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Cyclone Cinema Build

post #1 of 524
8/12/10 at 7:55pm
Thread Starter 
Welcome to my build thread. I have been working on a basement floor plan for the last couple weeks. If you frequent the general theater construction forum you may recognize this basement.

I had originally planned on an open floor plan, but couldn't find a solution that really made me happy. I have decided to go the dedicated theater route and was hoping to get some tips or ideas before I finalize my layout.

Here is what I am thinking of right now:



A little background on what I am trying to acheive here.

AT screen (there is a sump pit and a radon system behind the screen)
Screen size TBD - the front row is 130" from the screen. Thinking of getting the AE4000 and coupling that with a 2.35 screen. (This is where all of you can help me out...120" wide screen? more? less?)
Statement speakers for fronts and center (Jim Holtz DIY design)
Smaller surround speakers (maybe Emotiva ERD-1's)
Two couches - one on a riser. I hope to be able to switch out for Berklines at a later date maybe.

Sound isolation is not really a huge issue. We live in a 2 story house with all bedrooms on the 2nd floor. Living room above the current HT location. We dont have any kids and the wife and I used our old projector at the same time. That being said, anything within reason I will try to do.

The rest of the floorplan shows the non-HT area - but this will all be finished at the same time so any changes/suggestions are encouraged.

Not much for equipment right now. Denon 1909 receiver, xbox 360 w/hddvd, hd cable box. I will likely get a ps3 for blu-ray and an emotiva amp to run the statement speakers.

I am sure I am forgetting plenty of information. If I left anything out just ask me - I try to be around quite a bit, especially during the week.

Hopefully I get a little more input here in the dedicated forum. Maybe I just didnt get much interaction in the other forum because of the crappy space I had to work with. The dedicated space seems to excite me quite a bit more than the previous open space.

Thanks in advance for all the help. I look forward to getting to know some of you guys - I am sure I will be asking a lot of advice!

Go clones!
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post #2 of 524
8/12/10 at 8:08pm
Assuming that there is a refrigerator and a microwave I think I could live in that basement. The only thing I don't see is an emergency egress or a walkout door servicing the bedroom. If you are making an investment in the basement, adding that feature makes it qualify as "livable finished" space.

I like the way you enter at riser level.
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post #3 of 524
8/12/10 at 8:18pm
What are you going to do about ac in that room? yes I am a ac guy
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post #4 of 524
8/12/10 at 8:35pm
I have to agree with Big on the bedroom accessibility. I'd throw an egress window in there and you'll be all set. Without the bedroom, it would be hazy whether or not you really need one, but with the bedroom, definitely.

I really like the layout. Great theater room and I like the placement of all the other rooms. An excellent use of the space and well thought out.
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post #5 of 524
8/12/10 at 8:42pm
Does anyone know the cost of a egress widow? I am thinking 3 thousand
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post #6 of 524
8/12/10 at 9:57pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by snickel View Post

Does anyone know the cost of a egress widow? I am thinking 3 thousand

When you decide to sell, take the bed out and put a $150.00 desk in there and call it a den!
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post #7 of 524
8/13/10 at 6:18am
Thread Starter 
Ahh yes, I was actually planning on cutting in an egress window in - I just forgot to show it. Hopefully it doesnt cost me $3000, but then again I will be doing it myself. It has a poured foundation so that should simplify the process a little bit.

As for AC...I am also an HVAC guy (graduated from Iowa State in ME). I will run a load one of these days and see how much spare capacity I have on the system. Because we have no kids and three unused bedrooms upstairs I can limit the CFM to those rooms and steal some capacity (if necessary).

When it comes to electrical work - I will be consulting you guys quite a bit...it is definitly a weakness of mine.

Thanks for the replies. Keep them coming.

I want to get an electrical plan figured out and also get the riser/screen sizing figured out. After Labor Day weekend the racing season will be over and I can start framing walls!
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post #8 of 524
8/13/10 at 6:57am
Looks like a very nice use of space with your plan. FWIW, your HT room dimensions are within a couple inches of mine, although it appears you may have some extra depth behind false wall to accommodate your sump crock, and you have rear entry (vs. side). Take a peek at mine if it helps you visualize the overall space you have to work with and how things have fit together for me.

I'm sitting right around 12' front row eyes to screen, using a 120" wide Seymour AT screen. I don't feel the screen is too big at all and is very comfortable to watch in terms of viewing angles.

Good luck with the build
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post #9 of 524
8/13/10 at 7:13am
If you are not sure you want a dedicated bedroom you could look at building a Murphy bed system and make the room multi-purpose.

When we finished our basement we wanted to bedroom for guests but since they typically only visit a few times a year it seemed like a waste of space. We ended up building a "craft" room with lots of custom cabinets for storage on one wall and on the other wall built a Murphy bed. Its worked out great of us.

