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Attic/Bonus Room Theaters Thread

post #1 of 38
2/26/08 at 6:49pm
Thread Starter 
Hi All - I thought I would start an "Attic/Bonus Room Theaters Thread" since I have seen quite a few in progress lately...as well as starting my own (If I can ever stop the planning stages). I am hoping we can use this thread not just for my Theater, but for all Attic/Bonus Theaters. I suggest anyone that has completed or is in process of their theater to please post pics and add comments when required to help some of us that are still working on ours. It would be much appreciated. I will start by attaching a couple of pre-framing pics of my area. One is of the Theater room and the other is of the potential Bar area (that will probably be open to the Theater). Thanks.

Theater room


Bar area

LL
LL
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post #2 of 38
2/26/08 at 7:56pm
Good deal Joe; no doubt you saw I am one of those working on this type of build also (Mr. Pink's room); it'll be good to have your company, as well as some others.

To post pics in your thread, upload them to a storage service and then just post the link. I think PhotoBucket is the best.

CD
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post #3 of 38
2/26/08 at 8:18pm
Here is my progress. My builder did the room up until this point. I will take it from here and finish the rest.

This is looking at what will be the screen wall. I will cover the window and build a false wall in front of the dormer at the point of the sloped ceiling. The door opening is just for attic access and will be accessible from removeable screenwall panels.



Another future screenwall pic. The opening to the left is the entrance to the bonus room.



Here is a picture from the front looking towards the back. There will be an riser centered in the space and double doors opening out the back of the theater.


Here is a shot outside of the double doors in the rear of the theater. This will be a small bar area and a half bath.


Finally, the rest of the gameroom area.



I will follow this thread closely to see how others are dealing with the problems with attic/bonus room theaters!
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post #4 of 38
2/26/08 at 9:21pm
Thread Starter 
HT Guru - I really like that Gameroom walk out area. What can you catch out there? Where are you located?

I have a feeling that our theaters may be similar. I am contemplating whether to leave the Bar area open behind the theater or close it off with a door area like yours.

What is your Theatrer dims and have you decided on projector and screen?
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post #5 of 38
2/26/08 at 9:53pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Home Theater Joe View Post

HT Guru - I really like that Gameroom walk out area. What can you catch out there? Where are you located?

I have a feeling that our theaters may be similar. I am contemplating whether to leave the Bar area open behind the theater or close it off with a door area like yours.

What is your Theatrer dims and have you decided on projector and screen?

The theater part is 15'6" W X 24'10" L. The Gameroom part is almost the same size at 16'4" X 25'. The theater was originally supposed to be in the gameroom with the screenwall where the doors going out to the deck are. After the room was framed and we realized the view we had overlooking the pond I ended up changing a few things and swapping the rooms.

My knee walls are at 6'8" and the ceiling height is 9' in the middle.

I also went back and forth on leaving the rooms open or closing them off. I went with the compromise of double 3'0 X 8'0 doors. It's a compromise but one that I can hopefully live with. I plan on treating the doors similiar to what BigMouthinDC did. I will host a fair amount of sporting event get togethers (superbowl, big college games, final four, etc) and wanted the ability to open the room up to the bar/gameroom. It was the best solution I could come up with based on the space I had to work with.

The pond is actually on the neighbors property. I haven't fished it yet but it is supposedly well stocked with bass.

As far as projector and screen, I have 122" worth of SMX material I bought when rueben did his last run of material only sales. I haven't decided if I will use that or get a Vutec 2.35:1 AT screen with the masking system and sell the material I have.

I am leaning towards the JVC RS1/RS2 for the projector. Depending on how long it takes me to build it out I may wind up with the JVC RS6!
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post #6 of 38
2/26/08 at 10:08pm
Thread Starter 
My room is currently 20' wide, but once I frame out the Theater width I will be in the 14'-15' range. I dont want to leave the sidewalls at ony 4' or so. My length is approx 27' and the open area behind the theater is 12' 6" X 17'. I am not sure how that is going to end up yet...probably the reason for the hold up. I am sure you know what I mean...Cant make a final decision on what to do with the Bar area space and if I want to leave it open or make the Theater area dedicated.

