Roaring Fork Cinema construction thread

Hi there! Like many before me, I have spent years now reading on AVS and in recent months have contributed some. Just over a year ago we moved into our current house here on the front range in Broomfield Colorado. We have the luxury of a completely unfinished basement which I have just begun to finish. Included in our basement will be a bedroom, bathroom, living room, bar and home theater.

I've worked on my plans for many months, and finally pulled my permit two weeks ago. The theater is approximately 16' X 20' finished space with 8' ceilings and a 7' soffit running around the sides and back. I will most likely build a false screen wall and pursue an SMX screen.

Here are the plans. The theater is in the bottom right of this image:




This past Sunday and again Monday and Tuesday evenings I worked with an HVAC expert to add in the new HVAC runs and move around a bunch of existing runs as well as relocating a portion of my main supply trunk. Here are some "before" shots:

Looking into the theater room from the back to front:


The HVAC mess in the front of the theater room:


A nice roll under the joist in the front of the theater room from the original installer:


Another roll under the joist in the back of the bar:


The bedroom HVAC runs:


The "after" pictures will follow in my next post. I didn't get any pictures of the work while it was ongoing unfortunately.

-Ryan

As promised here are pictures of the work I finished in the past three days:

From the back of the theater room again, this time with the supply trunk re-routed:


New flexible duct heat runs into the theater:


The bedroom HVAC new run and relocation of the previous ones:


Another bedroom HVAC shot:


I'm having a plumber out to give me a quote on my "underground" plumbing needs next Tuesday 12/26. I need to run drains for the bar sink, bathroom sink, commode and tub. Also I need to remove an existing commode rough-in which is capped above the "floating floor" and cap it underground, and move a clean-out access which is coming up through the floor. I can do it all myself, but working with the main sewage pipes for my house isn't particularly appealing.

-Ryan

A few more thoughts on the theater itself. I have a "floating floor" in my basement. If you're not familiar with these, they build them here in Colorado. Here are a couple of pictures taken during construction of our home.





There is 3/4" tounge-and-groove plywood screwed down to this frame. There are two access points to get under the floor.

In the theater room, I am concerned that sound will travel through the floor space over to the bedroom. Since this will be our primary guest bedroom, I'd like to minimize sound transmission to that space. I intend to layer another course of 3/4" plywood, perhaps with some roofing felt between the two layers. I haven't yet decided if I will use green glue. While I think sound isolation is important, and I intend to have a "good" sounding theater, we already watch movies and TV at reasonably loud volumes with our kids upstairs. Directly above the theater space is our living room where we do this today.

I'm torn between using green glue, or just doing two layers of drywall. I have planned for 2x6 walls where they separate the theater from the bar and furnace space, and 2x4 walls up against the already insulated concrete foundation. I will insulate all four walls in addition to the ceiling, and I'll use a safe-n-sound door. I am also torn on the use of RSIC clips in my theater.

Anyway, just a few more thoughts as I contemplate next steps in the basement.

-Ryan

Over the past several days I purchased two loads of lumber and hauled them home and into the basement all while avoiding the seemingly continuous snowfall we've had in the Denver area lately. I've been able to frame out two sides of the theater so far, and I had a plumber out to help me figure out my drain work for the bar sink and bathroom. Now that he's been here, I'm confident that I can frame the remaining walls in the basement without interfering with the upcoming plumbing rough-in.

Here's the first bit of framing. As this is up against my exterior concrete walls which are covered by insulation, I'm using 2x4 construction here. This first picture is looking from within the theater back to the furnace/storage area, which will also house my equipment rack.



Turning around, the framing continues to the window which I've covered. Now, you see it:



Now you don't:



To cover the window I used 1" thick rigid styrofoam insulation and cut it to fit, then taped it in place. I'm not positive this is really the way to go though. Pushing up on this "cover" does make some noise. I'll do some searching in the next couple of days to remind myself what others have done. As this is my stage wall, I wasn't sure if I'd be insulating that wall or not, but it seems that if I ran insulation in these studs, and then built the proscenium out up front of this, it would work. I am concerned about the possibility of seeing that insulation through whatever screen I end up with. Any thoughts on this?

I finished framing this wall with the window on it, and next will be to carry out the next wall under the duct work and separate the theater space from the bar and living room.

