Spaceman Theater build - Page 3

I thought so too, but saw plenty on the Stargate website. Probably worth a phone call to confirm availability if interested.

More framing photos. I know...they aren't sexy, but it's all I've got.

From screen wall towards back wall


Perimeter soffit


From back wall towards screen


Perimeter soffit


Opening for rack and HVAC return




Opening for new entry door


New entry door (left) and entry to media closet (right) (view from game room)


New entry to media closet (finished framing around flex ducts)


From media closet to game room


Next order of business is finishing the bottom supports on the left soffit and then tackling the curved soffit above the screen. I think I may order the ELCO recessed lights as well so they will be here when I'm ready to start electrical.

I'd like to begin framing up my HVAC registers in the bottom of my soffit. Before doing so, does anyone see any major problems with the proposed locations.

I'll have a total of 4 supply registers, 2 in the bottom of the right soffit and 2 in the bottom of the left soffit. My return is located down low at about the midpoint on the left wall (top wall in pic). I'm not thrilled about the return location as the register will be right in the middle of a fabric panel. Would putting it in the rear soffit be a bad idea? It would help pull hot air away from the pj but would also pull all of the dust particles in the rest of the room towards the pj. Thoughts?

Worked on the curved soffit in the front of the room today. Lots of 2x2s, some 1/2" plywood, a few screws and my laser level.

Framing before plywood




Start of plywood













Right about now, I'm wishing I just bought the big bucket of screws at HD instead of making numerous trips for 1lb & 5lb boxes. I've used almost 17lbs in the walls & ceiling. I still have my stage & riser to do, so I'll probably grab a 25lb bucket.

I ordered my recessed lights last night from USALight. Almost 1/2 what I would have paid at Lowe's.
http://www.usalight.com/4-Universal-...rx-104icat.htm
http://www.usalight.com/4-Adjustable...-p/tb403bk.htm
http://www.usalight.com/4-Stepped-Ba.../tb401p-bk.htm

I should be ready to start electrical by the time they get here.

Thanks Stockmonkey. I really don't have any construction experience so I'm just trying to take my time, and plan, plan, plan. Everything gets done on the computer first and I still end up doing some things twice. Fortunately, with limited skills, it doesn't take much to feel a sense of accomplishment. When things actually come out level, I get a little giddy. Frankly, I'll just be happy if I finish this project and the ceiling doesn't fall down and I walk away with all 10 of my fingers.

My coffered ceiling has 6 recessed areas. I'll be placing an outlet in the corner of each recess for rope lighting and daisy-chaining all of the outlets to a dimmer.

The original plan was to use (6) single receptacles for each section of rope light


...but for a few bucks more, I could install (6) duplex receptacles


I'm not sure what else I would need to plug in up in the ceiling, but having the flexibilty might be nice. Are there codes or common practices that make one choice better than the other?

Thanks Jeff. It scares me every time I go in the attic, seeing some of the framing my builder did. Of course, it probably took them 1 week to frame the entire 2nd floor where it takes me 1 week to frame a soffit. My OCD tendencies would prevent me from ever becoming a contractor, at least one who would make any money.

Horizontal is the plan. I still haven't detailed my light tray, but I should definitely be able to hide them in the horizontal position.

I need to make the necessary framing/electrical provisions for the projector. Am I correct that if I plan to zoom between 16:9 and 2.35:1 on a 16:9 screen, the lens needs to be lined up exactly with the top of the screen, i.e. no vertical lens shift allowed? If so, the projector will sit fairly low relative to the top of the riser. As you can see below, I think the only place I can put the projector is below the rear soffit. Any further forward and people would be banging their heads on it as they get in and out of the rear seats.



I can't really move the screen any higher. My viewing angle is already at 18 degrees, slightly more than the maximum recommended angle of 15 degrees. Does anyone see a problem with where I show the pj? One concern I have is the heat and fan noise generated so close to the heads of back row viewers. I haven't researched them yet, but I'll be looking at ones in the $3-4K range. I'm assuming most can handle a 16' throw on a 100" screen.

I'm not sure the next step up in my ceiling (9' height) is wide enough for the projector anyway, even if I could mount it higher than the top of the screen. I'd still have to let it hang down below the lower soffit, just maybe not as much as currently shown. Perhaps where I have it is my only placement option.

Below is a picture of the rear soffit. Bottom is at 7'-10" (relative to main floor, not riser). It steps up to 9' and then the recessed areas each step up to 10'. I could make some adjustments back there if I need to if the proposed projector placement looks problematic. Any thoughts?

UPS & FedEX should be busy over the next day or two delivering various electrical orders. I have can lights coming today, followed by receptacles, face plates and other various goodies.