Just a thought.





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post #10 of 524
8/13/10 at 7:19am
Another Iowan! I'll be starting my build here hopefully soon!
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post #11 of 524
8/13/10 at 7:50am
Great looking layout and very similar to my dimesions as well. I'll be following your progress, as I hope to finally get my build started once the kids go back to school.

Good to see another Iowa build. The only thing I would question is the theater name
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post #12 of 524
8/13/10 at 7:50am
Quote:
Originally Posted by brausch View Post

When it comes to electrical work - I will be consulting you guys quite a bit...it is definitly a weakness of mine.

Black to black, white to white, 1 wire to ground... who needs and EE degree?
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post #13 of 524
8/13/10 at 8:04am
Quote:
Originally Posted by premiertrussman View Post

Black to black, white to white, 1 wire to ground... who needs and EE degree?

That reminds me of an argument I had with a guy while I was fixing a light for them. He was convinced that it's always white-to-white, black-to-black. I finally gave in. "Just wire it like you want, if you knew how to do it, why'd you ask me." Once he threw the switch and all the lights went out, I let him go to Wally World and get a new fuse while I wired up his switch.

Sorry, that just made me chuckle, and I had to share. But usually, yeah, it's black-to-black, white-to-white.
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post #14 of 524
8/13/10 at 8:42am
If it's just you and the Mrs., and you already have 3 bedrooms upstairs, do you really need a 4th bedroom in the basement? Just a consideration.

Anyway, have you thought about putting the theater in the area where the bedroom and bar are? Maybe push the bathroom (and the entrance to the mechanical room) all the way down against the foundation wall to give more space for the bar to go at the bottom of the stairs? Move the poker table down a little bit and use the entire top area for the theater plus add a storage/A/V room behind it. Then put the bedroom down where the theater is, possibly with other storage area to take up some space.

I suggest it because I see a couple of things that may be an issue 1) if you don't sound proof the theater, the people in the back row may be hearing the furnace kicking on and off right behind them throughout the movie. 2) It looks like the space above the stairs might be a little wider, which may allow you to get 3 chairs across with armrests. 3) If you ever had a case where the basement bedroom was being used *and* you had a poker game/bar usage going on, the people trying to go to bed would probably be hearing a lot of noise. Putting the bedroom down in the separate section might distance them from that a little more.

As it stands, the entrance to the theater looks a little enclosed. Which could be a good thing if you are going for some sort of theater entrance décor there. But I would make sure that whatever trim, or whatnot you use in that area, that you are able to open the door to the A/V closet almost or fully 180° otherwise you may be constantly hassled with opening and closing the doors to get through any time you setup/update/access the A/V closet.

Lastly, Go Cyclones!!

-Suntan
LL
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post #15 of 524
8/13/10 at 8:46am
Quote:
Originally Posted by J_P_A View Post

That reminds me of an argument I had with a guy while I was fixing a light for them. He was convinced that it's always white-to-white, black-to-black. I finally gave in. "Just wire it like you want, if you knew how to do it, why'd you ask me." Once he threw the switch and all the lights went out, I let him go to Wally World and get a new fuse while I wired up his switch.

Sorry, that just made me chuckle, and I had to share. But usually, yeah, it's black-to-black, white-to-white.

Haha i understand completely. My dad is the electrical wiz, so I've always called him for help. Invariably he always starts off with...black to black white to white and 1 wire to ground...what else do you need to know?!

Of course...he also tells me if it cant be fixed with a hammer...its an electrical problem....so im not sure how sound his advice actually is...
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post #16 of 524
8/13/10 at 9:05am
Quote:
Originally Posted by brausch View Post

Ahh yes, I was actually planning on cutting in an egress window in , but then again I will be doing it myself. It has a poured foundation so that should simplify the process a little bit.

Unless you have some experience with a concrete saw that is where you might want to hire some experienced help. You could do all the digging and window installation to save some money.

If you decide to rent a saw and have at it. remember you do the bottom cut FIRST.
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post #17 of 524
8/13/10 at 9:54am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by BIGmouthinDC View Post

Unless you have some experience with a concrete saw that is where you might want to hire some experienced help. You could do all the digging and window installation to save some money.

If you decide to rent a saw and have at it. remember you do the bottom cut FIRST.


