The GEAUX ZONE Construction Has Begun

The Geaux Zone is officially under way after many months of planning and with tons of help from spending way too much time @ AVS Forum..... This is my first theater and is part of the construction of my new home in Baton Rouge, LA.

Framing is going up now with the dimensions (studs) @ 16' 4" X 21' X 12'.

Here's the Layout:


Location is second floor, front of the house, hence the 2 windows for which I will be soliciting advice on how to cover up. Staggered-stud walls btw the Theater and adjacent Gym and Gameroom are in place.


I'd like to squeeze in a (60 X 144) 2.40CH screen with viewing @ 11-12' & 17-18'.

I've got a month or so before any electrical, HVAC, etc so I welcome any ideas, thoughts, concerns, or if you just want to shoot the whole thing to pieces while I still can easily change anything except the size of the room (I fought for and won all the sq ft I'm gonna get).

Much appreciation for the advice I have gotten from this site already.

Paul

Ridebreck- You think 12' is too high? It ended up that way by default-should I bring it down to 11' w/ 10' soffit? Or I could just build down the soffit for the projector.

kriscad- dining room and foyer below. Engineered floor joists 12" apart. Hopefully not dining and watching movies at the same time....

Appreciate the feedback

Here's a pic of the floor joists under the theater:

95 grad, moved back to BR right before Katrina.......

Let me know what you think of the design and if you have any suggestions. Unfortunately all I know about design is what I've learned from reading these threads. Gotta start somewhere......

DrSung- thanks, going to let the professionals handle the carpentry, electrical, and anything else that could cause me bodily harm. I'll do some of the finish work, maybe pick up a paintbrush or a staplegun.

Scott- I really needed another 3' of width to flip it, was a tradeoff with getting the entrance and the niche for my arcade games......The doors have been bugging me, problem is my wife saw these red laquered double doors with giant stainless handles at some bar in Denver and I have to admit they will look killer so I'm gonna need some way to handle the sound. The bar/ gameroom is right outside the theater so no big deal if we have some leakeage, I reckon.

I might try to build the riser myself (no angles). I tried to cut some crown moulding one time....it was then I realized I am NOT much of a carpenter....the carpenter I hired to finish (redo the whole thing) agreed.

My first SketchUp:


Still figuring out the software, but was really just interested in how the 11' step to 12' ceiling would look with the screenwall. Think the bottom of the screen is 3'10" high, leaving 2'2" above.

With a 12" riser, what's the min/max/optimal height for the bottom of the screen? My first row will be @ 11-12', second @ 18'.

Thanks Lindahl- am starting to realize that.....I think once the sheetrock goes up, I'll bring in a projector and see what I'm comfortable with. Back before I read about CH I was thinking 60" high 16:9, so naturally wanted to keep the 16:9 the same size and just add width to get the 2.35.

Was thinking I would sit in the back row for 2.35, front row for everything else- might be OK.

Nothing much happening, I'll have some pics up this weekend. Windows (which will be covered) and soffit are in.

Been fighting with the builder on the insulation......I asked for Quietrock 545, no supplier in Baton Rouge (according to the builder) so becomes a huge cost to ship it in. Of course sheetrock guy recommends "Soundboard" which I soundly rejected, then the builder recommends spray foam which I understand from the forums here is no better and could be worse than fiberglass. Trying to get him to do the Green Glue sandwich now......

Going with the 6 zone Grafikeye which will include a curtain module on the next product release in a couple months.

Really happy I don't have to make a decision on Projector/ Screen until September. RS1 will be out and tested in the real world and maybe Optoma has some revisions to the HD81 by then and who knows what else wil be out.....

P51D- Are you going to do all the work yourself? I'm getting the theater done at the same time as my new construction so letting the pros do all the major carpentry, but I'll likely do most of the finish work becasue it is such a hassle to describe what you want and have someone else do it right.

I've been working with Ed Willis from Integrated Home Systems in Baton Rouge for the whole house A/V, networking, etc. They seem to know their stuff.

War Chicken? We serve that in the bar outside the theater-tastes a little sour though......

Steve-

A/C guy finisihing up this week, having to find some skinnier vents since I'd asked him to install the vents on the verticle part of the soffit. Eletrical should start later this week after the A/V people meet with him about the GrafikEye and Radio Ra stuff. Wonder how many times we're going to rewire......

Haven't posted any pics, because nothing new of note. Construction has slowed to a crawl.

Gave some more thought to flipping the layout....new layout:


Old layout:


I would appreciate any thoughts on which layout you think is better.

Thinking I can mount the PJ in the equipment room and shoot it through the wall which would work well if I pick the High Power since I wouldn't have to bother with how a shelf-mount would work (or look). Could also have a really ugly lens mount and not care. Fan noise would be a non-issue.

Also gives me a nicer looking entrance, with a coulple steps up.

Thanks Tom-

Yeah, everyone I ask goes for the new layout. Having the PJ in the other room is going to be slick. Not exactly sure how it is going to work though....I guess just build a box within the staggered-stud wall so the PJ can sit close enough.

Anyone got any pics of their PJ mounted outside the room?

Everyone says to flip it so here's the new rough sketchup: