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Need Ideas/Advice for 2nd Row Seating

post #1 of 15
4/27/12 at 7:52pm
Thread Starter 
I'm currently building a theater room in the basement and have everything worked out in my head the way I would want it, except for one problem. The room is about 24 by 14 with low 7 foot ceilings, except about 11 feet towards the back of the room, the ceiling get even lower to about 6.5 feet because of heating ducts running across the ceiling. The framing was built around the heating ducts so the ceiling will be even lower in the back of the room. The first row of seats will be flat on the floor of course, the 2nd row of seats will be back where the ceiling drops about half a foot, and I want to elevate the seats a bit so people in the 2nd row are staring into the back of the peoples heads in the first row. I wanted to put a riser, but the ceilings are too low where the 2nd row would be for a riser. Any averaged size guy that stands up over there with a riser would certainly smack his head on the ceiling.

So with this room situation, what can I do about the 2nd row? Can anything be done, or should I ditch the 2nd row?
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post #2 of 15
4/28/12 at 10:05am
You could add a bar behind first row with bar seats if you need the extra seating for overflow.
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post #3 of 15
4/28/12 at 10:52am
Can you flip the room and put the screen at the short end?
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post #4 of 15
4/28/12 at 11:03am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by tbraden32 View Post

You could add a bar behind first row with bar seats if you need the extra seating for overflow.

I will have some sort of a bar/snack stand in the back end of the room. I was hoping for that in addition to a 2nd row of seating. Maybe there are different home theater seats I can use for the 1st and second row? A lower seat in the front and slightly higher seats in the back?? I don't know if something like that even exists and if so, if the height difference would be enough to make a difference.
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post #5 of 15
4/28/12 at 11:04am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by HopefulFred View Post

Can you flip the room and put the screen at the short end?

I thought about that, only problem is the wall on the flip side has a closet taking up half of it. The layout of the wall on the flip side and just the way the room is would solve one problem, and make a few more lol.
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post #6 of 15
4/28/12 at 7:31pm
One solution would be to shorten the room, and go with seating four wide in one row. The drop section of the room would become a soffit over an acoustically transparent screen and front wall. Use two-three feet of depth under the 6.5' height, for the acoustically transparent space to house speakers and subs (behind the screen). Use the leftover eight-nine feet of depth for a storage room or home office.
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post #7 of 15
4/29/12 at 6:11am
You could build a small riser just under the seating. This would allow people to walk in front of the second row on the floor but still sit higher in the seats to hopefully see over the first row peeps. If you don't like your feet dangling and you have the room you could build a step up to the second row. Third option is to purchase chairs that already have the rise built into them. I forget the brand but I have seen them on here before. The bar that has been suggested is also a good option.
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post #8 of 15
4/29/12 at 6:17am
Thread Starter 
Thank you Tedd and Vanice. Tedd, your idea is awesome but needs spousal approval as she still has say in the design of the room.

Vanice, I like your idea quite a bit also. Also, those seats with the built in riser is very interesting to me! If the s/o isn't for Tedds idea, I'll be going this route
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post #9 of 15
4/29/12 at 6:27am
I echo Vanice's suggestion of the riser only under the seats. You could do a full size riser made out of a 2x4 frame with 3/4" osb on top. That would give you 6' 1.75" of ceiling height when your on the riser so admittedly the tallest people would have to duck a little. Then build the smaller riser under the seats out of another 2x4 frame or even 2x6's to get your full height. By making the bottom portion a 2x4 riser you won't have to worry about people's feet dangling as much.
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post #10 of 15
4/29/12 at 6:43am
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Quote:
Originally Posted by aaustin View Post

I echo Vanice's suggestion of the riser only under the seats. You could do a full size riser made out of a 2x4 frame with 3/4" osb on top. That would give you 6' 2.25" of ceiling height when your on the riser so admittedly the tallest people would have to duck a little. Then build the smaller riser under the seats out of another 2x4 frame or even 2x6's to get your full height. By making the bottom portion a 2x4 riser you won't have to worry about people's feet dangling as much.

I'm liking this idea quite a bit. I've seen pictures of guys building risers and I've noticed they either fill it with sand, I've seen one insulating it. I'm assuming this is to make the riser acoustically dead?
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post #11 of 15
4/29/12 at 7:01am
Yes that is to keep it from resonating and prevent a big "thump, thump" every time you walk on it. Generally stages are filled with sand because they have the speakers and subwoofer on them. Risers can be filled with fiberglass insulation.

Also consider doing two layers of osb with green glue or even roofing felt between them to make it even more dead.
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post #12 of 15
4/29/12 at 7:29am
Sand for the stage. Insulation for the riser, to keep it from becoming an resonant cavity.


Here's an example of an island style riser. Six foot six is pretty low though... If you offset seating for the two rows, a five or six inch riser could work.

Or maybe some lounge style reclined seating and the second row have no riser at all?
LL
LL
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post #13 of 15
4/29/12 at 7:42am
And another option is a low riser with a second riser on it. The second riser is basically seating and foot rest sized.

6.5' of height with a second row is going to impact on potenial screen size. I'd be doing some careful sightline drawings of the side view. You'll start to see just how tight this is and howyour screen estate will be shrinking.

And I'm guessing 6.5' of height isn't really code compliant.

A better solution would be a low riser with bar seating as the second row, under the taller portion of the room. I just stood under my 79" high soffits, and with me standing at 5'6", a whole ceiling at that height would feel
very very low. A riser just won't work there.
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post #14 of 15
4/29/12 at 11:29am
There are companies that make taller theater seats intended for a back row. Of course you can accomplish the same thing by putting a mini-riser just under the base of a theater chair. The advantage is that you don't lose headroom for walking around. You need to be aware that the boost in height may not be enough if your screen is mounted low.

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post #15 of 15
4/29/12 at 6:34pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by BIGmouthinDC View Post

There are companies that make taller theater seats intended for a back row. Of course you can accomplish the same thing by putting a mini-riser just under the base of a theater chair. The advantage is that you don't lose headroom for walking around. You need to be aware that the boost in height may not be enough if your screen is mounted low.


That's the problem. The space between the floor and the bottom of the screen is a bit more then 2 feet lol. But those seats look like they would work, especially with a riser as small as 4 inches just under the seats
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