL!!! I'm crazy!!!!

Thanks for the input guys, it's always valued!!

:D

Mike

A stage is not neccessary for acoustics, only for esthetics. No big deal if you don't have one. I have one but it is hollow (bad, bad) so now I get to redo it. :rolleyes:

I think your screen wall looks fine without a stage.

Todd

In case you decide to add a stage, or for anyone else considering building a stage check this thread for some great images on how to build an acoustically correct stage. http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=8162230&&#post8162230

Ah yes, gotta love the latest business trends and buzz words.. :rolleyes: Did someone move your cheese toward a paradigm of Six Sigma?...

Based on your comments on your goals with the room, I wouldn't put in a stage. In response to dastiberious's comment, I think the only requirement would be a good distance between the first row and screen.. maybe a minimum of 8' before I'd put in a stage. I've only seen or heard of a very few dedicated HTs narrower than 9'...

Mike,
Great thread, great room and great work.

Well,

This is probably post #3 on spray painting and I bet I'll have at least one more after this. Like I've said earlier -- of all the things I've done so far, this is the one I've learned the most from.

Here are a few photos with tips:

1) Painting MDF. You can prime it with a non-water based primer to prevent what is called grain raising in woodworking (you get little feathery bits of wood that stick up through the first layer of finish that affect the smoothness) but MDF is pretty flat to begin with and it's much easier (and less toxic) to just prime with a water based primer. Once you've done that you can knock the prickly stuff down with a little 320 - 600 grit sandpaper. You only want to hit it gently, you're not trying to get through the primer, just knock off the bits that stick up.

Here's a before shot:
http://myweb.cableone.net/mjshelton/files/images/ht/psand_before.jpg

and an after shot:
http://myweb.cableone.net/mjshelton/files/images/ht/psand_after.jpg

Here's what I like to use (400 grit with a felt bottom sanding block along with something to wipe off the dust after you sand before you paint the next layer):
http://myweb.cableone.net/mjshelton/files/images/ht/psand_equip.jpg

Don't push hard and when the paper loads up with material switch to another piece. Let the paper do the work, not you (if that makes sense).


2) Tip sizes and pump performance. I mentioned earlier that I like to use the 211 tip with trim -- problem is I kept getting tails no matter how much I increased the pressure. Turns out there's not a lot I can do. You pretty much need a $2k - $3k professional sprayer to get enough pressure to push that thick of a finish through that small of a tip (11 thousands). The flatter the paint, the thicker it is. For example, I could spray satin paint just fine with my 313 tip but not the flat paint, I had to use the 515.

3) Buy plenty of paint. Ugh, I've run out of paint so many times it makes me sick. Problem is I hate spending more money at this point because I'm over budget, but do it right or hate it forever is my moto so back to the store for more paint. When you spray the second layer, it's helpful to go the opposite direction (say the first layer you sprayed north-south then the second layer you can spray east west). That's especially good for textured walls and ceilings (my ceiling is pretty textured and from one direction it looked good but from another you could see primer still). The second layer took care of that problem.



4) I hate painting. :D What can I say? I'm absolutely sick of it!!


5) I love the little paper/tape dispenser unit that combines the paper and tape at once. I did it all by hand before and it was slow and awful -- I'm amazed at how well this little $20 dodad works. It's worth every penny.

Okay, that's all I want to say about painting. I still have the walls to shoot tomorrow and I freaking ran out of satin black as I was painting the closet shelving. Grrrrrr. I think I'll shoot it with some of the semigloss black as I accidentally bought a gallon instead of a quart like I needed. On the other hand, I should probably just bite the bullet and go buy another gallon of the satin. Did I mention that I'm sick of painting??!!

Mike

These were taken on the 5th which means I probably finished this a week ago -- yeah, last Friday, because I spent that night cutting the 45deg angled front tiles afterward for the tile job on last Saturday (ugh, that's back breaking work!!).

The trim turned out nice.

Here's a shot of the window:
http://myweb.cableone.net/mjshelton/files/images/ht/tpaint_window.JPG

Oh look, what do you know? I ran out of paint -- AGAIN!!
http://myweb.cableone.net/mjshelton/files/images/ht/tpaint_out.JPG

Looked good once I was done. However, I will admit that I originally shot these with my 211 tip and it left horrible tail marks (even after drying and I added a flow additive so that didn't help). I shot it again with my 313 and it turned out fine (probably should have hit the shiny spots with some 400 or something but I'll probably be the only one who "might" be able to tell -- doubt it in low light to be honest).
http://myweb.cableone.net/mjshelton/files/images/ht/tpaint_finish.JPG

The door turned out great -- almost sprayed the wrong side though!! I knew I should have marked it before I took it off the jamb. Oh well, no harm done. I still have to paint the front though, gonna be a pain, not looking forward to that.
http://myweb.cableone.net/mjshelton/files/images/ht/tpaint_door.JPG

Here's a close up of the molding I used on the headers to give it an art deco look:
http://myweb.cableone.net/mjshelton/files/images/ht/tpaint_header.JPG


I can't remember if I mentioned this or not, but I wish that I had bought my paper/tape dispenser before this point because it would have been quick and easy to hit the wall with it and the window and hallway door jamb too. I don't think it'll matter since I have to shoot 2 layers of wall paint anyway (and they're the same gloss) but fingers crossed I also hope it doesn't come back to haunt me. (You'll be the first to know if there's a problem ;) ).

Mike

You know, now that this part is over I must admit that I'm really happy with how it turned out and I'd definitely do it myself again. I can see why the installer charge so much -- it kills you!!

I cut the front edges (45deg angled ones) the night before and did a quick layout in the morning before my buddy came over to give me a hand with the cutting.

Here they are laid out. I originally tried to do a sort of zig zag pattern (that's pretty popular in Art Deco) with the darker tiles but it looked like crap. Plus, nothing else in the room will have the zig zag and it would just stick out like a sore thumb. Thank goodness for wives that aren't afraid to say, "No, that looks like crap, redo it". Heh, fortunately I did a dry run on the layout first.
http://myweb.cableone.net/mjshelton/files/images/ht/tile_layout.JPG

Now this image is slightly misleading. You would think we're halfway done. But it turns out that we were only about 1/3 of the way done. That last corner was a dog!! (Especially when you drill a hole in your duct -- more on that in a bit ;) ).
http://myweb.cableone.net/mjshelton/files/images/ht/tile_half.JPG

So, my wife was about at the end of her rope (don't blame her, I wouldn't want to be on full time patrol of 4 children either -- I love you dear! Thanks for putting up with my evil room :o ). Anyway, I agreed to take her out to dinner with some friends that night and knew I had a tight time frame to lay all the tile, return the saw, cleanup and be at our friends' house at 6:00pm. It didn't help that towards the end I had my buddy Jim (AKA James Lemoine II for you Aperion Audio forum members out there ;) ) start drilling the holes for the pop machine hoses (I'm mounting the pumps, bags, compressor, and CO2 in the garage). Anyway, we cut through the backer board, floor and drywall in the garage only to find out that the "funny insulation" is actually the return duct for the downstairs family room -- DOH!
http://myweb.cableone.net/mjshelton/files/images/ht/oops_top.JPG

Here's the garage view (after we cut out some of the drywall):
http://myweb.cableone.net/mjshelton/files/images/ht/oops_bottom.JPG

And since I was on a time crunch (and had 10 year old duct tape that would probably last 5 minutes on the duct) I cut a second hole to see if I could fit up in the joist area to work on the top of the duct (yes, I could):
http://myweb.cableone.net/mjshelton/files/images/ht/oops_dw.JPG

At least we got to use some fun demo tools:
http://myweb.cableone.net/mjshelton/files/images/ht/oops_tools.JPG

Anyway, I cut a plug for the hole out of some plywood, mortared it into place, and put a tile over it -- I'll worry about that problem later (still haven't fixed it by the way :( ).

Continued in the next post (I'm out of allowed images for this post)...

Here's what a true friend looks like (that's pretty much what he did for 8-1/2 hours straight). Yes, Jim, thank you again, there is NO WAY I could have gotten this done in time to go out with my wife -- you're a marriage saver :D
http://myweb.cableone.net/mjshelton/files/images/ht/tile_jim.JPG


And here's what I did all day long:
http://myweb.cableone.net/mjshelton/files/images/ht/tile_trowel.JPG

and here's why I couldn't move the next morning (actually that was from the backer board -- my wife was kind enough to rub out all the knots in my muscles and I actually could move the next day -- again, I love my wife, I have I mentioned that??!!).
http://myweb.cableone.net/mjshelton/files/images/ht/tile_press.JPG


Finally, at about 5:20 I finished the last tile:
http://myweb.cableone.net/mjshelton/files/images/ht/tile_done.JPG

I did manage to get to HD, return the saw (thanks Jim for cleaning it out as well), get home, shower and we made it to our friend's house at 6:08 (we weren't even the last couple to arrive!). I didn't find out until later, but I had asked my wife to go ahead without me and I'd catch up -- Jim told her to tell me no because he knew I like a challenging deadline (thanks again, I think ;) ).


On Monday I did the grout and it turned out great (I haven't removed the haze yet, not real interested in spending an hour or two on my knees again just yet...)
http://myweb.cableone.net/mjshelton/files/images/ht/tile_grout.JPG

Tile isn't the hardest thing in the world, but I do have a few tips:


The most important: GET A FRIEND TO HELP YOU WITH THE CUTTING!!
Rent the biggest saw you can (the more HP you have the less likely you are to break tiles)
Go slow, let the saw do the cutting (it's actually an abrasive not a blade).
As you get to the end of a cut press against the blade on both sides of the tile (press the tiles toward the blade if that makes sense). Otherwise the saw tends to move a little and snap the tile.
My Home Depot has a killer little setup with an automated video instruction thingee in the store. I think I spent about 1-1/2 hours watching various parts and they were all helpful.
Clean your tools as soon as you're done (I didn't on two occasions -- yeah, I'm not too smart).
Clean up as much of the mortar as you can before it dries -- it's much easier that way.
If you have let it dry (especially if it's in the grout lines) you'll need to remove it before you grout. A piece of wood works great for scraping it off the top of the tile and I found the little trowel with the jagged teeth (for small tiles) worked great like a mini saw in the grout lines to get the mortar out.
Did I mention to get a friend? Oh, and don't forget to feed him ;)

This is one of my favorite pieces in the whole architectural design. I hope it really "pops" when it's all done :D

I'm fortunate enough to have access to an HP DesignJet (large format ink plotter) and printed out the templates for each piece in 1:1 scale.
http://myweb.cableone.net/mjshelton/files/images/ht/fan_template.JPG

The toughest part was trying to think of a way to mount all of them together and then onto the stepped proscenium (architectural drawing (http://myweb.cableone.net/mjshelton/files/images/ht/Screen%20Architecture.jpg)). I ended up putting a 4" piece at the top and bottom of each blade so that they can all line up on a 3/4" piece of MDF that will be pocket screwed into the proscenium for strength (and to hold it all up). I'll probably just glue and/or nail the fan to the "holder" pieces. We'll see how that goes later.

Here's a fun "before" shot (as in before I started making a huge mess! ;) ):
http://myweb.cableone.net/mjshelton/files/images/ht/fan_before.JPG

I lost my camera in the middle of it all (well misplaced anyway) so I don't have any shots of what I did to get everything together. I finally found a handy way to attach a straight edge board to something so I can run a pattern router bit across it for a nice straight edge (the bandsaw left things a little jaggedy).

Here's the fan after I cut everything on the bandsaw:
http://myweb.cableone.net/mjshelton/files/images/ht/fan_angle.JPG

This was my first attempt at the mounting block. I didn't like it, it was too bulky if that makes any sense:
http://myweb.cableone.net/mjshelton/files/images/ht/fan_mount.JPG

This was the second one (after consulting with my wife and my buddy Jim). I did a quick "perspective" pencil sketch and liked the angles (fit in with the rest of the design).
http://myweb.cableone.net/mjshelton/files/images/ht/fan_mount1.JPG

Another angle (at this point all the edges have been routed as well):
http://myweb.cableone.net/mjshelton/files/images/ht/fan_mount2.JPG

Here's the "after" shot :)
http://myweb.cableone.net/mjshelton/files/images/ht/fan_after.JPG


Now all I need to do is prime and paint (ugh). Can't wait for this to be finished and see what it looks like.

Mike

Man, did these turn out nice!! It was pretty cool to pull up in the driveway and see these sitting in the garage. Can't wait until the paint is done and the carpet is in -- these are going to look sweet!!

Wish I could say that I built these but I wanted them done sometime this century (and I also am not interested in a divorce from my wife :o ). They're made out of cherry. The rails and stiles are 3" thick to give it more of that modern feel that fits in well with Art Deco. I have some brushed aluminum handles that I'll install when I'm done (they're sitting in a bag on the floor right now -- I'd take a picture but they're not all that exciting yet ;) ).

Here's one of the side cabinets that will go on the top to the right or left of the sink:
http://myweb.cableone.net/mjshelton/files/images/ht/cab_front.JPG

Here's the full bank (hard to see since they're up against the wall sort of:
http://myweb.cableone.net/mjshelton/files/images/ht/cab_rest.JPG

This is the glass panel we chose for the ones above the sink. They have a cool retro reeded glass look that I think will also look good with the rest of the room (I can put candy boxes behind them as well).
http://myweb.cableone.net/mjshelton/files/images/ht/cab_glass.JPG

The crown molding will get installed after they've been hung on the wall. Hopefully some time next week.

Mike

Have I mentioned that I am SICK OF PAINTING!!!

Notice to others -- spray your trim, maybe spray your walls (I would roll at this point) and definitely roll your ceiling. I thought that spraying would be faster and look better. The masking took forever once I had the ceiling sprayed. What was I thinking??!!! Ugh. Plus, the paint was a custom "match" color and it was thicker than mud -- I kept thinning it but could never get it to spray very well. There are tails everywhere. I _HOPE_ they go away when I roll the final coat (yep, that's right, I'm going to roll the final coat, nice huh?! :( ).

Here's the back wall:
http://myweb.cableone.net/mjshelton/files/images/ht/wpaint1_s.JPG

The screen wall (I've decided to go with a 9x16 screen just to be different ;) ).
http://myweb.cableone.net/mjshelton/files/images/ht/wpaint1_n.JPG

And the wall where the cabinets/wet bar will go.
http://myweb.cableone.net/mjshelton/files/images/ht/wpaint1_e.JPG


Time to go eat something and finish the 2nd coat. I had hoped to build the boxes for the top of the columns but I don't think that'll happen today. (I had also thought I'd get the fan primed and "maybe" painted -- HAH!!)

Mike

Mike,

Nice job on the fan. It should look nice once installed. I'm with you having a friend help -- it really speeds things up. Food is an important item to keep 'em coming back :D

Mike:

I only tiled our small laundry closet before we moved back into our house in February, and my hands were shredded and swollen when I got done. I'm just glad I paid someone to faux finish the walls in my small room, I don't think I'd have survived doing it myself. I did paint the ceiling before the walls got done, and I used a roller. But then my room is only 12'x12'.

Your tile job, fan, and window headers all look fantastic! It's really gonna look great when you're finished. Keep up all your great work, keep the helping friends fed and hydrated (their choice of beverage, of course) and most importantly, keep appreciating your lovely wife. :D

Indeed I will!

I cleaned out half the garage last night and took her car to the carwash so she would wake up and find it nice in shiny in the garage this morning -- she was VERY pleased (it's been outside since this little project began).

Thanks,
Mike

I really like your art deco piece. Would you consider sharing plans? I'd like to have one just like it above my screen too.

seems somewhat out of proportion with the rest of your front wall now ;)

the aztec head-dress/fan looks great. can't wait to see it finished and mounted.

:)

Some friends came over last night and wanted to know why I did it that way. "To be different" I told them. Should have seen the look on their faces.

Mostly I was concerned about running out of paint (if you've read my thread you'll understand why ;) ). Turns out I'm okay on the red. Though this morning I kind of still see the lines from the spray gun. Man, you'd think $500 for a piece of equipment is good money -- but noooo, apparently you need to spend thousands :( Oh well, lesson learned.

Oh, and as far as lessons go -- I did notice as I was mixing the paint (I was bored so I picked up a can to read the side of it) that the recommended tip size is .017 - .021. Grrr...I have a 515 tip (10" fan with .015 tip opening). Dang it. If I'd have known that maybe the paint would have gone on fine -- in which case it would have looked really good when I was done.

