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The "I hope this works" Home Theater

72K views 349 replies 68 participants last post by  RTROSE 
#1 ·
First off I would like to send a huge thank you to everyone that has contributed to this forum. If it wasn't for all of you, I would have built a Home Theater with a bed sheet, slide projector and some old kitchen chairs and called it a day. I have learned more in the last couple months than I could ever hope for. I feel like I am building a decent theater (not great, but decent), I just hope it comes out like I plan. Long story short....I started planning my unfinished basement about 2 years ago and settled on a design last July and started framing. This is completely DIY so I try and work on it when I can. After finding this forum I decided that I needed to stop for a while and plan accordingly for a Home Theater. This is where I start off:

Finishing off a 2,100 sq ft basement

Bar, TV area, Storage/Workroom, Workout Room, Kids Area, and Home Theater

Currently framed and some electrical run

Home Theater is 12.5' x 23' open to the basement

Two rows of seats with a riser with bar stools behind

1080p Projector with 11'w 2.35 screen (SMX) and lens

Star Ceiling

Not sure of all my equipment yet I am getting there


I will post some pictures of current basement framing along with my master plans and update when I can. Your feedback is always appreciated. Thanks again for opening my eyes to the joy of Home Theaters...I am addicted.
 
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#278 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by fotto /forum/post/18438783


Hey Jay...the bar looks GREAT. Regarding your Barney encounter (LOL BTW) I hope you and he get things worked out....sounds like he owes you one

Thanks for the compliments! The Barney Incident (as I now refer to it) ended up being no big deal and is hardly noticable unless you get on your hands and knees. That doesn't sound too good....
 
#279 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by fotto /forum/post/18438783


Hey Jay...the bar looks GREAT. Regarding your Barney encounter (LOL BTW) I hope you and he get things worked out....sounds like he owes you one

Step away from the purple dinasaur

 
#280 ·
Ha...that explains it
 
#281 ·
Hey Jay, I was thinking of using the Blondewood for my bar also because it doesnt have as much grain as oak. What did you end up using for the trim to match?
 
#282 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by RPh Drew /forum/post/18463881


Step away from the purple dinasaur


Just great....now I am never going to be able to look at MJ again. Such sweet innocence. LOL
 
#283 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by biz64 /forum/post/18498215


Hey Jay, I was thinking of using the Blondewood for my bar also because it doesnt have as much grain as oak. What did you end up using for the trim to match?

I ended up using some nice pine for the trim. Matched faily well but if I could do it again I would have skipped the blondewood and gone with birch instead. When staining the blondewood I noticed that no two pieces stained the same. Some had more grain than others. Not very noticable until you get up close. The birch gave up a more even stain.
 
#284 ·
Anyone know a good place to get some staingrade pine molding baseboards in Oakland or Macomb county? Big Orange wants $1.72/ft and I don't think their stuff looks very good and I was hoping to get a better deal than that. I need about 250 ft.
 
#285 ·
Where did you use Birch? Also, my brother got all his trim from a place here in macomb. I will find out the name and location and let you know. I was gonna check them out too. He said it was cheaper than the big box places. Somewhere around 22 or 23 mile road and hayes area I believe.
 
#286 ·
I stopped by the place yesterday. They have really nice stuff, although I didnt price out their stainable pine. But they had a great price on some nice 5" fancy baseboard for I think $1.50 or so per lin. ft. Its called Macomb Stairs and Millwork. http://www.macombstairs.com/

I will be getting all of my moldings from there, very helpful too. Its also nice that they are close, 23 mile west of Hayes. Check em out.
 
#287 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by biz64 /forum/post/18511395


I stopped by the place yesterday. They have really nice stuff, although I didnt price out their stainable pine. But they had a great price on some nice 5" fancy baseboard for I think $1.50 or so per lin. ft. Its called Macomb Stairs and Millwork. http://www.macombstairs.com/

I will be getting all of my moldings from there, very helpful too. Its also nice that they are close, 23 mile west of Hayes. Check em out.

Thanks for the info Biz. I will check them out.


I used birch for my rack that I built. I stained so much nicer than the blondewood. In the end they aren't too far apart and most people will never notice the variations. I notice them but I am learning to live with it!
 
#288 ·
No I did not finish the basement yet, and no I did not decide that The NeverEnding Story would be my first movie. As a matter of fact I have done nothing for the last 3 months, so that is my neverending story. Oh I pretended to quote out doors and trim, but when the quote came back at $3,500 did I go get other qoutes???? Negative GhostRider......I just sat there and stared at it. You want to charge me how much for my closet doors? $1,500??? Are they made with gold? Maybe they meant to say $150 instead. Seriously I need two double doors for my closets and they are framed for Bi-folds but I think I want double doors that open so standard sizes won't fit. Solid wood, not solid gold. I thought I made it clear to the guy. So apparently my specially sized solid wood doors are a made by expensive miracle elves or something like that. I guess I am going to do bi-fold doors afterall. Things have been crazy busy since the start of spring so really haven't haven't had the chance to do much and won't be able to do anything this weekend. Stay tuned for more updates about nothing.....
 
#289 ·
I am scooted right to the edge of my seat...
 
#290 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by RPh Drew /forum/post/18734649


I am scooted right to the edge of my seat...

Great, here is an update...driving Saturday to deposit a little bonus check and I noticed a little pufff of smoke from under my hood. It was faint but I saw it. Pulled over and $&%#@ the radiator has a tiny leak. Ok maybe it is just a hose. So I drive to my guy and sure enough it is a leak in the core! Now I know I have an EVAP code that only the dealer can fix, so after fixing the radiator my guy takes it to the Jeep dealership for that and a recall on the heated seats. So far my bonus check that I was going to use for seats is slowly dwindling away. Oh yes I almost forgot, once all that is done I have to get a leak in the rear axle fixed. Can you sell plasma on eBay???


