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Swamp build

post #1 of 148
2/16/12 at 5:56pm
Thread Starter 

I got a good deal on some swamp front property.  It's actually a lake, but our lot is at the edge, backing to a small creek that feeds the lake.  The water isn't very deep at the edge, so I call it the swamp to irritate my wife.

 

Each floor will have 10' ceilings. I paid a little extra to have the HT part of the basement dug down an extra 2'. That will give me 12' walls in the theater before floor & ceiling losses. It will also put my riser level with the basement floor at the entrance.  Dennis suggested it and I'm really glad I did it.  It was a lot cheaper than I thought.

 

Nearly finished exterior

 

 

 

 

 

And here is the real reason for my 21x30 HT space... wife wanted a big kitchen and I got the area below.

 

 

HT lobby area (work in progress)

 

 

Projector is going in at the top center of this wall.  I'll put the projector related equipment under it, then wrap the whole thing behind a ticket booth / concession stand.

 

 

 

HT itself with DD + GG on whisper clips (long way to go still)

 


Edited by rabident - 5/13/13 at 9:32pm
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post #2 of 148
2/18/12 at 4:16am
What happened to the sewing room?
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post #3 of 148
2/18/12 at 5:35am
Don't think we've seen a swimming pool go in. What is the timetable?
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post #4 of 148
2/18/12 at 4:48pm
Thread Starter 
Big,

I thought it might have been a bad joke, causing confusion, so I removed it. HT is always the biggest room.

Dave,

I say "swimming" to differentiate from billiards. My wife wanted it for exercise. We originally were looking at a small in ground lap pool, but it was ~$60k plus heavy HVAC dehumidification requirements from the builder in order to warranty the house. Even then he wasn't crazy about it. I was also worried about resale. So one of the early concessions we made was to to make it an "endless pool". It's 8' x 14' of water, a little over 4' deep. You swim against the current. The water is heated, uses UV to clean without chlorine, and it has an automatic hydraulic cover system that seals the humidly in while not in use. It's ~$32k.





We went to contract with the basement unfinished, so it's all cash options now. Builder is going to do ~850sqft for the non-HT areas. We'll either do the pool after he's done, or with the house... depends on how well we do with allowances. For HT, I haven't decided who I'm going to have finish it. House is supposed to be done by August, but I have my doubts.
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post #5 of 148
2/18/12 at 4:57pm
Do you have any concepts/pictures of theaters you would like to use as inspiration? That is a nicely sized room, let us hope that the HVAC installers and plumbers don't view that high ceiling as an invitation to go wild.
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post #6 of 148
2/18/12 at 6:19pm
Thread Starter 
I spec'd open floor trusses early on. I cleaned up the plans before posting online, but both plans and specs say no drop downs / box downs in theater room. It's part of the contract price of the house. I had to pay extra for that too. The HVAC and plumbing will be run through the webbing in the trusses.



I struggled with the look of the HT. I know 99% of my time will be spent with my eyes on screen, so logic says pure black fabric walls would be best. But I couldn't bring myself to do it.

I saw this pic last week. Someone else listed it as their inspiration. I like the sconces on the columns and the dip in the floor that the fabric wall captures.

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post #7 of 148
2/18/12 at 7:02pm
This theater (and some construction details in the thread) has some very similar design aspects, but you are right that angled wall panel is a nice touch.



http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...2&highlight=tk
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post #8 of 148
2/18/12 at 7:16pm
Have the floor designers looked at your plans yet, or did you have an architect layout all the mechanicals when you designed the house? We were told we couldn't use open web trusses because our weight bearing walls didn't line up from one floor to the next. We ended up with some huge beams in our house. I think we've got a 4-ply, 18" LVL that was a compromise from a 24" version because of the open floor plan in our house.
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post #9 of 148
2/19/12 at 5:03am
Quote:
Originally Posted by rabident View Post

I struggled with the look of the HT. I know 99% of my time will be spent with my eyes on screen, so logic says pure black fabric walls would be best. But I couldn't bring myself to do it.

I don't think I could ever do an all black room either but this is what you need to take into account. The black you see on the screen during the movie is actually the white screen with nothing showing on it. Your brain tells you it is black. When you have a lot of light colors in a room the image lights up the room and that light bounces around and actually lights up the screen a bit.

The result is on screen blacks are not as black as they could be. My point is at some point you can have too much white in a room. Your inspiration theater may have too much.
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post #10 of 148
2/19/12 at 9:54am
Quote:
Originally Posted by rabident View Post

I saw this pic last week. Someone else listed it as their inspiration. I like the sconces on the columns and the dip in the floor that the fabric wall captures. I asked Dennis to make my theater like that, but the columns and speakers wouldn't line up right in my space/seating location. I have the final concept from him, but I'm not sure if I'm allowed to post it online.



Does anyone have a link to more pictures of this theater? The screen wall is interesting, it looks like you can walk around it to access the back of it.
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post #11 of 148
2/19/12 at 3:20pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by phisch View Post

Does anyone have a link to more pictures of this theater? The screen wall is interesting, it looks like you can walk around it to access the back of it.

