The Austin Home Theater - Page 2

Everything is moving along very nicely. The electrical rough in is almost complete. I picked up my drywall furring channel today after finally finding the correct stuff in my area so tomorrow I will install the whisper clips. Then I will build the soffits and dead vents before installing the drywall.

I am about ready to build the soffits. The two running along the sides of the room will be built before drywall as they need to box in a beam and some HVAC lines to other parts of the house. I will be using the plywood + drywall method to save ceiling height. Each soffit will have a dedicated piece of channel reinforced with extra whisper clips to hold a 2x2. Another 2x2 will be attached to the wall and two pieces of plywood will form the frame. Does anyone have any recommendations for what screws to use for attaching the 2x2 to the channel? I don't know if fine threaded drywall screws would be strong enough as it will weigh quite a bit.

Any advice on the type of screw? I'd like to start the soffit construction soon.

What about Deckmate screws? Would they work or does it have to be something with a finer thread?

Weekend update:

I didn't get as much done as I would have liked this weekend. Unfortunately I didn't factor in the extra clips that would be needed to support the soffits so I need to order more Whisper Clips. Get ready for a call tomorrow Soundproofing Company!

I did start building the backer boxes for the recessed lights. Man, they take longer to assemble than I thought. There's a lot of plywood and cement board to cut but they're coming along.

So I need to finish the backer boxes and then build the soffits. Then I can move on to installing the drywall and the dead vents. My goal is to have drywall hung by the end of next weekend. Wish me luck!

I got my door today! I ended up going with the one from the lumber company in my area. I realized that the quote they gave me included a delivery fee. As I could pick it up myself the price went back down into my price range. I opted to go with them because, like I said before, we ordered from them earlier in the summer and the doors are of a very high quality. This solid core one is HEAVY and built like a rock. I am excited to install it. I still plan on adding an extra layer of MDF + GG to it but it is much more massive than I expected.

Phew it has been awhile! Thanks for kicking my butt to get some pics RTROSE.

Well unfortunately I haven't made as much progress as I would have liked. The holidays have been hectic and school has been busy with tests and such before the break next week. So there won't be any movies on Christmas. But hey that's what happens. I decided awhile ago that I was going to enjoy the building aspect of this no matter how long it takes. The end result isn't as special without the journey.

So here's where the room stands today:

I finished running all of the low voltage for speakers, projector, internet, etc. into the equipment closet under the stairs. I've done some pretty big musical theater light rigs but nothing compares to this. I've never seen so many wires for such a small room. This is coax for the cable box, HDMI to the projector, HDMI to the wallplate in the room, ethernet supply, ethernet to room wallplate, Cat 5e to projector, RCA snake to projector, composite video and audio to wallplate, 5.1 speakers with two lines to the front left and right for bi-amping, and a line to the back for bass shakers plus a dedicated 20 Amps. I'm still deciding on if should wire in for front height speakers now but I don't think I have enough speaker wire. I might get more and do it.



Here is a shot of where the wallplate in the room will go. It will have HDMI, ethernet, and composite video and audio. This is for if someone brings a video camera, game system with wired controllers, etc. so that it can be used inside the room since all of the equipment will be housed in the seperate closet outside of the room. There will also be an electrical outlet.



Here is where the projector will be housed. There is an outlet, HDMI, Cat 5e, and an RCA snake with 5 cables in it in case I ever need to run component video or something else like that.



I've changed my lighting plan around a little. There will now be puck lights in the soffits and above the screen instead of the 3" recessed lights I originally planned for. This is because the soffits would be too large if they concealed the beam and had to fit the lights. I will be putting three puck lights in each side soffit and two in the back soffit. There will also be two in front of the screen. These will be about 8" from the wall to provide a "wash" effect. I will also be putting four of the 3" recessed lights in the ceiling between the soffits to provide more light. Rope lighting will also be concealed in crown molding around the soffits. So that's four zones of lighting: soffit pucks, screen pucks, ceiling cans, and rope light. The current plan is to just use four standard dimmers. I can't afford a Grafik Eye right now but there is always the option to upgrade in the future.