Well, hopefully with a 3rd coat it'll look good anyway. Plus I think I'm over concerned since you can really only see it when the sun is totally shining through the window. Once the room is done and I put the blackout material up I doubt the sun will ever see the inside of that room again :D

Mike

Well, hopefully with a 3rd coat it'll look good anyway. Plus I think I'm over concerned since you can really only see it when the sun is totally shining through the window. Once the room is done and I put the blackout material up I doubt the sun will ever see the inside of that room again :D Yeah, I painted my ceiling with a flat interior latex and despite using a W pattern there are the occasional glossy/satin spots. Hanging curtains over the one remaining window will certainly solve that minor annoyance. :D

....I kind of still see the lines from the spray gun. Man, you'd think $500 for a piece of equipment is good money -- but noooo, apparently you need to spend thousands :( Oh well, lesson learned.

Oh, and as far as lessons go -- I did notice as I was mixing the paint (I was bored so I picked up a can to read the side of it) that the recommended tip size is .017 - .021. Grrr...I have a 515 tip (10" fan with .015 tip opening). Dang it. If I'd have known that maybe the paint would have gone on fine -- in which case it would have looked really good when I was done.
Mike

Funny how in one paragraph, you are complaning about the spray gun quality and then you discover that if you had read the directions, it probably would have been fine! :)

Funny how in one paragraph, you are complaning about the spray gun quality and then you discover that if you had read the directions, it probably would have been fine! :)


Seems funny :rolleyes: , but thing is I went with the tips the paint guys suggested for me. After having problems they came to the conclusion that the unit just isn't powerful enough. Now, I assume the larger tip (my unit will go to .017 which was the base tip size recommended) might work, but there's no guarantee. All in all, if I were to do it over again I would wait a month and pick up a used professional one in the paper (I watch the classifieds every day and there are usually 1-2 in my price range a month).

But hey, I got most of the stuff done. I did roll an extra coat last night. Not too bad, I think I'll go with one more coat and call it good (also roll).

Mike

I really like your art deco piece. Would you consider sharing plans? I'd like to have one just like it above my screen too.


Sure, send me a PM with your email address and I'll send you a visio file of the fan with dimensions. I more or less just freehanded it for the look I wanted then spent a day trying to figure out what the exact shapes would be to get the look I wanted (that was harder than I thought it would be). Finally I placed it in the architecture drawing and adjust the ratios until it looked good in the picture. The measurements are bit odd but I just printed full size templates, glued them to the wood (3M 77 adhesive spray -- like post it note glue when you pull it off, just barely spray), and then free hand cut them on the bandsaw and trimmed the edges flat with my router and a straightedge with a pattern bit.

Mike

Thanks. I PM'ed you with my email address. I appreciate it.

I'm leaning towards art deco for mine, so I just might be stealing some ideas here.

Feel free to. I'm honored :rolleyes: .

PM me if you would like a copy of the plans as well.

Mike

Thanks. I PM'ed you with my email address. I appreciate it.

Only request I have is that you make your own theater thread so I can watch your progress -- that's half the fun :D

Thanks,
Mike

Its really coming along nicely.

Thanks! I've got more pictures I'm about to post...

Mike

I've pretty much decided I'm going with an art deco theme as well.

Whew! Man, I never thought that was going to end. I wish I were done painting but I still need to do the hallway side of the door (white vs. black), the deco fan, the column boxes, the theatre sign, and the projector box. I did get those all built yesterday and prepped for paint (I'll prime them tonight before I go to bed) so I'm almost done there as well.

The room looks awesome!! It's really starting to come together finally (actually, I'm a few days behind on writing this and we got carpet in today as well -- it turned out perfect!! I'll get pictures tomorrow hopefully).

I'm glad I spent the time to mask it off correctly (I love that tape/paper dispenser thingee you can get at Home Depot or wherever, I can't believe I've painted without that in the past -- it was so fast and easy to use!). Here's a shot of some of the ceiling corners [edit: the JPG compression artifacts kind of make the edges look fuzzy which is too bad because they're really sharp -- mjs]:
http://myweb.cableone.net/mjshelton/files/images/ht/mask_corners.JPG

A shot of the room:
http://myweb.cableone.net/mjshelton/files/images/ht/mask_room.JPG

A little tip I found helpful: when you're pulling the tape off, don't pull it in an upwards motion. If the paint hasn't fully cured it can pull away from the wall with the tape. Instead pull the paint in an angled downward motion (so you're using the tape to kind of cut itself away from the wall if that makes sense). Here's a photo of me pulling the tape away from the floor trim. I also keep the paper with tension perpendicular to the wall at the same time, helps keep the tape tight and down.
http://myweb.cableone.net/mjshelton/files/images/ht/mask_off.JPG

Mike

I'm in the final building stages for the column boxes and my theatre sign outside the room above the door in the hallway.

Here is my "yeah, I made that mess" shot:
http://myweb.cableone.net/mjshelton/files/images/ht/cbox_all.JPG

One angle of the boxes:
http://myweb.cableone.net/mjshelton/files/images/ht/cbox_1.JPG

Another:
http://myweb.cableone.net/mjshelton/files/images/ht/cbox_2.JPG

These are the boxes that will go at the top of the columns around the screen (seen here (http://myweb.cableone.net/mjshelton/files/images/ht/Screen%20Architecture.jpg)


When I was first starting the room (electrical kind of started it all, right before the drywall and gg came in) I was trying to wire for every thing I could think of. We hit TheatreXtreme that weekend and they had cool "Cinema 1" (etc) signs above each demo room. My wife commented, "Why don't you build one of those above the door in the hall?" My comment was, "You'd let me? I'd love one!!" She responded yes, then the next day she asked, "What's the light switch on the wall for?" I pointed to the wire hanging above the door and said, "The theatre box". Her response was, "Oh, I didn't think you were serious." HAH!! Too late!! :p

Anyway, she just laughed (at my neurosis) and the theatre box was born :cool:

Here's the box. I basically built it with a 1/8" groove in the sides and bottom and a 1/8" hole on top so I can slide the lexan glass with the vinyl sign in it from the top. That will let me access the light to change it out. I haven't got the light yet, ugh, just one more thing I get to go back to home depot for...I've been there 3 times this week!

Anyway, the box:
http://myweb.cableone.net/mjshelton/files/images/ht/tbox.JPG

And the sign that will go in it (black vinyl with opaque white velum to let the light "glow"):

http://myweb.cableone.net/mjshelton/files/images/ht/tbox_sign.JPG

Mike

Mike,

I'm really getting excited to see all this Art-Deco stuff some to life in the room. I can't believe your wife went for a "Theater" sign in the front. Unfortunately, my wife is not going for it but maybe once we get closer to completion, I might be able to build something discrete that will make her happy :rolleyes:

As always, strong work. Looking really good.

Now that you're into the decorating and details, it's really going to be fun.
Keep up the great work!!

A little tip I found helpful: when you're pulling the tape off, don't pull it in an upwards motion. If the paint hasn't fully cured it can pull away from the wall with the tape.
The other thing I like to do is pull the tape not long after I paint it. It wont have time to dry and bond with the tape. That always irritates the heck outta me when the the latex paint just streeeeetches with the tape as you pull it.

Great work. Really love the trim work. I'm jealous that you're so far along. I cant wait until my drywall goes up!

Thanks everyone. It's starting to take a toll on the family (I'm trying to get everything done by the end of August) and I'll be very happy to see it finished for many reasons :)

Priming turned out well last night. Hopefully I'll be able to start spraying some of the pieces. Not sure how many coats they'll need though.

As a side note I tried using joint compound (AKA drywall mud) on the edges of the MDF (spread on with my finger, lightly scraped off with a mud knife, sand when dry) and the primer took in a single coat beautifully. Should make painting a lot easier. It took a bit more time than I expected but the results are definitely worth it!

Mike

The other thing I like to do is pull the tape not long after I paint it. It wont have time to dry and bond with the tape. That always irritates the heck outta me when the the latex paint just streeeeetches with the tape as you pull it.

Yeah, I've heard that's the way to do things but unfortunately my walls took 3 coats to get an even sheen (apparently reds are hard to paint??). So, the under coats were semi dry but not completely cured by the time I was ready to pull the tape up.

Great work. Really love the trim work. I'm jealous that you're so far along. I cant wait until my drywall goes up!

It'll be fun when your drywall goes up. I found myself just staring into the room late at night envisioning how it would turn out :D

Mike

Mike,

Your theater is looking great and I'm looking forward to checking out the next set of pictures. You've got a great thread going!

I was in Chicago this past week and did their Architecture Tours which show all kinds of Art Deco. I'm picking up some neat ideas and plan on looking at some Art Deco Architecture books now for research.

On to the Questions...

Did you do the texturing of the ceiling yourself? If so, do you have pictures of the process and details?

Also, I like the way the walls turned out. Do you have details of the brand/color, etc. for the paint for the walls, ceiling, molding?

Thanks!
Brian

Hey Sheldon, I made a copy of your art deco fan today. I made it out of 1/4 mdf and 1/2 plywood. It isn't glued together yet. Here's a pic. Thanks for the plans.

http://home.swbell.net/hebert11/media_room_construction_pic_012.jpg

Here's a pic of it painted black crackle with gold trim. Thanks again for the cool design.

http://home.swbell.net/hebert11/media_room_construction_pic_015.jpg

Here's a pic of it painted black crackle with gold trim. Thanks again for the cool design.

http://home.swbell.net/hebert11/media_room_construction_pic_015.jpg
That's pretty sharp looking. I kinda like the crackle. Can you give more details as to how you did this??

Brian

Its very very easy 3 step process. First apply a latex bass coat. Wait an hour or so and apply the crackle layer. Its basically a clear coat you can buy from home depot. Wait and hour and apply the latex top coat. You have to paint that last coat fast and use alot of paint. It will start to crackle within seconds. I hope this helps. After the top coat dries you can also seal it with a clear coat.

Much appreciated! I'm showing my wife here and its giving her some ideas for projects around the house. Good stuff...

I should also mention that the crackle cracks tends to follow your brush strokes so try to be careful when applying the top coat.

Wow, I take my wife away for the weekend and come back to a nice surprise. That turned out really great!! Glad you liked it.

Kind of snotty of me but I looked at it and thought, yeah, those dimensions turned out really good ;) Nice job with the crackle, where are you going to hang it?

Mike

I'm going to place it same place you are, center above screen on the front of the soffit.

Ahhh...the day finally arrived. The carpet was installed last Wed (8/16). The pattern and colors turned out perfect.

Here's the layout of the cuts on the neighbor's driveway (theirs was in the sun that morning so we borrowed their driveway to get the carpet backing to soften up).
http://myweb.cableone.net/mjshelton/files/images/ht/cpt_out.JPG

Installing the pad.
http://myweb.cableone.net/mjshelton/files/images/ht/cpt_pad.JPG

Gluing some of the seams before laying it (notice the smoke from the glue).
http://myweb.cableone.net/mjshelton/files/images/ht/cpt_install.JPG

Finished! This is the back wall with the storage and equipment closet.
http://myweb.cableone.net/mjshelton/files/images/ht/cpt_done1.JPG

This is the wetbar wall.
http://myweb.cableone.net/mjshelton/files/images/ht/cpt_done2.JPG

Here's a closeup of the threshold I built for the door to seal it off on the bottom (the one the lumber yard installed was too big).
http://myweb.cableone.net/mjshelton/files/images/ht/cpt_threshold.JPG

A closeup of the carpet pattern. The brand is Mohawk and the color/pattern is wrought iron. It's a commercial carpet.
http://myweb.cableone.net/mjshelton/files/images/ht/cpt_pattern.JPG

I love the way it turned out, it's perfect with the tile and the walls and will look great when the sectional gets delivered (heh, funny story that, I'll share in another post).

Mike

So we were supposed to get our sectional on Wed evening (8/16) after carpet was installed. I had called the store the week before and had been assured that all of the pieces were there I just needed to come pick them up. I knew it would take 2 trips with my trailer but they're just 10 minutes away so no big deal.

I went to the store, finished paying (I had left a deposit to secure the sectional and reserve all the pieces). I took my receipt back to the delivery/pickup area and handed it over. 40 minutes later while they were trying to "find" my order the whole time I was finally told that it was somehow deleted. Sweet. Well, no surprise there, why would this go smoothly when nothing else has ;) So they spent the next 10 minutes trying to find out what went wrong. I asked multiple times if they would just see if the sectional parts were in the warehouse and if so I didn't care if I existed in the computer or not, I had a receipt and my order and I just wanted the sectional -- they could figure out the order problem later :confused:

They finally agreed and called in the order. I waited another 10 minutes while they wrapped it all up. When it was ready they told me that they were missing one of the pieces (the armless chair in the middle). Ugh. Nice. Well, how long to get it? 2-3days, okay not bad. Call me when it's in.

So I took my first load home while they held on to the other part (the corner piece). We pulled the first piece out, took the wrap off and then huffed it upstairs (it was a beast!!). Thanks to my neighbor Brad it was possible -- my wife and I couldn't even budge it out of the trailer by ourselves.

We then moved on to the second piece and when we got it upstairs and dropped it (huffing, puffing, and in a big sweat at this point) I immediately noticed this:
http://myweb.cableone.net/mjshelton/files/images/ht/sect_nope.JPG

Anybody else notice what's wrong?

Anyone?

Bueller?

Bueller?

Yeah, that's right ... THEY'RE THE SAME PIECE!! I got two lefts instead of a left and a right. Ugh...you're kidding me! So I spent the next couple of hours tracking down a manager or customer service agent and we came to an agreement (I was nice, accidents happen and like I've said a million times at this point, I'm beginning to expect them so I don't really get angry anymore). Basically they'll order a whole new set up from Salt Lake and when it gets in they'll check it out and then truck it to my house, deliver it, set it up and remove the duplicate part from upstairs. Whew. Talk about taking something simple and turning it into quite the ordeal?! :p

Mike

Thursday I spent the day prepping and priming so I could spray the column boxes and the deco fan. This time around I tried out the joint compound on the mdf edges trick and I've got to say I'm sold on it 100%! It worked out great!!

Basically all you do is take a finger of joint compound (AKA drywall mud) and smear it along the edge of the MDF (the face won't need it but it worked great filling my nail holes too). Then you take a drywall knife (or putty knife) and scrape it clean. It'll leave a slight bit left on (you don't need much) and if the surface is a bit bumpy from the saw or router you'll notice those are filled in as well. Let it dry (30 min or so) and then lightly sand it with some 180 or 220 and it's good to go. Piece of CAKE!
http://myweb.cableone.net/mjshelton/files/images/ht/boxp_how.JPG

Here is one set of boxes:
http://myweb.cableone.net/mjshelton/files/images/ht/boxp_1.JPG

And another:
http://myweb.cableone.net/mjshelton/files/images/ht/boxp_2.JPG

Here I'm masking the center of the fan pieces so I can use wood glue to glue them all together when I'm ready for assembly (after painting is completed).
http://myweb.cableone.net/mjshelton/files/images/ht/boxp_3.JPG

When I was done since I was 1) sick of cleaning out the spray gun and 2) out of an easy place to spray (carpet and final paint done in the theater so now I'm outside and it was windy with a chance of rain) I decided to go ahead and roll the primer (I'll still shoot the colors I want them to turn out super smooth). It turned out pretty good, a light sanding (400) and I was ready for paint. Oh, and as a follow up to whether it's better to just prime the edge or to prep with mud like I did I definitely say prep with mud. It took 3 coats of primer to fill the mdf edge in some cases and after even 2-3 coats of paint in some areas I can still see a bit of the edge peaking through -- it just SOAKS UP the primer and paint. The mud completely sealed it off and the primer went down perfectly with a single coat.

Boxes:
http://myweb.cableone.net/mjshelton/files/images/ht/prime_box.JPG

Fan parts:
http://myweb.cableone.net/mjshelton/files/images/ht/prime_fan.JPG

Fan mockup:
http://myweb.cableone.net/mjshelton/files/images/ht/prime_fan2.JPG

They turned out really smooth :) Can't wait until they have paint and I can hang them. Of course that means making the screen frame, stretching it, mounting it, making the flat black frame and mounting that, then I can hang everything else. In time, in time (actually may be the very next thing I work on -- I want to fire up the projector in time for college football on Aug 31).

