A/B Theater Pre-Build Thread

Well, the miracle has happened.
Even in this economy I somehow received an acceptable offer on my house, which means I need to get serious about the next house, which of course must include a theater - eventually.

I have been reading this forum for about a year now - tons of great info and a lot of ideas I plan to steal.

This house will be built in North Carolina (in case that matters for the advice I will be asking in this thread). I hope to start working on the theater within one year of the house construction completing. This is a "semi-custom" house - meaning there are 8 different house plans with 4 elevations each. Once we choose our house and elevation - they seem fairly open to modifications. We talked to a family that built in their and they let them push one outside wall out about 3 feet. So - as long as you are willing to pay, and it won't modify the structure to a large degree, it seems we have some freedom. These guys are a regional builder, not national, and we have been impressed with their workmanship and quality materials.

In my theater I would like 3 rows of seating. One row of theater chairs, a second row of theater chairs(maybe a sofa instead) on a riser and a final row of stools with a bar behind that second row. I don't know if I will have enough room - however.


Questions:
1) Any preparation work I should have done to the foundation? Not sure what that would be - some sort of wrap on it to keep moisture out?
2) People seem to mention waiting a year before they start on the theater is there a reason for that (besides financial) ? This builder offers a finished basement option so I wouldn't think there is a structural reason (settling?) - but I noticed that in a bunch of threads people mentioned waiting a 1 year period.
3) Looking at the floorplan, do people think I could fit in those three rows of seating? I haven't selected a final orientation for the room. What do people think the best orientation would be?
4) The builder told me he could stager stud that one wall - Since that is a structural wall would I want to do that? Or would I want to build my own interior wall anyway so that it isn't coupled to the ceiling/holding up the house?
5) Should I ask for them to put a space or a crack on the foundation pour for that room?
6) HVAC - I am not sure what to even ask for the builder on this. There are two zones for the first and second level - but I don't know what to ask for to insure that I have what I need for the basement for the future.
7) Any comments on the floorplan in general would be great - I might try to retain an architect to help me make sure I pre-plumb all the right areas.
8) What questions have I forgotten to ask? :-)



The walls shown on the diagram are structural - I am not sure if they can be moved. I would really like there to not be a wall between the Bar/TV room and the unlabled room - it is a bit off topic but are there suggestions I could give to the builder on how to accomplish that? I could walk in and ask him how to do this, but wouldn't mind having a few suggestions and/or knowing the different options upfront.

Hopefully, this thread will be able to help others getting ready to build with an eye towards a home theater.

Here is the full floorplan:



Here is a cropped floorplan making the interior numbers easier to read:

Thanks for the reply. I agree the middle room offers some more possibilities and that is something to think about. I feel like, I could really maximize my space if I can use it or join it to the bar/tv room - put in a pool table, etc.

I also like how the other room is in the corner to help with sound isolation and is in general already pretty dark. I might ask if I can push that wall out two more feet - above it will be a screened in deck. I also have some concerns about that space in the back where the wall juts in (I don't know why it does that) - I was hoping to put the stools back there.

Thanks for the advice I will see if I can get another 2 feet.

Went over to the model they have (of my same floorplan) and measured that room. It ended up being 20.5 by 14.5. That is at the longest part not counting the part that juts out a bit.

Well - I am not sure how much they will be willing to push walls around. It is semi-custom not full custom.. But it does sound like I will need a few extra feet - at least in length.

I am not sure what it does to the structure above when that wall gets moved out - also not sure what it does to the cost too.

Thanks for the tips on wiring!

Thanks for the tip on joining the rooms. Those walls are load bearing so we will see what happens with moving them in any direction.

My preference is to not take that room or at least not all of it, as I would rather join it to the other room for non theater purposes.
I am guessing, however that compromises will have to be made.

Do you think 14.5 won't be wide enough? I am looking for 3 across seating (I think at least)

In an effort to get answers to questions 1,2,4,5,6 in my first post. I figured I would trade some pictures, since everybody loves pictures.

These are pictures of the model home.

This is looking from the back of theater near the alcove created by the stairs:


This is looking from the front back directly into the alcove. I would have to make sure the circuit breakers, etc are run to the mechanical room and NOT over here.


Here is looking to the window on where I have "Gym" labeled on the structural drawing:


One last picture looking from the window to the back of the room in the "Gym" area:


I need to talk to the builder because this "gym" room is much longer than on the diagram and basically extends to the end of the adjacent room.

Sure, what type of wrap should I ask for on the outside of the house? I am guessing they will do code, anything else is up to me requesting it. Is rigid foam better than spray foam? Would I drylock it first?



Makes sense - good points.



Good point - might as well not ask for the staggered studded wall then. As I want to limit sound transfer.