Before starting electrical, I had the electricians come out this morning and run (2) 20A circuits to the theater. One will be for the equipment rack. The other will be for both lights and outlets. The original plan was to add (1) 20A circuit for the equip and (1) 15A for the new lights. I was going to keep the outlets on their existing 15A circuit, which is shared with the adjacent game room. The electrician recommended separating the game room outlets from the theater outlets and simply put all theater lights and outlets on a 20A circuit and let the existing 15A circuit serve the game room only. While it would have been nice to have the lights stay on if the outlets trip, I'm ok with this configuration. Considering the original layout had both theater and game room lights and plugs on just 1 circuit, it's still an improvement.

Before setting an outlet for the projector, I'd like to know if my proposed pj location looks ok to everyone (see post above).

AutoCAD did it for me. Someone that did better in trigonometry is going to have to weigh in.

You should be confused. It's YOUR ceiling in MY room.

What is the preferred way to secure romex? Hard staples and a hammer or one of these?
http://www.amazon.com/Arrow-Wire-Cab...ef=pd_sim_hi_3
It sounds like many of the staplers aren't able to fully seat a staple so you have to go back and pound them in anyway. I didn't get a chance to see how the electricians did it today, but it sounded like they were using a hammer. I'll have quite a bit to do over the next few days and am interested in the easiest way.

I've been trying to come up with a simple way to control my lighting. The current plan is for 5 zones:
-3 can lights over screen on dimmer
-2 can lights in rear soffit on dimmer
-6 can lights in right & left soffits on dimmer (3 in each soffit)
-rope lights in ceiling on dimmer
-step lights on switch (should these be on a dimmer?)

I've been looking at the Insteon dimmers that can be controlled by the IRLinc IR to Insteon converter module.
http://www.insteon.net/2476d-switchl...mer-white.html
http://www.insteon.net/2411R-IRLinc.html

I don't have a lot of room by my entry door for 4 or 5 dimmers needed to control the zones mentioned above. I was thinking of placing just one of these by the door
http://www.insteon.net/2486dwh6-keypadlinc.html and have the actual dimmers further down the wall or even in the equipment closet. I could then use the keypad as a main switch when coming into the room and then once in my seat, control everything by the remote (either with Insteon's supplied remote but preferably with a Harmony).

I have absolutley zero experience when it comes to home automation so I don't know if this is the best or most cost effective solution for what I'm trying to do. My goal is to control dimming for individual zones with a remote, or have them automated when I press play on the Blu-Ray player. An uncluttered entry with just one wall plate is preferred, but I could probably make room for (3) 2-gang boxes at the entry if I had to. And like everything else in my build, an economical but reliable solution is the goal. If I could have an automated lighting system for around $4-500, I'd be happy.

Am I on the right track? Are there other systems I should look at?

Thanks aaustin. Staples and hammer it is. Hope to get the can light housings up today (got sidetracked browsing EBay for Grafikeyes and have already lost an hour). Maybe I'll be running wire this weekend.

Regarding my lighting control options, would the Lutron Spacer system be comparible to the Insteon system? Too many choices!! And in case you couldn't tell by now, I'm not the best at making a final decision. Analysis paralysis gets the best of me sometimes, ok, most times. Just ask my wife how long it took us to pick out a refrigerator (repeat trips to multiple stores). Or better yet, how long I spent in the tool aisle at HD trying to select the best magnetic bit holder/drive guide. The sales associate finally felt bad for her and asked if he should come help me.

Good thing you guys stepped up and helped me on my romex staple issue or I would have a spreadsheet going comparing features of different staplers.

You will find that I'm definitely in the minority in not doing the DD/GG with decoupling. It's not that I'm not a believer in the benefits. I had considered it, but quickly realized that one small mistake along the way pretty much ruins all of the effort/money spent trying to accomplish sonic nirvana. Based on my skill set, I'm pretty sure I would have made at least 1, if not 10 mistakes along the way. Believe me, I'm as anal as the rest of the folks on here (take that as a compliment guys and gals), but the learning curve and potential for failure was not worth it to me, based on all of the other things I need to master in order to pull off this build.

We also do the majority of our movie watching as a family, so there really isn't any late night reference level movie watching going on after the kids go to bed. I guess lowering the noise floor in the room by reducing outside noises would be nice, but we live in a very quiet neighborhood on a large lot. I really didn't see the need to go through all of that trouble. My theater is also on the 2nd floor, so I would have had to address the floor as well as the ceiling.

If you have the time/money and energy to do it right, by all means go for it. I'm sure you will be very happy. I think it all depends on your particular situation.

Thanks for the words of encouragement, Stockmonkey. Cost also played a part (being unemployed at the moment), but mostly the decision was based on our viewing habits (don't really watch movies late at night) and the noise level in our neighborhood (or lack of). My closest neighbor is several hundred feet away. If we still lived in California where the wall of the neighbor's house was literally 10' from our house, I would certainly reconsider my approach.