The OP in the other thread said it was a CEDIA 2008 winner, but I searched and couldn't find anything. Someone asked him for more pics, but he didn't post any. The screen wall looks like Aerial Accoustics Theater Wall. http://www.aerialacoustics.com/produ...em1/index.aspx

JPA, thanks for the warning. I will double check.

Big, those 2 pictures are like fire & ice. There is a lot of white in both of them. I prefer the cooler colors. I know white is less than ideal, but I'm not sure what I'm going to do about it yet.

Plan B is a theater like Keith did for Amir.
http://www.madronadigital.com/Showroom/HomeTheater.html
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post #12 of 148
2/28/12 at 7:13pm
You really have to add some pictures to this thread! I know there's been some progress, but you're being stingy here and not showing the pictures. We all like to live vicariously on someone else's dime That is, you pay the contractor, but we get to watch the concrete getting poured!

I'm going on a hunger strike until I see some pictures. Don't wait too long, though. I get cranky if I don't get breakfast!

Did you find out anything about your flooring design? I'm curious about the flooring system you will use.
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post #13 of 148
2/28/12 at 8:08pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by rabident View Post

...
Each floor has 10' ceilings. I paid a little extra to have the HT part of the basement dug down an extra 2'. Dennis suggested it. That will give me 12' walls in the theater before floor & ceiling losses. It will also put my riser level with the basement floor at the entrance.

...

Just caught your thread here. Congrats on having a great space to work with.

In my last home we had 12' basement walls as well, it was like heaven! Here is some of what I learned, which hopefully might help. None of the guys working down there in our place (myself included!) accounted for such a high ceiling in a 'basement'. The guys who normally do basement work on a ladder won't work out, you will need scaffolding, with the rolling kind the best since the floor is flat concrete. I did most of the work and just bought my own rolling scaffolding.

I had a guy do some plumbing work, and he wanted to 'rebid' his work after only a few hours since he didn't take the ceiling height into consideration. He only had a ladder and after what seemed like a thousands trips up and down he was about ready to go nuts. We agreed he should just use my scaffolding.

The concrete guys kind of had fun with it. They only did residential and didn't have the right forms for pouring the concrete at 12'. They worked it out well with the 8 foot and 4 foot forms used together. Then they didn't have long enough "rods" (whatever they call the bar they use to get the air bubbles out of the concrete while pouring it) to make it so they had to rig up something for that as well. Was stressful but handled well. At the end the 12 foot concrete wall looked massive and overkill; everyone got a nice laugh out of it.

I miss the 12' walls very much and can't wait to move and go build another home! Tall walls like that are now a must-have for me. I look forward to your pics!
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post #14 of 148
3/3/12 at 2:03pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by warrenP View Post

None of the guys working down there in our place (myself included!) accounted for such a high ceiling in a 'basement'. The guys who normally do basement work on a ladder won't work out, you will need scaffolding, with the rolling kind the best since the floor is flat concrete.

I did notice things tended to be priced higher in the HT area, and the height probably has something to do with it. I had assumed it was a PITA charge for things being non-standard.

Not much for updates. They've spent about a month moving piles of dirt around. I have footings and that's about it. Picked my appliances, but I'm hung up on cabinets/kitchen layout.



JPA, I double checked on the trusses and explained the problem you had. He said he was very specific with the engineers building the trusses, and that they would be the triangles with a 16" opening running down the middle which he'll use to fit the HVAC return line that crosses the HT space. Goal was to have big open room to drop the HT into. I'm not sure how the HVAC for the HT itself will be laid out.
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post #15 of 148
3/13/12 at 7:44am
Quote:
Originally Posted by rabident View Post

Trying to have faith this will turn into a home......

Nothing to worry about there! It'll be a house one day. It might take longer than you want, but it'll be a house.


Well, there's my pep talk for the day Keep the pictures coming!
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post #16 of 148
3/13/12 at 11:20pm
Thread Starter 
They started water proofing (I think) today. I've had some standing water next to the foundation. It can be seen in the shots above and below. I'm not sure if it's cause for concern at this point. The theater itself is 100% below grade for 2'.

Still trying to decide how to finish the theater.





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post #17 of 148
3/14/12 at 9:07am
Yes, sir! You have waterproofing. Looks like a pretty good system as well. Sprayed on membrane plus a drainage mat with a geotextile (or whatever they're calling it these days). That should work really well. It's hard to tell from your pictures, but it looks like they're using a combination of an engineered drain tile and a conventional one as well.

You didn't ask, but here's a suggestion. Make sure they use gravel to cover the drain tile (both the engineered and conventional). You "CAN" use native soil on the engineered tiles, but it's not recommended. On top of that, the gravel should be on site anyway, so it only takes an extra couple of minutes to do.

I wouldn't worry about the water at this point. Not sure where you live, but if you've had any amount of rain it'll take a while to dry out. Particularly this time of year when it doesn't get real warm. It's also in a hole where it's shaded and protected from wind. So I don't think it's anything to worry about just based on the pictures. Did you ever find out if you'll have a sump or will your drains go to daylight?