Mike

Yeah, that's right ... THEY'RE THE SAME PIECE!! I got two lefts instead of a left and a right. Ugh...you're kidding me!
Ha. I can only laugh because its not me. Thats terrible. I thought that kind of thing only happened to me. When I bought my last sofa it took them 1 month longer to deliver than they specified on the contract. I about went through the roof then. Good thing theyre doing the lugging the 2nd time.

Beautiful work on the fan. Thats going to add a lot of character to the theater!

I know exactly what you mean about getting things ready for football!

Before I get going with the pictures I just wanted to say thanks to my good friend Bret at Western Idaho Cabinets for the great cabinets and his help along with his sons Brenden and Josh! This was a much bigger job than I expected (oh and thanks to his wife for letting me steal them for an evening).

The first step was to start in the corner with the wall piece that will support the 700lbs of pop machine, ice machine and ice on top of it (whoa, that's a lot of weight) but Bret assured me that since we're screwing into the studs on the wall, back and side cabinets plus since the opening is only 24" the pop machine will span the next cabinet as well we shouldn't have a problem. Makes sense to me. On to the install.

Here's Brenden being manly with the drill while his dad lines things up.
http://myweb.cableone.net/mjshelton/files/images/ht/cabi_bre.JPG

Here's Josh working the hardest amongst all of us. Makes me tired just looking at how hard he's working!!
http://myweb.cableone.net/mjshelton/files/images/ht/cabi_josh.JPG

Brenden and I exuding a little testosterone with our manly tools! (Let's just say that this is a rare occurance in my house -- 4 daughters, my wife, and even the dog is a girl!!) That's why the theater's nickname is "The Man Cave". Brenden says he's going to invent an estrogen filter for me to put on the vents in the room.
http://myweb.cableone.net/mjshelton/files/images/ht/cabi_testost.JPG

Josh hanging the doors (I thought we were "almost" done but the crown took almost as long as everything else up to this point). By the way, in case anyone's wondering, yes it is hard to find studs behind 1-1/4" of drywall with green glue in between :eek: And it's even harder to find the stud when you measure from the backside of the wall and instead of subtracting the orthogonal -- I just wanted to say that word (it's the wall 90 degrees to the one you're on) -- wall thickness you add it (we just couldn't hit that stud!!). Anyway, after a lot of stud finding we got the cabinets all hung.
http://myweb.cableone.net/mjshelton/files/images/ht/cabi_doors.JPG

Now the crown. Glad I deferred to Bret on this one, they turned out great (not the time to be learning something, I'll try it on someone else's stuff first :p ).
http://myweb.cableone.net/mjshelton/files/images/ht/cabi_crown.JPG

A shot of the help -- thanks again guys!!
http://myweb.cableone.net/mjshelton/files/images/ht/cabi_guys.JPG

And the finished product (well, sort of -- I still have to put the granite tile on and cut out and install the sink). The fridge goes in the back left corner under the pop machine. To the side of the pop machine the popcorn machine will go.
http://myweb.cableone.net/mjshelton/files/images/ht/cabi_1.JPG

http://myweb.cableone.net/mjshelton/files/images/ht/cabi_2.JPG

SWEET!

Mike

Art Deco Guy,
I've followed a lot of this thread for a while. I like what you've done, but i'm really surprised about the wood tone of your cabinets, were they a great deal? You've gone whole hog on your room, but the color is a bit off.
Hardware will most likely help, just need to see the finished product.
AVNutz

Art Deco Guy,
I've followed a lot of this thread for a while. I like what you've done, but i'm really surprised about the wood tone of your cabinets, were they a great deal? You've gone whole hog on your room, but the color is a bit off.
Hardware will most likely help, just need to see the finished product.
AVNutz

Can you explain "A bit off" ? Because it is hard to judge the color of the cabinets from a picture, especially from a digital camera.

It's the pictures. And wait until the hardware is on and the galaxy black tile is on the counter tops also. I'm a better builder than I am a photographer ;)

When the counters are done (which may be a while since I'm slowing things down now that my PhD program's starting up again) I'll try to get some more natural lighting shots and maybe you'll see it??

They defintely look better in real life. They do look like they don't quite match but I think it's the hardware and countertop that will finish the look off.

Also, I looked into what it would take to put together a perfect deco look and here's what I found:
http://www.cabineture.com/kit/grav.htm

To give you an idea of why I dropped the idea, I paid $2420 for my cabinets (semi-custom). They are 20' linerally so that's about $121 a linear foot. The gravity low end solution (the link above) STARTS at $1500 a linear foot and averages about $2000 a foot with the max at $2500 a foot. So average price for me would be $40,000. Yeah, that's $40k!! That's almost 3x what my whole theater is going to cost me (final price, not original budget even).

So yeah, I'm happy with what I came up with. Hopefully you'll like the final result :D

Mike

Yeah, I'll bet a stud-finder doesn't have much luck after Green Glue and double drywall, huh? :D Poor little guy inside there is scratching his head saying "But I just KNOW there has to be a stud here somewhere!!"

Good luck on that doctorate work!! :)

So just what does work good for finding the studs with double drywall/GG construction? I was thinking of using one of those small mechanical magnetic nail/screw stud finders (The type with the swivelling magnet.) But I'm curious if anyone has a better mousetrap to offer up.

I bought a stud finder that is rated to go deep (up to 1-1/2" I believe). It works about 30% of the time I'd say. It might find one side of the stud but when I bring it from the other side it won't find it. So then I'm guessing. Most of the time we were right, but a few times we were off and just got frustrated.

You can find them from the back side if you have access and do the math right (subtract the side wall width in the other room and add back in the wall width on the double side if that makes sense). We screwed that up too, it gets confusing and when you've got free help you don't stop everyone to try and "figure it out again" when it's past 10:00pm and they've already been there for 4 hours...

That leaves the magnetic approach. I considered this. I haven't tried it and would assume it works if you can find the nails/screws in the drywall (more time consuming).

Honestly, I would suggest to the Audio Alloy people that they tell people in their instructions to measure out the studs from each corner and record the information. I'd even go so far as to suggest doing it at the bottom of the wall, the middle and the top (to account for studs out of plumb).

Mike

I usually make marks on the subfloor to show the location of studs prior to sheetrocking.

So how much money will you have in the granite tiling and install on the countertops? Is it very hard to install?

I agree about the marking.. that's the most foolproof. I also have a deep finding stud finder that works pretty well. But I typically just layout the tape measure and screw every 16"...

I agree about the marking.. that's the most foolproof. I also have a deep finding stud finder that works pretty well. But I typically just layout the tape measure and screw every 16"...

That's what we did for the most part, but halfway through the wall I know that they came up short with the door on the end and did a few double studs that weren't 16" OC. It was right around there we were having problems. Plus one of the studs I knew was out of plumb (left to right if you face the wall) so I think that's how we missed it as well.

Marking the floor wouldn't work for this situation because tile is down and carpet too before cabinets came in (carpet didn't need to be but it ended up that way -- but the tile did and it covered the floor anyway).

It all ended up okay, just harder is all.

Mike

So how much money will you have in the granite tiling and install on the countertops? Is it very hard to install?


Mmm...let me do a quick calculate (the total bill was for the floor, counter and carpet so that won't tell you much).

The tiles were 8.99 each. I ordered like 36 tiles or something so that's $323.64. The backer boards were $9.50 each x3 which is $28.50. Grout was $15. Mortar was $10. Spacers were $2 a bag for 2 bags = $4. I had to have the front and corner edges bullnosed professionally (can't rent the tools). $7 a side @ 15 sides = $105.

Total = $495.64

If I were to do slab I think it's about 2x that cost.

Ugh, I hate seeing those numbers, makes me cranky :eek:

Oh well, do it right once and I'll enjoy it forever.

Mike

PS. I forgot to throw in the Tile saw rental @ $50. Plus I already have about $60 worth of tools that you need as well.

Oops, I forgot to answer your question about whether it was hard to install. I can't answer for the countertop just yet because it's not done. But I can tell you what my experience was with the floor -- the process is the same. It's about a medium skillset -- not too hard if you have the DIY knack you'll be fine. But, it's about the most backbreaking labor I've done so far. You'll be sore like there's no tomorrow. But you can get the tile done in one day so that's not too bad. We had some family that did 350sq ft in their home and it just about ended their marriage ;) It was depressing for them to get up each morning and know they had a whole 'nother day of that to go through -- again, and again, and again. I can't imagine. It would be miserable.

But, I'd do it again. Honestly, it wasn't THAT bad. It was bad, but not horrible bad. Mmmm ... okay ... it was close ... LOL!! :D

Anyway, if you want to do it yourself and save money you can. I'd suggest finding someone who knows how to help with advice. And find a friend or family member to run the tile saw while you mix mortar and lay the tiles, that helps a ton. Home Depot has free classes (and mine even has a video display in their aisle that'll step you through everything as well).

Good luck,
Mike

How far apart are you going to be placing your tiles. I just got done doing 2 bathrooms and they were about 100 square feet in tile. The counter space in my kitchen is about 60 square feet. I have looked into what it would cost to have it done professionally for a slab and it was $6k!!! I guarentee it would be a lot less for yours but something along the lines of 3-4k still. If you can do the countertops like this, I would love to see them. How big and thick are the granite tiles and where did you get them?
I realize I am asking alot, I am just really excited to hear what kind of alternative this would be.

Oh you bet, more than happy to help out!

I believe they're 3/8" thick. I got them from a flooring retailer who is low cost. The tiles actually come from a wholesaler but you have to be a retailer in order to buy them. Call around to various designers or building companies and see if they have any suggestions on where a good price for tile can be had. Lumber yards usually will sell these as well (from the same wholesaler they just act as the retailer).

My counter space will be about 30 sq ft once it's all said and done. I'll get some pictures of the tile tonight and of course the install as it goes in.

I'm spacing them 1/8" apart (which is about the minimum recommended for getting grout in there). My neighbors have granite tile in their kitchen and it looks really good.

Another thing you might consider is DIY granite slab install. A friend of mine did that but I'm not sure how much it cost him. He just ripped out his old countertops (just bang on them with a hammer from below, pretty easy) and then got the slab built and polished for the dimensions he gave them and then did the install with his dad's help.

Mike

I'm glad to hear your tiling experience went ok. Your job doesn't look too bad for a first-timer. I was a bit surprised to hear your back hurt so badly after such a little job. Are you a pretty physicially fit guy? You look pretty in shape by your photos. I'm just curious as I'm thinking of tiling a room and I am in excellent shape (I run marathons and lift weights), but I'm a little worried on the toll it may take on my back. What do think? Will I be laid up in bed after the job is done?
Great thread...keep it coming!
AVNUTZ

Thanks!

I would say I'm physically fit. I like to do half-marathons (I'm training for a local one in the hills this Nov in fact). It's just one of those things where you really beat the crap out of your body in a way that weights and running (I race walk but you get the idea) just doesn't prepare you for. You find muscles you realize you never even had ;)

You won't die from it that's for sure. And you might be okay if you take longer to do it. I did about 65-70 sq ft and did it in a day. My neighbor did about twice that in 3 weeks. He still hated it (refuses to do the bathrooms that his wife wants done). I wouldn't say my experience was that bad, I just want people to know that it definitely is back breaking. It's the pushing the tiles down and sliding them in the mortar and turning them (in a goo that doesn't want to let these 13" tiles move at all). Otherwise you get air pockets and they'll crack later. And your knees -- boy do those hurt!! Get the best knee pad you can find. You'll still be sore but you'll be thankful :)

I'd say go for it. And if you have a great wife who'll give you a full body rub when you're done then all the better (I did and boy did it make all the difference in the world!!).

Oh, and ibuprofen is your friend ;)

Mike

Hi,

For those of you interested in the granite tile here's what it looks like up close. It's hard to get a picture of what the tile actually looks like because of how polished the surface is and how much light it reflects. It's actually a deep black granite with bits of mica and copper throughout it. It looks really cool. It's called galaxy black (if names tend to be similar across the US).

Here's a shot from above:
http://myweb.cableone.net/mjshelton/files/images/ht/tile_whole.JPG

One that shows the side that is cut without being polished (where grout will go) as well as one of the bullnosed edges:
http://myweb.cableone.net/mjshelton/files/images/ht/tile_side.JPG

And a shot of the corner piece for the countertop (I only have one outside corner):
http://myweb.cableone.net/mjshelton/files/images/ht/tile_corner.JPG

Mike

So tonight is my first night of "slowing it down" and trying to get a normal family life back. It definitely is better family wise and honestly I feel much happier too (not as harried as I was before). No, I didn't get as much done as I would have normally but I think it'll be good for my marriage ;)

I primed the door jamb in the hallway (the theater side is painted already):
http://myweb.cableone.net/mjshelton/files/images/ht/jamb_prime.JPG

And I cut out the hole for the sink:
http://myweb.cableone.net/mjshelton/files/images/ht/sink_hole.JPG

Quick shot of it set in (obviously I still need tile, but it looks cool anyway):
http://myweb.cableone.net/mjshelton/files/images/ht/sink_in.JPG

Funny thing -- I ALMOST dumped my water bottle from last week into the sink. I actually caught myself just in time. I think if it had been later that definitely would have happened :eek:

Maybe slowing down will decrease my number of mishaps :D


Oh, and we got our sectional sorted out and fully delivered today (it's amazing how hard it is to get colors correct in photos -- the carpet is way darker than that):
http://myweb.cableone.net/mjshelton/files/images/ht/sect_setup.JPG

Mike

I'm glad to hear your tiling experience went ok. Your job doesn't look too bad for a first-timer. I was a bit surprised to hear your back hurt so badly after such a little job. Are you a pretty physicially fit guy? You look pretty in shape by your photos. I'm just curious as I'm thinking of tiling a room and I am in excellent shape (I run marathons and lift weights), but I'm a little worried on the toll it may take on my back. What do think? Will I be laid up in bed after the job is done?
Great thread...keep it coming!
AVNUTZ

Well...Let me tell you that i lift weights and mountain bike, and after two days of tiling our kitchen, about 620 sqr ft. I was so sore and pooped that I called-in sick for a day just so I could have an extra day recovery :D All I thought that day was "I still have to grout the next weekend? " I was not looking forward to that.

It just seems like you work muscles in a different way than pounding asphalt of throwing weights. Last month I did a glue down wood floor and that was hard also.
The good thing is the satisfaction of doing it myself, and hearing my 5 year old say "My daddy did that" to his friends and cousins, outweighs any pain the backbreaking job can cause.

TIP: Get a very good set of kneepads. You'll never regret it.

Well...Let me tell you that i lift weights and mountain bike, and after two days of tiling our kitchen, about 620 sqr ft. I was so sore and pooped that I called-in sick for a day just so I could have an extra day recovery :D All I thought that day was "I still have to grout the next weekend? " I was not looking forward to that.

It just seems like you work muscles in a different way than pounding asphalt of throwing weights. The good thing is the satisfaction of doing it myself, and hearing my 5 year old say "My daddy did that" to his friends and cousins, outweighs any pain the backbreaking job can cause.

LOL!

You definitely can tell the difference between someone who has actually done the work over someone who hasn't ;) Couldn't have said it better myself!

The fact that it looks good and you did it makes it all worthwhile. I'd do it again (heck, I am -- the countertop ;) ).

Mike

Might I be so bold as to ask the cost of doing the radiusing? I really like the look of that edge and think I'll proceed that route if it isn't insanely expensive. The marble tiles I already have.

So what's the plan for the edge below the tile? Finished wood edge? Or a marble facing also?

Thanks again!

-Ted

Ted,

I took the liberty of posting your PM on the forum for others to see since I imagine some of them will want to know the answer as well.

The tile/carpet retailer I went through has their own set of tile installers, carpet installers, etc. So they offered to check with their tile installers to see how much the bullnosing would cost (the radiused edge). One quote was $10 a side and the other $7 a side. Gee, which one did we choose ;) So each side piece was an extra $7 and the corner was $14 (two sides of course). I have to cut three pieces that go across the sink opening so hopefully by then I'll have cutting down (I'll cut all the backsplash pieces first).

As for how I'll treat the overhang in front I plan to mount a 1" piece of backerboard (there's already a 1" piece of 3/4" plywood that I mounted on the front) and then put a 1" piece of granite that will lineup with the tile that overhangs the edge (by 3/8" -- the thickness of the tile). The grout width is 1/8" so the granite tile "lip" should overhang the backerboard and plywood by 1/8" also (that way you won't see the ply or backer when you look straight on).

Does that answer your questions? (I'm happy to answer any more you might have.)

