The Grove Theater and Basement Build - Page 21

Weekend Update

Things got off to a good start this weekend with another surprise waiting for me when I got home.



Lots of 2" cotton waiting for me to install it. This should complete all of my treatment deliveries. Now I just need to start using some of it.

On Saturday I wanted to get the last dead vent hole cut. It was really tough to put a sizeable hole in my soundproofing.





You can see the 8" adapter above the 6" hole that I need to attach to. Probably will come straight out, make a u-turn up through the 2x2 structure over the stage, and then make a right turn completing the run. It will cause my corner bass trap to adapt around it but I didn't really have much of a choice. This will be the room inlet. The dead vent outlet is behind the projector.

I also continued work on the columns. I finished construction for all the base and top pieces. These were the last two I had to build because they weren't as straight forward as the others. Each column base got an outlet hole cut in it too (not pictured).





Thought about trying to bring the curved section down around the steps but figured it would be more trouble than it was worth. Not even sure that I could have gotten the bend to look the same. The longer one will also be covered by the seating so it probably would never be seen anyway. And the one on the step looks pretty good as is I think.

I have one last thing to do to each column section (see below). I am going to add a strip of 1/4" plywood to each overhang to straighten and reinforce them. It will also give me a better place to attach the fabric to. Only issue, the staples I currently have are too long and stick through. Ordered some 1/4" staples to use and should be able to finish that up this week. This was also my first test for the Porter Cable US58. Worked like a charm and has some good power to it.



Sunday was a long cold day. Spent the vast majority of my time outside cutting the face pieces for the 4Pi speakers. Only have one pic to show at this point because they are not assembled but will have more once I start to put the pieces together.



Once inside, I ran some wires for the LED lighting...



and installed some more can lights. I now have all of them in except the ones over the stage which are on another circuit. I hope I have some time tonight to wire in the switch and connect it to the panel and get some additional light in the room.

So here is where the room stands as of today. Front...



Back...



This week I want to get the lights on, finish the strips on the columns, start sealing and priming the columns, and maybe prime the equipment room. Hopefully the rack will be in by Friday so I can get that mounted and ready to go. Also eagerly awaiting word that my screen has shipped. And next weekend it will be time to break out some fabric.

Thanks Spaceman! Trying to catch up to where you are (hanging fabric frames) but it's been slow going.


Thanks cuzed! I am happy with the way things look right now but am a little worried about the fabric wrapping that I have coming up. There are places that need fabric and places I don't want it visible so it could make the columns very difficult to finish. And then throw in the LEDs which could be frustrating depending on how easily it is to make the jumper wires. Oh, and punch a bunch of holes in the columns to allow me to run the wiring.

Thanks for the offer cuzed. I can do the next best thing in the mean time and post all my LED questions on here for you to answer for me.

I need to order some more LEDs. I have one strip right now that I plan to use for the step lighting and I have 4 more strips on the way that I plan to put in the soffit. So at this point I don't have LEDs for the columns but that's ok because I am basically just prewiring the columns right now. I have a strip of lights that I can reference and once I get the quick-connect connectors I can start punching holes in the columns and wiring up jumpers. The jumpers will be the most important part right now because they will keep me from closing up my soffits if I don't have them done soon. I ordered the connectors from Hitlights and they just shipped today (a week after I placed my order). Not too happy with that kind of order fulfillment. I hope I don't need anymore than I already ordered because I don't have the patience to wait.

Another delivery today. Hope this helps tame the IB.



And now time for a little wiring. Broke out my first Insteon dimmer. This is a 6 button dimmer that will have scene control for the theater. It directly controls 11 of the 15 soffit can lights. I really like the look of this Insteon dimmer. I have a black keypad kit that I will switch out once the dimmer is in it's final home.



Need to get an extension for the box and add some spacers around the dimmer to give me a place to attach the fabric to.

And let there be light!





The front of the room is still pretty dark because I haven't installed the four lights over the stage (on a different circuit which hasn't been installed yet).



I can now finally work in the room without my shop lights.

Used these new lights to test out the fit of my speaker front panel. Tight fit. Still have another piece to install on the front but starting to see the final product.



