Horton Home Theater begins!!

First and foremost, let me thank all the folks here at AVS who have already built or are in the process of building their theaters. You guys are constantly inspiring me by showing what can be done with a little elbow grease and large piles of cash.
Here's a little bit of history.... We moved into our house that we had built 9 months ago. I had planned on starting the HT immediately, but you know how that goes. Blinds, drapes, new furniture, and an ever increasing list of things we needed kept getting in the way. There was also the minor issue of having to undergo in vitro fertilization for us to conceive. As you may know, this ended up costing us a small fortune plus one of my kidneys on the black market. We began that process last week and are about to do the first round this coming week. Anyway, now that that is paid for, I have check writing privileges once again, so construction is now underway!!
The theater will occupy part of the livable space in our basement. The rest is a 2 car garage, under the stairs storage, laundry room, full bath that is already finished, and a small office that I will be doing the same time as the theater. The finished HT will be 13x20x8. I plan on doing 2 rows of 3 seats on a riser, stage, proscenium, 7 speakers and multiple subs. All wiring and ducting will be in soffits and columns to minimize breaches in the main walls and ceilings.
So far, I'm finished with the framing and my father-in-law (a retired electrician) is coming Tuesday to help me start electrical rough-in. After that, it's insulation and 2 layers of 5/8" sheetrock with GG between. I'll post a few pics later today, but so far there's not much to see. The framing is nothing fancy, just good old 2x4's mostly. Anyway, I'm finally underway, so wish me luck!

Oh, I was also going to try to keep a running total for anyone who cares. So far, for wood, screws and nails..... $457.92. Pics to come.

Well, our computer died a few days ago and I just got the new one set up. Also, still haven't bought new batteries for the digital camera, so no pics yet. Anyway, framing is finished and my father-in-law came yesterday to help me get a list of things I'll need to do the electrical. Got everything figured up and checked some prices and I soon discovered that copper is very expensive these days. The one wire that I'll need to feed the sub panel is about 130 bucks alone. Also had to go back to Lowes to get more screws before I finished the framing. To anyone building a theater.......get about 3 times as many screws and nails as you think you'll need. One thing I've noticed about folks on here is we tend to overbuild everything. Overbuilding = more screws and nails. Also had to get another tape measure as I left my other one on the trunk of my car and took off for work with it still laying there. If anyone is in the Hayden, Alabama area and finds a 30' Fat Max on the side of the road, just keep it. Consider it my gift to the cause. More updates to come as electrical gets underway starting Saturday August 12. Pics to come at some point when I remember to get batteries.

Thanks, guys. Yeah, it's been a busy year. All the work on the HT so far has seemed like relaxation compared to our normal hustle and bustle. Did have some unexpected good news on the electrical, and this is so abnormal as things ususally go the other way for me. The existing unfinished area that the HT and office will occupy already had 2 circuits ran for it. My builder knew what I was planning with the room, so I guess he figured he had me covered as far as power needs went. Not quite enough, but it was a nice thought. He's a good guy. Anyway, we'll be using one circuit for the office lights and outlets and the other for the HT lights. On the sub panel we're going to put 4 20 amp circuits for all the equipment. 2 for the main equipment rack and 2 for the subs. We figured it would be cheaper and easier given the price of wire to run one time to feed the sub panel and branch off of there instead of running 4 looong runs from the main panel for the additional circuits. We'll see how it goes.

Yep, Brandon, Ascends it will be. I'm still not sure whether I'll upgrade to the SE's or keep what I have. Guess it depends on available funds when the theater is ready. The bass will definately be getting a makeover, though.

This may sound crazy, but does anyone have a "checklist" of some sorts for HT wiring. I'm afraid I may forget to put in the outlets in the riser or forget to run CAT5e for my IR repeater when I actually start pulling wire this weekend.

The search tool really IS your friend. Found this thread: http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...ight=checklist Anyone got anything else?

