The 'I can't believe you want the largest room in the house' HT build.1 - Page 5

Hello all,
For those who have followed my thread to date, it has described 'the best laid plans'. My HT build had been planned for years and I have amassed a reasonable collection of equipment, soundproofing materials, FabricMate track, Seymour AV screen material, scope lens and interconnects etc. In fact, the only thing missing was the room to put it all in. Well, as the proverb goes, the best plans came awry and now I think that the original title of the thread is hardly relevant. Footloose and Fancy free, I can use the biggest room in the house and do what I damn well want with it!

Of course this has meant some sacrifices and an awful lot of compromises, and as l previously mentioned, the plans for the new build are a distant memory and I have moved into a property (built in 1962) which I bought and has been a rental / investment property for the past 5 years. The home sits on a good sized block 1200 metres squared (60m deep x 20 m frontage.... or 197 feet deep x 66 feet wide for our metrically challenged friends in the States). In fact, I bought the house with my then wife with the intention of knocking down the home and rebuilding on the plot. It's a great spot and I live right on the door step of beautiful bushland and national parks. Anyway, here's home. Front yard and rear yard (as it was when I moved in).





Yep, that's an asbestos breather mask on the handrail.. Found a stack of it when demo'ing the kitchen.

And from the front of the house to the street..



The reason I mention this fact is that I am finding that there are a lot of things that I have had to spend money on. In fact, pretty much all of the money that I had allocated for my HT build has been swallowed up with a new kitchen, rewiring the house, installing a photovoltaic solar system on the roof on the roof, fencing, new guttering, plumbers, clearing the block of debris (have spent the best part of $1000 just tipping rubbish!), buying furniture again (IKEA is my favourite place!) and just getting myself re-established.

I need to replace a deck, paint the house, replace rear guttering, the list goes on. To be honest, it's all a bit daunting but that's OK. Just one job at a time and I will get there. In the overall scheme of things, the HT needs to be on the backburner and I will do a little as money and time permits. With a full time job with irregular hours and a three year old son on weekends and when ever I can see him during the week, there are not many hours left in the day. THE HT is important to me. VERY important to me and I am committed to getting it done. Even if it is slowly.

I don't think that this will be the slowest build thread on here, but then I am not going to set any new records either. I just intend to do a job every week or two. I already have a 58 inch plasma and my seating in the room and it is my main TV area. As you will see from the below photo, I have tentatively just installed some of my components - enough to watch a blu-ray, watch TV or listen to some music.

The first job was to install a rear stud wall. The home originally had a large 'Great Room' when you entered. It's about 8 metres (25 feet deep) and 4.6 metres (15 feet) wide. I had a charming combustion fireplace complete with genuine 1960's mosaic tile top and sandstone clad surrounds. Sorry, but a picture tells a thousand words....



Here is a better shot of the room...



First step was to remove the old fireplace. Not really a fireplace kinda guy and it was never going to set any new decor trends. In fact, it was a bloody monstrosity. An hour with a sledgehammer, a trip to the roof to remove the flu and replace the tiles and job done. I do have some concrete left on the floor where the timber floors have been cut out and replaced for the fireplace base but this will be covered by the rear riser so hopefully this will be out of sight.

Next job...buy a door. Found a great solid Maple door (weighs a ton) and a Raven acoustic door seal on Ebay from a builder who had leftovers from a job. Today the stud wall went up and I now have an enclosed HT space. Here are some pics of the progress. Sorry for the shabby photos...













So, here I am. Happy that I have got my room at last and ready for some upcoming work. First job is to sand back and paint the new drywall. Friday's the day for that. Need to paint the outside of the door and leave the inside for a yet to be determined colour / fabric covering.

Hopefully I can keep the ball rolling...

Feel free to ask any questions or make any comments.

Greg.

