Alright, you've fooled around long enough...go build something! - Page 4

oman,

Thanks for the information and tips. Very helpful.


D-Train,

I built the sound boxes exactly as you described them. In addition, I used liquid nails to glue the edges of the box to the 1st layer. Then, I added a couple of screws through the 1st layer into the wooden part of the box.

After tetering on the edge to doing it myself as well as interviewing and researching 6 different finishers to mud, tape and texture, I settled on hiring this step out. Since the beginning of my HT planning and research I intented to hire out this stage - see post #2. Oman got me fired up and seriously considering doing it myself. But we found a great guy with solid references, BB certification and a great quote. He's getting started...

HT front


HT back

Over the next week, I plan to prime, paint, install the sconces and dricore and tinker with these...



You guys have mentioned tips and tricks for installing the GE. Any suggestions here?

I agree. I went back and forth over doing it myself and decided that the pros were the way to go. My wife and I are getting excited about painting this weekend.

Thanks for the tips Guam. Hopefully, I can give the install a shot later this week.

The drywall finishing is complete. I'm glad we decided to hire out this step. It took 4 days...

Paint time. My wife and I were excited to get started.
Walls are Faded Clay.
Ceiling and soffit bottom are Rootbeer.

Primer going on...




Ceiling and soffit trim




Walls and soffit face




Another coat of each should do it.

I noticed that my linacoustic got splattered with the drywall texture. Doesn't seem like a big deal. Is this something to be worried about? I have a little linacoustic left that I can replace it with but I need to find it.

$600.

The bids were fairly scattered. In chronological order, the quotes we received were: $1417, 700, 850, 775, 750, and 929. When we decided to hire the finishing out, I thought it would be about a $500 job based on larger projects in the past. After getting a few quotes I realized that the smaller the project was the higher the price per square foot would likely be. We started to think that getting the job done right for $700 would be our likely best deal - our space is 22' x 12'. We chose the $700 quote not just because it was the lowest, but all of his references checked out.

When we called to accept his bid, he told us if we put down the resin paper ourselves, he'd take off $100. Off to Lowe's for a $12 roll of resin paper and we were good to go. He'd told us earlier that he'd been drywalling for 41 years, so we figured his knees probably didn't like the concrete as much as they used to. We are really pleased with is work.

Good luck.

Yeah, I'd guess total materials and tools alone if I'd gone DIY would be at least a couple hundred bucks. I was very happy to write the check for his services.

Thanks oman. With a few of the bids we received, I was definately leaning DIY - especially since I'd already put up the drywall and the corner bead. But this guy put us at ease during our discussions with him. We were grudgingly comfortable that $700 was the right number. The $100 off was icing.

Thanks Tom. The walls are eggshell and the ceiling is flat. Its not shiny in person but I was worried about the eggshell having a little glow to it. We did not want to deal with flat paint on the walls. Also, I'm going to add acoustic panels at the first reflection points that will break up the wall near the screen a bit. The walls were still a bit wet in those pics. I took a couple more after the second coat dried last night. With the flash those don't look shiny. I'll post them tonight.

I'll be installing my Dricore tonight. One of my early lessoned learned came from your "experience" with Dricore. Not sure why, but I'd planned to put the floor down before the drywall. I was unsure so I asked about it here and got referred to your thread. Lesson learned - drywall first, dricore second. Glad to see that with the help of a few friends, you are back on track.

Got another coat of paint up tonight instead of starting the Dricore. That's 3 total coats - might be enough. Tried to get a few pics to show the shine or lack there of with the eggshell finish on the walls. I'm not the best with the camera so...

HT front viewed from riser area


HT rightside


HT rear viewed from screen wall


HT leftside


Hello Beasty!!

Sconces are up and subfloor is going down.

After living with the paint for a few days, I must say it hasn't grown on me like I'd hoped it would. My wife really likes the colors but I'm convinced we should go darker. When see shes the sconces up, I'm sure she'll agree. Its only paint, but it will be a slight pain to do it again.

Yeah, she saw the sconces and agreed. We picked up some darker paint today. I'd planned to fiddle with the GE QS tomorrow, but we'll paint instead.

I got the Dricore installed today as well. Now its on to the riser and stage and then carpet. Well, first a bit of backtracking for the re-painting then on to those steps. Here are a few pics of the Dricore install.

I'm about halfway finished here


Notice the drywall dust on the edges of the panels. Despite several cleanings, remnants of drywalling remain


Not your everyday worklights, but they get the job done


Measure twice, cut once or you'll get these. Two wasted panels.


Dricore installation complete

Thanks Queen,

That side of the wall was my last row. It measured 20" so I just cut 3.5" off the panels for a nice snug fit. The smallest piece in the corner at the top was the last piece to go in.

We started our repaint earlier today. We decided to paint the ceiling and all of the soffit the same color. The new color is a darker brown called Labrador. Haven't decided what to do with the walls yet, but we really like the ceiling now.

After dinner I settled in with the GE. Despite planning all of my steps in advance, I was still a bit nervous about the install. Kept hearing the Mission Impossible theme song as I began stripping wire. Turns out that it wasn't that bad. I took my time and plodded along step by step for 3 hours.

Here's the first pigtail


All of the grounds pigtailed and test fitted, so far so good


All of the neutrals pigtailed and test fitted, still looking good


Ground, neutral, hot, and loads all installed


And...it works - THANK GOD!