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ZP Theater Build

2K views 32 replies 6 participants last post by  zoepup 
#1 · (Edited)
Long time reader of these forums and occasional poster. I thought I would share my current build in hope that even one little thing can inspire someone in their build.

I have a decent set up in my LR with 60" plasma and 5.1 KEF 3005 system. It works well for there.

I have a section in my walkout basement that is about 26x24. Split down the middle and the theater side is 13x24 with a fireplace at one end. The the other side will be for games. I am not putting up a dividing wall. I want the open space.

I started this at Christmas and now 3 months later I just need to finish fireplace, install LVP on floor and then add finishing touches (molding, lally column box outs, furniture, TV, sound. I will not be doing a projector so I hope this still counts as an HT.

Here are some pics as it looked before starting. Now that I know I have the money for more stuff, I wish I had just thrown out the old furniture in December. It was a pain to work around.
 

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#2 ·
3 months to redo? Nice!

Do you have updated photos?
 
#3 ·
Here are a couple more from the start of work. There is an old fireplace that did not vent properly. I replaced it with a gas direct vent.
 

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#4 · (Edited)
Here is the insulation starting to go up. I can't say enough about this product. Studs are built into foam as well as built in channels for electric. Glue to wall and a few tapcons where I deemed the walls were not good enough for glue. It is made by InSoFast and it indeed went IN SO FAST.
 

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#6 · (Edited)
a couple weeks in I finally decided to make room in the wood shop for all the wood I had laying on floor in new HT/game room. So on to insulating, rocking, spackling and painting that room. In this room I had to use 2x3 on the wall that would hold the wood rack. This turned out to be quite a project. I guess it took a couple weeks of work. Moving the heavy workbench top and all the equipment around to work slowed progress. Also, not having the shop to use to work was a bit of a pain.
 

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#7 ·
The shop is finished so now back on to the HT/game room. I don't' have a pic of the lumber rack filled but it basically goes from floor to about 4 ft up the wall.
 

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#8 ·
Back to the HT/game. Paint chosen and ceiling. In my past house I used a great product by CeilingMax for the ceiling grid. You only lose about 1" of headroom. However, CM now has HD as a middle man so prices went up and you buy it in pre determined packages. I found another company called CeilingLink. The shipped to the house within a couple days. I have to say it went up slightly easier than CM and seems sturdier but also easier to remove panels! Yes, the tracks do come in black as well.

I also got the recessed cans installed. The 6 in HT use Phillips Hue for their color. The 6 in game side use GE Link (just 2700k white). They all connect to the Phillips Hue hub and will be controllable/programmable with the HT remotes. You can see in some color in 3rd pic
 

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#9 ·
For flooring I chose BerryAlloc LVP. This was an easy choice. Being a wood worker I hate fake wood. However, these LVP's really look re-sawn and pretty real. Having had two water "accidents" in my previous basement, the LVP was a no brainier. I'll put down some nice rugs for a warmer feel. You can see the LVP in front of the fireplace that is now in the process of being finished. I did tno fully click it together. It is there more for color matching with tiles I am looking at.
 

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#10 ·
Nice progress. Looks like your floor slopes quite a bit in the middle away from the fireplace. Did you run into any problems handling that while doing the flooring?

I have a drop ceiling in my general media room as well (too many pipes hanging down and a few electrical junction boxes (thanks former owner). Did you insulate above yours for noise reduction? I went with R-19 in between the jousts and that seems to have reduced noise.

How did you set up your lighting with the Hue? Can you show the wiring and drawings? I haven't completed the lighting yet (using the flourecent fixtures until I finish).
 
#11 ·
Thanks BasementHT.

I have not installed the floor yet. As long as it is a slope it will be OK. And true dips or rises will need to be patched in. I am probably a couple weeks away from floor as I am taking a slight break and doing some traveling. Since it is floating, I want to get do the lally columns covers as well as the tile or stone on front of fireplace. This will give me hard objects to lay floor against (with spacing) as opposed to estimating and then having to fudge it later.

The old owner does have some R19 in ceiling joists. I did not add more as I am not concerned with noise reduction. Of course, I may change my mind at some point but that is the beauty of the drop ceiling. I want access to my joists for many reasons.

My Hue lights are in 5" cans that are wired to on/off switches. The theater side is on a 3 way. The game on a single switch. No need for dimmers, i just use the App and presets for that. I also have a HUE tap that i haven't installed yet. That should make it easier without the app. I am evaluating which paid app to get with the HUE. I currently have 17 HUE/GE Link throughout house. The Phillips app doesn't cut it for that. Eventually the basement lights will be controlled through my Harmony Smart remote.
 
#12 ·
Almost done with the first week of "rest" since Christmas. I have done very little but this has given me time to research the next steps.

I need to decide on how to finish bottom have of fireplace. I originally was all gung ho on the veneered dry stack stone like this, but think it will make room too heavy. So now I am looking at concrete looking 24x24 tile or black/grey slate.


Started looking at seating. I really like the Southampton from HTMarket. IS anyone else using these? A place near me sells CA Designs, Row One IMport and Palliser along with pool tables. I will try to get there tomorrow.

TV's are another issue. I have room for a 65/70" above fireplace (bottom of TV will only be 45" from floor). However, the Samsung F8500's are all gone (prefer plasma). I might have to settle on moving my 60" F8500 from living room to this room and putting an LCD in living room. sigh

Started the speaker research. I hope to be ready to audition in a few weeks. I want the floor, fireplace and ceiling completely done before then. Maybe I will even wait for seating.

