Mr.Tim's 15x27 Theater

Many years in the making, the theater is finally beginning to look like something. When I built my house a few years ago, I accommodated for step-down seating.

Here's the details:

Construction:
5/8"+1/2" GWB with Green Glue
RSIC-1 and channel (both sides) between theater and adjacent mechanical room, double stud walls elsewhere
Pink fluffy fiberglass throughout, except brown death in mechanical room wall
Risers are 2x6 w/ 3/4" advantech (3/4"+3/8" on upper riser)

Electrical:
4x20A to rack
1x15A and 1x20A for lighting
2x Lutron GRX-3104

• Zone 1- 3 recessed lights in adjacent walkway
• Zone 2- 4 step lights
• Zone 3- 4 recessed lights above screen
• Zone 4- 6 recessed lights above seating
• Zone 5- 4 recessed lights above rear "bar area"
• Zone 6- LED tray lighting
• Zone 7- Lights for speakers behind AT screen (? maybe)
• Zone 8- LED edge lighting along screen (? maybe)

Audio:
Onkyo NR709
2x Buttkicker 1000W amps
Mains- 3x Stentorian (to be built, I have the drivers)
Surrounds- 4x Sten II (ditto)
2x Buttkicker in riser
2x Cinema F-20 (1 built, need to build at least 1 more)
1x 15" ported sub (see my sig)
12ga to all subs and buttkickers (wired for 6)
14ga to mains and surrounds

Video:
Projector TBD (glad I didn't buy one 3 years ago!)
HTPC
Cheap Blu-Ray player


Tim

Plan:



Stage:

Where I started:





Where I am today:

There's about 2 feet of space behind the AT screen. I furred out the front wall 3-1/2" and installed Roxul Safe'n'Sound across the front. The corners will be pink (or white, in my case) fluffy fiberglass bass traps; 2 layers of 6" with air space behind.

Thanks for the well wishes, I have been working on this a long time and finally feel comfortable starting a thread. I think I may be done before the "old thread warning" appears

This is what it looks like:




Tim

Thanks for the kind words, Fred. I have a lot of photos of construction, but I'll be darned if I know where they are. I just realized the 16gb card from my Nikon is MIA, I suspect there are some photos on there. The mightiest of plans and ideas succumbed to the reality of budget. I had to make some compromises in design and material.

I had planned on a much more intricate (read:wood) ceiling, but in the end drywall and spackle is a lot cheaper.

My soffits were made from left over framing material, which wasn't the greatest (actually, it was as crooked as a rattlesnake, but it was free):


About 15mins with the power planer and a straightedge and I had a flat surface. It was interesting to see the deflection in the joists due to the dead load above. The ceiling actually dips down a bit, but I made the soffits straight.

Front soffit was a lot easier!



Some people don't like metal, but I love it. Always straight. However, I always use 20ga. I refuse to use 25ga for anything. In a pinch I will pick up one or two 25ga on a Sunday if I need them.. I always regret it.

Tim

I had about a 5 year head start I wish could say everything went as planned, but things change and many things returned to the drawing board. At one point I just threw the board out the window and winged it.

So many pipes/wires/ducts to work around.. Add in a budget and all heck breaks loose.

Still a bit to go with construction, so hopefully I can help somebody out.. somewhere.. with something I do.

Tim

Installed CHDK on my cheapo Powershot A560, pretty cool! Wish I could take credit for this awesome idea, but I gotta give props to jdanforth, whose idea I have blatantly stolen Like I hope to have, he has two Cinema F-20s in his room. Check out his thread here. His time lapse vids are sweet.

Without further ado.. I give you..

I wasn't going to do it, but I have the extra zones, so it is an idea (unless somebody has a better one!). Relatively easy to implement at this point if I use incandescent bulbs.


Thanks! The room measures 27'-1" from the rear wall to the front wall. I furred both of them out with 3-1/2" studs spaced 1" off the drywall, leaving 26'-4". The seating and screen wall portions of the room are 12'-8" wide. The walkway adds another 3'-3". The ceiling is about 9'-6" at it's highest point.

Due to mechanicals, I soffited down to 7' at the entry door. Lucky me, 7' is the minimum ceiling height to meet code. I'd like to be able to say I planned it that way, but I had to use a shoe horn just to get that height. The upside is you enter into this small space, but when you step down into the theater, the whole place just opens up.


They're still a work in progress. I have to finish framing the "frame" for my screen. I've been trying to figure out the best way to do it.. I would think it would be easy, but I keep changing my mind.


Yes, rock wool. The real stuff. Safe'n'sound is nothing like what I put in the mechanical room walls. I could lay safe'n'sound batts two deep on the floor and take a nap in it. I will never use rock wool again now that I've discovered safe'n'sound.

Tim

Making the stage..

I chose the classic stage design that many of us have chosen. Not sure who pioneered this design (Sunset Cinema?), but it's classy.

Scribed the lines:



Filled with sand (small openings stuffed with fiberglass):


Covered with Tyvek:


Deck:


Install the risers (3/8" ply):


Deck again:


I did the risers before the second layer of decking for a specific reason. No matter how good you are with a jig saw, the plywood never comes out perfect when you cut an arc.

The 3/8" plywood on the riser smooths out all the zigs and zags. After I installed the second layer of OSB I used a router with a flush trim bit to make a smooth arc.

Tim

Hahaha man I hope there's no violations in these photos!

First rule of inspection: you don't have to be right, you have to be reasonable!

It's 8:30p and I think I'm done spackling for the day.

Went through another 5 gallons. Everything has 2 coats and about 90% has a third.

I'll finish up the third coat tomorrow AM then off to big orange to get a new miter saw, some 3/4 MDF and some 3/4 birch plywood.

Hopefully I can get everything primed tomorrow.. or at least most of it.

Made a call to the supplier and it looks like my new CAC air handler and condenser will be here some time after Labor Day. Sure wish I had installed that first, it's got to be 90%+ humidity down there.

Tim






Edited by Mr.Tim - 8/28/12 at 5:48pm

Yeah, it does take a while. I'd like to say I would move faster if it dried faster... But I'd be lying. I can only do so much without having to take a break. My elbow has been joined by my shoulder in a symphony of pain.

Luckily the room is big enough that I can keep moving without much hassle. The third coat is pretty thin, so even with high humidity it dries ok. I have a fan going.


For starters I'm putting a 3-zone system in the house. The basement will have it's own zone with two thermostats. One tstat in the theater and one in the other part of the basement. The AC will come on if either tstat calls.

The theater ductwork has been sized equivalent to the rest of the basement. It's been so long I don't remember what the CFM numbers are (60, I think? I can push more if I have to), but it should meet NC17. A 5" supply with a 2' 2-slot diffuser and a 6" return with an 8x8 filter grill.

Additionally I have wired for a mini-split, as the CAC will not support a full load of people in the theater. I didn't want to be dumping a ton of CFMs in the empty theater with the CAC when the rest of the basement was calling. Th theater would be like 50 degrees. The CAC should handle 3 people in the theater (which will be 90% of the time). My equipment is not in the theater.

Tim
Edited by Mr.Tim - 8/29/12 at 4:03am

Does anybody know of a flush mount IR emitter? THe only thing I can find is this:



Do they not make one that you can drill a round hole and push it in (like most of the receivers)?

Tim

Color... color.. and color.

Need thoughts on paint scheme. So far I have the following:

Wainscot: black (General Finishes black)
Upper Walls: brown (Behr Mocha Latte)
Soffits: ??
Ceiling: ??
Absorption panels: red (to match my seats)

I had originally planned on black ceilings, but wondering if a dark blue might be cooler? I will have red LED uplighting in the trays.. Don't know if it will work better with blue or black ceiling?

Should I paint the soffits brown too? Or black?

I guess it really depends on what color I paint the ceiling.

I'm not the best at picking out colors..

Tim