Hey Peter, don't you be running down my fireplace....I am sure that it was the pinnacle of design excellence in 1962. If you are interested I still have some of the sandstone cladding if you want to reuse for your place! I have the same stuff on my bathroom entrance as well. What were they thinking???
As for having the Danleys up and running soon, I need to purchase my EP4000 amp for that. May have to wait until tax time to pick that one up. I found a used Behringer DCX 2496 equaliser recently so I should be able to dial them in when I do get them set up. Need to replace walls and ceilings before then with double drywall. Will look into the BGC product. I think I am up for just over 1000 to 1500 dollars in materials for that alone plus labour. Did you know of a good place to purchase from? I called BGC and they recommended Bunnings but they did not stock it. I also need to find a supplier for the Whisper Clip hat channel. Any ideas???
Thanks Tony for the comments. I will be taking my time on this build, not just out of financial necessity but also time constraints. I turned up a music bluray yesterday and sound leaked out of those big windows like a sieve. It was only about half way up on my Emotiva UPA2 without any subs. They will need to be framed in and sealed. Will totally control the light in the room as well which is a nice benefit. Friday is painting day outside the room and getting my building materials out of house. Getting awful tired of living in a construction zone.

G'day Peter, good to hear from you again. Really looking forward to following your build when you kick off. Any other developments?
I am going to measure up in the next couple of weeks and start removing existing drywall and frame up the room properly. I am a little hesitant to tear down existing gyprock as it is a fibro home with little to no insulation. It will be freezing this winter! Might just give me the impetus to get the room sealed up tight.

Hi there Jamie, thanks for the message. I have, with Peter's help, tracked down Studco and found the correct channel for what I need. It's identical to the USA channel except about 3mm higher. I need 10 x 6.1 metre channel lengths and 10 x 4.8 metre lengths. Apart from the entry door there will be no joins which works out perfectly. Total including GST and freight was about $350.00. Anyway, as much as I would like to spend money on a new server rack and ears for my equipment I need to buy the hat channel to get moving. The money tree is shedding its leaves far too quickly but I really need to get that hat channel in. I have GG in 5 gallon buckets that I have had in storage for about 12 months. From what I have heard I may not have a lot longer with it before it is not usable. Something I would rather avoid given the price of it in Australia to replace!

The fireplace was a lot easier than yours. That sandstone cladding came apart with a sledge fairly easily. I don't envy your work with the kanga hammer.

Where did you get your Fidelio fabric?

Thanks for the tip on the velvet Jamie. I already have my screen material so may need to find a local supplier for the velvet. Not at that stage yet. Counting the days until my tax return and also waiting for some funds from the split. First job will be removing existing drywall, framing up side wall, front stage and screen wall. I have some insulation for the walls. I can then also install my whisper clips, run cables / conduit and prepare for drywall. That should keep me busy!

Was scouring Ebay and happened upon a used server rack. Think that its about 22 or 24RU or thereabouts. I need to find something to mount the EP-4000, DCX-2496 and the majority of my equipment on, including the Emotiva XPA-5 and UPA-2 amps, CD player, Sony BD-CX960 BD Changer and other componentry. My current racks are not up to it in terms of depth or load bearing. Anyways, long story short, found one for $25.00 with no bids. Picked it up today and it's in pretty fair condition. Not having experience with racks before (not this kind anyway!) I installed the DCX-2496 Equalizer today. Anyways, for $25.00 I thought it was a good buy...





The location is in an alcove between my Bedroom door and the bathroom. Wasted nook so I thought as good a place as any to keep noisy and hot equipment. Plan is to frame up around the rack, install some molding around the front, install a fan at the top to remove heat from the equipment and then give it a paint to match the existing wall color. As sad as it is, that beautiful sandstone cladding, of which I have become so fond, is getting covered up. No great loss there. There are two light switches on the wall. The one on the left flips the breakers when it's turned on and the one on the right activates the gorgeous 1960's coach light....also sadly going!



There is no power at this location but I was going to have the electrician fit two separate 20 Amp circuits for me. Hope that will be sufficient to run all of the kit.

Had no idea how expensive rack ears are. Checked out the ones from Emotiva. I need them for my XPA-5, UPA-2, ERC-1, UMC-1 and USP-1 preamp. Going to cost about $230.00 plus freight, which is $100 to Australia. I guess they don't sell too many and tooling costs need to be recovered. Anyway, will be getting some on order pretty soon.

I still have some more work to do before getting stuck into the room. At the moment, the proposed HT is my current TV viewing room. I have a living room at the rear of my house, but the wall on which I propose to mount the plasma screen currently is covered with a door (to be removed) and a slow combustion fireplace (I had two when I moved in here - One remaining).