And finally, DIY or hiring out the finish is really a personal preference. If I had the money, I'd pay to have everything done and watch a movie the night I moved into my house. Unfortunately, that's not really and option for us, so I'll have to do the work as I get money and time. I'll enjoy it (except for the drywall), but it would be nice to just to have it done. If you've got lots of time, and enjoy working on things like this, that's another reason to DIY. So it's really what you're comfortable with. If you go DIY, there's lots of people here that can help with just about everything you're likely to run into. If you pay someone, those same people can offer advice about what to watch out for with your subs.

Either way, keep the pics coming! You're going to have an amazing house, my friend!
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post #18 of 148
3/14/12 at 3:38pm
Looks awesome

Quote:


I really wanted double doors centered on the room, but that didn't make it through the "no stupids" filter.

How is that stupid? With the layout of everything and the lobby double doors into the theatre seem to fit well. Or did you just mean that it was problematic with the build?


Where's the bar go?
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post #19 of 148
3/14/12 at 5:47pm
That is a hell of a foundation. If your builder takes that much care through the whole project you will have a great home. Don't let them install crummy windows though.
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post #20 of 148
3/14/12 at 8:02pm
It will turn into a wonderful home, looking good already.

You need to get a pic of a human in front of that concrete wall to give it scale. I love seeing another 12 foot wall!
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post #21 of 148
3/17/12 at 6:26pm
Thread Starter 
More pics...








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post #22 of 148
3/17/12 at 9:05pm
Wow this looks like its going to turn out great! subscribed!
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post #23 of 148
3/24/12 at 9:52pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by petew View Post

That is a hell of a foundation. If your builder takes that much care through the whole project you will have a great home. Don't let them install crummy windows though.

Pete,

Thanks for your reply in the other thread. I didn't know you were our AVS resident window expert

Builder spec'd PlyGem Mira. The house is going to be all brick & stone with a long brown metal roof on a wrap around porch. I didn't want to use white vinyl windows. The Mira line is aluminum clad and comes in a range of colors. I got brown to match the rest of the metal on the house.
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post #24 of 148
3/25/12 at 6:53am
I don't have hands on experience with PlyGem Mira but they look like well made windows. Good warranty too. I sell JELD-WEN Custom and Premium collections (not the junk they sell at the big orange box), and Hurd.

Very good decision to avoid plastic windows. I am not a fan of vinyl windows.
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post #25 of 148
3/25/12 at 11:18pm
This is fantastic! Even now this has become one of my favorite threads! Great workby the builder, I am sure you will have great results. Looks wonderful. Thank you for posting, I look forward to reading the updates and progress.
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post #26 of 148
3/26/12 at 12:18am
Quote:
Originally Posted by phisch View Post

Does anyone have a link to more pictures of this theater? The screen wall is interesting, it looks like you can walk around it to access the back of it.

I originally posted this from HGTV pro. It was a cedia award winner from a while back.
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post #27 of 148
4/1/12 at 9:06pm
Thread Starter 
Couple questions...

I've got 2 hairline cracks in the slab. Each is 15' - 20' long. Do cracks = foundation problems?





2nd question. It's been raining a lot. Judging by the way the water is pooled in the HT area, it looks like the slab isn't level. Is it reasonable to expect a level slab?

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post #28 of 148
4/2/12 at 4:50am
Quote:
Originally Posted by rabident View Post

2nd question. It's been raining a lot. Judging by the way the water is pooled in the HT area, it looks like the slab isn't level. Is it reasonable to expect a level slab?

I've never worked on a project with a perfectly level concrete floor. I think it is a matter of the amount that the floor is off that would indicate whether you should be concerned. I don't know if you have the equipment to measure the high versus low side of the room to see how much slope you are talking about. How deep was the water at the extreme?

You can set up a laser level shooting across the room then take a stick and holding it straight up walk the room seeing where it hits the stick. It helps if you wait until the sun isn't really bright.

Once you know, then you need to decide if it is going to cause a problem. If it is under where the riser will go you can just adjust the framing of the riser to make it level. You might also talk to your builder about putting down a self leveling top coat.
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post #29 of 148
4/2/12 at 4:58am
The cracks are no big deal. Concrete shrinks as it cures so cracks are expected.
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post #30 of 148
4/8/12 at 10:01pm
Thread Starter 
I got my trusses. There is an open space in the middle of each one that will accommodate a 16" flexduct HVAC return line. It's hard to see in the stack, so I highlighted in red. Smaller supply lines, pipes, wires, etc will run between the webbing. That's for North/South runs. East/West runs can tee off and run between the trusses unobstructed. That's to keep the general house stuff out of the theater. Theater itself will have its own HVAC system with more traditional metal ducts run within the room.



These weren't expensive, so I thought I would share details since it seems about the best way to do HT ceilings. It is worth noting, like JPA said earlier, that the trusses themselves are relatively weak compared to other options so they had to re-engineer my original plans to avoid any load bearing walls coming down on an area spanned by the trusses. You also need to have the engineers take into account the static load of any sound proofing since that's typically done by adding a bunch of mass.
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