Making the "Bacon Race" Theater - Page 50

I think the other thing of note on the equipment room is that because of the pass through nature of the rack, the equipment room walls and door used the same soundproof construction materials as the theater.

Damelon - Did you use flat paint on your MDF for the soffits or did it have some sheen to it?

Thanks. That is what I was looking for.

So if you were making frames for 2" wall treatment, what would the best method be? Stack 3/4, 3/4 and 1/2 strips and do the same?


Posted to soon. "and into a two inch frame. These were 4 layers of 1/2 inch plywood."

Did you do anything in terms of channel and clip placement for the longer front soffit?

No the front soffit runs perpendicular to channels so you are already hitting every ceiling channel in the room no matter where you put it.

I finally finished reading the nearly 1500 posts. Awesome theater, and great job by you and Big to document the build. I feel that I have learned a lot, and I am sure others will for years to come.

I have had a question since post #56 about the height of the EQ rack. From the theater side, it seems low. I guess because of the riser height it visually lowers it in the room. From the back, is the top about 5.5 feet? (I am not sure how tall Big is). Did you ever consider making the top of the rack higher and using a step stool in the back to reach the top on those rare occasions?

The picture of me with the opening was me raising the opening because the guys who framed the room did it too low IMHO. Actually the only thing your routinely need to access is the disk player and if it is near the top no problem. If you want the rack higher put your rack higher. In the case of the Bacon Race the rack is on the lower part of the wall and visually doesn't intrude on Damelon's wall design as much if it were higher.

Very good point. I studied the pic you included, and it does kind of fade away into the shadows with the way the lights wash the walls and the rear columns. Yet another subtlety I missed the 1st time. Thanks.

The plug ins you have on front wall for your Subs, are they a dedicated line or tied in with rest of receptacles? I was under the inpression that you don't want them plugged into a power conditioner and they should be on there own 20amp circuit. I also have 2 svs pc13 ultras, so dunno if it's needed.

i was planning on using those same cans in my soffit do they really put off that much heat?

I've got 15 of these lights in my room and, admittedly, I'd be nervous to leave them on 100% for several hours. They really do get hotter than the surface of the sun. However, I've been so paranoid about it that I've reached over the soffit face and felt all around the back/top of the can and the good news is that none of the heat seems to make it out of the housing. Don't ask me why the laws of thermodynamics have ceased to exist in my theater.

They come with 50 watt bulbs and I was considering replacing them with the 35 watt variety which you can pick up on Amazon in a bundle for like $15, rather than $10/piece at Lowes.

As it stands now, all of my lighting is Insteon so I just have the on-level programmed for 70% which keeps everything nice and cool (ish) but if someone accidentally double-taps the on button then they go to full - sunburn inducing - brightness so I'll probably go the 35 watt route and take it from there.

*** Note: I should also mention that the cans supposedly have a heat temp sensor in them that will make the light start flashing if it gets too hot and I've never witnessed this occurring so all the worry is probably much ado about nothing.

I just put 6 LEDs in my kitchen cans and installed a dimmer specifically rated for LEDs. Unfortunately I can't find a picture of the exact lights, but it's the bulb, transformer(?) and trim ring in one. The really nice thing about the install is that they can be installed in a standard 4" ceiling box as well. Wish I knew that in the first place and I wouldn't have installed cans. Anyway, I noticed that they only dim about halfway and then start flashing. It's very annoying. Sometimes, if I set the dimmer where I want it and THEN turn on the lights, they stay dimmed WITHOUT flashing, but not every time. It's SOOoooo confusing. LOGANESS wants them on full when she's cooking anyway, so I guess it really doesn't matter. And I like to eat, so I don't argue.

My point is that , yes, there have been issues with dimmers not actually turning off, other than incandescent bulbs, all the way.

BIG - Is this the sanding sealer you used for the MDF light trays? What is the process for this to get a good painting surface? I've never worked with this stuff before.

Thanks for the info Damelon. So rough sand, sealer, fine sand, paint. Got it.

I'll add that I had good luck painting the MDF that I added to my door by applying 1-2 coats of an oil based primer before painting. The oil based seals it so that it doesn't swell from the water based latex. This way you get your sealing and priming out of the way in one step. Kill two birds with one stone I guess.....

I think that Minwax product has been discontinued for air quality reasons, Last time I looked for it they had marked the gallons size for clearance and I bought the last three they had for $9 gallon. Haven't seen it on the shelf since. Just recently I had good luck priming MDF with a PVA drywall sealer. The active ingredient in the drywall sealer is formulated to limit the absorption rate of drywall paper and mud. It seams to have the same effect on MDF as it did not turn the surface rough like a latex paint.

Thanks for the info Big.

isn't the cleanup from oil based a pain? and what about the fumes ?

lowes is till listing it on there site and at the local store near me but that doesn't mean it going to continue to stock it

Yeah, the cleanup can be a pain since it doesn't wash off with water. You have to use paint thinner or mineral spirits. I just buy the cheap roller tray inserts and less expensive rollers, do my two coats, and then throw them out. I didn't think that the smell was that bad. I'm sure that it wasn't any worse than the sanding sealer.

I went with the oil based primer mostly because it was a lot cheaper than getting the sanding sealer and a latex primer.

I like BIG's idea of the PVA drywall sealer though as well.

The biggest problem with MDF is the edges, If you will have exposed edges I still like the Sanding sealer, Apply, sand, Apply sand, Prime, sand, Paint, Paint. Sometimes some wood filler needs to be added to the process depending on how well the boards were cut and assembled. On the Speaker builder forum a lot of the guys use Bondo on the edges and seams then sand and finish.