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.
Hey Jay, Im at 22 and romeo plank! I 'm actually in the planning stages right now for my basement and theater. question for ya, how high is your ceiling in the theater part of your build after drywall? Im worried mine will be too low cause I have some vents running where Im planning to place my theater and the ceiling will only be about 6' 5" after I hang the drop ceiling. Looks great so far by the way, keep up the great work.
Quote:
Originally Posted by biz64 /forum/post/13633051
Hey Jay, Im at 22 and romeo plank! I 'm actually in the planning stages right now for my basement and theater. question for ya, how high is your ceiling in the theater part of your build after drywall? Im worried mine will be too low cause I have some vents running where Im planning to place my theater and the ceiling will only be about 6' 5" after I hang the drop ceiling. Looks great so far by the way, keep up the great work.
I am south of 22 east of RP in Beacon Square. If you ever want to stop by and look at my insanity you are more that welcome. Just drop me a message and I will send you my contact info. I planned my basement one house ago and when things weren't working out the way I wanted I went and bought a new house with a bigger basement just to do what I wanted. Ceiling is actually 8'-9" or so. Had it made extra deep so I would have room. Put the drywall right to the floor joists as I knew I wasn't going to really have a sound proof room. Wish I had done hat channels on the ceiling. Would have made the drywalling easier.
Quote:
Originally Posted by yaj123 /forum/post/13632658
Gee in three months I have managed to hang all the drywall. (Ok let's be honest, I am really CLOSE to having it all hung...like 97%, just a few pieces here and there.)
If it makes you feel any better, I've been doing drywall for 11 months. Initial drywall, change of plans, drywall the new back-stage, then double drywall everywhere. But its DONE! (~two weeks ago).
Quote:
Originally Posted by pmeyer /forum/post/13641866
If it makes you feel any better, I've been doing drywall for 11 months. Initial drywall, change of plans, drywall the new back-stage, then double drywall everywhere. But its DONE! (~two weeks ago).
Congrats on being done! I thought about double drywall but my HT is not closed off from the rest of the basement so I figured it would be a waste. Thinking back I probably should have DD the ceiling but I wasn't motivated enough to haul more 5/8" drywall into the basement!
If there is one thing I learned: farm out mudding/taping. I did everything else (framing, drywall, greenglue, floor, plumbing, electrical, insulation) so I figured I could do mud/tape/float. I can do mud/tape, but not efficiently. I can't float the nice final surface.
A lot of the other stuff it would be hard to get somebody else to do it the way I wanted for a reasonable amount of money. Mudding/taping/floating/texturing is something I can get somebody else to do.
Quote:
Originally Posted by pmeyer /forum/post/13675511
If there is one thing I learned: farm out mudding/taping. I did everything else (framing, drywall, greenglue, floor, plumbing, electrical, insulation) so I figured I could do mud/tape/float. I can do mud/tape, but not efficiently. I can't float the nice final surface.
A lot of the other stuff it would be hard to get somebody else to do it the way I wanted for a reasonable amount of money. Mudding/taping/floating/texturing is something I can get somebody else to do.
Here is a fun conversation I had with the Wife.....
ME: "Hey Honey, have you heard back from your uncle on the price to mud and tape the basement? He is family and I would like to have him do it, plus it would be much faster. He could knock it out in a week."
WIFE: "Why yes he did. The price he quoted me was $3,000. When should I call him to start."
ME (in a rage): "Start??? Call him and tell him to drive off a cliff. $3,000????!!!! Are you kidding me? I asked him to mud and tape the basement not the Taj Mahal. $3,000 and I have already hung the drywall and have all the mud and tape in the garage!! Where is the family discount?"
ME AGAIN: "Screw it. I'll do it myself."
And so it begins.....Wait until you see my handy work. Pictures to follow for your viewing pleasure.
$3,000 to mud and tape in that room???? i had no idea drywalling was such a lucrative industry. i shoulda skipped out on college and went straight to mudding n taping.
One of the main keys to mudding is to mix the mud and add enough water so that it will apply to the wall evenly.....making a lot less work on the sanding phase.
Greetings from Rochester, MI! (Just a stone's throw from you guys).
I almost bailed on the SMX when I found out it was no longer available as DIY.
Instead, I forked over the BIG (and I mean BIG - what on earth are these guys thinking, charging what they do for a SCREEN?!) doneros for a "finished" 16:9 110'' SMX screen.
Room is nearing completion after a YEAR (ugh!), and screen is a week or two away from getting put together. (Upholstery guys are coming over tonight to work on putting the Linacoustic and fabric walls up..what a..cough.."journey"..that whole experience has been, let me tell ya!)
Give me a holler sometime. Would love to compare notes, Michigander to Michigander..or, should I say..Macomb to Oakland.
Quote:
Originally Posted by percept /forum/post/13908180
$3,000 to mud and tape in that room???? i had no idea drywalling was such a lucrative industry. i shoulda skipped out on college and went straight to mudding n taping.
