The MacBeth Theater (flood resilient build) - Page 5

So here is what it is supposed to look like if it were attached:


And here are all the holes where I didn't get it right.


Here is the frame for the rack door. Which is essentially the same as the acoustic panel frames. Just adding hinges and a cabinet pull.



Stain sample:

Edited by design1stcode2nd - 1/24/13 at 7:12pm

I'll give that a try, I'm going to remove the hinge and sand, stain, finish the door the same time I do the rest of the room this weekend.

I could use magnets or even speaker grill ball/sockets probably as this is just the covering for the sub (the inner part will be covered by acoustical fabric). The "door" above it will need hinges as it's where the rack will be (the door is going to be wrapped like the rest of the acoustic treatments just with no insulation so the IR signals will pass through). I was getting hinges for the one so I just ordered two more for the sub door.

As to the stain I’m using this pre-conditioner since its poplar:


This is the finish:

I’d use something a bit more involved if I was just doing a piece of furniture but I don’t want to spend weeks putting on 5-6 coats and sanding all that wood between each coat.

Staining is done but man the fumes are bad. I was fine with the respirator but even with the windows open and a fan it's going through the house. I have all the vents closed and some main floor windows open. Of course it's 25 degrees outside which doesn't help. Going to try some bowls of vinegar and a box of baking soda to help absorb the smell.

Going to have to take a day off from work to lacquer so that the kids and wife are not in the house. And when it's warmer.

Pics

Thanks. If I was doing a smaller area I would have stained first just for the smell alone. Since this was my first time at it I wanted to get everything up before I stained. I used a stain sponge and some rubber gloves and didn't have any problem with getting stain in the corners. The only bad experience has been the fumes. Still smells in the basement and I've had a fan in the window all day since I was home.

Going to putty tonight and try and see when I can seal. Seems like the water based poly is a bit less toxic so I'll have to go with that. The lacquer I bought I'll have to save for furniture so it can be done outside.

I do have some trim for the front wall and crown mold that I'll stain in the garage and then install once the fabric panels are done.

I installed some rack/shelving rails today. I decided not to build a slide out rack. I can actually fit behind the rack if I slide out the sub which is on a platform with wheels; installed my cable D-Rings as well. Just need to buy a sheet of MDF now for shelves.

All wood work has been puttied. I tried a dark putty made by elmers and was very disappointed in it. It left a gray stain on the wood and I’ll have to try and re-stain that section (I have some trim and a spot or two that needs to be re-stained anyway). I went back to minwax putty which I’m familiar with and it was much better. I would have liked a darker color as Walnut was the darkest I could fine but it is what it is. I’ll re-stain that tonight and install the rack fans.

I hope to put two coats of finish on this Saturday, going with a water-based poly as it’s a bit lower in toxic fumes from my experience. I’ll have to do a light sanding between coats which I hoped to avoid but oh well, it will be worth it when it’s done. I really want to get this part of the build done so I can do the screen wall velvet and begin the fabric frames.

Not sure why I didn’t think of this before but I’m going to use some of my acoustic fabric to cover the bottom inside of my rack. I would have ordered more than 3 feet of black had I thought of it. When I bought my fabric I bought ruby for the walls and 3’ each of chocolate and black as I wasn’t sure which one I wanted to use for the sub door. Whichever one doesn’t get used will now go inside the rack enclosure.

Now see that would be smart thinking.

It's done so I'll have to file that away for the remaining trim work.

I did some touch up staining last night and installed the rack vent/fan. I need to level it, my drywall cut must not have been quite right and it will be painted once I paint the wall.


Inside of the rack area

Water-based poly was the way to go as far as fumes are concerned. Probably could have done it without the respirator. One coat took about two hours and where I started it is already dry so I should be able to sand and start my next coat before long.

Between coats of poly I decided to do one fabric frame. This is the rack door but it gives an idea of what the finished wall will look like.


I decided to use the chocolate fabric for the sub door so black will be going inside to cover the insulation.

Here is the panel on the side wall next to a column. Going to attempt one large panel there but we'll see how it goes.


Need at least one more coat of poly before I can do the front wall or more panels. Going to put five coats on the step and front riser trim.

