INJUN THEATER RETROFIT-CEILING AND SOFFITS ON A TIGHT BUDGET

I have been a lurking in most of the build threads for sometime and felt a sense of motivation to retrofit my room a bit.

HISTORY
I bought the house new in 2004. When placed on a corner lot the house is equipped with a 3 car garage. I am not on a corner so I get a two car garage that is quite deep (extra bay used as a workshop). The space including garage is 52'x32'. The door to the garage opens to a hallway with a half bath immediately to the left then the staircase leading upstairs and finally the HT straight ahead.

One enters from the garage to the basement where all the fun is occurring. The room dimensions are 16' wide x 32' deep with a large bulk head I built to house the support beam and duct work (I packed this with loads of insulation Christmas Eve). I finished the basement several years ago at the request of my wife. The goal at the time was to provide my daughters a place to hang out with their friends. The rear portion of the space houses a home office.

Both of my daughters are now in college and one will be moving on to med school in the fall (budget). I converted the space to a "movie watching room" ~2 years ago and now hope to retrofit into a semi-dedicating theater minus the home office. I use the bulkhead as a natural divider. The theater portion is 17' X 16'.

When I finished the basement I coated the cinder block walls with 3 coats of drylock, framed, insulated with r-30 and drywall-ed with 1/2": I wanted the placed to feel more a part of the house and built a subfloor with pressure treated 2x4's in a grid, foam insulation, osb, then carpet .

PRESENT
When finishing several years ago I chose to place a tongue and grove drop ceiling using 12" x12" panels, retainer clips, and plastics rails. Time and my BFM THT have not been kind to the drop ceiling. The ceiling is warped in many places from the cheap clips detaching.



I had a week of vacation to use or lose and decided it was time for a drywall ceiling and soffits.

The budgets is rather tight for this project and I had to cut a few corners. Soundproffing is not a major priority so I will call it a sound augmentation. I tore down the drop ceiling and rented a drywall lift.


Edited by BIG INJUN CHIEF - 12/29/12 at 10:28am

Added a dedicated 20 amp circuit for electronics.




I completed one layer of drywall the day after Christmas and glued the reclaimed 12"x12" drop ceiling to the inside of the drywall for a bit of sound deadening and I didnt wish to throw it away. Will it help? It will in my head. rolleyes.gif

Also enclosed a window and started framing for the soffits. I am using bigmouth DC Summer Fun dual layer soffits as inspiration.

Forgot this one. My apologies. The house was built using 20" centers for the joists. I had to fashion these pieces between the joists to attach the framing for the soffits.

Framing the soffits continues.



In addition i will need to construct a transition piece from the hallway into the room for the soffit.



The center door is to the garage and the left to the half bath. The opening is a staircase leading to the main level.

Three assistants



Completed the framing for the transition to the theater



Framing the soffits. I chose this method based upon my assistants


Edited by BIG INJUN CHIEF - 12/29/12 at 8:23pm

Drywall added to the entry way. May need a sign?

Threw a coat of spray on all seven recessed lights

Drywalling the soffits.


I used the existing bulkhead to act as the lower section to the rear of the room opposite the tv wall. I ran a 1 1/2" innerduct for a future projector.



The main reason for starting the thread is to request some info from the pros. I have seen several threads that placed an electric box on the soffit to tie in rope lights. I am a bit miffed with respect to this approach.

Is this done inside or outside of the drywall?

If outside, I suspect a blank cover with a hole is used on the box?

Would this be visible?

My first thought would be to place the electric box inside the soffit and run the rope through a hole in the drywall behind the light tray.

I plan to add rope lights to both the upper and lower soffits. Thanks for the link. I had come across those but did not think to implement.

The soffit work is nearly complete. This open section will house electrical connections for the lights. Trying to determine if I prefer RGB rope lighting or blue LEDs. May implement RGB on the upper soffit and blue on the lower. Also need to purchase a few 3" recessed lights. Then I can install and close off.



My original intent was to add columns at some point in the future. No time like the present. I ordered several bar clamps and planned to use MDF for the columns and the clamps have yet to arrive. No clamps + no rope lights = drywall columns filled with insulation. Columns are framed with 2x3's and a cross brace at ~ 3' for a potential chair rail. Considering covering the columns with burgundy fabric.

The entryway to the room is almost 4' wide and I do not plan to close it off/add a door. The wall opposite the entry will have 3 equally spaced 12"x3" columns and the and the entryway wall will get 2 12"x3" columns directly opposite rearward columns on the other side. Tossing around the thought of fashioning 3 3" to 6" to 9" strips of MDF glued in a staggered step for the column tops and bottoms.




