Another IA HT/bar/rec basement

Hi friends,

I figured it was time to start my own thread as I have been gawking at everyone else's. About 4.5 years ago, we moved into our current house, and it had a very nicely finished basement. I had a HT setup with a 61" JVC, Marantz SR7500 and Energy speakers, with the rear 4 speakers on stands. The fronts are 22.3s driven through a pair of MA-700s, and the rears are CC-1 and my old 2.1e for the rear surrounds.

It worked quite well, and looked something like the first picture. This worked well until I decided I wanted more size and 1080p. In came the Epson 1080p projector and 120" Elite screen. I sold the JVC to a friend, and in came the new toys.

That is probably where I would still be with things today...

... had it not been so wet in Iowa this year.

It might be difficult to see, but the picture shows a nice 6-7" of water covering the entire basement floor.

You deal with what life gives you, and research and vow to never buy another rigid sump pump again. Like so many others had already experienced, the float switch on our pump stopped working, and of course it had to be right around the time we were getting 10-11" of rain in a 2 day period. As luck would have it, I needed a pump quick, so I went to the local big box, and picked up what I thought would be a good pump to replace the broken one. I had not looked yet to see what brand the non-working one was, but as luck would have it, exact same unit. I had not researched them yet. My basement was absorbing water, and I needed it out of there quick. I hooked the new one up quick, and with it running along with another 1/3 HP pump running a large flexible tube straight out the window, managed to get the free water out of the basement in about 3 hours. The damage was done however. There is a good chance the water was there for at least 12 hours. Out came the drywall, insulation, carpet, pad, and a bunch of ruined stuff.

My Panamax saved the rest of the stack, thankfully, though it gave itself up to do so.

It is probably worth mentioning how lucky we got really. We have a large chest freezer mostly full of food. It's control unit was submerged, but still working (clean water makes a huge difference). The water heater was blown out, and the burner full of water, but we cleaned it out and relit it, without problem. My bar fridge was in the water, but still working, and the blower fan for the furnace was about 1/2 inch away from the water. We got lucky for sure. We did not lose any mechanicals.

The HT seating got dried out and cleaned up right away, and all water was removed as quickly as it possibly could with the help of parents and friends. Though I lost 10 lbs in 3 days, I would not recommend it as a normal plan for weight loss.

The 22.3s, unfortunately, took it a bit hard. particle board/MDF does not respond well to soaking. I dried them out well, replaced the insulation, checked out the electronics, purchased wood glue, and a bunch of load straps, and glued and ratcheted the snot out of them. They are sealed up again, and pressed in so they look mostly normal. They still sound good, and look okay, but if you look close, you will see not all the joints are perfect. It about made me cry. They are an older speaker, but still one of the sweetest sounding pieces I have heard.

The picture is before the clean up. You can see where the water level was on them.

At this point, I must pause a bit and introduce those that do not know about it, to a very powerful and easy to use free piece of software. The software is called SweetHome3D.

It's real power comes in the fact that it can import a lot of different 3D models, including many from google's 3D library. I used this software to create the layout for the basement remodel.

This image was after many attempts at different layouts and ideas.

While finished nice before, it was rather simple. We are adding wall sconces, sound treatments, moving the AV rack into its own closet, removing the speaker stand speakers in the rear, and going with in-wall and in-ceiling Veritas, putting in a real bar with a sink and granite countertops, and converting what used to be a built-in that never got used for much into a wine cellar.

The area that the AV rack juts into is another room in the basement with the mechanicals. Due to layout, the closet for the rack was about the only place it could go. it will be plenty nice though, the back of the closet has a door that opens into the utility area for VERY easy wire access. The rack has a nice cable management on the back that will be even nicer now that you can just walk right up to it.

Over the last 2 weeks or so, we were able to select a contractor, line the subs up, and get to work. First order of business was replacing the insulation, and busting up the floor with a jackhammer to lay down some new plumbing.

I take that back. The first order of business was to retire the NEW sump pump to pure back up duty. The existing pump was promptly replaced by a stack consisting of a Zoeller 1/2 HP main pump, and a Zoeller battery backup 12v electrical pump. Each pump has its own back-flow valve, and its own independent float system and switch. The battery is kept topped off by a battery charger dedicated to the purpose, along with an alarm system to notify us if there are any issues. The other new pump sits right next to the pit as an emergency standby should the other fail, or need more assistance, and the whole works, along with other parts of the house, are on generator. I don't want water issues again. Ever.

Now back to the more fun stuff.

It is amazing what you find when you cut into a wall. Guess they never thought an opening would be there, so lets run the wire through the middle of the wall. This picture is looking from the HT room into the utility room through the new opening for the AV rack.

The other picture shows some of the plumbing work.

The rough plumbing is done now, and most of the framing is in as well at this point.

I have some samples of GOM on hand to choose from, the carpet and tile are picked out, along with the wall color and granite.

Bathroom fixtures are here, pendants are on order, as are the wall sconces, cabinets and sink.

The electricians finished their rough stuff, and the drywaller has done his magic at this point.

The holes are cut for the speakers, and the 12ga wire has been pulled.

This is basically my setup in a box:

http://www.zoellerpumps.com/ProductB...x?ProductID=63

A very reasonable price for the protection it affords as well. I chose to make one change on the setup from what they have there, and went with the 1/2 HP pump capable of moving 1/2" solid objects. It also has a higher flow rate.