Quote:


My knee walls are at 6'8" and the ceiling height is 9' in the middle.

HT Guru - Are you happy with your wall and ceiling height or would've you liked to change it? Thanks.
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post #7 of 38
2/27/08 at 11:43am
This is my Bonus room located upstairs and over my garage. I built the room 4 years ago when the rest of the house was built. It was painted to be used as kids playroom. It is located upstairs across from 2 kids bedrooms.
2 years ago I moved the kids toys out and the theater in.

The knee walls and ceiling are blown in insulation. When the room was built I did not know it would be a theater so no sound proofing/acoustical precautions were taken into consideration.

We watch movies routinely with kids sleeping right across the hall. I was pleasantly surprised that not allot of sound gets out of the room. I think the reason for this is because its over the garage and the noise seems to be loudest in the garage.

Things I learned or need to change:

I went with DIY painted screen and built the frame out of PINE-- BIG MISTAKE
My screen is hung over the only window in the room so the air that enters the room thru window sill has warped the screen to the point I need to build another.
My suggestion is to use a wood or material that does not SHRINK/WARP.

I will be changing the entrance door to an exterior door with more sound proofing. Currently If we are watching action packed movies very loud, We turn on fans in the kids room to drowned out the sound a bit. Not a big deal.

The color of the room will be changed very soon to a Dark Olive and possibly screen wall black. With the current color , I get to much reflection of light and it distracts me.

I will be adding acoustical panels as well to the first reflection points. The room is about 28'X13'. Not good for sound considering its almost a perfect rectangle. It seems very bright to me. I believe acoustical absorbtion in the high frequencies will help. Then I will add Base traps.

I wish I added skylights when I built it. I also wish it were a wider room. But my whole family enjoys it allot.
LL
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post #8 of 38
2/27/08 at 1:02pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by JonathanG View Post

This is my Bonus room located upstairs and over my garage. I built the room 4 years ago when the rest of the house was built. It was painted to be used as kids playroom. It is located upstairs across from 2 kids bedrooms.
2 years ago I moved the kids toys out and the theater in.

The knee walls and ceiling are blown in insulation. When the room was built I did not know it would be a theater so no sound proofing/acoustical precautions were taken into consideration.

We watch movies routinely with kids sleeping right across the hall. I was pleasantly surprised that not allot of sound gets out of the room. I think the reason for this is because its over the garage and the noise seems to be loudest in the garage.

Things I learned or need to change:

I went with DIY painted screen and built the frame out of PINE-- BIG MISTAKE
My screen is hung over the only window in the room so the air that enters the room thru window sill has warped the screen to the point I need to build another.
My suggestion is to use a wood or material that does not SHRINK/WARP.

I will be changing the entrance door to an exterior door with more sound proofing. Currently If we are watching action packed movies very loud, We turn on fans in the kids room to drowned out the sound a bit. Not a big deal.

The color of the room will be changed very soon to a Dark Olive and possibly screen wall black. With the current color , I get to much reflection of light and it distracts me.

I will be adding acoustical panels as well to the first reflection points. The room is about 28'X13'. Not good for sound considering its almost a perfect rectangle. It seems very bright to me. I believe acoustical absorbtion in the high frequencies will help. Then I will add Base traps.

I wish I added skylights when I built it. I also wish it were a wider room. But my whole family enjoys it allot.

JG, I'm trying to decide how high to finish my ceiling, based on my narrow width. Can I ask how wide is your room?

*EDIT* 13'?

CD
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post #9 of 38
2/27/08 at 1:08pm
I've got one, too. I have turned this:



into this:





The room is 13' wide by 21.5' long, and 8' high at the center.
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post #10 of 38
2/27/08 at 1:38pm
Here's mine...the rest of the pics can be seen in my theater thread in my sig....

Before:




Now:
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post #11 of 38
2/27/08 at 7:38pm
Thread Starter 
Hey Dark - Man that room looks to be really wide. What is your finished room width?

