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The Bradley Build - Page 2

post #31 of 66
12/29/12 at 7:45pm
Thread Starter 
Here is a better picture of my space with dimensions now, the outside number is concrete block dimensions now, inside is presuming 2x4 stud and DD at 5/8
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post #32 of 66
12/30/12 at 7:10am
Thread Starter 
What is the general consensus regarding the use of Wisper clips. Are we better off using Wisper clips or do you think I could span the 12-14ft space with 2x4 for a new ceiling and completely decouple the room from the rest of the house?
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post #33 of 66
1/1/13 at 6:35pm
Thread Starter 
So I have contacted the sound proofing company to get some prices on Wisper clips and various other materials. Decided against trying to span the space with 2x4s after BIG mentioned the fact that that far of a span is going to need more than 2x4 and I dont want to lose any additional headroom if I can avoid it.
Did some checking with the local county planning commission, Building permit is going to be about $650 bucks. I realize they are there to protect people from themselves, but it sure does push someone to want to build it without and spend the money elsewhere.....
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post #34 of 66
1/2/13 at 7:24am
Just an FYI for later in your build. If you happen to run short of green glue and the green glue sealant I saw that Menard's now stocks it. I was in the other day and was surprised to see it on the shelf in the drywall section. I think people generally order all of that from the soundproofing company in 5 gallon buckets, but it's nice to know that you can grab an extra tube or two if you run short.
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post #35 of 66
1/2/13 at 7:36am
Thread Starter 
Great to know, thank you!
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post #36 of 66
1/3/13 at 8:41am
Thread Starter 
Just got bids for the plumbing work (Bathroom) and HVAC for the basement. $8500, plus building permit $600, so it looks like there goes all of the immediate money for the theater build frown.gif
Going to need to ponder this a bit very disheartening....
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post #37 of 66
1/3/13 at 1:43pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Skip-B View Post

Just got bids for the plumbing work (Bathroom) and HVAC for the basement. $8500, plus building permit $600, so it looks like there goes all of the immediate money for the theater build frown.gif
Going to need to ponder this a bit very disheartening....

Wow. What exactly were you going to have done? I'm assuming there is no rough plumbing for the bathroom already? Wondering if there are some things you can do on your own to bring the price down.
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post #38 of 66
1/3/13 at 2:00pm
Thread Starter 
I have quite a bit, i need to have the sump pump installed and plumbed to drain outside, purchase and install a tankless water heater. Bathroom is roughed in, but I need to add a sink and then there is a wet bar going in on the outside wall of the bathroom (hoping to save money there). I imagine the tankless unit and installation is the bulk of it, but plumbing isnt really my forte. The HVAC work I am seriously considering doing myself, that would save about $1200, especially considering I dont know what I want to do in the theater yet. I wonder if I buy a tankless from HD or Lowes if I could hire them to install and then ask their sub how much to do the rest of the work as a side job? Hmm decisions decisions. I still have 2 more bids waiting to come back so perhaps I will catch a break.
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post #39 of 66
1/4/13 at 10:04am
I'm going to give you some things to think about so please don't take this the wrong way since I don't have any insight into some of the decisions you've made to this point.

Installation of gas tankless water heaters is usually pretty high -not to mention the markup from the installer on the tank. So first question is do you really need a tankless unit? I researched these a couple of years ago and at that time there was little if any cost savings once you factor in high cost of the unit and the install. If i remember correctly the payback was 20+ years on some models. Then you have to figure in whether the tankless unit is going to give you enough hot water based on your uses. Keep in mind I haven't looked at this option for a couple of years so my data may be outdated.

As far as the sump, are you installing an entire weeping system with it or is there an existing weeping system that will get tied into the pump? If not, breaking out the concrete and digging a hole for the pump basin are not too hard to do which may save you some labor cost on that front. I guess it depends on your plans for the pump and the complexity of the system (where it will discharge etc.).

HVAC is a little trickier since you are shooting for sound containment in the theater room. A lot of people on here will have way better input on that front so you don't defeat all the other sound containment work you do.
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post #40 of 66
1/4/13 at 11:52am
Thread Starter 
Thanks, I appreciate all feedback. I just had a walk through with a plumber who mentioned a lot of the same reservations as you had regarding the tankless unit. My main draw to them is that with my 50 gallon unit currently, I get about 15 minutes of HOT water in the shower. I do realize I have two shower heads and this does prevent me from ever being late to work because of the length of my shower, but dang it, some days you just want to stay in the shower. Anyhow, so yeah that might get axed.
As for the sump, I already have a well and tile on the outside of the house, so it is just a precaution. I have about a ft of water in it now and it has stayed pretty consistent, but this was a really dry year for us.
The Hvac, I find myself wanting to hire someone to do the rest of the basement and hold off on the theater as I am no where near ready to tackle that and like you said there are a lot of good ideas on here and a lot of smart people, I might decided to tackle it myself, especially after I gain some additional knowledge here and from watching the pros do the rest of the basement.