3 coats on all the wood and 5 on the step, riser front and door.
I trimmed out the sub door with the chocolate fabric and lined the inside of rack.

Thanks, the Ravens never make it easy but they seem to find a way to win this year.

Some spots on the wall aren’t going to be able to have panels for a number of reasons so I used Big's suggestion of wrapping fabric around a stiff medium (I used left over 1/4 birch ply) for one section of wall near the rack as a test. It worked very well and provided a nice straight clean edge and I’ll be using the same technique to attach the fabric to my screen wall. I’m not doing panels the fabric will go directly on the wall.

I attached the fabric to the back of the ply with ¼ staples, and then brad nailed the ply to the wall. I wrapped the remaining fabric across the front of the ply that I had just brad nailed and around the corner of the wall then I stapled it directly to the wall. In this case it will be covered by the rack door/panel. For the screen wall it will be hidden by the side wall panels.

I’m going to attempt the front wall this week, I’ll also remove the existing screen frame I have now and reuse one of the 1x4 wrapped boards to mount the French cleats to. I figure it will be easier to level and nail that board to the studs and then attach the cleats to it and the screen frame. I’ll then take bar of one of the other wrapped boards and use it on the bottom back of the screen so that it will be even with the top. I figure I can pad out the depth as necessary to make sure it is flat with the wall.

I already have the spandex for my screen I just need the front wall done and a helper before I tackle it. I also have to paint it black so I’m going to wait and paint my rack shelves, screen and touchups all at one time.

Half of the screen wall covered with velvet

It went on pretty easily even with just me holding and nailing the 12 foot piece. I'll need to do another one tomorrow for the lower section. All staples will be hidden by the screen or the acoustic panels as you can see in the picture.

And here is that section I mentioned a post or so ago. Same principal of wrapped ply but you can actually see it better since it isn't inky black.

Velvet is done on the screen wall, time to start on the fabric frames. Going to try and get most of those done and then have the electrical finished. Should be looking for carpet this weekend.

Not particularly exciting to photograph as it ends up being just a black wall.




A few pictures of how the fabric was attached.

Thanks but actually everywhere you see black paint (excluding the soffit and ceiling) will be covered by red suede-like acoustic panels. I plan to have most of these done this weekend but you can see the one in the screen wall photo above.

Thanks.

It’s not too bad doing it with the hand stapler and it allows me to keep it quiet and not run the compressor at night (From all these years as a mouse jockey). I am going to pick up some staples for the compressor stapler this weekend before I go heavy into the frame making.

Just picked up my linacoustic, would there be much benefit to putting linacoustic inside the screen frame? It will be covered with AT material and I have about 1 ¾” worth of room. I bought a 1”x47.5”x100’ roll.

Going to have a lot left over so I think I may stuff the window wells and the area of the large soffit that connects to the room behind the screen wall. There is no insulation in the large soffit so I’m sure some linacoustic couldn’t hurt. I had planned on putting in some pink insulation as I will be insulating the back of the screen wall after I push through the speaker cables and mount the shelves for the L/C/R channels.

A few more panels done and I need s one help with carpet.

Here is the 9 foot panel, came out pretty good.


High dollar corner squaring device.


I went carpet shopping today and got sticker shock. I found a Stanton carpet I liked and a 13x15 carpet with pad installed is $2,500. Going to have to find something cheaper.

It was a good weekend, all panels done except for the door and linacoustic installed. You can definitely hear the difference before and after the linacoustic.

Thanks. It's good to see visual progress and the wood trim and fabric frames are big ones where you can actually see something happening.

I started getting quotes on the carpet I liked and I'm utilizing my car buying skills. I should have known there would be huge swings in quoted prices. I have another quote for $1,600 which is still higher than I want to pay but is much more reasonable. I'm going to get another couple of quotes and then beat up on them a bit to see how low I can get it. Then I’ll have the lowest come out and measure to get a firm price.

I have probably a good 60-65’ of Linacoustic left, not sure if I can find a use for it so once the theater is done it may be up for grabs to anyone local. I guess I’ll put that in the classifieds once I’m done.