This weekend electrical service is being upgraded and possibly a new slider to outside put in. Besides the install of fireplace, those will be the only two things I don't do.
 
#13 ·
Are you going to wait on ceilings until after you've finalized speakers? Do you have wires ran for them?

I'd opt for the 24"x24" tiles if you're doing it yourself vs. the stacked stone. I did the drystack in my family room fireplace with the TV above it. Those are a real bear to fit together, cut, etc.
 

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#14 ·
about 90% of ceiling is up. The tiles that are not up are waiting on fireplace painting and new door install. I also left a few small corners unfinished. I figured a would damage a tile or two that could then be cut to remove damage and perfectly fit in this area.

You did a great job on the fireplace. I know the 24x24 would be easier for me and honestly it probably goes better with my house's contemporary feel. thanks for the info on the level of difficulty of the SS. I thought the videos looked too easy
 
#15 ·
Decided to post an update. After a very busy 3 months to go from nothing to something, I have slowed the pace of work to enjoy the outdoors and take some trips. The LVP (Berry Alloc Pure Loc) floor is in. It is outstanding. The HT Market seats have arrived and the fireplace mantel is bring sized then finished. I also completed all the moulding and put new covers on the baseboard heat but didn't take pics yet. I will also update the seating pics with the wine holder and iPad holder.

Still on list:
Finish AV rack under stairs (started) including power
Finish mantel in a distressed wood look and beat the heck out of it to roughen it up
Run wires for speakers
Install shelves on either side of fireplace
order pool table
demo speakers
Window treatment for sliding door.
setup up separate area for video gaming
build bra height table??? not sure about this yet. May just put a dart board in that area behind seats.
 
#16 ·
Took a bit of a hiatus due to an injury that prevented me from working much and taking a vacation. Will try to get caught up on pics soon.

Here are some of pool table. Behind it you can see the built in AV rack under the stairs.

2 PSA XS30se subs arrive tomorrow

Mantel to be mounted this weekend

Speaker auditioning to start in a week or two
 

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#18 ·
Looks like you've moved the pace up a bit. Floor looks great!

I don't do much work on my basement during the summer. As we are starting to enter the fall, I'm starting to get my ducks in a row for the next round of renovations so I haven't been checking here until the last week or so.
 
#19 ·
Slowly I have picked up pace. I had a friend come over and terminate speaker wires. I couldnt even do that. :(

Most of work was done in first 3 months.

I am in home stretch. subs, new speakers, new AVR and tuning. this is the fun part but still a bunch of little stuff to do. Then again, there will always be more to do :rolleyes:
 
#20 ·
Mantle finished and in place. Old speakers still stand guard
 

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#21 ·
AV cabinet built in under stairs. Old equipment is mounted and wiring has started under stairs. Need to finish trim work under stairs
 

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#23 ·
It was very simple. Instead of agonizing over every detail and the type of wood I used some plywood I had left over. I believe it was only BC. I used joint compound to smooth it out. Held together with pocket hole screws, glue and some blocking under bottom shelf in case I add a heavy amp. Used dado to recess rails that hold shelves up. Painted black. Door is either maple or popular with smoked glass. Euro hinges.
 
#24 ·
Nearing the end of this build. Here are some updated photos:

HT Theater Southampton chairs with iPad holder
Pool Table
TV with fronts and center
Subs
front of AV rack

Still left to do:
mount surround sides this week
order and mount surround backs (2-4 weeks)
run more REW
room treatments
decorate walls
caulk bottom of fireplace where is meets floor
fill nail holes in moulding and one more coat
mount furnace shut off switch
paint steps
 

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#25 ·
Everything is looking really nice. :)
 
#26 ·
Looking good...I like the tiles you ended up going with on the fireplace. They really tie together with the other black/charcoal accents you have in the rest of the space.

You need to post the proverbial picture of a football game or movie still with the TV on and lights down.
 
#27 ·
First movie demo this weekend. Watched "Mad Max: Fury Road" (only first 20/30 minutes). Only have 5.2 sound now. 7.2 should be coming in early November. All I can say is that the sound was amazing and the seats were shaking - no bass kickers.. just subs).
 
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#28 ·
Looks real good!

How do you like the lux v. flooring? Any issues with it being cold? Debating our flooring options now. Old home, northern climate and the basement floor doesn't have anything but gravel/sand below it (unless they magically had XPS foam 90 years ago...). Any issues with the sloping and the flooring staying locked?
 
#31 ·
OK.. I got sidetracked. I had cheap LED TV, 2 small speakers, a center channel and a Mirage sub taking up place in my storage area. So last night I mounted them to a monoprice ceiling mount in the wood shop. Now I can enjoy 3.1 sound in there while working in the winter. It is being fed by the Marantz SR6010 zone two output in HT.
 

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#32 ·
I have not been good on the finishing touches but some progress has been made.

Here are a couple pics of the homemade media rack under the stairs. It is great to be able to practically stand behind the rack and work on wiring! I will concentrate on cleaning this up more.

The second is a pic that show surround speakers. I stayed away from running those wires through the wall as the distance they are exposed is so short and the braiding on the cable makes them look pretty cool.

oh. and isn't the most important part the audio/video? Well, this build is rocking.! :)
 

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