Really happy with the way the lights turned out. Need to finish the light trims and get those installed. Tomorrow I will fill some holes in the columns and get them ready for sealing. And maybe glue some more on the speaker boxes.

For those who have used Insteon dimmers, have you touched the metal surround on the dimmer where it screws into the box while the dimmer has been on for awhile? I knew it would be warm but it was almost scalding. I'm a little worried that it could create issues down the road once it has it's cover on it. Anyone have any thoughts? I followed the supplied wiring diagram and everything seems to function properly. Just a little paranoid I guess.

550 watts on a dimmer rated at 600 watts.

The dimmer is rated at 600 watts. I have 11 lights connected to it. Each light is 50 watts.

The dimmer is in a 1gang box so I don't have to worry about reducing the capacity.

Checked the dimmer again tonight. Ran the lights for a couple of hours and the switch stayed pretty warm but didn't get any worse than it did last night. I guess it just runs really warm. I'll keep an eye on it as I continue to work in there.

Thanks Nick! I hope they turn out as good as the design I have in my head. Still pushing trying to get the majority of it done by Thanksgiving. Not sure if I will make it or not but I am going to try.

Holes are filled in columns and was sealing them last night until I ran out of sealer with one column to go.

Also tried to finish the front plate assembly for one of the 4Pi speakers but realized that I didn't make the outside hole big enough. I cut it too close and am about a 32nd all the way around too small. You wouldn't think that trying to shave off a 32nd would be that difficult but it is when it's a circle and the piece you are working with is somewhat fragile. Finally had to give up on it and went to glue up the other two boxes to bring them to the same point as the first. Oops, I guess not quite the same point point as they don't have the ports glued in like the first one. I will try and take a few pictures tonight.

Going to pick up some more sealer tonight as well as try and narrow down my carpet selections. I am going to be cutting it really close if I want carpet installed before Thanksgiving. Means I need to get my order in this week. This is going to be cutting it close.

That is a good idea. I don't have a dremel tool but I think my Dad has one. Unforturnately this hole does need to be presentable because it surrounds the speaker just like BIG did with his. So the front plate is actually made up of two pieces with two different size holes. The one in the back is smaller to mount the woofer to and the one on top is bigger and fits tight around the speaker so that it fits flush with the face of the speaker vs. on the face as you would typically find. I am pretty much copying BIG's design.

Hit the store tonight and picked up some supplies. Was able to finish applying the sanding sealer to the columns. Also took a little time to clean up the room.

Here are a few pics of the speaker build. I added the ports to the other two speakers. All three will be ready for the front portion tomorrow once I get the woofer hole enlarged.

The front of the speaker without the face piece.



The back of the speaker.



Here is a shot with the face piece laying in place. This has not been attached yet.



Got a little bad news tonight. While on my trip to Lowes I took another look at the carpet selections. So far they have the most options that I like at a lower price point. The bad news was that when I asked how quickly they could have it installed I got, "about 3 weeks". If that ends up being the case I won't have carpet by Thanksgiving and, if I should happen to get the room mostly done, I won't be able to try and tune the room because it won't have all the absorption. Here are a few shots of the carpets that I like. Nothing too fancy about them. A subtle pattern to them. Looking at doing a gray color. The wife has ruled out black because it would be a pain to keep clean.

I forgot to write the names down but I can get them if someone wants to know. There are three styles. Each was taken in the room with flash first and then without.

Example 01




Example 02




Examplet 03




Let me know what you guys think about the carpet options. I'm taking off work tomorrow to work on the room so I hope to make some good progress.

You are pretty much spot on with what I was thinking after seeing the samples in the room next to the fabric samples. I like a little more of a pattern as well. Adds a little bit of interest vs. a plain carpet. And I agree that since the walls are pretty plan that having a little something going on with the carpet is a good thing.

CARPET HELP NEEDED!!! Maybe that will get his attention.

I like the darker but haven't run it by the wife. Probably too close to black that she will veto it.

This should be very close to what the final walls will look like. Does this help change any minds??

I may have to see if there is a way to get a larger sample. Now that the choices are starting to narrow down maybe I can start shopping these options to find better pricing and install times.