Quote:
Originally Posted by BBB_63 /forum/post/13910485
Hey, Jay..
Greetings from Rochester, MI! (Just a stone's throw from you guys).
I almost bailed on the SMX when I found out it was no longer available as DIY.
Instead, I forked over the BIG (and I mean BIG - what on earth are these guys thinking, charging what they do for a SCREEN?!) doneros for a "finished" 16:9 110'' SMX screen.
Room is nearing completion after a YEAR (ugh!), and screen is a week or two away from getting put together. (Upholstery guys are coming over tonight to work on putting the Linacoustic and fabric walls up..what a..cough.."journey"..that whole experience has been, let me tell ya!)
Give me a holler sometime. Would love to compare notes, Michigander to Michigander..or, should I say..Macomb to Oakland.
We should do that. Since I will probably be working on my basement forever I would love to steal ideas...I mean share notes.
I can't wait til I get to the end. I really only get to work on it weekends, but on nights I can I will probably mix up a batch of mud to try and keep things moving.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ray906 /forum/post/13908353
One of the main keys to mudding is to mix the mud and add enough water so that it will apply to the wall evenly.....making a lot less work on the sanding phase.
Tony not only am I slow at building but looks like I am slow at replying as well. I like to think of my build as a Tortoise and the Hare race except they place 1st and 2nd. I am the worm that places a distant third. Thank god we aren't motivated like everyone else.
So in a little more than a month I have managed to tape my drywall. That's right, just tape. I probably could have knocked it all out in a weekend but what would be the fun in that? I am actually starting to get the hang of taping. Too bad, because now I have to do the top coats. Check out the handy work.....
Workout Room
Bar area
Bar area from other angle
Imagine this with cabinets...
Looking into the HT from the bar area
HT area doesn't look like much now but just wait, in about 24 months it is going to rock!
I really need to clean this place up. Wish me luck!
Just ran across your thread after you commented on mine. Doesn't look like your doing too bad. I'm almost a year into my build and its only about a 1/4 the size of yours and your not too far behind which means.....I'm running about half your speed and even slower. Hey, maybe I can audition for the comcast commercial and replace the turtles. Or, at least play a cousin.
Looks like a nice, big space. I'll keep checking in. Like I said, it all speeds up once the sheet rock gets done.
Quote:
Originally Posted by McMurphy /forum/post/14243957
Just ran across your thread after you commented on mine. Doesn't look like your doing too bad. I'm almost a year into my build and its only about a 1/4 the size of yours and your not too far behind which means.....I'm running about half your speed and even slower. Hey, maybe I can audition for the comcast commercial and replace the turtles. Or, at least play a cousin.
Looks like a nice, big space. I'll keep checking in. Like I said, it all speeds up once the sheet rock gets done.
That one was pre-exisiting. The builder would not make all the windows glass block so one of my four is just a regular window. I think there is some rule that you must have one operating window in the basement. I have been pricing out replacing that regular window with Glass Block but everyone offers $125 a window with a $250 order. I am seriously thinking about replacing it myself. I mean how hard can it be? I will probably make it 3 times harder than it needs to be. LOL
I haven't really had much time over the last few weekends to work on the basement, with family obligations and all, but the drywall is 95% done. Just need to final coat the corners and do a light sand and I am done. Should finish up the weekend after Labor Day since we are going up north this weekend. Next is MAJOR clean up. Then paint and the drop ceiling in the middle of the basement.
Things I have learned about mudding drywall....
#1 No matter how much you think you will save time by mixing an entire bag of hot mud DON'T DO IT! You will have to toss it before you get a quarter of the way through it. Thank god my mud was free.
#2 Get a cool little sanding tool like this one. This thing rocks and it makes sanding a breeze!
#3 Read everything on Drywallschool.com and follow it. I have very little sanding thanks to that site. See how nice it looks?
#4 Clean everything out of your work area before starting or you will have to move everything around like I did 500 times. Look at this junk...I have no idea how I am going to clean that chair. Any ideas?
#5 Get a little flashlight to check your seams. If you can see light it ain't right.
Perfect!
#6 Mud can hide anything. This corner was totally jacked and I made it look halfway decent. For those observant folks....yes those are all my cables pouring out from under the drywall. I need to pull them through the hole I made.
(I've rotated this image is Photobucket 12 times but it keeps posting like this.)
#7 Don't try and make the wall behind your screen wall look perfect. It is just going to be covered. Well at least if the next owner is crazy, and doesn't want a theater, he can pull down the screen wall and have a nice looking wall.
Can you imagine if I went into business doing drywall....Client - "So how long to you think it will take to drywall my basement?" Me - "About 8" Client - "8 days? Great you are hired." Me - "No, 8 months." Client - "Get out." Me - "So I take that is a 'No'?"
Sincerely,
King of Drywall
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