Thanks,
Mike

Mike, congratulations on trying to slow down. :) There's a certain patience you learn from years of experience, and I believe you're getting it early. (I still don't have it down, yet. :rolleyes: )

Covers all bases nicely :)

Thanks.

I too am glad to hear you've slowed down. You have to make sure to appreciate your wife or you'll have no one to watch movies with in the room.

Your countertop tile looks good.....a little monotone, but I'm sure the picture doesn't do is justice. Maybe you could take some other photos so we can see the variation of colors. I'm sure it's cool.

Did you look into getting stadium theater seats instead of a sectional? I like your sectional, but you might want to start saving up for theater seats with built in subwoofers. I have these in my room and boy, what a difference it makes. I made the mistake of buying a sectional first. I wish I would have just bought the theater seats the first time.

I can't wait to see the finished product! Good job!

.... I like your sectional, but you might want to start saving up for theater seats with built in subwoofers. ...



Do you have a link for these seats with subwoofers in them ? :confused: They sound interesting. (no pun intended) :)

Ivan

Most likely a DIY, like a horn. There's pics and a design of a horn subwoofer built into a riser around here somewhere.. Another advantage (though mutually exclusive of the sub option) to a riser is the ability to add tactile transducers to them to give an earth shaking effect.

Did you look into getting stadium theater seats instead of a sectional? I like your sectional, but you might want to start saving up for theater seats with built in subwoofers. I have these in my room and boy, what a difference it makes. I made the mistake of buying a sectional first. I wish I would have just bought the theater seats the first time.

I've gone back and forth on this multiple times. On one hand I'd like the seats for the look, on the other hand after about an hour of watching a movie I like to stretch out. Also a big thumbs down from my wife on the theater seats. Some fights are worth going the distance for but in this case since I keep going back and forth I just let it go.

However, I will admit that I do want to build some arm rests for my seating area on the couch when I do want it :) I figured I could build something with a heavy bean (or even a thin layer of sand or something) bottom that would conform to the couch nicely (without moving around) and then be wrapped in black leather with a nice cup holder in it. Shouldn't be too hard. Throw in an ottoman and I'm set! :D

Also, as far as subs in the seats go I've tried several (buttkickers to DBOX) and must say they're interesting (remind me of some of the stuff at Disneyland) but seem a bit "unreal" (if that makes any sense in a theater). I think I'd rather get a second sub if I felt that my current bass setup wasn't cutting it. It'll be interesting to see what it sounds/feels like when the room is done but before I started even my wife commented that it felt like the aliens were coming out of our floor during War of the Worlds when the alien first came out of the ground (takes a lot to impress her).

Mike

Mike, congratulations on trying to slow down. :) There's a certain patience you learn from years of experience, and I believe you're getting it early. (I still don't have it down, yet. :rolleyes: )

Thanks. I took the family to the state fair tonight and the two middle kids and I kept riding the rides until 11:30!! Yeah, I'm pooped -- but I haven't had this much fun (well, since last weekend when my wife and I test drove a BMW Z4 for an hour just for fun :D ) in a long time (family wise).

So yeah, I'm not getting as much done but I'm moving forward still and hopefully the joy of working on it will come back too.

Mike

Mike,

Room looks great. I love the raised center on the cabinets. Are those maple or Cherry cabinets?

I'm sure your wife (and family) are happy you are slowing down a bit.

Steve, thanks! They're cherry. What will be nice is over time they'll darken up and get more reddish brown (which will match the room even better). Can't wait until the countertop and hardware is on they should really pop then!

Yes, slowing down has seen big improvements. No more nitpicking, no more shouting at the kids, I'm happier, my wife is happier, everyone is happier :D

Mike

Deco Man,
I just was re-reading the thread. Where on earth did you find a pop machine? If you don't mind me asking, what did it run you? I've wanted one for a long time, but have never had luck finding one. I wonder why more people don't put them in their AV Rooms, because it is a great idea! Do you have any pics of your pop machine to share? That is going to be such a sweet addition....can't wait to see it in place!

Heh, heh. Yeah, that was the steal of a century :cool:

I'd been watching the classifieds for about a year and a half (the restaurant section). One morning (I check it every morning when I get in to work, I've missed stuff by 15min!!) I looked and there was a restaurant in a small (like 300 people) town about an hour and a half from here and they were going out of business and selling their equipment. I called and they still had the pop machine. It's an 8 head unit (I was only wanting a 6 head, it's narrower) but the add said $600. WHOA!! These things are $4k - $5k brand new!! I called and said I'd be out to see it that night and to hold it for me. The guy called back and said there was a typo in the paper and it was $1000. I didn't feel like spending $1k at the time (I wasn't building the theater yet, it would just sit in the garage) so I called him back and said I didn't want to go that high but if he would sell it at $600 I would definitely be interested. Apparently his wife just wanted the stuff gone and told him if he had a buyer to just go for it.

Then the fun began!! I grabbed my youngest brother (about 22) and said I only needed his help for about 30min to dissassemble and put in the trailer. It took us 3-1/2 hours to get that thing unhooked and in the trailer. It weighs 300lbs!!!!! We're both scrawny, we could barely get it from the counter to the floor (glad I brought a hand cart). At one point I thought I had bled all the pressure off the system and when I cut the first syrup line it shot Dr. Pepper straight in his eye -- almost lost an eye on that one. Ugh! We were covered in syrup by the time we were done and so was the ceiling, the walls, the counters and floor :eek: DOH!

Anyway, we got it home and I hooked it all back up (I now know what I did wrong, if anyone needs help with one of these just hollar) and found out you need to keep ice in it for the lines to be cold enough so the CO2/H2O mixture doesn't immediately separate when it hits the air (before hitting your cup even). The ice hopper holds 150lbs of ice! We've had it running 2 times for parties (it's a blast!!) and I budgeted in a 200lb ice machine that'll sit on top of it so it's always got ice in the hopper and ready to go :D

Now for the photos...

Here's one of the machine in action (you can see why it costs $4500!!).
http://myweb.cableone.net/mjshelton/files/images/ht/mpop1.JPG

It's important to get one of this caliber so that it is as versatile as this. I mean this baby pumps out soda fast enough to fill a 4oz glass in 2, 3 minutes, TOPS! It's AWESOME!!
http://myweb.cableone.net/mjshelton/files/images/ht/mpop2.JPG




LOL!!!

Okay, so that was a joke from one of my best friends. He just couldn't understand why I spent $600 on a used one when he was able to buy me that new one for $2 in the clearance bin at Target. He has a point you know...


Here's the real, real deal. All of the pumps, syrup bags, CO2/H2O compressor and CO2 tank will stay in the garage and the lines will be fed through the floor (that was the hole I cut through my return duct for those of you that have been reading along) into the theater next to the fridge and then to the pop machine.
http://myweb.cableone.net/mjshelton/files/images/ht/pop_machine.jpg

I also have a 4oz popcorn machine that will sit next to it on the counter (the pop machine goes on the far left edge of the counter). The top part of the popcorn machine can detach from the roller base (which it will when I set it on the counter obviously ;) ).
http://myweb.cableone.net/mjshelton/files/images/ht/popcorn%20machine.jpg

Mike

Oh, and for those of you that would like to try this at home you can buy these setups on eBay from time to time. You just have to be patient. Normally you'll need to clean everything up and replace all the hoses (mine was in working order so I was good to go). Also, you may need parts but most are also available on eBay. Expect to pay around $1k with shipping (you might get it for $800 sometimes). Don't forget you'll need ice too.

Mike

Deco Addict,
Haven't seen you in action from you in a while. What gives? Did the wife put the Kai-Bosh (sp?) on your plans? Tell her "how it is", and get back to work. Your pop machine rocks.

AVNutz

Mike: I presume the aluminum baseball bat was used to get everything to fit together snugly? :D

Mike: I presume the aluminum baseball bat was used to get everything to fit together snugly? :D

Wow, I have been out of it. I don't even know what this means (that or I'm still struggling from the Jet Lag to Singapore). Did you know it's a $1000 fine to ride your bike in a walkway tunnel? Or that it's a $500 fine to eat or drink on the subway. Uh, huh. Though I must say the subway is pretty much the cleanest I've seen in the world!!

Mike

Mike, hint: There's a baseball bat laying on the floor in the pic of your soda machine. :D Jet lag sucks, doesn't it?

Deco Addict,
Haven't seen you in action from you in a while. What gives? Did the wife put the Kai-Bosh (sp?) on your plans? Tell her "how it is", and get back to work. Your pop machine rocks.

AVNutz

Mmmm...yeah. That would pretty much guarantee the room goes up in a big ball of flame. No. I did not "tell her how it is". :eek:

I am however, in Singapore. Kind of hard to work on the room from here. Though I must say that I'm quite relieved at being away from it for a bit. Hopefully I'll return with a new found desire to get going on it again. I was pretty sick of it (as most of you could probably tell if you'd been reading my thread) and it's been good to get away. I would have preferred to take my wife but it was a last minute cover for a coworker who couldn't go (best darn boondoggle, er, business trip I've ever taken!).

I did get the backer board installed for the sink on the countertop before I left and I also installed the bifold doors.

Except I found the best tile website ever and realize I need to do a bit more work to insure the top is level (especially around the sink) before I start installing the granite.

I'll post more when I get something of value done this weekend (maybe lights or hardware on the cabinets or both?).

Mike

Where is the tile website you speak of? I am going to be putting granite tile countertops in my kitchen.

http://www.thetiledoctor.com/howto/countertops.cfm

I am however, in Singapore...

Haven't been there in 6 or 7 years. Le Meridien still there? Got some great service there when I missed a flight once, would love to go back.

Thanks for all the updates and pictures, football season is upon us, hope your back in time to enjoy it in the theatre!

Man i missed this thread. Great work Mike. Your descriptions are vary informative. I think we have some common interests when it come to Art deco design. keep up the good work! :)

Larry

Haven't been there in 6 or 7 years. Le Meridien still there? Got some great service there when I missed a flight once, would love to go back.

Thanks for all the updates and pictures, football season is upon us, hope your back in time to enjoy it in the theatre!

Dunno, that a hotel? I'm staying at the Shangri-La and seriously this is the best hotel I've ever stayed at. I can't believe how sharp everyone is. You walk up to the front desk and they all snap up at you and say "Hello sir, can I help you" at once. They have service men to open the elevators for you, Ghengis Kahn opens your taxi door, amazing service, I seriously can't believe it!! Plus there's this gourmet buffet (I mean seriously gourmet) that has everything -- Indian, Chinese, Maylasian, Singapore, Japanese, Seafood galore, Italian, English, fruits, desserts, crepes, etc, etc, etc. I love eating there!!

Yeah, Football -- it's killing me!! OU (Oklahoma) plays on Saturday and I'll be on a plane but they play UAB (Univ Alabama - Birmingham, heck I had to look that up, I'd never heard of them, shouldn't be a big game to miss ;) ).

Problem is the screen's not done yet. I built the frame for it before I left but didn't mount it. I'm not sure what type of staples to use. I was going to use my air stapler but it's a narrow gauge and I'm afraid it'll just tear through the screen since they're so narrow. So I think I'll try my old handy dandy hand stapler (the heavy duty kind, not the Swingline "Office Space" kind ;) ). That should do the trick.

Then I need to build the picture frame to put outside of it and wrap it with the Fedelio velvet and hang it on the wall. Once that's done I can start hanging the proscenium, the columns and then probably the lights. Then hang the projector.

Hopefully the stupid company I purchased my receiver from 6 weeks ago will hurry up and refund my money (stupid "Authorized Denon Reseller"). Bunch of crap, they charge you but don't have the product but keep saying they'll send it, yeah right. I told them I was going to reverse the charges and they said they'd refund my money (never did have any receivers). Seriously if Denon's going to get all bent out of shape about not letting "Authorized resellers" sell their stuff they ought to at least pick reputible companies to do so when they do authorize. Grrr. So off to eBay for me now. Once that's in I'll break in my speakers, and HOPEFULLY by next weekend I'll be watching football. Oooh, that's gonna be one tall order. Not sure how I'm going to get that all done.

Mike

Man i missed this thread. Great work Mike. Your descriptions are vary informative. I think we have some common interests when it come to Art deco design. keep up the good work! :)

Larry

Hey, thanks! Don't worry there's still PLENTY left to do :o

You're right about the Art Deco stuff -- I dig your sign, it's really cool! What kind of setting did you end up going with?

Funny, when you talked about having the curtains open and close quickly that was my initial thought when I first saw your columns overhanging the opening, "Man that would be really cool if he had two pocket doors that met in the middle and auto opened/closed". The curtains would definitely do the trick! Good luck making it work.

Mike

3 berk 088's in rear and 2 088's in front making a love seat.
right know I have 2 in the theater. when i need a break from painting, the chairs do a great job far that. sometimes to good.

for the curtain goes I found motorized curtains, but hard to find sensors to open and close.
i might have to go to a automatic door company.

i did find this gadget
http://www.fancypaws.com/auslpadoopsy.html
one problem though, i would have to give every theater goer a dog tag. :D

Mike,

I've been meaning to reply for a while now and wanted to let you know that I love the progress you're making. Keep up the great work!

This is a truly sweet theater and one I look forward to emulating on each update you make with my own tastes built in.

Love the sense of humor with some of those pics man... Too funny

Look forward to the next round of pictures. Hopefully soon??

Regards,
Brian

I've been enjoying hanging out with my family. I forgot who they were really...

I did get the backer board on the counter top and the closet doors installed before I left. On Monday I painted the the hallway side of the door and need to drill the extra holes for the doorknob I ordered from Rejuvenation (mega art deco cool). I'll get pictures up when I get the door hung and the knobs on the closet. Oh, and I built the back frame for the screen (I forgot about that, need to get the screen stretched and start hanging it all).

Mike

PS. Ooh, ooh, I also pulled my speakers (in all of their high gloss black glory) out of their boxes finally and plugged them into my crappy receiver (until my good one gets here and I get the columns up so I can wire the speakers properly). I've been breaking them in during the day which my wife really loves ;) Oh, and the green glue is working well even without a door on, can't wait to hear it after the door's hung.

Great thread. Thanks for the idea with the MDF and drywall compound (I've been wondering how I was going to finish my speaker shelves.

Thanks, I figure if I mess a few things up figuring stuff out at least others can go straight to the "figured out" step without messing up if I pass it along :)

Mike

Hello,

Sorry I haven't posted in a while but I've been busy working on the room :D One of my buddies at work (hey Bill!) pointed out he comes in every morning looking for an update and is tired of not having one, so here's a bit of what's been going on the last couple of weeks.

I finally pulled my Aperion speakers out of the boxes to get them broken in before my receiver arrived. I ended up getting AMEX to go after D*km*rt for charging me for a receiver I never received -- 2 months later!! Surprisingly within 2 days my money was refunded, huh, that's weird, I could never get them to return my phone calls -- guess if you have a bunch of bored lawyers on retainer you get a better response ;)

Aperion wraps their speakers in velvet bags -- nice touch!
http://myweb.cableone.net/mjshelton/files/images/ht/spk_vel1.JPG

http://myweb.cableone.net/mjshelton/files/images/ht/spk_vel2.JPG


But even better was the sweet high gloss black -- man I love these things!!

http://myweb.cableone.net/mjshelton/files/images/ht/spk_gls.JPG

They sounded pretty tight out of the box and after about 3 days of playing my ipod through my old receiver all day long they started to loosen up and sound much better.

Mike

Mmm, yeah, this wasn't my favorite thing to work on. I don't remember if I posted this or not but the paint for the trim in our house is all Xylene based (nasty stuff, but great hard shiny finish) and it took me all of 20 minutes to spray the door and about 2-1/2 hours to clean the spray equipment. Whew, I'm finally done with the sprayer (well maybe, read on).

Here's a shot of the white side (this will go in the hallway to match the rest of the house). You'll notice that I'm starting to try and line up the door knob back plate, that was a chore, no instructions and it's the old post style versus the new 2-1/8" type. I also had to mortise out the side plates for the deadbolt and the other thingee (man I can't think of what that is, you know, the thing that holds the door shut and goes in and out with the knob).
http://myweb.cableone.net/mjshelton/files/images/ht/door1.JPG

I do love the Art Deco look of this door knob set though -- made the difficult install worthwhile.
http://myweb.cableone.net/mjshelton/files/images/ht/knb1.JPG

The door weighs over 70lbs so I had my neighbor come help me lift it upstairs and then help me get the shims under it so I could line up the hinges and reattach the door. Of course, nothing goes right when I do it so they don't line up anymore and the door has slightly warped from being out of the jamb. I tried wrenching the screws down but the door edge and jamb are all finger jointed pine so they just stripped the hole.