PS> Still have yet to bonus my check....why didn't they just do direct deposit?????
 
#293 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by Audixium /forum/post/18744868


Let me know when you figure out how to do that.



Bummer on the rest.

LOL What I meant was I have yet to deposit my bonus check yet. Although it would be awesome to "bonus my check".
 
#294 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by Moltar512 /forum/post/18744945


Wow, man, this looks really nice

Thanks for noticing. One day it will be finished and I can appreciate all the work I have put into it.
 
#295 ·
Ok I have to be honest...I haven't done a thing in 4 months. Literally nothing. Wait, I take that back. I did wash my bonus check in my jeans and it became little bits of paper. Unfortuantely the bank would not take my word that all those little pieces of paper actually at one time were a bonus check. So I had to go back to payroll and get a new check.


So for the last few months what have I been doing? Coaching my daughters softball team, vacation, golf, napping, working, napping, eating, napping, napping and yardwork. I also did some napping with my free time. To be fair to myself I did finish my drop ceiling last weekend. I had about 8 pieces I had to cut to finish it off so in between naps I was able to knock it out.


Actually I have just been rebuilding my basement fund ever since someone I live with in the house totalled her care in February (see previous posts). I have built the funds back up, so it is time to start up again and I have decided to start with under cabinet lights in the bar. Unfortunately a nap got in the way and I never really started so I will start and document the fiasco later this week.


Don't hold your breath.....
 
#296 ·
Well I finally got a free weekend recently and got some little projects finished. First up was putting in the undercabinet lights. I ended up going the very simple, cheap and effective route. I installed Seagull Ambiance® Low Voltage Linear Lighting System. Wire up the transformer, screw in the track, run the wire, plug in the light fixtures into the wire and done. Here is how it looks with the overhead lights on and off.





Next up was finishing the drop ceiling in the middle of the basement. I had to complete a bunch of complicated cuts that I was just to lazy to finish before. Check that off the list. I am flying now....not.






Then I wired up some temp sconce lighting in the theater. At least I can see in there now.



Last but not least I used my kreig jig to build a frame around my equipment cabinet. Turned out better than I thought. Now I just need to build a wall to slide it into. Maybe next weekend.






Yes I realize I need a little bit of dusting.
 
#298 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by cuzed2 /forum/post/19216727


Yaj,


Wow - that's a bunch of catching up - looks good!!


Sounds like you are happy with the Kreg jig..?

(got one as a gift awhile back but have not yet put it to use)

cuzed,

It looks more impressive than it actually is. That is how I trick everyone into thinking I am really making progress.



I hate the jig.....because it isn't a real Kreg. It is some cheap knockoff I got a while back. It works but it is garbage. I am going to get a new one.
 
#300 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by dc_pilgrim /forum/post/19217788


Just caught up in this thread. The barney incident is pretty memorable. Good read.

Thanks. There is still a faint bit of Barney seed on the grout but it is hardly noticable.....thank god.
 
#301 ·
HT related I swear, but bear with me.....It seems like everytime I get my HT Fund(HTF) up to acceptable levels the gods of pain rain down on me. Note: Read back to the February incident to see what happened last time I got the HTF over $10K.

THE JEEP

Driving home from upnorth about a month ago my Jeep starts to misfire like crazy (not some little misfire but stuff that actually shakes the vehicle) so I exit the expressway, pull over and pop the hood. Looks ok to me so I start it back up and it is running smooth as silk. So I get 20 miles down the road and it does it again. Pull over again and start it back up. Runs like a champ. Finish the remaining 2 hours home without any issues. Electrical for sure. Next week it is doing it again on the way to work, so I finally decide to take it in. Of course my mechanic can't get it to happen again, so why am I surprised. Engine codes say it is misfiring but not sure why. So I pick up the Jeep and it never does it again, except now something strange is happening.....the tranny (no, not some guy in mens clothing) is now slipping into 3rd gear as soon as it gets into 2nd. Not good. Finally took it in again and guess who needs a new trans, yep me! HT Fund Hit (HTFH for short) =$2,700

THE SONY

Last weekend I am visiting the rents because my brother was in town. Both my dad and I have identical 36" Sony Trinitron TVs (except mine is an HDTV) in our great rooms. I have a 42" LCD in the den which I uses for movie night so no realy need to replace until after I finish the HT. Anyway, during the visit I am explaining to my dad that my TV started acting up that day and wouldn't turn on after being on most of the morning. His is working fine. I get home and I get a phone call from him telling me that now HIS tv won't turn on and he is convinced I am satan or something from the Omen (not his exact words but you get the point). While talking to him I try MY tv and it works. Now I am laughing and he is ready to call in an exorcist to rid my of my evil ways. He replaces his with a plasma and rubs it in my face. I tell him I will have an 11' screen in the basement and then he remindes me that I have been working on it for 4 years. So today I come home and the TV is dead as a doornail (sure it has a red blinking light but other than that it is useless). I know what is wrong (circuit board and it will cost $500 to fix) and it isn't worth fixing so I must dip into the HTF again to get something new and better than my dad to save face and convince him I am not the devil. So begins the hunt for a new TV (55" min). Estimated HTFH or EHTFH = $2,000


Needless to say I will be bringing my lunch to work for the next week or so.
 
#302 ·
Wow, that really sucks
Sorry to hear about it and hopefully some good Karma will rejuvenate you HTF. If that doesn't happen, there's always a HELOC (home equity line of credit) option to get things moving again
 
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