My understanding is that there is almost like a rubber expansion strip that you can put down when laying concrete that would separate the pour. Wondered if that would be worthwhile to decouple the concrete floor from the other room.


Sounds like I need to talk to the HVAC sub.


Yeah - I am worried about if there is code keeping the furnace away from the main breaker panel. I will have to check into that.

Thanks for the advice!

Good point. I will ask the builder if that middle wall is needed. I am hoping not. I may try and bring an engineer in and see what I can do up front to avoid removing a wall later.

Quick Update -
We consulted with an architect and recently got back some plans for the basement from her. Here is the first stab - we may iterate and change some things in the bar area.

We were unable to push out the wall to get any extra length in the theater. The kitchen is directly above that space and the builder told me that it would be prohibitively expensive to make that change - extra kitchen cabinetry, etc.

So - I will probably only be able to get 2 rows of seating. Any feedback on the plans is more than appreciated!

Note: Sorry for the big "DRAFT" across the plans - but I imagine that will be there until the final and the architect gets paid her balance due. I think we are leaning towards the bar configuration that is on the top of the diagram, not the one drawn in.

Time to call on the wisdom of the crowds here. I plan to go to contract next week. I went back to the model and did some measurements. Because of the bump out for the garage door - it seems the usable space in that room is only 18'2" I stood where I though the first row would be for a large screen (I am not sure where I am going with but I would like to go with a 110" or 135" 2.35 screen. I figure that would give me a usable size for 16:9 content as well when I was viewing that.

When I stood where I thought the first row would be.. it was too close. I think I really need to get those 2'4" back from the bump out back - that should be perfect. So I have two questions.

A) I searched the forum but couldn't find a THX calculator to figure out for that screen size how far back the first row should be - or conversely with that size room - how large the screen can be.

B) Any building experts have an idea how to remove that bump out? I would rather go to the builder with ideas rather than asking him to just "figure it out". I would rather not move the stairs to the left as that will then take the stairs out of the mudroom - which would not make a lot of sense. Can that bump out be moved back? Is there a reason the concrete has to go to a certain level in the garage - could it just be flush to the floor for that segment? Any other ideas are welcome.

1) Thanks for the tip on 1. I will go dig around.

2) Well that is where the stairs from the garage into the mudroom are.. The stairs end right where that jog ends. To be honest, I am not sure how they would do it without that jog. I would think you need concrete up to wall of the mudroom - or is there a way that I can't think of where it could stop with the rest of the garage - but be level with the floor and then something else could cover under the stairs and up to the mudroom wall?

Met with the builder. News was not good. There is no way to prevent that bump-in. Could make the garage longer and push stairs out into the garage - but the price would be "a lot".

Ok -
I did a quick sketch up and am getting really concerned about the length in the room here.

Does anyone have a setup like this? 135 inch 2.35:1 - is it viewable from 10.4 feet out or is it just too much screen for the space?


Any thoughts appreciated.

Well at least I am not the only one. Anyone with experience in sitting 10' back from a 135 - I would appreciate some input.

Also - I have allowed 16inch for behind the screen - plan was to go AT on the screen. However, thinking I could now but the subwoofer in the back of the theater - I have that 2'4" alcove back there that will basically be "dead" space. I could put the sub, projector, and rack back there - although, not sure if I could fit the rack in 2'4" probably not.

To sum up the questions here.

1) Anyone experienced 10' from 135 2.35:1? How was it? McCall feel free to chime in here :-)

2) If you are doing A/T without a sub up front, what is the minimum size you can make that wall? If I could get another 8 inches, I would feel better.

1) Not sure I like to be immersed. I may have to go smaller. What size is your screen and what are your seating distances?

2) In-Wall seem to have a depth of 4" to 5" (Feels like it should be 4 max considering how thick a standard wall is, but the klipsh claim to be 4.5) - plus another 6" puts me at less than a foot. That could get my viewing distance to 11'. I would feel a bit more comfortable there. I know people say that you can place the sub almost anywhere - but I do wonder if things would feel unnatrual with the sub behind me.

Have the final picture for the basement layout. Some minor door changes for the workshop.



I am also going to flip the home theater around so that 2.5 ft indent is behind the screen wall. Not sure why I didn't do that to begin with. I can fit a sub behind there and two of the three speakers.. I will still need to go with in-wall for the speakers but I should only lose 4 inches total in the room space doing that. Getting me up to 11' for the first row.. Which should be more comfortable.

Went to contract on Tuesday (2/24/2009). They expect to deliver and close the home by October 29th. Which means on October 30th, I can transform this from a pre-build to a build a thread. It also probably means I will be ahead of Logan by December 15th.

I went by yesterday and they already started regrade the lot!


Here is a picture of the lot, the theater part will start on the far right side.