I have an idea how to finish my basement into a theater room and I wanted to run this idea by everyone before I really got to deep in thinking and planning for it.

My Current Basement:
Right now my basement is cut in half, 1 side finished with old, ugly, cheap wood paneling. The floor is just bare cement, and the ceiling has very old drop down tiles that need replaced. (The other half is just bare walls, the utility side with the furnace, hotwatertank, washer, dryer and bathroom.

What I'd like to do
I would like to rip out all of the wood paneling that is there and strip it down to just the framing that is already there. My "idea" is to hang drywall all around, boxing in the glassblock windows (also putting insulation behind the drywall too). After hanging the drywall my "Idea" was to buy some good fabric from the store and hang it directly on all of the drywall using staples. Obviously I'd have to be sure the fabric is thick enough so you cannot see through it along with having it tight enough so there are not ripples or waves. (Would painting the drywall BLACK before actually hanging the fabric be a good idea to prevent see-through)

I was thinking of doing the top 60% of the wall in a deep red color and the bottom 40% in black. (This theme would go around the entire room). To cover up the staples used to attach the fabric I would get nice natural wood molding and put up over the staples. There would be molding around the entire perimeter of the walls, along with in the corners and a strip running across the middle cover up the staples that are used to make the transition from Red to Black fabric. (the wood doesn't have to be natural, it really could be any color wood, or I could even spray paint it black....)

I would then simply put in a new drop down ceiling, along with some "inexpensive" carpet that I could lay myself.


Reasons why I initially like this idea
1. Hanging the drywall is something I can do very easily
2. I do not actually have to "finish" the drywall
3. By not finishing it the traditional way, and by using the fabric instead I help to improve the acousitcs of the room vs a regular drywall basement.
4. The fabric Idea would be a unique way to finish the basement and really make it look like a theater room.
5. The wood moldings covering the staples are an easy way to hide the staples, and a great way to add more "wow" factor to the room without going overboard.
6. This really sounds like a very INEXPENSIVE way to finish my basement....especially since I'd be doing all the work (well a friend or 2 would surely help me) :)


I really would like some thoughts, ideas, comments, suggestions (both positive and negitive)!!! I should note, I will not take offense to negitive comments, but I'd ask that you please give some reasons why, and some suggestions for improvement. :D

******MONEY IS AN ISSUE, I'm trying to make the BEST theater room I can for the LEAST AMOUNT of money.....I'd rather spend the money on the actual components for the theater....******

Well, this won't comply with your budget, but putting any fabric that is not fire-retardant on your walls could be dangerous. Just something to think about. At least look for some fabric that is fire-retardant and compare prices.

Color scheme sounds promising. Good idea on using moulding to cover staples.

From what I've read, you're not going to get much of an acoustic benefit from just fabric on the walls.

If money is an issue, a few cans of paint is likely to be much cheaper than the amount of cloth you're talking about using. Yes, you'd have to finish the drywall - unless you hang the drywall vertically, skip the mud/tape/sand, paint it, and then cover the vertical seams with wood moulding about 4" wide.

Good luck!
ND

there is usually a consensus within this forum to spend more money on doing the room correctly and upgrade equipment as you can. I think you are on the right track tearing down the panelling and putting up drywall. Fabric is a good idea but it will likely not do much acoustically. You can place a material on the walls that absorb higher frequencies (linacoustic, OC 703, etc) and then cover that with the acoustically transparent fabric (guilford of maine, etc). If you are concerned with sound exiting or entering the theater then finishing the walls (and adding other isolation techniques) would be suggested. Also a finished wall may be more palatable to future buyers of the house (if they ask what is under the fabric :rolleyes: )

Hmmmm...Fire-retardant...true

Wouldn't the fabric Idea be better than just the regular drywall idea though in terms of acousitc beneift?

I should have added that this is my beginners theater.

My NEXT house (5-7years down the road) will have a really well done theater room with all the bells and whistles...

This one I just want as a D-I-Y project that won't break the bank...

Wouldn't the fabric Idea be better than just the regular drywall idea though in terms of acousitc beneift?

Nope. You need more absorptive material than just fabric. Search this forum for acoustic treatments and you'll learn all about the products gonzo mentions above.

ND

I should have added that this is my beginners theater.

My NEXT house (5-7years down the road) will have a really well done theater room with all the bells and whistles...

This one I just want as a D-I-Y project that won't break the bank...


Then in this house, I would skip the cloth-on-the-walls if I were you. In the next house, do your walls with the acoustic treatments.

I would tape and mud the drywall, and paint. You can still do a two-tone color scheme, with the 60/40 split, and you can still do the wood moulding chair rail to cover the horizontal line where the two colors meet.

ND

Well this would be my first tape and mud experience.....How hard is all of this? I mean I'm pretty handy at building things....used to build boxes for car subwoofer systems.....I can build shelves and other stuff for around the house....just never did drywall...

The hanging of the drywall itself sounds easy enough...

any articles or sites i should research?

I can't remember which of my handyman magazine subscriptions it was (edit: February 2007 issue of Family Handyman), but I'm pretty sure a current issue has drywall finishing tips from the pros. I'll look for that tonight and post back.

Covering nails/screws is fairly simple, as long as the nail/screw is properly driven below the drywall surface (without breaking the drywall paper).

Since you're not doing the ceiling (as you'll have a drop-tile ceiling instead), you're already taking much of the complexity out. If you can hang the sheets vertically, butting the tapered ends to each other, you'll also make it easier on yourself. Using an adhesive-backed mesh tape on the seams takes away the complexity of trying to embed paper tape into a layer of mud. If all of your seams are tapered ends, the "trough" created by the tapers makes things easier on you - just fill it up with mud until it is even with the rest of the drywall surface, and feather out the edges with progressively wider drywall knives.

Hardest thing will be the inside corners - you might have to buy a corner knife/tool.

If you have any outside corners, you'll have to install corner beading and mud over that. I think this could also be difficult.

Sanding is a pain, but there's nothing hard about it. Typically, first-time DIY'ers don't "feather out" the layers of drywall mud like the pros can to minimize the amount of sanding required. Doesn't mean you did it wrong, you just made the sanding part harder than it needed to be.

And make sure you coat everything in drywall primer before painting. You'll use less paint (especially with the dark colors you're planning), and it will prevent the mud from absorbing the paint and presenting a different sheen (which the pros call "flashing" according to the February 2007 issue of Family Handyman magazine). A really thick primer will also help hide any minor imperfections in your mud job.

Mind you, I haven't done mud work myself - in my basement finishing project, I did everything except hang/cornerbead/mud/tape/sand the drywall. I planned on attempting it, but I decided a $1200 bid was well worth the benefits (speed of completion, professional job, etc.). Plus I had a lot of soffits and corners due to ceiling obstructions.

Remember, if you don't want to attempt the mud/tape/sand work, you can paint, then cover the drywall seams with wood/fiberboard moulding products. But at a dollar or two per linear foot, that's not exactly inexpensive either.

Or try it yourself, and if you can't get it right, call up a handyman to come finish it.

ND

Mud tape and paint. Use any leftover money for acoustical treatements at first reflection poionts and maybe some bass traps.

This will yield a much better room than just fabric hung over drywall.

There was a post in the past few months that had a link to demonstration videos about mudding and taping. It was very helpful to watch. My mudding and taping looks as good as the rest of the house that was done by professionals (in some areas it looks better). So you definitely can learn to do it and save money by doing it yourself. Maybe someone has the link to the videos and will post it for you. I will try and search for it also.

Edit: here you go: http://www.drywallschool.com/protips.htm
He makes it look a lot easier than it really is, but you get the point :)

$1200 doesn't sound bad to actually have someone do it.......I was thinking more in the area of like $2500....

What I should do is have a couple people come in and look it over and give me an estimate just so I know...

There was a post in the past few months that had a link to demonstration videos about mudding that taping. It was very helpful to watch. My mudding and taping looks as good as the rest of the house that was done by professionals (in some areas it looks better). So you definitely can learn to do it and save money by doing it yourself. Maybe someone has the link to the videos and will post it for you. I will try and search for it also.

Edit: here you go: http://www.drywallschool.com/protips.htm
He makes it look a lot easier than it really is, but you get the point :)

that is a great site! thanks for the link

The current (February 2007) issue of Family Handyman magazine is the one I was remembering. Lots of tips on finishing your walls like the pros.

ND

In addition to the good advice above...
The staples won't hold in drywall. You need to do wood frames to staple the fabric to. My advice, get the drywall up first, then as budget and time permit, you can add the fabric/acoustic treatment. The ductliner will be cheaper than the fabric, so budget accordingly, but the ductliner makes the difference. The fabric just makes it look pretty.

As opposed to doing let's say electrical, drywall mudding is something you can screw up, fix, sand and or repair, with nothing lost other than your time. IMHO it's a SAFE DIY project for a beginner.

Good luck!
Chip

PS: Doing the cut outs for recepticals and the like is the hardest part of hanging the drywall, (OK, so the lifting part isn't so easy for me anymore either :D ). If you can read a ruler and always measure from the same reference edge you'll be OK.

If you are on a very tight budget, let me describe what I did in my first "theater". It actually sounds similar to yours.

I had almost no money for this project, there would be no green glue (it didn't exist back then anyway), no risc clips, no double studs, none of that. I had a basement that was partially done, meaning one wall was drywall, and two walls were panelboard. The "fourth" wall was open to the rest of the basement. The space I was working with was about 30 feet by 11 feet, and I wanted to use about 12x11 for the theater, so there would be no wall on one side.

I left the walls as they were, even the panel board, as I didn't have the budget to pull that down and put up drywall. I then bought full length curtains at Wal Mart, and put those up.

The "front" was the drywall wall. I used a new sheet of drywall, and attached that to the wall so there would be no screws, primed it, painted it, put a wood frame on it, and that was my screen. (This was pre screen paint like today, I just used a flat white from Ace Hardware. )

The ceiling were tiles, I took those out and painted them a colot to match the curtains. The curtains were dark red, and I painted the ceiling tiles a dark gold color, they actually went together very well.

I painted the wall around the screen a flat black, had the floor-to-ceiling curtains on the walls, I bought a carpet remnant, bought a new couch (this was the majority of the budget), and I was done! My total budget was $500 (minus the equipment), and I came in under budget, enough so that I could afford an extra Laser Disc! Woo hoo!

I actually think that the curtains on the walls did help the sound. I'm not sure how flat fabric would do, but with curtains you are getting rid of that flat reflective surface. BTW, people who came over loved it. Without the reference point of the amazing theaters we see here every day, for most people, just seeing the screen is a whole new experience.

Everyone starts somewhere.

Bgilly,

My vote was no because of money. Seems to me if you are trying to save money, finishing drywall would be cheaper than hanging fabric. Others have said that the fabric must be fireproof. Look at the cost and make your determinination.

As an aside, next time have a little patience before you IM someone who voted without putting their opinion down. I DID read your whole post but being on this forum is not my full time job.

Good luck with your theater.

I just started drywalling for the first time, and the best tip i found is to, when you're done and everything is dried, hold a light at an extreme angle to where you've mudded & taped. That will make it much easier to see where the bumps & holes that need to be filled in/fixed are.

I'm using the instructions at www.drywallinfo.com