I am also looking at going with 2 rows of 4 chairs (although maybe with the curved style), but possibly only 24"-32" for an outside walkway lane. Do you have any thoughts on how much space you required for your outside chair to sidewall?
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post #12 of 38
2/27/08 at 8:53pm
Great thread, I am in the early stages of my HT room. My room is approximatley 15x21x9 and it has 5' knee walls. I went with 5' foot knee walls because that is the code in Louisiana to consider it living space. I was going to do a recessed ceiling, but my help did not show up so I decided not to do it. Anyway here are some pics of my future Ht (bonus room).
LL
LL
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post #13 of 38
2/27/08 at 10:57pm
don't mind if I contribute to this thread?

THEN




NOW

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post #14 of 38
2/27/08 at 11:52pm
Hi,
We also turned our attic into a home theater, bathroom and library areas.

Before:





After - still in progress:








Here's the constuction thread (will be posting new pictures soon)
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=756264
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post #15 of 38
2/28/08 at 1:57pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Home Theater Joe View Post

Hey Dark - Man that room looks to be really wide. What is your finished room width?

I am also looking at going with 2 rows of 4 chairs (although maybe with the curved style), but possibly only 24"-32" for an outside walkway lane. Do you have any thoughts on how much space you required for your outside chair to sidewall?


My room is 17'9" wide and finished will be 17'6" wide (after panels) and the platform finished is 12'6" wide by 6'3" deep to accomodate the rear row. This left me approx. 30" for the aisles (23" at the columns when they are done) which is perfect even with my sloped ceiling. Check my build thread for more info.

Curved seats are wider so I would measure several times before purchase. I wanted the curved rows but I would have only had about 16" near the columns if I remember correctly.
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post #16 of 38
2/28/08 at 2:00pm
FACP: beautiful job...you must be proud of that theater!

Bob
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post #17 of 38
2/28/08 at 4:57pm
Thread Starter 
FACP - That is an awesome looking room. Do you have any pics from your screen looking out at the seating? Or any other views of your room. Great ceiling by the way!!

What is your curtains to the right side covering?
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post #18 of 38
2/29/08 at 4:53pm
Thread Starter 
Craig - What size is your finished theater room going to be? Do you have a layout of the room? Looks like it will be fun.
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post #19 of 38
2/29/08 at 9:15pm
Before:





After:









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post #20 of 38
2/29/08 at 9:20pm
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post #21 of 38
3/1/08 at 5:40pm
Thread Starter 
Hey Fst96se - I was glad to see some posters on your walls...Haven't really seen many posters in these bonus rooms with the short walls. I am planning on having a couple myself.

What are your rooms dims? Especially the wall ht where the posters are at?

BTW - I am considering that color scheme for the walls and ceiling also. How do you like it?

One more thing - I have been asking in this forum about the 2nd row seats being a smaller quantity than the 1st row. Any thoughts... And where do you plant yourself when watching a movie?

Thanks, very nice room and I like your "lobby area" as well.
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post #22 of 38
3/1/08 at 5:50pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Home Theater Joe View Post

Hey Fst96se - I was glad to see some posters on your walls...Haven't really seen many posters in these bonus rooms with the short walls. I am planning on having a couple myself.

What are your rooms dims? Especially the wall ht where the posters are at?

BTW - I am considering that color scheme for the walls and ceiling also. How do you like it?

One more thing - I have been asking in this forum about the 2nd row seats being a smaller quantity than the 1st row. Any thoughts... And where do you plant yourself when watching a movie?

Thanks, very nice room and I like your "lobby area" as well.

The room is about 14'x15', I think. The wall height is roughly 6.5 ft high, maybe slightly taller. I am about 6'2" tall, and it is definately taller than I am.

I like the color scheme, we wanted it to feel "theater-ish" and so we went with that color. I think if I had it to do over again, we might use a dark earth tone, two tone, with chair rail or something. But ya, I do still like it!

Acoustically the back row in my room isn't nearly as good as the front row, since it is against the back wall. I also like the comfort of the recliner versus the couch. My wife often takes the couch, and I sit in the front row, second seat from the right when facing the screen. That puts me closest to the center of the screen.

Visually, I like the back row better. The front row is a bit close, and the second row is on a riser so the screen (120") doesn't feel quite so tall.