First job will be to remove the fireplace, repair the roofing and ceiling from the flu kit and then cover the door, drywall inside and weatherboard outside. Oh, and the timber deck at the back of the house is rotten and needs replacement. Ordered the decking materials but I can't replace the door until the deck is replaced. Need to get this done within the next few weeks as my hired help (Dad) is going away on his annual Beat the Winter Blues Grey Nomad Winnebago Odyssey for three months.

This is a bona fide house of horrors! One step at a time!

I am looking to start some more framing for the Home Theater room in the next couple of weeks but just wanted to seek some clarification from the experts here about a wall issue. I have attached pictures of the LH wall of the existing lounge room, which will become the dedicated HT.



The rear wall has already been framed up on 24 inch centers and you will see this in the photos. The LH wall consists of a large double window (which leaks sound like you wouldn't believe to the neighbors!) and instead of drywall it has timber paneling on it. There is also the remainder of the stone fireplace. I have removed the stove and flu kit from the fireplace but underneath that cladding is a brick wall which extends to the front of the house. In order to avoid triple leaf, do I absolutely need to remove the timber paneling from this wall. I really would rather avoid it but if it makes a serious reduction in isolation I will do it. As for the fireplace, I am kind of stuck here. Last thing I want to do is knock down the chimney.





I have an overall room width of 15 feet. My HT recliners are 10 feet wide (4 seats), so I can afford to frame up the LH wall and lose a little width. I was considering maybe building the LH wall about 2 feet from the existing wall / windows. Maybe slightly less. Then adding fluffy insulation to this wall, Double 5/8 inch drywall, whisper clips and Green Glue. Will this result in a good reduction in sound transmission if I leave the current timber wall in place?

Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.

Hey there Tony, thanks for your message. Despite my unbelievable popularity and ability to conjure a crowd in but seconds, I can't see any real chance of filling 8 seats any time soon. My son is only three and even though kids grow up fast these days, I would surmise it will be some time before movie nights with school friends will be on the agenda.

Mystic, thanks? For your feedback. To explain somewhat, the original block here was 2000 metres squared. It was 100 metres deep x 20 metres wide (328 feet x 66 feet). The home I own sits smack bang in the middle of my land but prior to subdivision, it sat 30 metres back from the street and had about a 60 metre deep back yard. It's my intention, within the next 10 years, to knock down the current dwelling and rebuild at the top of the block and enjoy a 35 metre back yard. Or alternatively, subdivide and sell two lots of land. Or alternatively, do nothing and be thankful that I have a home of my own and am luckier than so many others. In the past three months I have spent tens of thousands gutting and replacing the kitchen, rewiring the house, clearing the yard, installing HVAC, new guttering etc etc and after I finish the decking I will move onto the HT room. I purchased this property 5 years ago with the intention of knock down and rebuilding a massive 5 bedroom plus study home with my then wife. Sometimes life throws a curveball and things don't quite go to plan.

I thought that my theatre room was a reasonable size at 20 feet x 15 feet. There will always be bigger and better but I think that most people on the forum (and in life) would agree that the struggle adds to the satisfaction, the journey is the destination, it's the small things that bring the most happiness and that you can't please everyone. Nor do I try.

Added to that, I live near Peter the Greek, in a severely bushfire prone area. Unfortunately, during the last blaze, my Money Tree burnt to the ground.

[QUOTE="wilsonj"

Love your recliners too. I want exactly the same, but I just don't have the room width. Do you have a metric measurement for them?

Hey Jamie, they are pretty well spot on 3.0 metres across and when fully reclined they are about 1.7 metres from memory in length. Very comfortable. If you look back in my thread you will see a picture of them I scanned from the catalogue. Very well priced at 1500 for the four. That's 1500 Aussie dollars... You know.. The strong currency. Not those namby pamby greenbacks.

Thanks Mystic. It is actually 6.0 metres long x 4.6 metres wide. Clearing out that fireplace provided a lot more floorspace. in any case, it is what it is. Could have possibly added another foot to the room but would have made the newly created hallway too narrow. I figured that would had a more detrimental influence on resale. Not that I think resale is a major issue. I feel pretty sure that my place will always be worth more as two subdivided blocks than an improved house.

Hi guys, shameless self bump here. Would welcome any and all feedback about the sound isolation / triple leaf scenario for the left wall. Thanks muchly!

See above points.

Thanks for your thoughts.