I wish I could get all of this 'necessary' stuff out of the way so we can start playing in the theater room.... smile.gif
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post #41 of 66
1/6/13 at 6:42am
Thread Starter 
I elected to bring out some more contractors on Friday and I think the last two on Tuesday of this coming week. Modifying the basement gameplan to better accomodate the budget. Went to HD last night and spent about $650 in lumber to start framing out the basement. I am finishing the entire basement, so things will progress much slower than a lot of builds I see, which is fine. No rushing this time around. I bought Dricore subfloor system for my office to try it out and see if I like it. Went together pretty easy and we did enough to get the desks up off the concrete and hopefully keep things a little warmer under my feet while I work. Anyone else use this floor system? Anything I should be wary of prior to a full basement roll out?
Anyhow, hoping to frame up the bathroom today. Time will tell.
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post #42 of 66
1/6/13 at 7:35am
good luck look forward to watching your build... i to have been working on a full basement finish, the only things i have sub contracted out was the hvac which was just run 4 duct lines and bathroom fan, for electrical i ran the main cable from the main breaker box on the garage down to the new subpanel in the basement and got lucky to have a friend that was an electrician to hook up the sub panel and he also taught me how to install breakers and white up wall outlets and switches big $$ saver. i also contracted the a crew to mud and tape the drywall this was worth every penny and i highly recommend paying to have this part done. if you hang your own drywall i will bet the day you hang that last piece you will be thinking man i am paying to have this finished. a good drywall finisher can make a crappy hanging job look great and a crappy finisher can make a great hanging job look like crap. my advice is pick your battles and the mudding and taping and finishing was a battle i was just was not going to fight so i gladly wrote that check. smile.gif defiantly take your time like you said, this is a marathon not a sprint.
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post #43 of 66
1/6/13 at 10:34am
Thread Starter 
Snickers, you are absolutely right. I did all of the electrical in my last basement and it worked well. This basement has the main panel already in it, so I can wire everything off from that. I too am farming out the HVAC, plumbing and the drywall finishing. My last build I decided to try finishing the drywall, just had to give it a go. A month later I still couldnt get the seems or tape to go down right and finally wrote a check and had the whole thing done 3 days later, lol.

Went to Menards today because they had a sale on some doors that the wife liked, got those ordered, and oh picked up a Kreg Jig, plumb bob, 90 degree clamp, angle detector for figuring out odd angles and a couple of air masks. But in the words of my wife, it was a great deal and I saved a lot of money...
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post #44 of 66
1/6/13 at 10:56am
Thread Starter 
Here is the obligatory pic of bringing home the lumber.
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post #45 of 66
1/6/13 at 6:23pm
Thread Starter 
Just got another plumbing quote back from a walkthrough on Friday. Several thousand dollars less and I liked the guy more. He was very informative and took the time to explain the naunces of why he was making suggestions. Was also willing to outline options, if you want A. it is going to cost X, if you want B instead it costs y. Suddenly a new flash of hope and optimism.
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post #46 of 66
1/8/13 at 10:56am
Thread Starter 
Went back to the store today to purchase new duct tape. Apparently Duck Tape must only work on actual ducks because it wouldn't hold plastic sheeting to a stud wall. (I was curtaining off a work area for the saws). Retaped it twice before I went bought new tape and a staple gun to be done with this task....
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post #47 of 66
1/9/13 at 7:25pm
If you are considering dricore there have been a lot of people who are happy with it. I'm not to that point yet but I'll be using Delta-FL platon with OSB over the top. It's significantly less expensive than dricore per sq ft. You can check out the Delta-FL at Lowe's in the carpet section on one of the endcaps usually. It's made by cosella-dorken The manufacturer says you can just lay down the DELTA-FL and put a floating engineered floor right over it. If carpeting then a osb or plywood subfloor is laid over it.
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post #48 of 66
1/10/13 at 6:15am
Thread Starter 
I considered running with normal OSB on the floor, i had a neighbor that went that direction and he had a lot of problems with warping corners and uneveness. I am not sure how he put it down though. I was going to contemplate T&G OSB, but ultimately, this stuff is a little pricey, but the size makes it really easy to work with and it goes down very fast. We are testing the Dri-core out in the office currently and it seems to be working well.
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post #49 of 66
1/10/13 at 6:18am
Thread Starter 
Got a revised plumbing quote today, We elected to do away with the tankless hotwater heater, perhaps another day. I also revised back the Hvac to not include the theater as we need to finish the main room (or mostly so) before I start playing in there. So I figure if I learn what they are doing in the rest of the basement I should be in good position to do the theater myself. Also I dont truly know where I want to run everything in the theater yet, so this buys me a little bit of time too. Revised quotes for HVAC and Plumbing are now in the 4k range and I think that is enough to get the party started.
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post #50 of 66
1/12/13 at 10:50am
Thread Starter 
Picked up a Bosch Table saw off Craig's list this morning. Got the bathroom walls started. Through some investigating via a blown breaker, I have found the builder put everything in the basement on a single circuit. Everything being 6 lights, 5 outlets and the outside outlet. Whats more, from as best I can tell the one wall they finished is the wall they ran all the outlet power through as I can't find it in the floor joist anywhere. Did I mention it was only a 15amp outlet? So as much as I was trying to avoid it, I think the walls are coming down and the outlets are getting separated from the overhead lights. I am hoping they used 12 gauge wire so I can put them on a 20 amp outlet, but we will see. Plus they used nails to hang the drywall and I can already see pops from the expansion and contraction down there. I have always preferred screws to prevent that. Anyhow, I guess if you want it done, might as well do it right the first time.
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post #51 of 66
1/13/13 at 6:45pm
Nice score on the saw. Those are nice. I second your decision to gut it (which is easy or me to say since I'm not doing it). May as well do it right.

