Finishing Basement - No Drywall Up Yet!

Hi guys,

I've been given the OK to turn my basement into a man's room. I'll be building a bar and would like to put a large screen down there (96"+) for PS3 and movies. I've currently finished my insulation and am very close to finishing the rough-in just over the Christmas Break. Next step will be electrical and then drywall. This is our first home, and while I am very "in-the-loop" when it comes to technology, this is obviously the first time I have built something like this. I am also new to projectors and have been doing a lot of research thus far.

I am looking for any input that will save me headaches before the drywall goes up (pot light location, outlets, etc). Before the pictures, keep in mind we live in a 1967 small colonial in Metro Detroit(~1650sqft). Overall foundation measures ~25x22, but is reduced by insulation and framing. Below are some pics of the progress:

For reference, this is a view down the stairs:


This is from the bottom of the stairs facing the wall I plan to place my screen. I will have a large sectional couch I will place ~14-16 feet from the wall/screen so am leaning towards 100" fixed screen. Because I have limited space to work with in terms of height (7'), I will drywall the ceiling in this area and will use pot lights for lighting. I will also run conduit on the left, middle, and right sides of the ceiling as a just in case, but will use the middle for the projector. FYI, I am leaning towards an Epson 5020 as it appears to work well with both games (low lag) and movies, both 2D/3D, and is in my budget.


Again, for reference, this is a shot from the stairs to the left. Room under the stairs will be storage, room in the back right laundry/utility. Open area in the middle will be bar area.


Any ideas/input/suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Nick

ctviggen,

Thanks for the quick reply.

Some more info:

We are expecting our first kid in 2 months, but do not plan on to stay in this house for more than 5 years due to its size. I'm more concerned with making the room accessible for what I want (movies/games) with extra space for having people over and in the bar area. The scone lighting is a good idea, but I will still need some flush mounts since this will be sparingly used as a living area for other uses if we have family/friends over.

I would prefer to mount the projector to the ceiling but have not fully considered other options. Also, I would like to have 1 UPS near the rest of the A/V equipment and run a cord from the projector to it.

Hi guys,

I decided to put some batts up in the ceiling where I can (return ducts block a few areas). I will try to get R-19 at least per your recommendation.

Yes, you are correct about the asbestos tiles. I pulled out the loose ones and plan on just placing carpet pad + carpet directly over the leftovers glued to the concrete. I am not too worried about the asbestos - if the tiles aren't breaking and creating dust, there should be no issue. Also, I am very lucky in terms of grade and do not have any moisture problems.

Thanks Lepus and bepper - I will look in to it and probably seal the tile prior to carpet just as an added safety.

Guys - I think at this point in my build, I would love someone with HT/PJ experience to give me some in-person advice as I want to learn but still perform the work myself. Is there a good place to look for some assistance like this locally? Maybe an hour or so of consultation (paid for in beer, preferably)? I am in the Metro Detroit area (Livonia) for reference.

Thanks again for all the great advice. I have learned so much in recent days that I have been paying attention to these forums.

Updates:

Finished my framing/bulkheads and started running electrical (picture below is older). I put up a blanket sized correctly to represent 100" diag screen.



Have a few questions now mainly due to the height of my ceiling in the basement (7 foot) as I am planning on how/where to mount the projector now before the drywall goes up:

1) Planning on an Epson 3020 for the room. Using ProjectorCentral's calculator, seating distance should be 10-16 ft with recommended projector location at 12'.


Additionally, I looked at Epson's calculator to help with the height of the projector/screen


With these two pieces of info, it appears the projector is basically going to be right over my head or slightly in front my seating. Anyone have experience with a projector and 7' ceilings? Any recommendations?

If I build a 'box' with an open front and back from the ceiling joists, would that eliminate the fears I have with the projector being right over head (noise, accidentally bumping it)?

2) Because of the limited height I have to work with, I need some kind of low profile A/V shelf to place below the screen. I actually planned on moving my upstairs T/V stand downstairs (see pic) and using it to house my A/V equipment, but I think I want something more open so my PS3 and receiver are not prone to getting hot (which they are now - I have to open the doors and pull them halfway out to keep them cool). Any suggestions?



Thanks for the help all. I'll keep pictures coming as I make progress. My speaker cable, HDMI cables, and wall plates arrive from monoprice this week. Have to re-run some HVAC and my main water line over the next couple days so I can drywall my ceiling (pics to come). Excited that I am getting out of the roughing stage.
Edited by nickk678 - 1/15/13 at 5:02pm

Great advice - thanks guys.

I picked up a set of the Speedbor bits - wow. What a difference. My 3/4" holes went from 10 seconds to 3 seconds through studs.

I have all my pot lights powered up as well as 75% of my outlets (my 250ft spool of 14/2 went quicker than I thought). I think I have decided on a ceiling mount as opposed to a shelf also - when I decide to sell the house in a few years, some people may not appreciate a giant aberration hanging from the ceiling in the middle of the finished basement.

Also had to move my main water line which was a pain. The original routing of the main was underneath the joists - would not allow drywall to sit flush. Pretty stupid...

A couple pics:

Had to move a "trunk" on my furnace - slight over sight on my part. Laundry room door wouldn't open all the way with the trunk in the original location.



Cut my stairwell out and will cap it with a nice piece of wood. Will be a big help when hauling furniture up/down stairs. Looks good too.



Pics of the pots powered (also painting furniture for the babies room - it is crowded down there). There are a total of 6 (other two are right above me). For reference, the second row of lights in the middle is ~12ft from the framed wall. I haven't decided where I will put the projector. The 8350 gives a lot of flexibility. I'm thinking I'll put it between the joists behind the HVAC duct (~16ft) since I plan to put my sectional in the same area. I don't want the projector in front of seating with the low ceilings.



Pic of my low voltage boxes at the front (screen area). Speak outputs on left/right, 4ch speaker wall plate will go in the middle for front/rear speakers, power, and an HDMI/ethernet/coax combo. HDMI will run to the PJ, ethernet upstairs for a repeater.