I want a Little Room Down Under! - Page 2

Yeh it's good to have them run, but I still have more to run, and also knowing I have to install 260mm thick batts I've decided to remove the ceiling gyprock and redo it in 2 layers. Will update on that soon.

In the meantime I've had the window installer and bricky out again to install the double glazed 20mm (around 4/5 inch) thick window. The bricky had to put bricks above as their was only thin plywood.

Before, 3mm thick non opening rubbish


Window removed


New double glazed opening window installed


Also had a few arrivals too from the UK.

The Grafik Eye wohoo!


And my 14m (45feet) of rope light.

Lighting/projector/screen/blinds control system. Basically allows multiple zones to be controlled independently, allowing lights to be dimmed, the projector to start, screen to lower all via one button.

There's a sticky at the top which describes some of what it can do.

Haha, nah projector is back in the box, although I did hang it for a night to test out sizes. Had no sound yet, so removing it again took no will power What happened was I just took 2 weeks off work to hammer the room, and just need a break from it. I have lots of updates, so just need to get time to post them up. Will do so shortly.


Good question. It was there when we purchased the house. Was all the way through the place, so we carpeted the whole top floor, and the downstairs study. It will always be there if we want to go back to it. I'm not 100%, but I think it's Jarrah. EDIT: Actually I remembered it is Black Butt.


Another good question. Your's is more complicated, but for me I'll be using a cat5 from the GE to the front of the room which the IR convertor from the RF Harmony 900 will use. Not sure if that's the right way, but it's how I'm envisioning, and wiring it.


Thank you. The doors seemed to take 3 times longer then I thought they would. Lots of fiddly bits.

Well I've fallen into the trap of starting a thread, and then trailing off as time goes on. Guilty as charged. Now that doesn't mean I haven't been working on the room, just that I haven't been updating as often as I would of liked.

So in saying that I've collated months of photos and will be posting those up over the next few weeks.

One of the reasons for the delay to the work was 2 sets of double doors I purcahsed a while ago, and only now have got around to installing, sanding, staining, etc. Working full time with 2 little ones under 3 means time is short, so I work on the HT/projects when I can. Here is the work on the doors that kept me busying for many weekends....staining to the level of complete smoothness takes some coats, and some time.

The openings on the left and right are where the doors will go. One leads to a study the other to a formal lounge room that will be a standard lounge room once the HT goes in.


From the other side, note my dirty work clothes strewn on the floor, whoops.


One door in, the frame installed for the 2nd.




Set up in the garage for staining. You can see the HT deliveries of batts and some old batts which came out of the ceiling. Also there is a few cartons of green glue and sealant on the floor. The same amount is on the other side of the table.


Taping all of those panes on both sides x 4 is a...well, a pain.


I'll post a completed pic of the doors next.

And here's the completed home theatre! Yeh baby, rocking!


7.1 installed and looking good. Actually I was just testing the cabling and general layout. Everything seems fine.



Also next will post what happens when you don't know how to remove a ceiling correctly...whoops.

Orginally I wasn't going to pull the ceiling gyprock (drywall for those north of the equator) off as it would be too much work. Eventually I realised it would be took much work to not pull it off. So I decided to remove the cornice, then start in the far corner and pull the screws out, and the gyprock would come off one piece at a time. Easy....not.

This is what the room looked like early in the day.






So I pulled the lights out, then this is literally a few mins later.





I was pulling the corner piece and saw it was moving more then I was pulling, so I ran for the door, which I had already closed. All I could do was stand there and break the fall of the gyprock with my stupid noggin. Also it bent the lights stands a little. Other then that, there was no damage, just shattered gyprock and dust as far as you could see. After it all collapsed and I made sure I was ok, I had a good chuckle to myself, as I was the only one home. Then started on the process of cleaning up.




Luckily I had the door closed. Saved crap going all over the house.


All clean now, and finally get a decent look at what I need to work on. So much better to have access like this.


My first job will be sorting out the air conditioning duct. Need to put a damper in, then install a 10" to 2x8" splitter, and then run the new vents around the side of the room.

Yeh Nick, I will be taking the oppurtunity to clean up the wiring and lay the batts perfectly how I want. After doing the batts now I don't see how I would ever of done it otherwise. The shots of the inside of the roof cavity show how cramped it was, and always relying on good weather killed many a weekend for me. This way things will run much smoother.

Here's some more updates.

I added the damper to the duct. Seems to be working fine.


This is where the rooms return will go, next to an existing one. I need to do a vent here otherwise the tight seal in the room will pressurise and I'll get no new air into it. In the HT the vent will be in the front right corner of the room.


This is the return entering the HT. It will be hidden in the soffit.


This is where it is in relation to the room.


Once the damper was in, I added a 10" to 2 x 8" Y splitter.


This is one of the 8" ducts which will supply the left side of the room.


My Grandview 112" screen arrived. I was nervous about buying a screen so large, and even now still not sure what it will be like in the completed room. I put it up to see how it felt. So how did it feel? .... HUGE!


Also mounted the projector (Panny AE7000) on a sliding bracket so I could get an idea of distance, and where to end the sofitt that will house the projector.