I then drilled a 1/2" hole with a forstner bit and used my plug cutter in my drill press to cut some plugs out of long grain maple (i.e. not end grain like a dowel would be) and glued those into the holes over night.
http://myweb.cableone.net/mjshelton/files/images/ht/door3.JPG

The next day I was able to really screw those suckers down (hard maple holds a screw like there's no tomorrow -- be sure and pre drill the holes, I like to use a tapered bit for that). Unfortunately the hinge still pulled away from the door on the top one so I had to improvise and drill two new holes and counter sink them and then with a clamp on the door I was able to suck that hinge into place so the door was back in alignment. Whew!
http://myweb.cableone.net/mjshelton/files/images/ht/door2.JPG

Here are some more shots of the door knob. The first is the one on the theater side of the door (it's polished nickel) and the others are the hallway side (brushed nickel).
http://myweb.cableone.net/mjshelton/files/images/ht/knb2.JPG

http://myweb.cableone.net/mjshelton/files/images/ht/knb3.JPG

http://myweb.cableone.net/mjshelton/files/images/ht/knb4.JPG


Here's a list of things I learned from this experience. Wish I had known them beforehand...

Don't take your door off for very long, even though this thing is fiber board core it still managed to warp a bit.
Number your hinges with a sharpee and then write that number in each hinge mortise on the door and wall. Turns out they're slightly different and very painful to realign if you don't know which one goes where. (Tape your mortises before you paint or the hinges won't fit back in the mortises).
Measure the threshold opening if you're using a threshold before you install it. Or if it's already installed (like mine was) take it off while you're putting the door back up. Then measure the gap at both ends and trim the threshold if necessary. By shutting the door on too tight of a threshold you put way too much pressure on the hinges and they'll pull away from the door or wall -- major problem to fix later.
Never, ever, ever, ever lean your door on a cardboard box. Turns out the latex (didn't try it on the Xylene side but I wouldn't if I were you anyway) either takes forever to cure or never truly does and it bonded to the box and left nice marks on my door that I have no clue how to fix and am quite sick about to be honest :(


So yeah, I don't know what I'm going to do about the door. As you can imagine I'm not too found of taking it off and respraying it. Nor am I excited about trying to roll paint on a sprayed surface and get it to match without doing the entire door over. Ugh. Honestly, I've wanted to do something on the back anyway, that's why I got a flat surface to begin with instead of a paneled door. I guess this motivates me to figure it out sooner and get it done. Stay posted on that one. (I still love the doorknob though, somehow it makes everything allright.)

Mike

Last weekend I was so overwhelmed with everything I had left on the theater I decided to make a list and break it down into individual tasks so I could schedule what I wanted to do each evening and feel like I was accomplishing something even if the final results are a ways off still. It was semi-depressing to realize short cutting straight to being able to watch movies and football was over 50 hours but I'm motivated -- the local University game was in HD and I had to watch it on a 36" ED!!

To start things off my wife and I stretched the screen (if you could call it that, the vinyl was REALLY thick and tough to stretch) over the frame I built. It turned out okay. It was free with my projector so I'm not complaining too much but if I don't like it long term I might go with screen goo or something like that instead.
http://myweb.cableone.net/mjshelton/files/images/ht/screen1.JPG

Monday my receiver finally arrived (from the second place I purchased one from and in just 5 days too, imagine that!). So that set me off course a bit while I pulled the fronts over and popped in a few CDs to try it out in pure audio mode.

http://myweb.cableone.net/mjshelton/files/images/ht/equip2.JPG

I love the blue glow (can't see with the flash) on the Monster Power center 3200 -- it'll be sweet in my rack.
http://myweb.cableone.net/mjshelton/files/images/ht/equip1.JPG

Then one evening I got a hankering for some good old fashioned movie popcorn (we don't even buy microwave anymore, you couldn't pay me to eat that stuff!) and so I pulled the machine out of my daughter's room and hooked it up to make a batch. Mmmmm...buttery seasoned goodness...
http://myweb.cableone.net/mjshelton/files/images/ht/pcorn.JPG

Something I don't have pictures for yet but am quite excited about is the model shop (AKA machine shop) at work was willing to help me figure out how to build my face plates so I could flush mount all my equipment in my rack (couldn't choke down the $120 a pop price tag on the MA stuff -- nice but when you need 7, ouch!). Anyway, they figure they have plenty of scrap to make my pieces out of and they'll punch the main sizes and then I can notch the corners, fold the top and bottom and then use the end mill to cut out the opening within 5-10 thou. and cut it through the rest of the way with a utility knife (otherwise cutting through would cause the plate to chatter too much in the middle and just twist the whole thing). They said a laser cutter would be the way to go but they don't have one. This'll do. Free is good :cool: . They also are going to cut and bend my sconces for me. Those will be fun to hang when they're done.

Another good news item was we finally got our bill for the drywall and it was $300 less than what we had budgeted for!! WAHOO!! My wife mentioned I should use that and see if we could get someone to do the tile for me on the countertop. Oh heck yeah!! We just got a bid today for $126 (I already laid the backerboard and he said that cut the price in half) and I have all the materials so given the fact that I'd spend about $65-70 on a tile cutter you better darn well believe I'm going to pay the man to do it. He starts in the morning :D Hee, hee, that leaves me enough to switch from our local cable to DirecTV with the Tivo HD unit -- oh happy day!!

Yes, I am a happy man -- I get HD TIVO in my theater!!

Mike

Okay, last post and we're up to date :)

The last two days I've been painting the column boxes, the projector box, the soffit, the edges of the proscenium, the theatre sign for the hallway, as well as the black pieces to the deco fan (unfortunately I got the wrong gloss for the gray pieces and I'll need to go back for more).

I rolled them with one of those 4" smooth rollers. I'm pretty good at it now, definitely wouldn't want to spray and have to clean the sprayer out for all of these colors. Plus since they're dark you definitely need two coats (though barely, I bet it has more to do with surface tension or impurities on the material where the paint doesn't stick properly or something).

I did learn a couple of tricks for painting with one of those smooth rollers I can share.

Good prep = good finish. If you're painting plywood or MDF or even particle board using the joint compound to fill the edges or nail holes or whatever works really well. Be sure and prime and then lightly sand the primer with 320 or 400 grit sandpaper (just to knock any imperfections down like dust or something). That makes for a really smooth surface for the next layer of paint.
When you roll the paint out get your roller pretty evenly coated with paint, then QUICKLY spread it around on the surface you're painting. Don't worry too much about smoothing it out yet. Load up again and continue laying paint down until your entire surface has enough paint to cover it. Now go back over all of the areas and press down pretty firmly with the roller as you go -- this will even out the areas where you have overlap lines or whatever. You'll see a difference in the sheen of the paint as you get it all uniform. Once you've got it uniform lightly, I mean barely touching kind of lightly go over the entire surface again in an even pattern (top to bottom, move over with a slight overlap, top to bottom, etc). This should dry nice and smooth without showing the overlap lines.
After each layer it doesn't hurt to hit the surface with a bit of 320 sandpaper. I like to use a sanding block with felt on the bottom of it (I attached that myself) so I keep everything nice and flat as I sand. Latex doesn't sand real well because it starts to roll but if you're quick and don't press too hard you can at least knock down dust spots and minor imperfections so the next and/or final layer will look smooth as possible.
Practice makes perfect. Start with the stuff you least care about and finish with the stuff you most care about.
If you are doing two colors next to each other or even over each other try the following. Lay your tape down. Rub the edge with your thumb (not nail) or a dry wash cloth (I prefer that so my thumb skin doesn't peel off) really hard like 3-4 times. That'll get the best seal on the tape you can get. Then using a brush lightly dipped in the paint of the color you're painting over/next to run it along the edge and then use the little roller (dry) to spread it really thin. You don't want an edge from this color where you'll be painting the new color later. The idea is that if the tape has some little area(s) where the paint can leatch under then by putting the same color on first if it leatches then it won't be noticeable. Let this dry like 8-24 hours. Then prime and/or paint the next color. When done carefully pull the tape back (see my earlier posts on tips for this) and you'll have the sweetest shapest line you've ever seen :)




The "Theatre" sign box.
http://myweb.cableone.net/mjshelton/files/images/ht/blk1.JPG

Projector soffit.
http://myweb.cableone.net/mjshelton/files/images/ht/blk2.JPG

Fan pieces.
http://myweb.cableone.net/mjshelton/files/images/ht/blk3.JPG

Deco front (you can see the couple of spots where paint didn't lay down perfectly in the first layer -- the second layer will cover all of that up and I'll be ready to tape off the center parts for the red paint in 48 hours or so).
http://myweb.cableone.net/mjshelton/files/images/ht/blk4.JPG

Projector box.
http://myweb.cableone.net/mjshelton/files/images/ht/blk5.JPG

Proscenium edges (the tops are black already).
http://myweb.cableone.net/mjshelton/files/images/ht/red1.JPG

Column boxes (the black ones needed a bit more work on the nail holes so those haven't been painted yet. I filled the holes and will sand and prime in the morning and lay the first layer down tomorrow night and then the second in the morning).
http://myweb.cableone.net/mjshelton/files/images/ht/red2.JPG


My goal is to be watching HD Football by 1:00pm on Saturday. Wish me luck!

Mike

I LOVE those door knobs, where did you get them? and what brand are they? Everything is looking fabulous.

We did black spray painting of the Procenium last night and I guess more this morning since only 2/3 done. I was just in the room outside the taped off plastic covered area and I am still coughing up black paint this morning and that was with a mask.

I love those door knobs too. Where can I find them?

Thanks!

I got them from Rejuvenation (http://www.rejuvenation.com/fixshow37836/templates/selection.phtml). They have a lot of period reproductions. I really liked this light (http://www.rejuvenation.com/fixshowC375/templates/selection.phtml) but at $203 a pop (with the trim ring) it was more than I wanted to spend so I went with recessed lights instead. I initially was going to go with these sconces (http://www.rejuvenation.com/fixshowW826/templates/selection.phtml) but chose these (http://www.destinationlighting.com/storeitem.jhtml?iid=9313) instead. Looks like rejuvenation has a new deco sconce (http://www.rejuvenation.com/fixshowW489/templates/selection.phtml) available. That would have been a decent choice too, kind of an interesting look to it.

If you have a door that already has a 2-1/8" hole cut in it you can request a "Bore Insert" to fill it (for sound blocking purposes). I built my own out of maple before I realized you could have ordered some. I would request instructions for install as well since it wasn't very intuitive and I missed a piece that would have made it much easier had I known.

If you order the door handle from them feel free to ask me for install instructions and I'll put some together and post them here for you. You can get each side a different finish (as I did) or the same and they have locking or non-locking, etc.

The handle pulls (http://www.rejuvenation.com/fixshow2436/templates/selection.phtml) were really cool too but again I had a hard time with the price (your budget may vary ;) ) so I went with some brushed alumnium post pulls instead.

Enjoy,
Mike

I LOVE those door knobs, where did you get them? and what brand are they? Everything is looking fabulous.

We did black spray painting of the Procenium last night and I guess more this morning since only 2/3 done. I was just in the room outside the taped off plastic covered area and I am still coughing up black paint this morning and that was with a mask.

Do you have a construction thread? I'd love to see pictures :)

Mike

Tile guy came this morning and should have it laid when I get home -- excellent!! Must be nice to be able to hire out all the labor on a job like this (well sort of, at least I always know whether I'll show up or not ;) ).

I punched down the network patch panel and downstairs phone lines (they were in separate bundles and I had to detach them from the 110 punch panels in order to get drywall up). Unfortunately when I plugged in the patch panels to the 10/100 switch I didn't get a activity signal on the Tivo line from downstairs -- ugh, I don't like debugging those...

I also meant to prime the column boxes I mudded last night so I could paint tonight but in the hustle of the tile guy and the network cables I forgot...dang. Oh well, prime tonight, paint tomorrow.

Mike

Do you have a construction thread? I'd love to see pictures :)

Mike

I don't have one now, I am hoping to get my son to post some pictures when it is done. I am no good at that stuff.

Mike,

Just wanted to say things are looking fantastic. Great job detailing your work and progress this is one thread I've been watching for awhile.
Good luck with the rest of the project.
Cheers

I just stumbled upon this thread today - Ecellent work and excellent posting. Both entertaining and instructive. Keep it up. I look forward to seeing the finished product. :)

Hi Mike,
All I can say is, "WOW" Your theater is looking amazing! This is a great thread that I will pass on to folks looking for inspiration when building a theater. Well done.

Mike Hopkins

Hello Art Deco Dude! I've been out of town and was unable to look up your thread when I was gone.....I'm sure glad you have lots of new info posted. Sounds like you're been working very hard and I'm sure your room is going to look great.

I love the popcorn machine you bought. My friend has one. We had a Halo party a few months back, and someone had to pretty much man the machine, as it didn't make very much corn. I"m sure you already knew this, what size did you get?

I'm glad to hear you're getting near the end. I was a little shocked that you'd let someone else finish YOUR artwork, by hiring a tile guy. "Mike"elangelo didn't need help finishing the Sistine Chapel. Yuck Yuck :D

AVNuts, you kill me! :)

I have two comments for you followed by two questions (take these in good humor, that's how I'm writing them :D ).

When he began work, Michelangelo didn't know much about the intricate art of frescoing (he saw himself mostly as a sculptor). So he hired on an army of assistants to help him get going. He had many assistants --- to scrape, prepare the wall for plaster, to mix the paints, and to carry up supplies from the floor sixty feet below.
You're kind with your compliments but there's always those one or two digs that make me go, huh?! ;)

And my questions to you are:


Where are all the pictures of your theater construction?
How much of that work did you do yourself?


Your bestest bud,
Mike

Art Deco Dude,
Boy, I must have hit a nerve, huh? :confused: It's just that I have a lot of experience in home theater design and I like to give people advice so they can avoid common mistakes. I'm sorry if you thought I was taking "digs" that certainly wasn't my intent.

I am happy to share my pics with you. I will get them taken this week and post them for your viewing pleasure. I actually did all the work on my theater myself. It took me a while to finish it, but the end product is just awesome as you will see.

I started looking on this website in hopes to find new ideas for my room. Again, I really like your pop machine idea and I've started searching for one to buy for myself.

Keep plugging away, Mike. I know this is hard work, but it will be worth it in the end. I'm sure your room will look just fine when it's done.

Hang in there, life will get better!
Your #1 fan :D ,
AVNUTZ

Mike,

Just wanted to say things are looking fantastic. Great job detailing your work and progress this is one thread I've been watching for awhile.
Good luck with the rest of the project.
Cheers

Thanks! It's kind of therapeutic to detail my ups and down through the project. I can kind of look back and laugh at some of the mistakes now :)

Mike

Art Deco Dude,
Boy, I must have hit a nerve, huh? :confused: It's just that I have a lot of experience in home theater design and I like to give people advice so they can avoid common mistakes. I'm sorry if you thought I was taking "digs" that certainly wasn't my intent.

Thanks for taking my comments in stride, I meant to be funny :) I was talking with my wife and it isn't that it bugs me, really, it's more that you hit exactly the points that I struggle with myself. The popcorn machine is a great example, yeah, it's a 4oz size (the Costco one) and it's smaller than I want. I did leave room for a 6oz or 8oz (which I'd prefer) on my counter top for the future :rolleyes: . Then there's the sectional vs. the theater seats. I really wanted theater seats and the more people talk about theirs the more I get sick about not having them -- but, update on this one, tonight during the game my wife and his brother came up with a cool solution. Basically I pull apart the sectional (leaving two seats on one side and the other single seat, corner seat and L section on the other) and put a single black leather berkline in between :D Not sure whether that will work out but the idea has me very excited to look into it.

Like I said, not so much that you were taking direct shots at me (I knew you weren't) but that you were coincidentally hitting each of the top issues I have with the theater myself (but have had to tradeoff for budget or time contstraints). Anyway, hope you continue to post, I wouldn't have come up with the new seating idea without your comment in the first place :p


Hang in there, life will get better!
Your #1 fan :D ,
AVNUTZ

Oh, and life is better. It was sweet nirvana to sit back and actually enjoy the game on the big screen again -- how I've missed that. And I have two Stargates calling my name even now :D Life is good!!

