Breaking all the rules - zamboniman's V3.0 - putting home back in the home theater - Page 2

Come to think of it.... there were more tools and more carnage spread out 12 hours before the last meet. Good times good times.

So the stars aligned this past weekend and the screen boarder got it's last bit of velvet wrap. Still need to do some adjusting but making progress. Excuse the horrible cell phone pics... just makes it so much easier and faster to grab quick updates.

google sketchup - warning a bit of a learning curve but free......

and attaching images.....

You need to host them somewhere else like photobucket..... then you can paste the image code into the forum post

Small update... I can't believe it's been almost a month and I've got nothing to show for myself.

First off, the overall cosmetic design concept has evolved quite a bit in my head now that I see the original sketchup concept above. It will carry the existing house theme and mix in some antique wooden boating influences. The house is on a lake so this will bring the setting of the home in and should mix well. May even have to call this the boathouse theater?

On to the real interesting find tonight. Tonight I was snooping around in the ceiling... I've been dreading how I'm going to open up the entire ceiling and swiss cheese my ceiling joists to get my projector cables in place. The previous owner left an array of inceiling speakers so that's a convenient way to take a look without making a mess.

What do I find? Well one possible answer to my houses abnormal quietness. Not only is it 5/8" drywall... it's on resilient channel! Sure not the ideal approach in these circles but hey it's there.. and it's doing something. I also now have a hunch that it's in more ceilings than the basement. It explains some other oddities I ran into hanging something elsewhere in the house. So here's a tiphat to the builder! Something I would never expect to run into in this age unless in an application absolutely requiring it. Tonight I'm chalking it up to a small victory in life.. even if it's a small one.

I also think I'm also going to get lucky snaking some hdmi and cat5 without coring the joists. With the furring and channel in place the way it is I've got a passage way to where I need to go. Worth a shot anyway. If it ends up being too much of a headache I'll cut the ceiling open and do the big patch job.

The awesome thing though is that we've been able to enjoy some movies as a family. A nice way to unwind taking a break from life if only for a couple hours here and there. Redbox has been an awesome thing for us.

Funny you should ask....

Here's the latest.. baby steps.. Have the primary screenwall skeleton complete. Just have to craft the permanent mounting of the bits and the necessary fine "adjustments so everything aligns nice.. this also includes mounting some hinges as the sides will open for access to equipment etc.

Once that is complete it's paint and "skin" aka fabric..

Note the running design change.. Originally the sides were to be angled in.. Having them hinged brought the overall complexity exponentially higher. Reality set in with the amount of time I have to apply here, the level that my tools can reasonably achieve, and my overall patience played a role as well.. Ultimately, it became a more squared off design as is and I actually think I like it better now that it's in place but until the skin is on hard to say.

Here's the fun part.. has to be done by Sunday! As we're having a gathering at the house and word is that the basement can't be a construction zone.

Also have the projector mounted etc.. not much to look at but that ended up being a much bigger job than expected. Which may be a reason for my slow progress as that was many weekends of messing an hour here and there. So there's some drywall patches needing to be mud and finish as well on the ceiling.

OK here it is...

Needs some tweaking to get the doors to hinge smoothly and is basically all friction fit due to time constraints set forth by our guests arrival. That said after pulling multiple all nighters in the last week I'm done with this for awhile. I have some better pictures on a real camera with the room cleaned up but this cell phone picture will do for now. Also need to mud/paint the ceiling where I opened the drywall. The plugs are screwed back up but you can see where it was cutout.

Time to just enjoy the room and go back to focusing on the family. Phase 1 is done.. and the remainder will be put on hold till next fall/winter. Maybe some drapes for the windows but that's it. Phase 2 upon colder weather will bring my old wooden boat deck inspired riser project.



Looking at it done it's a bit plain looking. Simple and effective but not particularly interesting either. Wonder if I should do something interesting decorative on the far of each side like some trim work. It's a bit deceiving size wise though. The screen is a full 10' wide and the black area is over 16' across. Without a reference object up against it the photos make the screen much smaller appearing.

Just keep in mind while wishing that everything gets exponentially more expensive as you go up in size... EVERYTHING.

Wow was it really that long ago? Seems like yesterday. Lots has changed since then.. anything is possible but I'd probably lean towards not a large open get together. Primarily because its a ton of work... more than most would expect. And I just don't have that kind of time anymore. That said if a local person wanted to hear the catalyst it can be arranged ... understanding that the room is not a reference implementation by any stretch.

LOL.. Theater what's that?

Every spare moment has been redirected to Wake Surfing and Boarding with Nasty and the Family.

When the weather turns, the toys are winterized, and I can park in my garage...... Look for something..

The bright side is much recharge and time to ponder the next steps.