The electric pump, on the large size battery should run for up to 8 hours. It doesn't have near the flow of the large 110v pump, of course, but it has a decent enough flow for its size. It should afford me plenty of time to get home and start the generator on a power outage situation.

to top it all off, I have a webcam on UPS pointed at the pit now, and my NAS sends notifications of power outages from the attached UPS.

I think the only thing I could do better at this point would be to have the generator have electric start and an automatic transfer switch. Maybe in the future, but I think I am pretty well set to stay dry now. I even have the other pump sitting by the pit that I can throw a tube out the window if it gets SUPER nasty. Sure hope it is never that bad. There will probably be worse things to worry about than the carpet.

I love water. One of my other hobbies is boating with the family. I just don't like it in my basement. Good thought on the water heater. I have a floor drain next to the furnace and water heater, but not so sure there is enough slope to prevent any damage. might have to carve a channel. Much appreciated. It just goes to show you what we are capable of assuming.

As to the speed of the project, not to worry. The actual damage happened in August. I am just getting around to posting the story and the progress to date. The whole of the project will certainly push into at least 5 weeks.

The mud and sanding is all done now. Wood work starting soon.

It is good to know others have had a good experience with this set up. From all the reviews, and my own testing, it should do the work. I rest a little easier now, at least from that aspect.

I am an IT guy by trade, and truly hate single failure points. It's money now in a controlled fashion or money later in a potentially uncontrolled fashion. Which do you like?

In news of the fun stuff though, our solid oak 6 panel doors showed up yesterday. The big hold up now is the cabinets for the bar area and bathroom.

The doors are in and hung so that the frames are done. Tomorrow morning the stuff that makes it look nice can actually start!

The second picture it looking at the AV closet with the door on the back side. I have a nice rack with cable management on the back. Pop that door open from the utility side, and it is all easy to access wiring.

Anyone else have their closet open from both sides?

Just testing in-line pictures, because having to click something is annoying

RTROSE, I read your story. Ugh indeed. Would have to say that was as bad as ours if not a bit worse even. Hope you are staying high and dry now!
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On the build front, the sconces:



The pendants for above the bar (black galaxy granite):



and the light for above the vanity in the bathroom:



have all been selected and ordered and even started arriving!

Now if only the cabinets would show up.

The wall color will be a dark cherry/brick red called crabby apple.

I don't recall ever having bought carpet before, even having owned 2 houses. Cannot say as it is an experience I have missed.

So, we finally decided on a carpet a week or two ago, and come to find out, "oh, we don't carry that one, it will be an additional 3 weeks, and there is no guarantee the manufacturer has inventory". Great. Why are you advertising it then.

This is our new first choice. It is darker than we originally had planned, but I think that may actually be better.

Anyone else have a time with finding carpet for their build?

Pretty much the "we stock everything except for what you are looking at". "nope, not that one either" syndrome

Appreciate the offer! Fortunately, we actually came to an agreement on exactly what we were looking for. The problem seems to be what we are looking for is not in stock anywhere. We'll end up ordering it, and possibly delaying the project, but I still think it is better that way than moving forward with a 3rd choice.

And is most appreciated, it is just that once the wife has a decision that you like, you run with it hard and fast.

Carpet should be here a week from Monday.

Stuff is finally falling together. This week should be all the woodworking, then next week is paint and stain, and probably tile. The week following should be counter tops, finish plumbing, finish electrical, and carpet. Then I take over and finish low voltage/speaker, sound treatments, and electronics.

Last, but not least, stock the fridge, order the wine racks, and get the popcorn machine .

What movie do we watch first??!

RTROSE, good suggestions those. I happen to have just gotten BD Transformers recently, and it is sitting in front of me begging for a go at it.

In other news we have cabinets! They will be installed tomorrow morning. All the rest of the trim work is done now as well, except the walls of the wine cellar. Those happen tomorrow as well.

stairway down.


start of the bar


misc trim


the moon from tonight. How cool would it be to have the real night sky in a controlled temperature setting? Maybe some day.

This morning we finished up the raw woodwork. All the baseboard, cabinets, etc are in and ready for color.



This is a picture of the closet that used to be a built-in that will be the wine cellar. Okay, wine cubby is probably a better description, but doesn't sound as cool.



Here are the racks that will go in. The lower unit is a 2 deep that will give us a table top and store 120. The upper is a single depth that will sit on the top of the table top, and leave us a nice ledge. It will hold an additional 60.


bottom


top

Thanks! It is nice to see things taking shape.

The woodwork will be done in a medium oak stain and varnish. Door handles will be lever style.

As for the keg fridge, there is a opening left in the bar for the fridge. It is a full height counter behind the bar, so should the need ever arise, a keg fridge would be fairly easy For now it will just be bottles though.

I think we decided on a color for the ceiling now. It is called hopsack, and is a dark tan/light brown. It will darken the ceiling a bit, but not close you in.



Sherwin Williams has a tool on line that allows you to take a picture of your room, then play with their colors directly and quickly. It lets wall features and light spots bleed through from the picture, perhaps a bit too much given the drywall patching is coming through on the far wall, but it does give some indication of how it looks. The splotch I painted in the utility room is darker than the picture indicates, but maybe I will try the picture again without a flash on a tripod. More natural might let their algorithm work a little better. Still a lot of fun to play with, and a lot easier to try some bizarre combinations. Purple actually looked really trick on the ceiling with this combination. Not a glaring in your face purple, but it was still intriguing.

Nah, no purple for me.