Still your bestest bud, ;)
Mike

PS. If you manage to find a pop machine (they pop up from time to time at a decent price on eBay) and need help getting it setup I've got it down now so feel free to ping me -- just remember you'll need a way to make ice or you could go for a wondergun and use a refigeration unit on the lines and then just need ice for the cups, cost is about the same just style is all that matters.

I just stumbled upon this thread today - Ecellent work and excellent posting. Both entertaining and instructive. Keep it up. I look forward to seeing the finished product. :)

Hi Mike,
All I can say is, "WOW" Your theater is looking amazing! This is a great thread that I will pass on to folks looking for inspiration when building a theater. Well done.

Mike Hopkins

Thanks guys, I try to mix the informative with the funny (or dorky according my wife, it's all perspective, right?!) so people can enjoy my pain and suffering :)

Mike

Thanks guys, I try to mix the informative with the funny (or dorky according my wife, it's all perspective, right?!) so people can enjoy my pain and suffering :)MikeEnjoy?? :confused: It's more like co-miserate :o and shake my head saying, "Yup, been there, done that, hated it." :D

LOL! You can always tell those that have been there from those who haven't yet ;)

Would I do it again, sure, 2 years from now AT LEAST! Would I do things different, yep (especially in the "hire this part out" bit, I'd pay anything to have all the painting done for example). But it'll be WAY cool when I'm done to have people come see it and know that I did most of the work. Just not there yet, and that's what kills ya...

(PS. I dig your room -- your trim work is great and that stage is lookin' killer! My wife just said, "Whoa, that looks hard, why would you do that?" "Because it's so cool" was my response -- it's funny, she can tell how much work things take now that she's watched how long it has taken to do some of the things in my theater and I explicitly avoided curves for that very reason (not because I don't like them or wouldn't want them but because of the time involved, I had to draw the line somewhere)). <- nothing like a CompSci guy to end up with multiple parenthesis in a sentence ;)

Mike

Would you believe I haven't done anything in the room in the last two or three weeks? It's lawn maintenance season here, and with cooler weather in the afternoons I've returned to taking down the big green monster of a hedge along my driveway. (http://www.flickr.com/photos/keith721/169150902/) I started in April after we got back into the house and worked until June when the summer heat began. The wife has been concerned I might not finish :rolleyes: the room. I told her when I get tired of the yard, I'll get back to the room. ;)

Actually I can believe it. I think that's what's starting to get to my wife the most -- the number of household honey-dos that are starting to stack up since I've been so busy on the theater. I probably should just block off an entire Saturday (ugh) and get to all the things I've been neglecting. Sounds like you're doing the right thing (though it's funny to have your wife wondering when you'll finish the room :rolleyes: ).

Mike

Hey Art Deco Dude,
You're not going to believe this, but I bought a pop machine today! All thanks to your great idea. This guys had a little sandwich shop that went "belly-up" and he was desperate to get rid of everything. It's a 8-head machine only 2 years old, in great shape. He was asking $500 but I talked him down to $385. I got all his cups, straws, lids, syrups, etc for that price! I can't wait to put it in my room. I'll send you pics this week. Thanks for the great idea!
You're pal,
AVNUTZ

Sweet! That'll be awesome! Did you get his ice machine as well?

The tile was grouted today and it looks great. Next week should be long enough for it all to cure and I'll get my brothers-in-law (monster football guys) to come lift my pop machine upstairs for me. Then all I have to do is wait for the used ice machine guy to find a water cooled 200lb unit for me and I'm golden (or Silver - as in "Diet Coke")!!

You might look into what it would cost to hire someone to tear it down and set it back up at your place (you'll need new o-rings, fish-eye gaskets, tubing, and otikers anyway). It might be worth it :) Oh, and I'd suggest getting a backflow prevention valve for the CO2 pump. If that stuff gets into your house water lines with the copper tubing it'll kill you (I'm WAY serious, it's toxic with copper).

Good luck and look forward to the pics.

Mike

Mike,

Paint job looks great. Good tips on the door install as I plan to put in a dheavy on for my theater entrance.

After you repeated multiple times throughout the thread about the cleanup on the paint sprayer, I think I'll stick with the roller technique.

I noticed you used a fine 4" roller. I've used those 6" sponge rollers in the past with good luck. Do you get a better/smoother finish with the 4" roller?

Steve,

I think you're smart to stick with the roller personally. We rolled on the flat black last night before putting up the proscenium and it turned out great and my first thought was -- why oh why didn't I just roll the whole room? I think the hardest part of rolling a room is cutting the corners. Although I did notice that they make a roller for corners now. I would give that a try personally, I hate it when you end up with brush marks in the corners or it doesn't lay out as evenly (even with floetrol).

Another thing to consider is that once you spray it's impossible to get it to match up if you have to do touch ups with a brush or roller, the texture just looks different -- and you'll definitely need to touch up here and there.

As for the 4" roller they work great. But I wouldn't use them on a large area, I just used them on my smaller pieces. You just put the paint on as fast as you can then roll it until the thicker overlap lines are gone (you'll get the hang of this with a few practice tries) and then you go over the whole thing one more time real lightly and you end up with a nice smooth even finish.

I did pick up a 9" smooth roller made by Purdy (those are the only paint brushes worth buying in my opinion!) but I never had a need to use it (well at least not yet, I still have to fix the back of my door and I'm not taking it off again so I'll roll it when I do).

Good luck and let me know if you have other questions.

Mike

Tile is done and it looks great :) The tile guy did an incredible job, I don't even know how I would have cut out the round corners for the sink. I showed the pics to my buddy who helped me cut tiles for the floor and his comment was, "I couldn't even cut that at 90 degrees without getting it to break most of the time, that would be tough." Yeah, worth every penny!

These are from last Friday after he finished laying them:

http://myweb.cableone.net/mjshelton/files/images/ht/ctile1.jpg

He also had tools to do the little bullnose on the corner lip (I wouldn't have been able to do that either):

http://myweb.cableone.net/mjshelton/files/images/ht/ctile2.jpg

Here's one of the sink corners:

http://myweb.cableone.net/mjshelton/files/images/ht/ctile3.jpg


Then on monday he came back and had the grout done in a few hours and there wasn't even haze left on the tiles -- nicely done.

http://myweb.cableone.net/mjshelton/files/images/ht/cgrt1.jpg

http://myweb.cableone.net/mjshelton/files/images/ht/cgrt2.jpg

Mike

This week I had a bit of a surprise that I'll have to share with you later when I get all the pictures gathered.

In the meantime I was able to get a few things done. I finished painting all the black architectural elements. That leaves just the gray ones (I got the wrong gloss level and will get that replaced this afternoon) and the red center portion of the top fan piece.

Wed night my friends and I hung the proscenium (the bottom layer weighs 70lbs and they were kind enough to hold it over their heads on the wall while I made sure it was level and then drove the 3" screws into the studs :o ). We got the second one up as well but the 3rd (and final layer) doesn't screw down (the screws don't get covered by another layer) so I'm going to nail that down with the nail gun. Still deciding whether I want to glue it as well. Don't think I will because I don't think it will go anywhere. It's 1-1/2" thick and I'll use 2-1/2" 15ga nails, should be strong enough. If not I should be able to pull it off easily enough to glue it down. Mmmmm...you know, I think I might just glue the corners and center just to feel better about it not dropping down on one of the kids or something. I'll get pictures up when the top piece is hung.

Once that's done I'll be able to hang the columns and column boxes and next week hopefully I'll have the deco fan done and hang that as well -- getting close to done :) Well, sort of, I still don't have any light and I realized the projector box is too small (I forgot to take into account the space needed for the cables :( ).

Tonight I'm going to hang the surrounds and wire up all the speakers on their real cables (I've been using some old stuff just laying on the floor with my real "high-tech" setup below):

http://myweb.cableone.net/mjshelton/files/images/ht/equip3.jpg

Here are the omni-mount 20.0s for hanging the sides from the ceiling and the back from the wall. They're nice and beefy, should provide a good solution for letting me angle them properly (as I'll be pointing them down given the type of setup I have I can't have them at ear height).

http://myweb.cableone.net/mjshelton/files/images/ht/spk_mnt.jpg


My brother will be over tonight to help hang the surrounds and then we'll enjoy a little Sci-Fi Friday in 9' 16:9 style :cool:

Mike

You're almost there. The theater is looking good and art deco is my favorite style. The detail really helps transport you to another place without leaving home.

Once again in underestimation of time required to get things done ended up stealing Friday evening from my brother (who was gracious enough to share it wholeheartedly). We hung the top part of the proscenium. I still need to fill and paint the holes, hopefully this week sometime. Then we went to work on the speaker wires for the front speakers (they were in the attic above the 3rd garage which is right behind the screen wall in the theater). Amazing how long it takes to drill a hole, run the cable through, strip it, attach it to banana plugs and get it hooked up to the back of your receiver. It was 10:30pm by the time we were ready to watch some Sci-Fi and we hadn't even touched the surrounds.

Then joy of all joys the stupid Cableone HD DVR only recorded the audio for the two Stargates!! Grr... So we called it a night and he came back Sunday evening and I moved my trusty Tivo from downstairs to the theater to watch our shows. After this I decided to call DirecTV and order their HD Tivo unit and switch from cable to dish. I had checked prices the week before and everything was good to go and then on Monday when I went to order they were no longer offering the Tivo HD unit and had their own piece of crap HD DVR instead. Man, sometimes I feel like I just can't get a break!! Oh well, I think I'll just wait for the price on the new Tivo HD cable DVR to come down in price and buy that one instead.

Last night was a good night :) I got my side surrounds mounted on the ceiling. I'm REALLY happy with the omnimount 20.0 ceiling mounts. They look really professional. I also ended up using some cable organizing product that looks like a 3/4" black flex conduit that is cut down one side (to let you slip your cables into) to cover the cable from the ceiling to the back of the speaker and it turned out really nice (I decided to skip the banana jacks in the ceiling and just ran the inwall speaker cable straight to the speaker instead).

I'll get pictures tonight and post them. I also quickly hooked up my DVD player and threw in Return of the King (it was the only DVD I had in the room at the time) and watched the opening fishing scene and the voices in the background sounded really cool :D Can't wait to get the rear speaker mounted and run the Denon 3806 through the Audessy setup to see the difference.

Mike

great thread, cant wait to see it finished.

Thanks! (I can't wait to see it finished either ;) ).

Mike

Finally managed to get some pictures with the light still out (I usually remember around 10:30pm and without lights in the theater it's kind of hard to get the photos to come out right -- I'm hoping to start light install this weekend :) ).

Hanging the surrounds went a lot better than I had hoped for. As I mentioned earlier I really like the omnimounts a lot. If I were to do it over the only thing I'd change would be the rear speaker mount. I would have gone for a ceiling mount instead of a wall one -- I would have had more flexibility in placement (it's really tight against the wall and it was tough to point it down) and the speaker ended up a little higher than I wanted (but had no choice as it was above the opening for my equipment rack), whereas if I had had the ceiling mount I could have brought it out away from the wall a bit more. But I don't think it'll affect the performance at all and in the end it will look good where it's at too so no worries.

I got the nail holes in the proscenium sanded (they were already filled), primed and painted and when my wife came in I asked here what she thought of the painted holes in the top header piece. Her comment was, "What holes, it doesn't look like you did anything." For once, I couldn't have been happier with a comment like that :D Perfect!

This was the best picture out of the ones I took. You can hardly see the proscenium in this light at this angle. What's even harder to see is that the bottom edges (each header piece is 1-1/2" thick) are painted a semigloss red (same color as the wall). It looks good in person, just not sure how to get it in the photo. You can see the relief edges on the left and right ends. Once the columns go up the ends will be covered and then the deco fan will go in the center as well. Can't wait to see all of that done :)
http://myweb.cableone.net/mjshelton/files/images/ht/prosc1.JPG

Here's a picture of the right side surround. It sits just above the corner of the tile and the carpet. With the black ceilings it really disappears into the room which is nice. This wasn't where the speaker was supposed to go originally but the cabinets were a bit larger than I had expected and that more or less forced the speaker into the room at that point. It worked out pretty well though (if you're shorter than 6'4" which I am ;) ). You can see how glossy the finish on the speaker is with the reflection of the ceiling -- it looks like the speaker has a texture as well!
http://myweb.cableone.net/mjshelton/files/images/ht/sur1.JPG

Same speaker with the flash off:
http://myweb.cableone.net/mjshelton/files/images/ht/sur2.JPG

This is the left surround next to the window (which will get the blackout treatment soon):
http://myweb.cableone.net/mjshelton/files/images/ht/sur3.JPG

And the rear surround:
http://myweb.cableone.net/mjshelton/files/images/ht/sur4.JPG

Side view of the rear speaker mount:
http://myweb.cableone.net/mjshelton/files/images/ht/sur5.JPG

Mike

I forgot to point out my awesome center stand I currently have:

http://myweb.cableone.net/mjshelton/files/images/ht/ctr_stand.JPG

Oh yeah, that's right -- nothing but the best for me!! Mmm, hmm, 4 cinder blocks covered with a black garabage bag (oh, and the velvet bag from Aperion for under the center to protect it as it's on loan until they ship the 634-VAC).

:cool:

Mike

The granite tile looks AWESOME!!! You got 95% of the elegance of a solid granite countertop at 5% of the costs!

If your tile installer did that great job for under $200, you got the deal of a lifetime, unbelievable. Keep that guys info for future job consideration.


I have a question about the floor tiling you did, what is the subfloor? Concrete or plywood? I couldn't tell from the picture.

Great install on the ceiling mounted speakers - wow very clean look I'm impressed

Great install on the ceiling mounted speakers - wow very clean look I'm impressed

Thanks! Turned out better than I hoped for. I originally wanted to custom build something but as this project got further along it became pretty clear that "custom build" = "lots of time" not to mention some times you don't end up saving any money once you buy the materials. As I began to think about what angle I would mount the speakers at I realized with the custom solution I had in mind I'd have to get the angle perfect the first time (yeah, that'd happen ;) ) so after finding a good deal on a set of the ceiling mounts I jumped on it and haven't looked back :D

My biggest concern was what to do with the speaker cable. It's a white CL2 jacket and would stand out like a sore thumb. I thought about marker, paint, shrink tube and then saw these in the store and they worked. It's amazing how much of this stuff is constantly rolling around in your brain all day long as you try to solve the next problem or you're slightly unsure of what your current plan is and want to know if you should do something different or if a better option exists... Anyway, it's more of a disease now than anything ;) LOL! My wife thinks I'm crazy for the most part :rolleyes: and she's probably right!!

Mike

The granite tile looks AWESOME!!! You got 95% of the elegance of a solid granite countertop at 5% of the costs!

If your tile installer did that great job for under $200, you got the deal of a lifetime, unbelievable. Keep that guys info for future job consideration.


Thanks I agree 100%!! :D Too bad I didn't know he does paint too, I would have used his services for all the painting I've done...

I have a question about the floor tiling you did, what is the subfloor? Concrete or plywood? I couldn't tell from the picture.

The subfloor is 1-1/4" OSB I believe (it is OSB, I'm just not 100% sure on the thickness if that matters).

I put down a layer of 1/4" hardiback (concrete board) with a layer of thinset to hold it down (as well as all the nails).

Does that answer your question? Need any more info, feel free to ask :)

Mike

Mike,

Impressive proscenium! It took me a second to see it because all that black just blends together. Yes -- very nice comment from your wife on your "job well done". Just don't let her come in and look at it again and again -- as you know she'll find something (my wife always manages to do that to me) :rolleyes:

Thanks! Can't wait to get the columns up :)

Which brings me to my new dilema -- now that I can watch movies and football in there (and it sounds and looks GREAT!!!) I find myself less motivated to work on it and more motivated to watch Master and Commander or Incredibles or ESPN Sports Center ;) Which of course led me to the unfortunate encounter last night with my wife and her referring to the room as my new mistress and I spend more time with her than with my own wife ... hmmm, perhaps I have sequestered myself in there a bit too much :( Doh!

Which means I won't be getting too much done this week since I should push through a few Honey Dos instead :o

Although, no matter what happens I'll be watching the Red River shootout on Saturday!! Go Sooners!! (How's your room coming Steve? I've been watching, you're getting there ...)