Puck Light:



3" Recessed Can:



Backer boxes for the ceiling cans:



I have also started construction on my somewhat unconventional dead vent which will go under the stairs. There will be a supply in the front and an exhaust in the back of the room. The exhaust will have an in-line fan which draws air out of the room. It will be controlled be a variable speed controller inside the room. The supply in the front will be unpowered and will work off the principle that air will naturally flow in from the decreased pressure due to the exhaust. Both will have dead vents but the only place I could put the supply one is under the stairs. So it will be built according to Ted White's specifications but will be in the shape of a triangular prism. Here is a pic of one side of it:



I will complete the framing, cover the sides, top, and bottom in DD+GG, and then slide it in under the stairs. I will then connect the flex duct with some bends, fill it with fiberglass insulation, and cover the front with DD+GG. Then I'll frame a wall in front of it to hold the shelving for the equipment. Here's a pic of under the stairs. You can see the hole where the 6" duct will enter the vent from the theater. The register on the otherside is in a hallway. This is where the air will be drawn from.



And here is a pic of the front screen wall. The hole is where the register will be located inside the room:



So my plan going forward is to finish the dead vent, frame the wall for the equipment shelves, build the soffits, and then install the sheetrock. I have all of next week off for the holidays so my goal is to have all the sheetrock hung by the end of January 1st.

If you made it through this extremely long post then thanks! I look forward to any advice or comments you might have.

I also received some early Christmas gifts that I couldn't be happier about.

A pair of Aura Pro Bass Shakers from the grandparents:



Star Wars: The Complete Saga blu-ray from my other grandparents:



And a new toy to help during the build:



Dremel 4000, perfect for cutting holes for lights, outlets, etc. in drywall.

We just moved in this summer but I haven't noticed any problems. I was unaware that there was a better way to build stairs. I thought that this was the norm.

I got it here:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B004FJ...9&sr=8-1-fkmr1

It is from Sewell and works great with all of my equipment including an HD cable box. The price was good too.

I had an extra piece of Cat5e so I thought "what the heck." I figure I can use it if I ever get a network capable projector. It could also be used with a repeater system. I figured that it would be easier to run it now than later.

Well I do believe it is time for an update!

Everything is moving along nicely on the theater. Here is what has been accomplished since my last post.

First I finished my unconventional dead vent under the stairs. The framing was completed:





Then the top and sides were covered with a double layer of drywall and green glue:



The whole thing was then pushed under the stairs (it weighed a TON at this point) where I cut the holes to receive the ducting from the hallway and theater:



The air will be drawn from an adjacent hallway to the theater:



The register for the theater is located on the front wall in the center of the room under where the center channel speaker will sit:



This is the supply for the theater. The return register will be in a soffit at the back of the room with another dead vent. I now need connect the flex duct and fill it with insulation.

Next I had to move an HVAC supply line to a register in the dining room. Due to my new lighting plan a recessed light now needs to be housed in the joist space that the supply resided in. As a result I had to move into an adjacent space. This also got it out of the left side soffit. Here is what it looked like initially. It is the elbow hanging down by the I-beam:



I removed the elbows and capped off that line. I then cut a hole in the supply trunk for the new takeoff and ran the duct through the new joist space. It then drops down on the other side of the room to get back to the dining room register.



The piece hanging down below will be concealed by the soffit on that side.

The next step was to construct the two side soffits. I decided to build them before drywalling the whole room because of the fact that they had to conceal the I-beam and HVAC supply. I used the OSB + Drywall method. First I installed a dedicated piece of hat channel reinforced with extra whisper clips:



A 2x2 was then attached as a top piece and another 2x2 was attached to wall. I got 3/4" OSB cut into strips of the appropriate width at Home Depot (SO MUCH easier than ripping them all down myself). I attached another 2x2 to the 8" piece that makes up the vertical face of the soffit:



This piece was then secured to the 2x2 on the hat channel:



Next I had to devise a way to preserve sound isolation with the puck lights which will be housed in the soffits. The lights have a clip which attaches to them so that they can be installed like remodel light cans. To house the electrical connections and preserve sound isolation I installed 4"x4" electrical boxes. First a hole was cut in the soffits at each point where a light was to be installed:



The electrical box was then inserted into the hole and screwed into the soffit on the sides:



The box was then covered with a 1lb pug of duct seal for sound isolation:



The romex was inserted into the box:



And then the bottom piece of OSB was secured to the 2x2 on the wall and the 2x2 attached to the bottom of the vertical piece to form the complete soffit:



After the drywall is installed on the soffit I'll go back and cut a hole the diameter of the light in each box. Then I can just pop it in.