The "lobby" is a small loft at the top of the stairs. We have a 34" Sony XBR tv with four gaming chairs in there. That is where the kids hang out and game. Everything in the theater outputs (through a matrix switch) to the loft also, so you can game in either spot. The kids like it, and I like it so the projector doesn't get used so much!
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post #23 of 38
3/1/08 at 10:04pm
I'm glad to see this kind of a thread start up. I may sound a little biased but I think that those of us with HT in our bonus rooms have to learn to think outside of a plain old box. (pun intended)

It's funny that I'm always looking for new HT that are done in a bonus room...yet I've never taken pictures of my own HT. I probably should get around to doing that someday. Kind of boring right now anyway. We're just about ready to re-do the room anyway. My wife sure is happy about that. New chairs, additional Luv Sac, new paint, additional trim, move some recepticles and lights. OLD EQUIPMENT!!!

I must say it will be nice to get off the old, hard to sit in loveseat that needs a 10" thick pillow just to get my head up high enough to not feel like you're in a dentist's chair. D*mmit, now I'm probably going to get co-ersed into taking pictures.

fst96se, It took me a minute to figure it out by the sign over your HT entrance but....I know where you live now.....sorta. Say, how's that DVE coming along for you? Gotta raz a fellow AVS'r.....

Rob
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post #24 of 38
3/2/08 at 12:24am
Great thread. I'll be watching this one carefully while I never get around to finishing my system. Here are a couple of pictures of my room. It's a complete wreck now, but might look like the computer renditions someday.




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post #25 of 38
3/2/08 at 5:53am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Home Theater Joe View Post

FACP - That is an awesome looking room. Do you have any pics from your screen looking out at the seating? Or any other views of your room. Great ceiling by the way!!

What is your curtains to the right side covering?

Thank you! I'll upload some more pics once I get a chance to take pictures from different angles (too busy watching movies...). The curtains can cover the whole screen wall but right now I just have it open/close to the sides and mask my 2.35:1 screen down to 1.85:1.
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post #26 of 38
3/2/08 at 8:54pm
Thread Starter 
Fst96se - I like the equipment rack and shelving for the DVD's. Do you have any "build" shots of that?
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post #27 of 38
3/4/08 at 8:52am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Home Theater Joe View Post

Craig - What size is your finished theater room going to be? Do you have a layout of the room? Looks like it will be fun.

Hi,
The HT part of the attic is around 15' x 20' with 10' high ceilings at the peak. You can check out Attic home theater pictures for more pictures and some 360 degree movies.

Here's the floor plan (first the HT side and then the rest of the attic)


Part 2:
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post #28 of 38
3/4/08 at 9:01am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Home Theater Joe View Post

Hey Fst96se - I was glad to see some posters on your walls...Haven't really seen many posters in these bonus rooms with the short walls. I am planning on having a couple myself.

What are your rooms dims? Especially the wall ht where the posters are at?

BTW - I am considering that color scheme for the walls and ceiling also. How do you like it?

One more thing - I have been asking in this forum about the 2nd row seats being a smaller quantity than the 1st row. Any thoughts... And where do you plant yourself when watching a movie?

Thanks, very nice room and I like your "lobby area" as well.

Hi,
We also ran into the problem of the knee-walls being so short (our knee walls are only 24" high). Though we don't have any finished pictures yet, we used a whole bunch of these (the legs in the picture are removable)

8x10 edge-lit backlit picture frames and placed a line of them along the knee wall. We then placed hollywood actor/actresses pictures in them (or we also have a set of mini-movie posters we made as well by using .JPGs of movie poster images).
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post #29 of 38
4/4/08 at 9:28pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by FACP View Post

Thank you! I'll upload some more pics once I get a chance to take pictures from different angles (too busy watching movies...). The curtains can cover the whole screen wall but right now I just have it open/close to the sides and mask my 2.35:1 screen down to 1.85:1.


Hi FACP,
Are your curtains motorized & if so by what & any photos of your set up ? Is the your leading edge of the curtain the verticle masking edge ?

Great thread everyone, love to see the great HTs !

John
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post #30 of 38
3/9/09 at 8:05pm
Here is my before:


As it sits today:
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