Mike

Which of course led me to the unfortunate encounter last night with my wife and her referring to the room as my new mistress
LOL. Im sure most of the guys building a dedicated HT have been there and heard that. My wife said I must have been a cave dweller in a previous life since I like to spend my free time in the basement. Hey, all the fun stuff is downstairs. Computers, guitars, & HT! Im sorry, but there's only so much fun a guy can have in a dining room!

Thanks! Can't wait to get the columns up :)

Which brings me to my new dilema -- now that I can watch movies and football in there (and it sounds and looks GREAT!!!) I find myself less motivated to work on it and more motivated to watch Master and Commander or Incredibles or ESPN Sports Center ;) Which of course led me to the unfortunate encounter last night with my wife and her referring to the room as my new mistress and I spend more time with her than with my own wife ... hmmm, perhaps I have sequestered myself in there a bit too much :( Doh!
I'm in the same boat. We had a "preview" weekend a few weeks back and I watched a movie every night and I did NOTHING to the room that entire weekend. I felt like I was on vacation for the 1st time in months. Oh and yes, the room is definitely "the other wife"!


Although, no matter what happens I'll be watching the Red River shootout on Saturday!! Go Sooners!! (How's your room coming Steve? I've been watching, you're getting there ...)
I've been working until midnight or 1am almost every night (last night until 2:30am -- lots of coffee and cokes today). I did manager to hook up the HTPC and OTA High-Def signal (in prep for the big game -- Go Sooners!!) and it worked flawlessly, My wife is already angry that I am working so late on the room and has told me to just use it as-is for this weekend. I just can't let it go that way. I'm trying to get the front wall completed (fabric, trim and screen). Now watch, I'll fall asleep during the big game and miss everything :rolleyes: Ahh, but I have SageTV (http://www.sage.tv/) so it will be recorded in HighDef for replay later :D

Good luck on getting her done for the weekend!! I'm hoping to have the columns done, a couple of sconces and the blackout curtain sewn and velcroed (I'm tired of having to staple the old curtains up (on the top of my trim so you can't see the holes) everytime someone comes over and wants to see a demo (or it's football Saturday -- but I don't mind that as much, it's for me ;) ).

Mike

Mike

looking good, very good! keep plugging away.
i dig the dressed up cinder blocks makes for a really sturdy stand. :)

Larry

Hey Larry, thanks! I started with a cardboard box but it resonated really bad and figured that the cinder blocks would work until I built a better stand -- it did result in MUCH better sound but I didn't like the gray blocks in the room (plus there was paint all over them as I sprayed various pieces on top of them). You should have seen my wife's eyes rolling into the back of her head when she saw me putting the black garbage bag over them ;) LOL! It was priceless!!

I think I got enough "watching" out of my system for now and am ready to get back to work -- time to get those columns done and the deco fan. (And maybe a little light wouldn't be too bad either, I leave a flashlight on the counter by the door so I can see what I'm doing ;) ).

Mike

PS. Any updates on your theater Larry? I've been waiting to see how you finish the inside of your room -- your columns are very cool!

Deco Dude,
I"ve been out of town for a while...........had to go visit a friend. Let me know if you ever get over to the Muir Woods, Wisconsin, and you can come over and check out my sweet pad. Your room looks fine!

Yours truly
AVNuts

Sorry I haven't posted in a while but we've been watching some friend's kids for the week and have been a little distracted :)

In order to hang the columns to the wall and the column boxes to the column (and each other) I built some basic glue blocks. I have a box of maple floor scraps and I just cut out a bunch of 5"x1" pieces on my bandsaw. I like the maple because it's nice and hard -- oak or some other similar material would work well also. Pine might be okay but I would stay away from MDF and plywood as they will just come apart and not hold well enough.
http://myweb.cableone.net/mjshelton/files/images/ht/gblk1.JPG

Then I used a 1/2" forstner bit to create a recessed hole for the screw head (mostly so it would have enough screw to go into the anchor in the wall and not be impeeded by the glue block thickness -- but I need that thickness for gluing the column/nailing the column and boxes to). The I drilled a 3/16" hole through the center of each recess for the screws (they screw into the anchors not the glue blocks, I don't want them to split). As you'll see in other photos my wall is convex almost 1/2" at the center of my column and in order to have enough strength to hold them flush to the wall I put two holes for screws in the blocks for the center of the column but just one for the other blocks.
http://myweb.cableone.net/mjshelton/files/images/ht/gblk2.JPG

Here's how I did the architectural boxes for the columns (which is similar to what I did for the columns). First I placed the top box on the middle one and used blue tape to indicate the exact line where the boxes meet.
http://myweb.cableone.net/mjshelton/files/images/ht/gblk3.JPG

Here you can see the three edges I ended up doing. I think this was a bit of overkill I probably only needed the top one and the bottom one that will end up on the column itself.
http://myweb.cableone.net/mjshelton/files/images/ht/gblk4.JPG

Then using a scrap that's the same width as the box itself (the boxes are 1/2" MDF the column is 3/4" MDF). I line up one of the glue blocks (the box glue blocks don't use screws just 18ga brads and wood glue).
http://myweb.cableone.net/mjshelton/files/images/ht/gblk5.JPG

Once all the blocks have been glued and nailed I did a test fit (one of the setups was too loose so I used a small hammer to pry them off and started over, not a big deal).
http://myweb.cableone.net/mjshelton/files/images/ht/gblk7.JPG


Next up: hanging the columns...

Mike

The first step in hanging the columns was similar to how I marked the edges of the boxes with tape in the previous post. I put the column up against the wall flush with the proscenium and got it level. Then I had my wife help me push the column flat against the wall (the wall bows back 1/2" in the middle good thing the MDF was slightly flexible) while I laid down the tape markers. Here you can see the gap between the column and the wall along with the tape marker.
http://myweb.cableone.net/mjshelton/files/images/ht/wblk1.JPG

Using a scrap of 3/4" MDF I marked the starting points of the drywall anchors using an 11/64" drill bit (the hole in the wood was 3/16" and using a slightly smaller bit made it easy to slide in and spin so I could get a mark on the wall that was deep enough to see and also centered in the hole so things lined up well). I also marked each glue block with a number (1-6 starting at the top right of the column) so they would match up correctly when I went to attach them later.

After marking all the holes I secured the anchors by hand. The anchors I use are the ones you can get at Home Depot and are the metal 50lb capacity ones. I'm not a fan of the plastic ones, they pull out too easily in my opinion. I tried putting these in with my drill but they kept going off axis and would end up angled and not flush so I ended up having to put them all in by hand and then trimming the edge that pops up from the paint/drywall with a utility knife.
http://myweb.cableone.net/mjshelton/files/images/ht/wblk3.JPG

Once all the anchors were in I used the same scrap piece to line the blocks up with the tape again and put the screws in to make sure they were parallel with the tape (this is important since I wanted the edges to be really tight up against the inside of the column and if they jutted out a bit the column wouldn't fit).
http://myweb.cableone.net/mjshelton/files/images/ht/wblk4.JPG

Here's a shot of all of them. Each side will get a coat of wood glue and I'll use 1-1/4" 18ga brads to secure the column to them as well (except the one up against the procesenium, it'll get just wood glue but that'll be enough to secure it after it dries).
http://myweb.cableone.net/mjshelton/files/images/ht/wblk5.JPG

I had to test fit the column a couple of times (didn't fit the first couple -- too tight at the top, I had used the drill up there to secure the anchor and they were askew a bit). After using the time tested method of brute force (a big hammer) I was able to get the blocks aligned correctly and the column was snug. I pulled it back down and filled it with R13 fiber batt.
http://myweb.cableone.net/mjshelton/files/images/ht/col1.JPG

I almost forgot this step but it occured to me that I might want to know where to put the brads when we get the column up (the wood glue sets quickly) and so I repositioned the tape to indicate the best area to put 1-2 nails (I used 1 in the top and bottom pieces and 2 in the middle ones).
http://myweb.cableone.net/mjshelton/files/images/ht/wblk6.JPG

Then I put the glue on and hollared for my wife to come help quickly (I suggest you kindly ask for her help and then put the glue on ;)). Once it was up the two of us were able to push the column flush to the wall and I nailed the column to each glue block. Worked like a charm! And that puppy isn't going anywhere (translated: Please don't let me ever have to take those things down :o).
http://myweb.cableone.net/mjshelton/files/images/ht/col2.JPG


And here's a final shot of both columns up (with the wire hanging out for the sconces -- the blue tape still on the wall on either side of the columns are for sconces as well). By the way, though the picture is fairly dark (no flash) this is a better representation of the colors in the room (and yes, I plan to put floorboards in now that the columns are up).
http://myweb.cableone.net/mjshelton/files/images/ht/col3.JPG

Mike

Thanks for the description and pix! Well done! Thats very helpful for me. Ill be doing my columns in a week or so once my carpet goes in.

Anytime :) Good luck on your columns, looking forward to the pix!

Mike

Then I put the glue on and hollared for my wife to come help quickly (I suggest you kindly ask for her help and then put the glue on ;)). Once it was up the two of us were able to push the column flush to the wall and I nailed the column to each glue block. Worked like a charm! And that puppy isn't going anywhere (translated: Please don't let me ever have to take those things down :o).
I had to LOL on that one. I think I've done that a few times myself.

I feel sorry for the next owner of our houses when they want to convert the HT to a "Mother-in-Law" room. I know some 4 letter words will be coming out of the guy that starts tearing stuff down :D

Forget that, if that were me moving in, she'd be in the garage... and I like my mother-in-law.

Bud

Anybody else just getting red X for the images?

Anybody else just getting red X for the images?

I was having issues with not getting any photos but I took a few windows updates and refreshed the page and no issues now. I use firefox / mozilla on my personal machines to avoid those X's ( as well as other MS issues) but this is a work PC so I can't muck with it.

Mike,

Things are coming along great as usual. Your level of detail is impressive always amazes me how much some guys like yourself sweat the small stuff (I'm jealous I usually don't even think of the "small stuff" until I read it about on threads like yours then I wonder what the heck I was thinking when planning / doing my own ;) )
Looking forward to more pics.
Cheers
Calvin

I had to LOL on that one. I think I've done that a few times myself.

I feel sorry for the next owner of our houses when they want to convert the HT to a "Mother-in-Law" room. I know some 4 letter words will be coming out of the guy that starts tearing stuff down :D

Personally I hope the next guy wants the whole shebang! I mean, what guy isn't going to want their own theater with pop machine thrown in (I figure if I ask enough for everything and they really want to pay for it then I can buy my own again later). Besides fortunately for us we're on the 20-30 year plan for this house, no moving for me anytime soon :D

Although, I do forsee building another theater in retirement someday ;)

Mike

Forget that, if that were me moving in, she'd be in the garage... and I like my mother-in-law.

Bud

LOL!! That kills me -- my wife came in to see what I was laughing so hard about :p

Mike

Mike,

Things are coming along great as usual. Your level of detail is impressive always amazes me how much some guys like yourself sweat the small stuff (I'm jealous I usually don't even think of the "small stuff" until I read it about on threads like yours then I wonder what the heck I was thinking when planning / doing my own ;) )
Looking forward to more pics.
Cheers
Calvin

Thanks! It's funny to hear you say this since I think the same thing everytime I read someone else's thread, "Man, I didn't even think of that, I should have done that, etc, etc" Good to know I'm not the only one out there with an obsessed focus on my theater :)

Finished watching the last Stargate from Season 3 (borrowed from my buddy at work) and now hopefully I'll be able to keep focused on the room again :D Time to finish the columns and get started on the plumbing -- Diet Coke here I come!!

Mike

Hey guys,

I hung my last bit of trim last night and now I need to fill the nail holes (16 ga nail gun) and paint them. Last time I did this I put small pieces of tape where I was going to nail. Then nailed through the tape (which then acted as a shield of sorts). I used joint compound to fill the holes, sanded, primed and painted. It turned out pretty good but it wasn't as easy as I hoped it would be.

This time around I skipped the tape step and just nailed the trim on thinking I would just dab a bit of paint over the head of the nail. But the nail sunk deeper than I thought and I really should fill the hole first.

Does anyone have any advice on a handy/quick/easy (if possible ;)) way of filling these holes, priming and painting? I'm actually more concerned with the easiest/quickest way to fill the holes -- the painting will be a piece of cake (I just use a tiny artists brush and it goes quick and easy).

Thanks,
Mike

Maybe use some wood putty to fill them, and a one-inch putty knife to level it off? That stuff dries really hard and as you mentioned, dabbing on a dot or two of paint isn't the hardest thing in the world.

I know for stained wood they have filler pencils that work pretty well. What about something like that but paintable?

Tom

I agree with both Keith and Tom. For paint, wood putty is fine (DAP or Elmers at HD is fine). Give it time to dry and go over it with some sandpaper. For staining, you can get different type of putty to match the wood (prestain) of stained wood filler (post stain).

Bud

Thanks for all the suggestions. Shouldn't be too hard (other than just getting started) to get those filled.

Mike

I agree with both Keith and Tom. For paint, wood putty is fine (DAP or Elmers at HD is fine). Give it time to dry and go over it with some sandpaper. For staining, you can get different type of putty to match the wood (prestain) of stained wood filler (post stain).

Bud

I started using wood filler, then the crew working with us began using a paintable acrylic (similar to the 3500) so I'm using that now. The acrylic we have is cheaper, at about 2 dollars a tube, and easier to apply. I could be mistakin.

Edit: Just some tips, as I like trying to help. Walk around your trim before you paint it and kick it to see it's on good. Also, nails that don't go in get a nail set to them.

What's the name of the acrylic filler you're using and where did you get it?

Thanks,
Mike

What's the name of the acrylic filler you're using and where did you get it?

Thanks,
Mike

Our crew most likely picked this up at the gass station up the road. I googled it and it looks like it's available at Ace Hardware. Another version available at Lowes or Home depot, the 3500 Acrylic at almost 4 dollars a tube. This price can't be beat I'm guessing.

Photo of the DAP (ALEX) Painters Acrylic Latex Caulk.

http://home.mchsi.com/~author29/images/theater_pics/P1010099.jpg

Thanks!

I worked from home on Friday anxiously awaiting the arrival of my new center channel from Aperion Audio (the 634-VAC that was announced in July '06 at CEDIA). The UPS guy lugged the 53lb box (39lb speaker) up the front walk as I was bouncing up and down in the front doorway :)

Here's a shot of the box compared to my original center channel from my Bose Acoustimass V setup I had since college graduation (that was a while ago ;)).
http://myweb.cableone.net/mjshelton/files/images/ht/box1.JPG

Yeah, it's that big! I called my friend at work who was anxiously awaiting the arrival of his 634-VAC as well to walk him through the "grand opening" of the new speaker. I won't bore you with the details of all the packaging ins and outs (it was pretty impressive) but if you want I did post a full review of it at the Aperion Audio Forum (http://www.aperionaudio.com/forum/shwmessage.aspx?forumid=2&messageid=3551).

Here's a shot of the 533-VAC that I had on loan from Aperion (talk about great customer service!!) it has a smaller mid driver as well as woofers (and the right woofer is passive as well). The sound never really matched the 633T LRs, it felt "small" if that's an accurate description of sound. The 634-VAC definitely improves on that :)
http://myweb.cableone.net/mjshelton/files/images/ht/ctr_old.JPG

The 634-VAC also has a switch on the back to control the crossover settings. It basically is either "stand" or "TV/Cabinet". I have mine set to stand. I'll play with it once I get a chance to recalibrate my system.
http://myweb.cableone.net/mjshelton/files/images/ht/ctr2.JPG

Here's a shot of the front.
http://myweb.cableone.net/mjshelton/files/images/ht/ctr3.JPG

And from above so you get an idea of how deep this puppy is.
http://myweb.cableone.net/mjshelton/files/images/ht/ctr5.JPG

And one of their sexy carbon fiber weaved cones.
http://myweb.cableone.net/mjshelton/files/images/ht/ctr4.JPG

After only 12 hours of break in (they were tight when I first powered them up) I watched the Bourne Identity and WOW is all I can say. The vocals were relaxed and you felt very enveloped in the movie. In fact I was shocked when the guy comes crashing through the window in the Paris apartment and started firing his automatic weapon. It was incredibly punchy! My old setup (the Bose) really strained to create a "big" sound and scenes like that always felt forced rather than natural. I love all the details you can hear in them :D As you can see, I'm a very happy camper!!

