Custom Home Cinema

Check out my nearly completed theater:

http://finehomebuilding.taunton.com/...om-home-cinema

I have many construction photos if anyone is interested.

Thanks Tom.

It is embossed wall paper painted Kodak netural grey.

Thanks.

Sorry, I got them from Dennis Erskine some time ago. I do not remember the manufacturer but I think Dennis would know.

The original design was done in 1999. I acquired theater components over the years. Between my full time business (auto dealer) and part time business(home theater), I never got around to building my theater.

I sold my dealership and retired from the auto business. I was anxious to start my theater but had to wait until my carpenter was available.

We started building May 5th, 2008 and finished the build out the end of October. I am still calibrating and tweaking but it sounds great.

The room before:



Me starting demolition.



Dave tearing out soffit:



Tear out to the bare walls:



Found moisture and had to damp proof:



Glued 3/4" urethane panels on the block walls:



P.S. Let me know how much detail you want. I have a lot of pictures.

The theater location provided acoustical and soundproofing challenges. It is located below the kitchen and utility room. Eighteen years ago when I remodeled our house I should have installed an acoustical break below the tile. Unfortunately, we did not know better at the time. Every footstep, sliding chair or washer/dryer load resonates through the floor joists.

The original design was to have three openings into the theater. We modified the design to allow only one doorway.

Another challenge was getting Dave the carpenter and my partner in this project up to speed on building an acoustical space. Dave builds “Cathedrals” (buildings that last forever) and has never built acoustical spaces. Our running joke throughout the build was, “no matter what size the piece, he would put five screws in it”.

Dick, the water softener man, relocates the ice maker line and Larry, the heat & A/C man, moves some water lines.:



Water lines moved and new acoustically lined duct work installed.:



Lined duct into the theater space and framing started.:



2'"X 6" staggered stud wall to form hallway.:



I insulated the water pipes throughout the theater area. Overkill, I know, but you will see a lot of that .:



Wall ready for drywall and insulation.:



Roxul mineral fiber insulation started.:



Neat and easy to work with. Notice I sprayed the rim joist with foam to seal and insulate them. More overkill.:



Cut it with a bread knife.:



More later.

Thanks Dennis.


Tom, here is the link to Fomo Foam:

http://www.fomofoam.com/

It is what I used. Sprayed it on about an 1-1/2" thick. I think Tiger might be made by the same company. They are both expensive.

Packed the ceiling joists full of insulation.:



And my favorite...NOT...start the drywall.:



Two layers of 5/8" drywall with Green Glue on the outside of the theater wall:



Around doorway.:



Dennis suggested I give away the Mass Loaded Vinyl I had left from another job but I did not listen. Big mistake. What a PITA.



It is not worth the effort.:



This is the clever cold air return lined with duct liner.:



The vent duct for the projector hush box.:

Have two heat & A/C ducts plus power vented hush box that draws air from theater.

PVC pipe installed for projector wiring.:



Clips and hat channel installation:



Closer view.:



Around the door detail.:



Because of low ceiling height, we had to run the hat channel parallel to the joists. Here we sistered wood blocks to hold the clips.:



Here is the hat channel installed 3/4" below the bottom of the joists.:



Another view.:

Right here in the build, I made several mistakes. First, I used mass loaded vinyl. Second, to avoid poking many holes in the vinyl for the clips, we installed it over the hat channel. This had several consequences. I think it reduced the effectiveness of the ceiling clips by providing a flanking path and caused our only accident. Dave rigged a pipe on the ceiling to hold the vinyl as we pulled it along to attach it. The vinyl weighs 1 pound per sf and is very hard to hold. I yanked on the end and Dave was under the vinyl, feeding it along the ceiling, when the pipe fell hitting him across the bridge of his nose.



The pipe rigging.:



Another shot to show detail.:



Starting ceiling drywall.:



The drywall on all surfaces has a 1/4" gap at all intersections for acoustical caulk.:



We caulked the first layer and installed the second layer with Green Glue and screws. Again, Dave wanted to use too many screws.:



We rented a dry wall lift for $80. The GG was not as bad as I expected. It is very sticky if you are not careful.:



Some times, when you are careful, it is still messy. This was a mess!! I don't know what happened. It just started to leak.:



As you can see, we used a lot of it.:

Thanks, You will see later it mates with the riser and continues to the face of it. In total, the return is about 25' long. All of it acoustically treated.

Greg,

Two reasons really. I wanted the extra density and I am very sensitive to fiberglass (read allergic ).

This is a closeup of the wall system detail.:



One more.:



Taped and mudded.:



The walls and ceiling are completed and primed. Here we are installing "Acoustik" (Brand) 3/8" recycled rubber matting over the whole theater floor.:



Covering the "Acoustik mat" with rosin paper to protect (keep it clean) it. Notice the 1/4" plywood shims around the perimeter to keep the mat from touching the drywall. We will calk that next.:



We assembled a row of seats just to make sure our riser dimensions and row spacing was accurate. Measure twice, cut once .:



We start the riser build. Notice it is on top of the Acoustik Mat and it floats 1/4" from walls.:



24" on each side of the riser is a bass trap.:

If this gets too long and boring please stop me.

This is the cold air return detail through the riser.:



Dave made a collar to tie the return together.:



Step detail with light prep.:



Installing insulation in the trap.:



Lining the cold air return with Lineacoustic.:



Lineacoustic attached to the sub floor before it was turned over to install.:



All done! Now ain't that pretty?:



The back row fits. The riser floor is two layers of 3/4" plywood with GG between. Glued with construction cement and screwed to the joists.:



Step detail. Notice the Bass Trap opening in the rear corner.:



Next photos will be the stage.

Jason, they are Lovan. My wife said she does not like them because they make her go to sleep .

I chose them for comfort and the backs are not so high as to interfere with the surround envelopment.