Big,

Yeah I have a decent amount of concrete knowledge. My dad built a mobile concrete plant and pours probably 5,000 yards a year. Not a lot, but enough to know whats going on. Plus my brother is a foreman on a concrete crew. He will be down helping me on ocassion - plus we will be using his saw.
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post #18 of 524
8/13/10 at 9:59am
I like that layout of the basement. I had a reply typed up to your other thread at one time, but got interrupted at work and then had to leave without finishing. Our basement is very similar to yours, ours is a few feet deeper, and about 8 feet less on the total width. Our tv area is where your theater is, where your poker table is we right now just have an open area, with a wetbar against the back of the stairs (Same spot as your stairs), and workout room where your bar is. Where your bedroom is we have a small room and a bathroom, and another small room where your bathroom and furnace room is. Our furnace room runs parallel to our tv area.

Unfortunately we have a door in the tv room to go into the furnace room, so I knew I'd only be able to quiet that to a certain point. I did double 1/2" sheetrock and 1 tube of green glue per sheet on the outside of the furnace room. I sheetrocked the inside of the furance room where I could, but there are some exhaust pipes mounted to the wall, so I couldn't cover it completely. Before sheetrock I measured about 75db to the listening area, now it's around 50db. I think if you're able to double sheetrock both sides of the wall around the furnace room, and/or use 5/8" sheetrock, you should be able to isolate it pretty well.

Also, I know you're not too worried about sound isolation, but I would suggest double sheetrock on the ceiling too with at least 1 tube of green glue per sheet. I did that as a minimum since on a budget, and used only 1/2" sheetrock again. It seemed to work pretty well in that I can play music pretty loud in the basement, louder than I need it to be (our basement is completely open), and my wife can barely hear it in the living room above. Subwoofer on the other hand, can be pretty easily heard still. However, like your house our bedrooms are on the second floor. The sub didn't seem to bother her at all when she was up there.
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post #19 of 524
8/13/10 at 10:07am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Suntan View Post

If it's just you and the Mrs., and you already have 3 bedrooms upstairs, do you really need a 4th bedroom in the basement? Just a consideration.

Anyway, have you thought about putting the theater in the area where the bedroom and bar are? Maybe push the bathroom (and the entrance to the mechanical room) all the way down against the foundation wall to give more space for the bar to go at the bottom of the stairs? Move the poker table down a little bit and use the entire top area for the theater plus add a storage/A/V room behind it. Then put the bedroom down where the theater is, possibly with other storage area to take up some space.

I suggest it because I see a couple of things that may be an issue 1) if you don't sound proof the theater, the people in the back row may be hearing the furnace kicking on and off right behind them throughout the movie. 2) It looks like the space above the stairs might be a little wider, which may allow you to get 3 chairs across with armrests. 3) If you ever had a case where the basement bedroom was being used *and* you had a poker game/bar usage going on, the people trying to go to bed would probably be hearing a lot of noise. Putting the bedroom down in the separate section might distance them from that a little more.

As it stands, the entrance to the theater looks a little enclosed. Which could be a good thing if you are going for some sort of theater entrance décor there. But I would make sure that whatever trim, or whatnot you use in that area, that you are able to open the door to the A/V closet almost or fully 180° otherwise you may be constantly hassled with opening and closing the doors to get through any time you setup/update/access the A/V closet.

Lastly, Go Cyclones!!

-Suntan


Suntan,

Thanks for the ideas. The space where you put the HT is acually about a foot or so narrower - which is valuable space when considering aisles on both sides of the seating. I actually had a similiar layout in my 'open' design on the 'non-dedicated' forum - with the narrower room I couldnt get any layout to really 'pop'.

I agree that we probably dont need another bedroom. I really like bmackrell's idea of installing a Murphy bed and making it a dual purpose room. It would be nice to provide guests some privacy by having a bedroom on a different floor than the rest of the bedrooms.

I will probably be adjusting the A/V closet a little bit - the layout has just been thrown together with not a lot of thought for the small details. Will be fine tuning it as I get suggestions or approval from people.

Thanks again!
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post #20 of 524
8/13/10 at 10:19am
Quote:
Originally Posted by brausch View Post


I agree that we probably dont need another bedroom. I really like bmackrell's idea of installing a Murphy bed and making it a dual purpose room. It would be nice to provide guests some privacy by having a bedroom on a different floor than the rest of the bedrooms.

Thats very true. While not necessary, if there is even a chance for long term "visitors" down the road, like parents or grandparents, it makes things much nicer for everyone if they have a space they can retreat to that is separated from the rest of the home.

Dual purpose room sounds like a great idea.
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post #21 of 524
8/13/10 at 7:04pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by brausch View Post

I agree that we probably dont need another bedroom. I really like bmackrell's idea of installing a Murphy bed and making it a dual purpose room. It would be nice to provide guests some privacy by having a bedroom on a different floor than the rest of the bedrooms.

In our basement, I added a "guest bedroom" but we use it as a dedicated playroom for the kids and then inflate a double height queen air bed when people stay over. Comfortable for a night or two, but not *too* comfortable that they want to stay longer...