Went to Lowe's yesterday to get what I needed for the electrical rough in. Did also get batteries, but I've been so busy I haven't loaded the pics on the computer yet. Will try to do that today. Anyway, plans are to do the sub panel with 4 20 amp circuits to cover the subs and equipment rack. Two duplex outlets on each of the 2 circuits for the subs and 4 duplex outlets on each of the 2 circuits for the equipment rack. Lighting and other convenience outlets to be handled by one of the existing circuits in the room. Office lights and outlets to be covered by the other existing circuit. Now, I have to decide exactly where columns will go, how far out soffit will come, exact dimensions of the stage and riser, etc. I have it pretty much nailed down, but I need to be sure before I start installing boxes and pulling wire. Every time I think I'm done with something, it opens up a whole new can of worms. Guess that's part of the fun though, right? I'm planning on an outlet hidden in the stage for rope lights, two outets in the ceiling, one for PJ one for rope lights, an outlet in the riser for rope lights and possibly more for power reclining chairs. I may as well wire the riser for recline, Buttkickers, and game consoles even if I'm not sure if I'll do all that. After that comes all the speaker cable, signal wires, etc. I'm sure I'm forgetting something. Keep an eye on me, folks.

At work right now, but did get some wire pulled yesterday and plan to do more today. Pics are sitting in the camera, but it appears the entire universe is conspiring against me to get them posted. First, my terrible memory and not getting batteries was the culprit, then time constraints, now the phone company has been out in the neighborhood doing their thing and our phone isn't working anymore. We called yesterday to report it and were told it would be repaired by TUESDAY!! So, no DSL at the house until then. They're coming, though, as I know we all need pics here. They really are coming. I swear.

Here's my list of high and low voltage cable plans. Tell me if you see anything that needs adding, removing, or modifying.

High Voltage:

Wire from main breaker panel to sub-panel.
1 20A circuit from sub-panel to front wall feeding 1 duplex outlet for subs
1 20A circuit from sub-panel to front wall feeding 1 duplex outlet for subs
1 20A circuit from sub-panel to equipment rack location feeding 4 duplex outlets for equipment and 1 duplex outlet in ceiling for projector
1 20A circuit from sub-panel to equipment rack location feeding 4 duplex outlets for equipment and 4 duplex outlets in riser for chairs
Relocate existing circuit to feed office lights and 6 duplex outlets
Run off existing circuit to feed sconces, can lights, 1 duplex outlet in ceiling for tray ropelights, 1 duplex outlet in riser for rope lights, and 1 duplex outlet in stage for rope lights


Low Voltage:

Satellite feed to equipment rack location
Cat5e to office and to equipment rack location for phone (DSL) and Tivo
Cat5e from stage area to equipment rack location for IR repeater
Cat5e from projector location to equipment rack location for IR repeater
Cat5e from office to riser for DSL hookup
HDMI from equipment rack to projector
DVI-D from equipment rack to projector
Component Video from equipment rack to projector
2 runs of RG-59 from equipment rack to stage area for subs
Speaker wire from equipment rack to all 7 speakers
Speaker wire from equipment rack to riser for Buttkickers
Game console hookups from equipment rack to riser
VGA from riser to projector for computer hookup

Finally, some pics. These are framing and the electrical work I've managed to get done so far. The first one shows the front wall, second is of the dedicated circuits that will handle the subs, third is the back wall and office space.

Here are two more. First is from the office looking into the bathroom and at the sub-panel that will handle the circuits for the equipment, second is a pic showing one of two circuits that will be in the equipment rack location. It's the yellow romex dangling in the pic. The red one is just my trusty drop light.

Ahhh, thanks. Been posting here for a while, but have never posted a pic until today.

Quick question....what size can lights are you guys using for general lighting purposes? I'm going with three 3" cans with eyeball lenses for over the screen and sconces on the walls, but I don't know what the best size for cans in the ceiling is. Don't want to get something too big or small that will look goofy.

Got a small update this morning and have realized that I hate pulling wire and doing electrical. It's somewhat tedious and seems like nothing is getting done, but that may be just the way I work. No sense outpacing the budget. Anyway, here goes.

Outlets, anyone? I've got a stack of monoblocks, sat box, receiver, 2 DVD players, universal player, PlayStation, etc., and I don't like power strips. Every outlet and seam in the theater will be sealed with acoustic caulk and all walls and ceilings including the theater and office will be 2 layers of drywall and GG, so I hope I'm not giving up any performance for convenience. Anyway, that's the idea for powering the equipment rack.


First injury. Drill slipped while screwing down an outlet box. I think I'll survive.


Lastly, this is what living in the sticks will get you. This photo doesn't come close to doing justice to the size of this thing when it was crawling around. I have a spider phobia like you wouldn't believe. Think I used about half a can of bug spray on it.


That's it for now. Back to work.

It's weird, but any other creature that found its way in the house would just get scooped up and tossed out the back door. Spiders, on the other hand, cause me to lose all rational thought and I go into them with guns blazing. My mom has the same phobia, so I just blame her.