Now that the weather is starting to cool down, it is time to move inside and start finishing the basement. The basement is 1875 sq. ft in total, which will have: a full bath with sauna, full wet bar, 2 bedrooms, entertainment area, games area, and mostly importantly a home theater.
After reading numerous threads and seeing how helpful everyone is on this forum, I thought I should start my own thread to hopefully build a somewhat respectable home theater.
As you will see the theater is not the largest in the world: approx. dimensions of 11' 3" wide, 20' long with 8' 9.5" ceiling. As usual I have to deal with a beam and support posts which have HVAC and plumbing run along the beam length. We are not big entertainers so I don't need a huge amount of seating. I am hoping to be able to do two seats in the front and 3 on the back riser. I also plan to do sound proofing with staggered studs on the outside walls, clips and hat channel on ceiling with green glue and double drywall for all surfaces.
I am leaning towards a AT screen with a false wall (approx. 30" deep), however, I am not sure about a stage as the entry door to the theater will be very close to the screen.
As framing has not started so I am open to any suggestions on this layout.
Quote:
Originally Posted by ljl /forum/post/17137180
I also plan to do sound proofing with staggered studs on the outside walls, clips and hat channel on ceiling with green glue and double drywall for all surfaces.
I hope you meant inside common walls. The walls facing the concrete do not need to be staggered but it would help it they were attached to the joists above with RSIC 04 clips.
What is your plan for HVAC that would contain the sound in the theater.
Quote:
Originally Posted by BIGmouthinDC /forum/post/17137413
I hope you meant inside common walls. The walls facing the concrete do not need to be staggered but it would help it they were attached to the joists above with RSIC 04 clips.
What is your plan for HVAC that would contain the sound in the theater.
Yes, inside common walls will be staggered only and I hope to use RSIC 04 clips on walls facing the concrete however they are currentlyl attached to the ceiling joists. I am considering notching a groove somehow to decouple and then attached with RSIC 04 clips but I am not sure how easy this will be?
In regards to the HVAC, I recently saw a post about how to frame around
HVAC for sound proofing by attaching soffit to the hat channel on ceiling and then attaching to the decoupled wall. I think that example would apply to my application?
P.S. I have seen your home theater on the forum...simply awesome!
OK I think this is the only current HVAC connection in what will be your future theater.
1) One may not be enough and you also need a return located in the theater.
2) All the rooms connected to the same main trunk line and returns will receive some level of sound due to the excellent sound conducting characteristics of metal duct work. You should have a strategy for mitigating this if it will be a problem.
A few solutions include putting the theater on a separate zone, lining the ducts with acoustic duct-liner, replacing the metal ducts servicing the theater with true Acoustical Flex ducts. (see Flexmaster product 6b)
Your room is almost exactly the same size as mine.
You can definitely do the seating as you have planned. I'm probably still going to cram in a four seat back row and a three seat front row, but I had to do a double entry door to even make it workable. That amount of seating, even with a curved back row will would beautifully.
As Big says, HVAC is one of the things to worry about early, and one that if you get a contractor doing it, that they will absolutely not understand what your goals are. I ended up with two supplies and two returns (one being to the heat recovery ventilator, which will be triggered to come on when the theater is in use. Getting the HVAC guys to do this involved a surprising amount of work on my part and, I believe rolled eyes on their part.
If possible also have your rack vent outside the theater to try to keep heat buildup to a minimum.
Another thing to think about relatively early would be lighting. The five pots in the plan may be enough for you but there is much more possible. It's nice to have lights over the seating position for reading or if you are watching something that doesn't demand your full attention. As well, some lights to 'wash' the screen can really add to the look of the theater when you are entering. Lights in the side soffits also can add to the look. I had the same problem as you with HVAC duct in one of my soffits that didn't allow me to place a pot light in, so I ended up with low voltage puck lights that have the same effect.
With the false wall and the door location, I think both will work. I'm not going to be doing a stage and there is a nice black and gold theater on here (i forget the name) with no stage that is stunning. Depending on the speakers you use it may be possible to shorten up the false wall and leave you with room for a stage, if you really want one.
I think that an acoustically transparent screen in this space would be ideal, given that the width is probably the most limiting. Are you going 2.35:1?
Nice to see another (somewhat) local person building. Good Luck!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Scopeguy /forum/post/17138357
ljl
Welcome to the forum!
Your room is almost exactly the same size as mine.
You can definitely do the seating as you have planned. I'm probably still going to cram in a four seat back row and a three seat front row, but I had to do a double entry door to even make it workable. That amount of seating, even with a curved back row will would beautifully.
As Big says, HVAC is one of the things to worry about early, and one that if you get a contractor doing it, that they will absolutely not understand what your goals are. I ended up with two supplies and two returns (one being to the heat recovery ventilator, which will be triggered to come on when the theater is in use. Getting the HVAC guys to do this involved a surprising amount of work on my part and, I believe rolled eyes on their part.
If possible also have your rack vent outside the theater to try to keep heat buildup to a minimum.
Another thing to think about relatively early would be lighting. The five pots in the plan may be enough for you but there is much more possible. It's nice to have lights over the seating position for reading or if you are watching something that doesn't demand your full attention. As well, some lights to 'wash' the screen can really add to the look of the theater when you are entering. Lights in the side soffits also can add to the look. I had the same problem as you with HVAC duct in one of my soffits that didn't allow me to place a pot light in, so I ended up with low voltage puck lights that have the same effect.
With the false wall and the door location, I think both will work. I'm not going to be doing a stage and there is a nice black and gold theater on here (i forget the name) with no stage that is stunning. Depending on the speakers you use it may be possible to shorten up the false wall and leave you with room for a stage, if you really want one.