-Suntan
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post #22 of 524
8/13/10 at 8:43pm
Being a fellow Iowan and in the process of building my theater also i'm going to be watching this one....

But all I have to say...Go Hawks ha
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post #23 of 524
8/15/10 at 6:29am
Looks like a good layout and use of space. Bathroom could potentially be a bit bigger since you have open space at the bottom of the stairs that's not really being used for anything - though it would be a good place to have eats and drinks when in 'party mode.'

Lived in Iowas for years. Go Hawkeyes!


Bryan
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post #24 of 524
8/15/10 at 4:39pm
Thread Starter 
Jeeze, not much love for the Cyclones. Haha, thats okay - sometimes its pretty tough to be a cyclone fan. I do like the hawks though - whenever they are not playing ISU.

I haven't worked on the floor plan anymore. I just got back from shingling my grandpas roof...apparently I have muscles in places I never knew about.

I might work on an elevation or two this week and then dig into getting electrical and low voltage planned out.

I have a bunch of cat5 cable at my disposal - if I don't use it, Dad will just probably recycle it. I noticed some people run a decent amount of it, but other than internet what can it be used for?
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post #25 of 524
8/16/10 at 2:34pm
Thread Starter 
Basic soundproofing question for someone. Because three of my walls are outside walls, can I get away with only doing DD + GG on the one wall and the ceiling? I will of course decouple my walls from the floor joists.

Another soundproofing question. If I do end up going the DD + GG route, do I have to do anything special to the riser? I figured I would just fill the riser with batt insulation and cover it up with OSB. Do I need to do something different beings my riser actually reaches into the next room? Maybe the door is the weaker point and the sound transmission under the riser will be negligible?

Thanks.
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post #26 of 524
8/18/10 at 8:23am
Thread Starter 
Bottom of Duct to Floor = 7'-1"
Bottom of Joist to Floor = 7'-10"

This could be a real problem with the riser I need to install.

If I use a 120" wide screen at 2.35:1 it would give me a 51" tall screen.

How much space do I need between my screen and the soffit? If I leave 3 inches between the top of the screen and the bottom of the soffit, it would leave the bottom of my screen 30" off the floor. Does this seem okay to everyone?

Running a riser height calculation (off the above assumption) I think I can get away with using a 10" riser and still see the whole screen. I plan on using a 6" riser over the whole area and use a 4" mini riser just under the rear couch.

So the final soffit height will be 6'-11" minus the 6" riser will leave me at 6'-5". Is this enough room or will it feel too cramped? I was originally going to make a symmetrical soffit on each side - but at 6'-5" I might just leave the area above the doorway (and main walking area) as high as possible.

Any ideas about the sound isolation question on the previous post? I am leaning towards just using GG on the whole room to be safe, but if it really wont make much difference I could use that $500 somewhere else...
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post #27 of 524
8/18/10 at 10:22am
Quote:
Originally Posted by brausch View Post

Basic soundproofing question for someone. Because three of my walls are outside walls, can I get away with only doing DD + GG on the one wall and the ceiling? I will of course decouple my walls from the floor joists.

That would not be the recommended course of action. You really need to treat all walls equally or the sound will go around your treated wall courtesy of the walls that aren't.
Quote:


Another soundproofing question. If I do end up going the DD + GG route, do I have to do anything special to the riser? I figured I would just fill the riser with batt insulation and cover it up with OSB. Do I need to do something different beings my riser actually reaches into the next room? Maybe the door is the weaker point and the sound transmission under the riser will be negligible?

Why does your riser reach the next room? Typically you build the riser in the room after you drywall and it rests solely on the floor. And, you should fill it with at least some fiberglass.
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post #28 of 524
8/18/10 at 10:28am
Thread Starter 
After I posted I thought a little more about the riser and I will build it in two parts. One part on the theater side and the other on the entrance side separated by a green glued wall.

That should solve any problems with sound going through the riser.
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post #29 of 524
8/18/10 at 10:46am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Stereodude View Post

Why does your riser reach the next room? Typically you build the riser in the room after you drywall and it rests solely on the floor. And, you should fill it with at least some fiberglass.

I think youll see if you look at the plans. You enter the room at riser height, and the step up is outside a small hallway leading to the HT.
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post #30 of 524
8/19/10 at 6:59pm
Thread Starter 
I have a stage question for you guys. I am guessing there is a reason people fill their stages with sand but I haven't read the specific reason. I thought the sand was just used to keep the stage from shaking when the speakers were set on it...well with a short stage I will set the speakers on the floor, not the stage. Here is what I was thinking about doing, unless someone gives me a reason not to....



If I can just set my speakers on the floor instead of a stage I hope to get away from bringing all that sand down.

Now, beings I haven't seen this done before, I am guessing there is a reason it hasn't been done.
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