Well it changed it's name from duck tape (due to it's waterproof ability) to duct tape to reflect the usage in air conditioning ducts, so it's strange you haven't seen it used that way. There are also clamps within the tape, so it's more an extra insulator/sealer.

haha, I turned it on and watched a few samples, but the interest quickly fades when the picture has no volume.
As for the ceiling it's quite disturbing knowing I only undid about 5 screws from the corner piece and that was the result. I had removed the cornice all around, so I guess that must really assist in holding it all up.

Thanks Tedd. I have zip ties under the tape actually. Also don't need the metal screws as the duct joints are ribbed to hold the zip in place. Wasn't aware of foil tape though. Does it not use an adhesive, hence no drying out?

Well the house is 12 yrs old now, and the original ducting was done at that time, before we were there.

This shot shows the original duct tape still attached to the duct and vent


If after 12 yrs it's still attached solidly, which it is, I'm content with that. Besides the room is now sealed so no going back

Well it was on for about 15 mins while I checked the screen size, then it was back in the box the same night. Hopefully I've avoided any blogs.

Thanks for the comments, and agree with you about progress. Would love to see more of both of our rooms progressing, but unless you take 3 months off work and just solidly hit the project, life, kids, and love get in the way of committing that amount of time. Hopefully you can knock over your other projects and then get back to your real passion.

Personally I'm at the framing stage now of the soffit, and being a wood head, am loving it. Will post some more updates later today.

Cheers,

I've added my own mounting boxes for the cabling to assist in containing spillage both in and out. This one contains the sub cable and power, plus the conduit will enable access if needed.


Another one near the back corner.


This one is for the grafik eye controller, and the run of cables. I have no explanation for the box of tissues.


The cabling is essentially done, so I've started adding the straps to contain the batts. This shot also shows the large lumber of holes needed for the front gyprocking as I'll be having 4 x 4 power plugs, as well as all the other connections.


Originally I was going to place the gyprock directly onto the exitsing beams. Problem is the beams are a mess and don't all go the same direction, so hitting them for double layers could be difficult. Instead I'll sacrifice the loss of 22mm (almost 1inch) ceiling height and place furling strips the entire length, every 400mm (16inches). I bought a bunch of 5.4m treated pine decking boards. Don't need treated pine, but they were cheap, and they were the right distance as the room is 5.4m long. Here's the start of the strips going in.


Some of the room beams go a different direction, so I had to put in some support beams to take the strips.


Furling strips all in now.


I got help from a mate and we installed all the R6 (270mm/11 inches) ceiling batts. The furling strips were invaluable even for this work.
'

Fast forward a few days later as another mate gave me a hand with the walls. I used Bradford 2.5 SoundScreen batts here. Very dense, and easy to work with. This shot is after we cleaned up the huge mess all those batts make. For those who have done it, I'm sure you'll agree.





Things have been moving fast, but that's because I took 2 weeks leave from work and just hit the room hard, so all this work was done in that block.
Next up is the start of the gyprocking. yeh baby!

I've been thinking about the projector, and how I'll be venting the air considering it will be in an enclosed area in the soffit. Biggest size fan I could get would be a 6", maybe 8". If I install a fan at the back of the space, with ducting running up into the roof cavity, how can I control when the fan turns on? Is it simple to use it with the projector's (Panny AE7000) 12v option so it turns on/off in sync with the projector?

Well even though it's been a while since I posted, things have moved along in real life, so time to update the thread a little. I have another 2 weeks leave coming up, so will be working on the soffit and getting the lighting sorted.

I have updated images of the gyprock (drywall) process, and more, so will try and get some updates sorted out and uploaded.

In regards to this question, I installed 2 x 6" fans, one in and one out, and will control them via the 12v on the panny. Pictures to follow.

What I'm currently stuck on though is the Grafik Eye QS install. I don't know how to configure it so it controls the projector turning on and off. I've ran cat5 between them, but am not sure where to run it too on both ends. If anyone has any info I'd appreciate some input.

Thanks,

Back with an update.
I've now solved this problem by not having the projector connected to the GE. Really no point in doing so. I'll have the lights controlled via remote to the GE, and the projector the same way.

Things have been moving steadily along, so I'll post some updates on what has been done.

Thanks to Greg, I have a great gyprock lift to assist with the work.


First piece of 16mm Fyrecheck installed.


1st layer almost complete. Lucky I always had someone helping, as the 2.7m lengths weigh almost as much as me. You can see the cutouts for the cabinet and 55" on the wall.


2nd layer gets started.


All done! Can see my new LED lights here too. The older tungsten lights made me feel sunburnt after a day of work in there. These are much better.


All ready for the sofitt framing now.

Next up is the sofitt. Here's a plan of what I'll be building.

The overhang will allow the rope light to be contained within. Projector housing will be contained as a hush box with a fan for the in and the out vents.


Ventured to Bunnings and grabbed the timber. Think the overhang off the back was more then should be allowed, but I made it home ok.


I'll be doing this part alone, so some creative soloing was required to hold pieces in place while I get them level and attached.


I built the frame in modular form and then lifted it into place with the help of clamps.


First piece is up!


Clamps were invaluable when you need to do this alone.


Starting to take shape.


The projector housing is in the middle.


This is the overhang that will hold the rope lights. I'll attach a 16mmx90mm timber piece to the front. The boxed section is the return for the air con, vented to the room next door. It contains double layer MDF GG'd.