I think that an acoustically transparent screen in this space would be ideal, given that the width is probably the most limiting. Are you going 2.35:1?
Nice to see another (somewhat) local person building. Good Luck!
Sorry guys for not replying quickly....work has been very busy!
Wow Scopeguy...very impressive HT also! Good to see I'm not the only crazy Albertan here!
I am also leaning towards using a general contractor to help with the build as it would take me forever to finish on evenings and weekends. I can envision the same issues you had trying to explain what you want. When I mentioned the staggered stud and double drywall / green glue construction there was a slight pause.
I really want to get rolling but there are a lot of decisions to be made before starting like the HVAC and lighting.
I am considering a rotating Middle Atlantic rack with the remote vent/exhaust fan for cooling the equipment. I also need to order the sound proofing items such the RSIC 04 clips that Big had mentioned but I am having a hard time finding any distributors in the Calgary area.
I have not decided on the screen yet...I have received some pricing from a couple AT screen manufacturers....boy AT screens are not cheap!
I have been considering doing a 16:9 screen because we will be watching movies but also using the HT for playing Xbox.
Thanks for the compliment. It's fun to be crazy (though it's starting to get expensive).
I decided to get a general contractor because I wanted the project completed on a reasonable time line. Though there was still a fair amount of work making sure that everything got done the way I wanted and checking everyday to make sure things were right, I am very happy I had a general contractor to coordinate things. One important thing is to make sure you have as much planned out in advance if you go the general contractor route because things tend to move very quickly once they get rolling.
According to the old thread warning it has been 427 days since may last post and as you will see things have not progressed very far in regards to my basement develpement but now I am going to try to change that.
Currently I have removed the existing outside 2x4 walls which were coupled to ceiling. I plan on reframing 2x4 walls keeping them about 1/2" away from the concrete walls and decoupled them from the ceiling with DC-04 clips. (I had order all sound proofing supplies from the Sound Proofing Company last year.)
My current roadblock is what to do with the clean out at the back of the theater where my riser will be located. As you can see, the way it was installed away from the rear wall will cost me about 4" in theater length and once the riser is installed it will prevent me from accessing it in the future. Does anyone have sugestions on the best way to frame this wall that would still allow access to clean out and possibly prevent losing theater length?
Also, I plan to use double 2x4's on the bottom (treated lumber) and top plates. I have posted a picture where the decoupled theater wall will meet up with the existing wall. I plan on decoupling this connection by leaving about a 1/2" gap between the two walls and securing top and bottom plates and possibly using a DC-04 clip in the middle for more support. Is this the right approach?
As per your response it appears you agree with decoupling the existing wall and the new decouple theater wall for maximum sound proofing so this is the approach I will take.
In regards to the clean out I'm not sure how I would frame a access panel as I can not run a 2x4 across the abs pipe to form a box for a acess panel? Do you have anymore details on what you have seen in the past?
Hello to all again! After threating to start my build for the last couple of years it is finally proceeding!
I have hired a contractor to finish my basement and drywall will be hung in about week so I am meeting with him on Monday to discuss layout and electrical rough in. I purchased the Pro Theater Design package and have been working with Dennis Erskine to finalize plan so I know I have a solid design but I thought I would post my build for review / comment from the local AVS experts and help with some of the details.
As you can see the walls are framed up (walls are all decoupled and double wall construction for the inside walls. I am doing the standard 5/8" double drywall with green glue construction. Attachment 226601
This is the door opening. This will be a 36" door which I ordered from Dennis. Attachment 226605
This is the rack opening. I am locating rack just outside of HT. The rack is the Mid Atlantic Slim 5 rack that is 26" deep with 37 spaces. The front of the rack will be open into the hall way with a access door in the back (located in the bathroom). For cooling I have installed a 110 SCFM low noise bathroom fan that will be controlled by a thermostat. This will be vented about 20' away from rack. I have 3 20 amp dedicated supplies ran to rack location. Attachment 226606
The HT will have its own HVAC zone. The supply (the small 8" duct shown in picture) has been completely lined with accoustical duct liner. The supplies and returns will be accoustical flex duct which will run through the HT soffits.
The rest of the ducting will be framed in a soffit which will use whisper clips and hat channel for sound proofing. Attachment 226607
I have attached a lighting and wiring plan. My writing is bad so hopefully you are still able to read. I am going to have 6 wall sconces and 4 pot lights. I am considering adding more lights to the front of room to ensure the lighting is even through out HT. I plan on locating subs behind screen wall. The signals to subs will be RG6 ran to equipment rack. Other runs of RG6 will be 2 to front of riser. For CAT 6 I plan to run 2 to projector location, 2 to the front of riser, 2 to grafik eye, and one behind false screen for IR. I have not determined what projector or screen I will be using yet. I will install projector in a hush box at back of room and run 2" conduit for future cabling. I will also install a high speed HDMI cable from rack to projector. All other house A/V distribution will be ran to Mechanical room.
I plan on wiring 4 cat 6 and 4 RG6 from equipment rack to mechanical room however this might not be enough as I would like to distribute my HD PVR throughout house using CAT 6 runs. Attachment 226608
Comments and suggestions are welcomed!
Thanks,
ljl
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Related Threads
?
?
?
?
?
AVS Forum
34M posts
1.5M members
Since 1999
A forum community dedicated to home theater owners and enthusiasts. Come join the discussion about home audio/video, TVs, projectors, screens, receivers, speakers, projects, DIY’s, product reviews, accessories, classifieds, and more!