"Xzener's Dedicated Theater" Construction Thread - Page 4

Right. I think I may end up going that route. Just threw it up there... it was laying around wanting to be used.

Coming along nicely. A wall really shows its flaws when you apply a straight edge to it. Have a feeling I will be mudding out all the minor imperfections.



Here is a piece of the bull nose I purchased... This is going to look good.

Ugh! My back hurts! I hung all the drywall underneath the soffit. Came out really nice. Sure made a mess though. Took the screen down so I wouldn't get sheet rock dust all over it... Cleaned up my mess and rehung it, having the soffit take shape really helps the overall look of the room.

The 1.5 inch pieces have to be hand cut and have been the most time consuming. The end result will make it all worth while.

Lots of progress on the room the last couple days. Finished mudding and sanding for now, installed the bull nose corner bead. Decided to crawl up in the attic and reroute the once chandelier wire to the screen directional pot lights. Its nice to have lighting in the room again. Wired up to the Lutron Maestro IR switch I had installed a ways back... Works AMAZING!! Will have to do untill I get the Lutron Grafik Eye 3104 I've been dreaming about. Watching two one eBay right now.

Gonna start taping and mudding tonight to come closer to completing this portion of the soffit.

What do you guys think??

Thanks Blynk, although this taping/mudding is a lot of work... Kind of wished I would have contracted it out. The bull nose edge really looks nice, the rest of the house has it and I love the look. Trying to design/build this theater to compliment the house.

I bought a Lutron Grafik Eye 3103 on CraigsList for $250. Ships today, and I'm very excited!! Went to Lowes yesterday and bought the rest of the lighting I'll need to finish the electrical work in the soffit.

6 Pot lights (2 on each wall)
40' of LED rope lighting

Actually... Totally forgot to get the black lights for charging the glow in the dark star ceiling. Oh well, whats another trip to Lowes?? I practically live there.

Wired up the pot lights... Turned out GREAT!! Really lights the room well and evenly.

I decided not to reframe my walls... Took my wifes advice and repositioned the speakers as close as possible. The rears are only off by 1 inch, not even noticeable to the naked eye. The center channel behind the screen was a dramatic move, 4 inches off from center. Wondering if it will even be noticeable audio wise.

Here is a pic of the left rear repositioned...


And here is a pic of the right rear repositioned...


The soffit is really turning out wonderful, the pictures (taken with my DroidX) dont do it any justice. I will be contracting the texture out, want to make sure its done correctly and looks good. Cant wait to start painting.

Question for the experts...

What type of insulation would you recommend to fill the soffit??

Thanks cheezit73, I'm very glad I decided to use the bull nose. Not only does it compliment the rest of the house, it was easy to install. I googled it and found a guy using spray-on glue to attach it to the corners prior to mudding. I'm very glad I saw that video.

Yeah, I was really dreading the cost of the reframing of the walls... So glad my wife talked me into just moving them. I was really hoping to build backer boxes for the speakers... We'll see how they sound, I may end up building them anyway. With all the drywall experience I have now, I feel confident I can make some good backer boxes.

One wall (the exterior with the window) has quite a bow in it. I was able to hide it well with the soffit. The way these construction companies build houses... In like 3 weeks... I'd say there is much room for error. Oh well, no big deal.

This being my first build, I've decided to keep it simple. I will be filling it with insulation (what kind... I have no idea) and will be closing it off with drywall. As far as acoustics go, I plan on making custom posters using OC 703. Although in a room so small, carpeting and furnature may have enough dampening. What do you think?

Thanks for the tips guys. Guess another trip to Lowes is in the cards today. Yes, the cans are non-ic rated, calling for 3" of clearance. I think 6" to be on the safe side.

HAHA!!

Ok, so I have a problem... The switch I'm going to rewire for the grafik eye is on a three way circuit. What is my best option to wire up this thing.

The outlet has a 12/2 wire with red white black wires. I believe this wire is coming from another switch located in the room. The other 12/2 wire is going to the lights (which ever zone I choose). What is the best course of action for this thing?? Should I install the Grafik Eye at the rear where the hotwire comes in, or should I wire it up twards the front of thee room next to the slider door??

Please help, I want to get the wiring ran so I can close up my soffit.

Thanks!

I decided to just take the left switch out (wire tied and installing just a cover plate) running the hot wire to the right switch by the slider door. That's where the grafik eye will go. That way, if I ever sell the house (taking the GE with me) I can wire it back up 3 way.

Dont feel like I got much accomplished today. I ran all the wires for the lighting, installed the 4 gang box needed for the Grafik Eye (which shipped today ), and stuffed the soffit with insulation. Do you guys think the cavity with the pot light will be ok acoustically??



I also contacted a local painter, asking for a quote on the texturing. He'll be here in the morning to have a look.

Been going back and forth with ideas of how to get the power to the projector... Finally decided on a Powerbridge. I think this will be the best solution.

I've also had stage construction ideas floating in my head. I really like Bmackrell's stage. I think it looks really awesome. What do you guys think??

Well, another busy day in the theater room. Finished hanging the drywall for the soffit. Wired up the Grafik Eye (Have no idea how I'm going to stuff all those wires into the gang box), wired up the electrical outlet in the soffit for the rope light.

Waited all day for the texture guy to show up, said he'd be here at 8:30am, didn't swing by until 4pm. I about called him and told him to forget it... Glad I didn't, he quoted me $200 for the texturing... Even all my patches!! Said he'd be here 9am Saturday.

Well, here is a couple progress pics...

Here is a pic of the Grafik Eye, notice the patch job to the left. I must have read the Grafik Eye 3000 Series PDF wrong, could have sworn it said 4 gang?!?! Any suggestions on how to shove all these wires in that 3 gang box?? 12/2 Romex is extremely sturdy stuff, especially in wire groups of 4+.



Here is a pic of my "Bucket-O-Rope Light" plugged into the new soffit wall socket.

Thanks Badgerpilot,

$200 is a good price for what needs to be done. I've put a lot of time and effort into taping and mudding... I must say, it is an art. I trust myself mudding... Just not texture. I will watch him, not even sure I'd ever need to do it.

Thanks for the tip on the wires... I chose the deepest gang box, but I'm not happy with the rigidity of the wires. I'm sure it will all fit... eventually.

The Grafik Eye is quite the sophisticated light switch. Reading the instruction (the English version... clearly states 3 gang. FML), their are so many things you can do with this thing, zones, scenes, fade time, fade off. It AWESOME!! So glad I purchased it. Athough I wish I got a 4 zone.

Wait what?!? You mean there is more awesomness to this thing? What is this controller you speak of?

For those of you with a GE... Can I set up my Harmony to dim the lights off when I press play when starting a movie? If so... Is there some sort of tutorial for doing such commands. Pressing pause on a movie...it would be cool for the lights to turn on just enough for someone to find there way to the kitchen for more popcorn.

By the way Tedd... thanks for the tip. That should make it WAY easier to shove those wires in.