I have purchased 2 digital cameras every Christmas for the last several years as gifts for my daughters. I can never seem to find one when its picture time. Iphone pics suck!

The food posts always make me smile:

Sunday Breakfast
20 Organic free range eggs (purchased from local farmer)
4oz Sirlion tips (purchased from local framer)
1 Onion
1 red pepper
1 clove fresh garlic
1/2oz Velveeta cheese
4 squirts Tabasco Jalapeno Sauce
2oz Heinz ketchup
1 piece whole grain toast.



Leftovers for lunch. I need a nap

Columns installed. I cut the carpet removed the padding and tack strips then glued and screwed to the floor and ceiling. Had forgotten how much fun corner corner bead can be, sharp too. I felt a bit parched and began hydrating. Hydrated a bit too quickly
(hate to flaunt my high end lifestyle) and moved to activities requiring less thought. Threw around some mud.

The drywall mud saga continues. I did not recall this process to be as tedious as it seems. I am unable to tolerate dust so I am wet sanding (messy), adding additional time and tedium. I had briefly consider hiring out the drywall finishing but for some silly reason convinced myself I could fly through. Not the case.





Completed the second coat and plan a bit of housekeeping before moving on to the third (and hopefully final) coat.



I framed the soffits with what I would consider suspect at best 2x3's. Quite warped. I attempted to take my time and coax them straight as best I could.



I received a 150' reel of incandescent blue lights I had ordered and decided it best to hard wire into an electrical box inside the soffit and running the 2 light feeds (upper and lower) through at the end of the drywall.

I ordered several 3" LED recessed lights from Hong Kong and will not be able to complete the final piece (front wall) until they arrive. Now at the point were colors have entered the discussion. Complemented a mix of deep maroon and grey with a black ceiling. You can also notice the last color change did not include a TV and entertainment stand dismount.

For a nice clean finish, I think it best to water down the top coat of mud a bit. For mixing one will need a proper tool. Investing in a tool adequate for the job is required.


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The second coat of mud dried a different color and it was difficult to discern between high spots so I went for an advanced drywall finishing method. Throw a coat of primer up. Unfortunately I had one spot on the ceiling where the tape bubbled. Pulled the tape off and must start this area from square one. A few spots here and there will require additional attention but all things considered, not sooo bad....



Started to play with colors as well. Nixed the idea of fabric on the columns and decided to paint.



Mudding and wet sanding can try one's patience. Mocked up a piece of mdf (or particle board cant remember) for the columns and test fitted. Just cut one piece 6", one 4", and one 2" and glued together.



Started to rip braces for the crown to connect to the soffit using left over 2x3's cut into a triangle. I was able to get 2 per board then my $30 Craigslist table saw smoked and blow'd up. Time to go shopping.

Slightly early B-Day present from my wife and kids. Great saw. Purchased reconditioned. Yes, sales lady I meant it when I said you are cute. Thanks for the 20% off and free drill!!



Primer everywhere! mud work complete. Ripped light tray to attach crown moulding.





Delivery from Hong Kong. 3" Led lights.

Yes. Sorta breakfast/lunch. I typically ride my bike 25 miles (up hill both ways ) and fast on Saturday. Then make certain I hydrate fully! Sunday I eat!

I am a hot sauce freak and purchased some chalula. Not bad....

Slow and steady. Made a bit of progress.

Painted the ceiling black bottom of the soffits black. 3 coats. The columns maroon, and the face of the soffits and walls gray. Difficult to tell but the ceiling is indeed black. (iphone pic)









Purchased some corner trim and crown. Painting it gray.

I wanted to go with RGB LED rope lighting in the soffits but determined it to be too much of a PIA based upon the length required. I hoped to disco to the strobes and flickers and felt a bit sad going with incandescent rope. When I purchased the 3" LEDS from ebay Hong Kong for the stage I was greeted with an add that suggested I may also be interested in purchasing an "E27 RGB LED with remote". I was, so I did. $11. Havent gotten a battery for the remote or giving it a go yet but it looks interesting.

Browsing build threads I found a comment that set me back. Someone actually made a comment that suggested one should post photos of hottie wife's! Can you believe this?? In this day and age?? I was sicken and dismayed. The chauvinist!! You know how you are. Rest assured, you have been reported to the proper authorities!'

Now, with that out of the way. Progress.



NO! I said tape and paint first, then yoga class.

Crown installed, Thought it best to paint first. These things are a bit flimsy.





Also placed corner molding .

China lights installed. I was initially going to take apart and throw and coat of black on the rim but put the black away and rinsed the brush. No so bad.



Need a better camera!

My apologies of course. Thanks for the clarification . Wonder if sport motorcycles qualify? No deliveries scheduled and a relatively vanilla colonial. DAMN!