My guess is that you'll have to run 12/2 as an electrician wouldn't put 12/2 on a 15 amp circuit. On the other hand, 14/2 should be sufficient for lights and outlets so another run of 14/2 to separate the circuits between lights and outlets is a good idea. I would save the 12/2 for your equipment outlets for the theater.
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post #52 of 66
1/16/13 at 1:09pm
Thread Starter 
Quick update Bathroom is all framed in, just waiting on the doors to come in from Menards. Plumber will probably be out next week to move the floor drain back for the tub and do all the water lines and plumbing. Wife has to do some shopping this weekend for a vanity, I am sure she will be crushed. After that, tear down the finished drywall from the builders, fix the power runs and frame in my office and get HVAC done. But as for now, headed to LA so I will catch ya'll on the flip side.
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post #53 of 66
1/18/13 at 8:07am
Thread Starter 
Small update, went to QSC's office and factory yesterday. Those guys are a lot of fun and their facility is amazing. They are certainly firing on all cylinders and it looks like the orders just keep coming. If you ever get the chance, I would recommend it. BTW- they have a 21" sub that is just a complete beast. Anyhow, back to work I go.
Later,
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post #54 of 66
1/18/13 at 12:34pm
This is probably a stupid question(s) but who and where is QSC. Speaker company in CA?
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post #55 of 66
1/18/13 at 2:26pm
Thread Starter 
QSC is a cinema/pro-audio speaker and amplifier company amongst other things. They are based out of Costa Mesa, CA
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post #56 of 66
1/24/13 at 7:54am
Thread Starter 
Plumber is out today breaking up concrete and running pipes for the bathroom and the wetbar. I realize the most work/money is going to end up in the theater which is why we elected to work on it last, but man its hard to be patient. Especially when you are reading about so many awesome builds. Ah well. Bathroom first, Office 2nd, Pool room 3rd then comes the fun stuff.
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post #57 of 66
1/25/13 at 5:25pm
Thread Starter 
I realize it isnt theater related, but here are some shots of the bathroom.

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post #58 of 66
1/29/13 at 6:19am
Thread Starter 
Got the office wall opened up last night and dug into the electrical panel. Turns out I caught a bit of a break. The builder tied the lights to the outlets at the outlet right below the electrical panel and then daisy chained the outlets from there. So with about 10ft of wire I can separate the lights and outlets onto different circuits, so small victory there and now I dont need to tear out the rest of the drywall in the basement. So hey, that works....
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post #59 of 66
3/9/13 at 1:47pm
Thread Starter 
Small update, I have been focusing my time on finishing the bathroom, office and rec-room before I delve into the home theater space. Mainly because of the time and detail that will go into the home theater, not to mention all the money. I am about 60% done with spaces currently, work has been slowing me down though. On a cool note, worth posting, I am headed back out to LA next week to have some meetings with QSC and have a couple of my guys go through some dedicated training. So I won't get any work done on the basement, but I will be able to have a great time in California.
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post #60 of 66
3/9/13 at 3:31pm
Have fun, Skip. Enjoy the sun!
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