The soffit on the other side was built in the same way. Here's what they look like if you're sitting and looking at the screen wall:



I also installed an electrical box on the front face of one of the soffits to serve as a connection point for the rope lights in crown molding. This box was also covered in a layer of duct seal on the back.



And that's where the room stands today!

I used a coupon last night to buy all of my insulation and half of my drywall.


I only need twenty sheets as I had some 12ft pieces brought in when we cut a hole in the foundation for an egress window. That was before I decided to do double drywall or I would have had it all brought in then. Yay for carrying it downstairs!


Oh joy let the itchiness begin.

This week will be spent installing the insulation and transporting the drywall into the room so that I can rent a drywall lift on either Saturday or Sunday and begin installing drywall.

As always thank you to everyone!

Thanks RTROSE. Yeah I started putting some insulation in last night. I started out thinking it wasn't that bad but then a few hours later the itching really started.

I'm finishing up the insulation and have a question for those of you that have done it before. How did you go about insulating joist spaces with HVAC ducts in them? Two of mine are like this. The ducts hang too low to staple the batt onto the face of the joist like the others. My thought was to take the facing off and shove some in along the sides of the duct but I wanted to see if someone had a better idea. Obviously I'm trying to maximize sound isolation.

Thanks!

Thanks RTROSE. That's exactly what I ended up doing.

I have a few more insulation questions for everyone. First, my walls are attached to the floor joists above with IB-3 clips. This leaves about a 1 inch gap between the top plate and the floor joist. Should I do anything to insulate this space?

My second question is about insulation in staggered stud walls. I've done some searching on the forum but still can't find a definitive answer on how to install it and minimize compression. Weaving it through the studs horizontally would cause the insulation to be pinched on the studs. And installing it vertically in the stud spaces on the theater side would cause compression along the stud on the other side. I'm worried about the possibility of coupling the wall together at those points and negating the effect of the staggered wall. Any advice?

As always thank you!

I talked to Ted and he advised installing the insulation in the staggered stud walls vertically but cutting it lengthwise so that it does not compress against the back stud. Thanks Ted!

One last question regarding insulation. Should I fill the soffits with fiberglass? I have installed the batts to the top of the wall behind the soffits and all the way to the edge of the ceiling above them but should I also fill the cavity? I know that it is normally recommended for resonance but since these soffits were built before the rest of the drywall would this not be a problem? The soffits will be covered in osb+drywall with GG so wouldn't the resonance not be an issue?

Thanks!

Things got moved back a few days because I ordered a USB and ethernet cable from monoprice to run to the center speaker wall plate that just came in today. This is to allow for the addition of a Playstation eyetoy, kinect, or other such device. I couldn't finish up the insulation in the front wall due to the fact that I needed to run these cables first.

My sheet of Wilsonart Designer White laminate also came in today for my DIY screen build. At my old house I just did Behr Silverscreen paint on the wall but for this room I wanted an actual fixed frame screen. The laminate seems to be a good option for those on a budget and I love the DIY aspect of it. Current plan is to attach it to a sheet of hardboard with a velvet wrapped border mounted on the wall. I am also planning to do a manual masking system for 2.35:1 movies.

The theater will have to be put on hold this week and part of the next due to some auditions that I need to judge for a musical that I am building the set and designing the lighting for, midterm exams, and my birthday this Thursday. I'm hoping to get a little work done this weekend but things will really be kicked into high gear starting next Friday.

Still looking for any advice people might have for insulation in the soffits (see previous post).

Thanks!

Thanks azula!

It was a great day. Good food and a new Leatherman Wave, work light, and wet/dry vac.