All that's left to be done for this guy is to build the stand for it (which I'm glad I didn't do on just the specs from the website -- I had no idea how BEEFY this thing was going to be). I'll really need to build up the stand to look right with it. Not sure what design I'll go with, something that fits the deco theme of course but I don't want it to be a focal point really (I'd prefer more of a subtle disappears into the room kind of thing).

Mike

Love the look of your theater!

I am going for a Deco inspired look for my basement media/multipurpose room (I haven't been about to talk my wife into a dedicated home theater yet).

Keep up the good work.

Thanks! Good luck on your look too (and convincing your wife for a theater as well ;)).

Mike

Thanks.

Honestly, the basement in my house just isn't big enough (or laid out correctly) for a dedicated theater. I'll settle for a media room/bar in this house and day-dream in the meantime.

I can say that one of the criteria for my next house will be a proper basement, that's for sure! :D

Mike,

Great looking beefy center channel. It does make a big difference IMO! I can't wait to get my crappy Bose VCS-10 (http://www.crutchfield.com/S-nYuXmrFPJ5Q/cgi-bin/ProdView.asp?g=12100&I=018VCS10) out of center channel duty. I've had mine for about 9 years.

Yep, totally agree (I had a Bose Acoustimass V setup for 9 years myself -- WOW, what a difference!!).

And I must say that your speakers are looking quite nice. I showed them to my wife and her comment was, "And why would you want to do that?!" LOL!

Ahhh...I love this forum. It's so nice to be with other people who share my disease, er, hobby.

Mike

Haha. I LOVE your comparison photo on the center channel. Thats hilarious! Thats one nice center channel you got now! My 10yr old B&W is a trooper, but not nearly as good as your Aperion. Enjoy! :)

Thanks :) I was shocked when that box showed up, I couldn't resist the photo op with the Bose ;)

My wife is heading out of town for 4 days -- I made a list of all the things I want to work on in the room and hopefully I'll knock a few of them out. I'll be sure and get pictures as I go. Been awhile since I've posted new "work" pictures :D

Mike

How much work can a guy do when his wife is out of town and he's watching the kids?

Not much.

LOL! My wife is sitting next to me while I'm typing this. She's on her computer and reading my last few posts. She laughed out loud at the post about trying to get a lot done while she was gone and she said, "Hah! If you want to get stuff done I have to go away WITH the kids probably." Then she looked over at what I was typing, read it, and said, "oh." :p

Anyway, I did manage to get a few things done the weekend she was gone (I think that was two weekends ago??).

The first thing I wanted to do was prep for hanging the column sconces. That meant hanging the next two column top boxes. I wanted to use the same method I had used so far (glue blocks glued/nailed to the base box and then glue the next box to that block and nail to hold until the glue dries). My only concern was how to glue the block on top of the paint. I thought about using construction adhesive but was still worried it might pull off the paint and since the sconce will actually stick out from the wall it's possible someone might hit it or fall against it (after which they'd find a remote careening off their forehead at about 50mph -- simply a gut reaction from me no doubt ;)). I finally decided to trace the block and use a razor blade to scrape the paint back. The first few were tough (I took off too much wood and that made it harder) but it went pretty quick after that.


http://myweb.cableone.net/mjshelton/files/images/ht/sm09/colb2.JPG

I then hung the next boxes and lined up the block for the final black box which will hold the sconces.
http://myweb.cableone.net/mjshelton/files/images/ht/sm09/colb3.JPG

Here's a shot with it just hanging there (not glued/nailed yet -- still need to figure out how to hang the sconce).
http://myweb.cableone.net/mjshelton/files/images/ht/sm09/colb4.JPG



The other thing I wanted to accomplish that weekend was to get the sink installed. This included running the drain line for the soda fountain and ice machine along with the tee for the water source to the soda fountain and ice machine and the sink itself.

Here's my starting point.
http://myweb.cableone.net/mjshelton/files/images/ht/sm09/snk1.JPG

The box of goodies and the sink.
http://myweb.cableone.net/mjshelton/files/images/ht/sm09/snk2.JPG

And how far I actually got (remember I had 4 days to work on this -- it wasn't for a lack of trying that I didn't get any further, the kids just never really "cooperated" with daddy ;)).
http://myweb.cableone.net/mjshelton/files/images/ht/sm09/snk3.JPG


Ah well, that's life...

Mike

Mike looks like you got a bit of a tutter going on :)

The trick is to pack the kids of with the your or her parents :D

Cheers,
Mark

I finally finished the custom sconces the day before thanksgiving. A big thank you to Jim for helping me out. It was definitely nice to have an extra pair of hands throughout the build process!

I built these out of .050" aluminum sheet. I got the light sockets from a local electrical store and replaced the mounts with some simple L brackets that I pop riveted to the base of the sconce. The face of the sconce (3" square on the circumference) is attached using 4-40 1/2" round head screws into pem nuts pressed into the sides of the base.

Here's a front shot (before brushing the aluminum out).
http://myweb.cableone.net/mjshelton/files/images/ht/sm09/scn1.JPG

The back.
http://myweb.cableone.net/mjshelton/files/images/ht/sm09/scn2.JPG

From the top looking down.
http://myweb.cableone.net/mjshelton/files/images/ht/sm09/scn3.JPG

I took the faces off and started to brush them. I tried several things and the best method turned out to be using 100 grit sandpaper followed by a green scratchy pad. I used the 100 grit to take out most of the scratches (there were a few deep ones from pliers and such that I tried 60 grit on but they ended up being so small I left them and you can't even see them on the wall). Once the surface looked fairly buffed I switched to the green pad and buffed the rest of it until it was a nice even flat sheen. Pretty much the key is elbow grease, lots of elbow grease. Oh, and you might want to wear a mask (ever see a metal booger before?!).

Here's a comparison shot for before and after when I had finished two sides on the left one.
http://myweb.cableone.net/mjshelton/files/images/ht/sm09/scn4.JPG

The finished look.
http://myweb.cableone.net/mjshelton/files/images/ht/sm09/scn5.JPG

Closeup of the brush lines (I dig brushed aluminum :cool: ).
http://myweb.cableone.net/mjshelton/files/images/ht/sm09/scn6.JPG


Next up...hanging the sconces.

Mike

....followed by a green scratchy pad....

Mike

Mike, FYI, that green scratchy pad is probably a Scotch Brite pad.
http://www.3m.com/us/home_leisure/scotchbrite/images/sponge_heavy_duty.jpg

Mike,

I have been a dedicated follower of your thread for sometime now. I really enjoy your DIY spirit and find you extremely talented. Thanks for sharing your outstanding workmanship.

Wow! Thanks Randy :) Keeps a guy motivated and working hard to have compliments like that. Glad you enjoy what I've done. It's really fun to share my experience with others (especially people who are or have done the same sort of thing and "get it" ;)).

Mike

Mike, FYI, that green scratchy pad is probably a Scotch Brite pad.


Similar, but without the yellow sponge part. Here's a family of abrasive pads (each color is a different abrasion rating).
http://www.woodcraft.com/images/family/web5502big.jpg

Here's a pretty good description on the ratings from Woodcraft (http://www.woodcraft.com/family.aspx?FamilyID=5502).

Non-Woven Abrasive Pads
These flexible, non-woven pads are ideal replacements for steel wool. Applications range from heavy duty cleaning to stripping, surface finishing and light duty polishing. The pads are washable and reusable, can be cut and folded, used with or without chemicals, and they won’t rust, shred, or splinter. White pads replace #0000 steel wool for fine smoothing, Gray pads replace #000, Maroon replace #00 and Green replace #0 for rough work. Pads are 6" x 9".

So hanging the sconces turned out to be fairly easy once I decided how I was going to do it (I fretted about that part for weeks, I went through about 6 different methods in my mind and the one I settled on -- which was modified half way through implementing it -- turned out just fine). I took the black boxes that they attach to down to the shop and laid them down horizontally. Then using some small phenolic resin blocks (MDF or plywood would have been fine too) I centered the bases and lined them up where they should go and drilled the first hole to mount the base to the box. I dry hung the boxes on the columns, secured the first bolt and then drilled the second hole for the bottom bolt.
http://myweb.cableone.net/mjshelton/files/images/ht/sm09/scn8.JPG

One of the challenges was how to mount the base to the box without having access to the back of the box (I'll just glue and nail it to the box below it like I did on the red box). I decided to use toggle drywall anchors but needed a way to secure the toggle (it won't dig into the MDF like it will drywall). Initially I was going to just stick a small glue block next to the hole so it couldn't spin around but then realized I could also put a small piece of wood on top of the block twisted sideways that would cover the toggle bolt so it won't come out. I reversed the bolt so the screw head was on the back of the toggle instead of the front like normal. This picture shows one completed at the top of the box and the parts for the second one at the bottom (the small hole is for the bolt, the big one for the power cable).
http://myweb.cableone.net/mjshelton/files/images/ht/sm09/scnbx1.JPG

After the bolts were installed I filled the box with insulation, cut a hole for the power line, put glue on the blocks on the column, then hung the box with a few brads through the glue blocks to secure it until the glue dries. Boy was I glad I had a stopper behind the bolts. As soon as I put the first phenolic block over the the bolt it slid back as far as it would go -- which would have been INTO the box had there not been a backer. Man, I can't even imagine the amount of sailor speak that would have come out of my mouth at that point if I had lost the bolts!! WHEW!

Anyway, crisis averted I hung the sconce bases and then started playing with different light bulbs. I was concerned that I'd have too much light coming out of the top and bottom (especially the bottom that would bounce off the high gloss speaker). So I started with 15 watts which barely produced light at all, moved up to 40 watt and finally settled with 60 watt. The effect was better than I had ever hoped :) There's a cool square pattern that shines on the ceiling, the deco boxes are illuminated and the down lights shine behind the LR speakers producing a really cool glow behind them. I never realized how effective lighting could be to creating a mood in a room. No I'll have something to look at while I listen to music. It's nice when it's at half level on the dimmer.
http://myweb.cableone.net/mjshelton/files/images/ht/sm09/scn7.JPG

http://myweb.cableone.net/mjshelton/files/images/ht/sm09/scn9.JPG

Once the lights were chosen and installed I put the outer part of the sconce on. NOTE to anyone using raw aluminum (brushed or not) -- this stuff shows finger prints like there's no tomorrow!! I was amazed at how bad it shows. I wore some vinyl gloves for the install and there were no problems with that part. Unfortunately I wanted to see how hot they got after being on for a few hours and grabbed them without the gloves on and instantly realized the mistake I made -- yep, sure enough I left about 4 good greasy finger prints on them. A bit of elbow grease and the green scratchy pad to take care of things but now I have to be really careful to not let the dust get on the speakers below. So I moved the speakers first and then rubbed the finish out.

Here's my 3 stooges moment of the day -- as I put the left speaker back I bumped my forehead on the sconce and left a nice grease spot, LOL! Then as I CAREFULLY put the right speaker back, BONK -- I did the same thing on the right sconce!! Well, at least they're symmetrical!!

Here's the front view showing the details of the sconce over the layers of boxes.
http://myweb.cableone.net/mjshelton/files/images/ht/sm09/scn10.JPG

Here's a side shot to show the elevation.
http://myweb.cableone.net/mjshelton/files/images/ht/sm09/scn11.JPG

My favorite part of this whole process was when I called my wife up to see them. She was ABSOLUTELY floored!! I believe her comment was something like, "Wow, I had no idea you could do something like this!" To which I responded, "Well, what did you think it would look like?" She replied, "Uh, I thought it would look really cheesy and embarrassing -- this is amazing!"

Surprising, but satisfying in a weird interesting way.

Mike

I have been following your thread for a while now and I must say GREAT WORK, you are an inspiration for us diy folks. I really like your diy scounces, I was thinking about going with home made scounces when I get to that point. I cant seem to get through the drywall stage, it seems like it takes forever :mad: . Anyway , I hope you are planning on posting some pics with them on, I am relly interested to see the effect. Keep up the great work dude, your theater is awesome. :)

ED

Mike - thos DIY sconces turned out geat.

I had similar conversation with my wife when rope lights and star ceiling went up.....she also thought would look 'tacky' but loves it now they are up.

Look forward to seeing more progress.

Cheers,
Mark

[snip]
I cant seem to get through the drywall stage, it seems like it takes forever :mad: . Anyway , I hope you are planning on posting some pics with them on, I am relly interested to see the effect.

Ed,

Thanks for the support! I know what you mean about some stages just dragging on forever. That's how I felt when I was doing all the painting (I still haven't finished my deco fan and there's only 3 pieces left to paint! -- maybe this weekend). Keep going, it's so worth it when you get there :D

I have some pics I took with the lights on after I cleaned the room ... they're coming ...

Mike

Mike - those DIY sconces turned out geat. Look forward to seeing more progress.

Thanks Mark!

PS. Where in the UK are you from? I lived in the Northwest of England for a couple of years.

Originate from East End London (Mile End) and later moved to Essex before coming out here 6 yrs ago.

Here's the front view showing the details of the sconce over the layers of boxes.
http://myweb.cableone.net/mjshelton/files/images/ht/sm09/scn10.JPG
Beautiful balance of color and shape, Mike!! :D

My favorite part of this whole process was when I called my wife up to see them. She was ABSOLUTELY floored!! I believe her comment was something like, "Wow, I had no idea you could do something like this!" To which I responded, "Well, what did you think it would look like?" She replied, "Uh, I thought it would look really cheesy and embarrassing -- this is amazing!"
Isn't it simply amazing :eek: the amount of confidence our spouses have in us? :D

Looks great Mike. I like it.

Bud

Thanks guys!

Mike

Mike,

Just OUTSTANDING on those DIY sconces. I love the brushed aluminum. And the fact that you "brushed" them yourself -- just awesome :D

To avoid the fingerprints (or at least make it easier to get them off) -- try sealing the metal with some clear coat. You probably would want to use a non-yellowing type (which typically means a water-based Urethane). That should be fine since aluminum does not rust :) You might try it on scrap and see how it looks. I've never done it myself but have heard of people using this technique it to seal brass so it would not tarnish.

Nice theater, and I love your description of hte work as you are doing it.

One thing though, you installed your surrounds incorrectly. You pointed them down toward the listener, you are supposed to point them level, directly across towards the other wall.

Just OUTSTANDING on those DIY sconces. I love the brushed aluminum. And the fact that you "brushed" them yourself -- just awesome :D


Thanks Steve! Fun getting compliments from the people whose theaters I admire and watch :)


To avoid the fingerprints (or at least make it easier to get them off) -- try sealing the metal with some clear coat.


I've thought about this but I've kind of put it off hoping that I won't need to. But perhaps when I get the room done (heh, like that ever truly happens) I'll play around a bit. It would be nice to do since everyone that's seen them always wants to touch them and I end up freaking out and yelling "Noooooo..." :eek:

Mike

Nice theater, and I love your description of hte work as you are doing it.

One thing though, you installed your surrounds incorrectly. You pointed them down toward the listener, you are supposed to point them level, directly across towards the other wall.

Thanks :)

I thought you wanted the surrounds to point down slightly if they're up that high. If they were at ear level I would certainly point them at each other but they're 7' off the ground. Won't that just put the sound above my ears? I'll be honest, I don't really know. And it just doesn't quite sound right to me (it feels empty behind me but I thought that was because my rear surround wasn't pointing down enough (I can hear it when I stand up but not sitting down) -- I was going to get a ceiling mount for it and point it down more instead of the wall mount).

Thanks,
Mike

Thanks Steve! Fun getting compliments from the people whose theaters I admire and watch It is nice to have so many other skilled DIYers working at the same time. It makes it easy to borrow/steal ideas from each other ;)


It would be nice to do since everyone that's seen them always wants to touch them and I end up freaking out and yelling "Noooooo..." :eek: Reminds me of a Cocker Spaniel we had that peed every time you pet it. When people would walk up to pet the dog (on the carpet of course), it was like a slow motion video as I lunged forward and yelled "Noooooo" :D I feel your pain!

Very nice looking sconces and quite possibly the best I have seen here, but they are right next to the theater screen if I am not mistaken. :confused: I have mine next to the theater screen but they are textured and flat black. Much like I would never buy a plasma with glowing lights behind it.

Is there a curtain going there? You had considered it effecting the screen and/or viewing but believe it is worth it or perhaps it does not effect it?

Mike,

I saw your comment on the Aperion website about the 534-SS so I was checking in on your website to see how it's been going....when I bought my 534-SS speakers I was told that they were a down firing speaker by Mike at Aperion....you can call youself and check on it but this might change your mounting ideas.

Ray