-Ryan

Yesterday and today I took a break from framing took on what should have been a simple project: Relocating my water heater. In doing so, I chose to also re-route several supply lines to eliminate the need to drop the ceiling where those water lines run. Here are some before pictures, and I'll follow this post with the finished product.

These are the supply lines for my house as they were on Friday. See how they run under the joists? I didn't want to build a soffit or lower the ceiling in this location.



This is a poor image of the sump pump line (the 1 1/2" PVC). This was running lower than the joists from this joint to the outside of the house.



This image is embarrassing. When doing another project, I re-plumbed the sink in our kitchen island above, and in doing so I lowered the water lines. I never corrected that on the other side, so for the past year they've looked like this.



Finally the old water heater location. It isn't obvious from this image, but the joist directly above the water heater is where the rear wall to the theater will tie in. I needed to relocate the water heater to gain 32" of depth to the theater.



-Ryan

As promised, here are the "after" pictures I took today from the water heater relocation project.

Here you can see how I re-routed the water supply lines over towards the main duct trunk lines where I will soffit.



And here, you can see how the water lines run now.



The sump pump line has a couple of elbows now to raise it into the joist cavity:



The kitchen island water supplies are no longer embarrassing:



And finally, the water heater has been relocated:



This was a full day's work (and there are some other things we did which I didn't picture.) I'm happy to get back to framing, so I can continue with the plumbing and electrical rough-in work.

-Ryan

I've done a bit of searching tonight and haven't found an answer. I'm nearly ready to frame the wall of my theater space which includes an opening for my equipment rack. I'd like to frame this as a full-height space with room for middle atlantic rack rails which would fit after I'm done. What size have others used when doing this? I figured I'd drywall the space with two layers of drywall. This "equipment closet" space (as shown in the images in the first post of this thread) backs to my furnace/storage space, so sound isolation is reasonably important. On the back of the closet space, I'll hopefully put an exterior quality door if it will fit.

So anyway, does anyone have any ideas on rough-in size for framing purposes?

Thanks!

-Ryan

Thanks Jim! I'm having fun, and I'm glad to know there's at least one person reading along. It won't be long before I get into framing soffits and there's another area which I'm not positive about how to proceed. I better read up on what others have done there as well.

-Ryan

Since I asked, I've done a bit more research and believe I have an answer here. I'm planning to use rack rails from Middle Atlantic as shown here. These appear to require a 19 1/8" rough-in location. I'm going with two layers of drywall (1/2" for both at least in the rack location), then I figure I'll frame a rough opening of 21 1/8" (19 1/8" plus 1" drywall for each side.) Does anyone see any problems with this approach?

I hope to get this area framed this weekend. I'll post pictures when I do. Thanks,

-Ryan

Hi Nick,

I only had to cut one hole in the joist, which was an 8" hole to support the flexible duct material. I read over the specifications for the joist (found online here: http://www.ilevel.com/literature/TJ-9001.pdf and ensured that I could place hole where it is. I have a few other holes in joists and for each I confirmed through that online guide and I double checked with my building department as well (my city is one of the most strict in the state for following code.)

-Ryan

Thanks Nick! I'll be glad to have another reader. I'll add some pictures of the bedroom/bathroom framing as I go, too. I figure there are plenty of folks here who are also finishing more than just an HT and might get something out of the extra info.

-Ryan

Thanks Michael! Seems like we have several front-rangers on the board here. I'll be happy to save a seat for you all.

-Ryan

Chiahead is right on. The expansive soils here have been known to move houses significant amounts from their original resting place. One of my friends used to own a house who's garage floor heaved up a full foot from the rest of the house.

This "floating floor" technique uses sunken piers to hold the house in place and avoid the heaving soils. I've heard of folks with a floating slab now too, which is a concrete floor "floating" above the soil. I have no idea why they'd do that, but it seems to be gaining in popularity.

As for building walls, this is super easy. I'm able to lay out my wall on the floor and get it ready, then just raise it into place and with a few framing nails, security it all around. I will add some wood screws to the bottom wall plates just to hopefully avoid a squeaky nail in the future.

I'm also pondering laying a second layer of subfloor with something in between layers (roofing felt?) in the HT room itself, with the hopes of keeping sound from transmitting under the floor to other areas (like the bedroom) of the basement.

-Ryan

I got this wall done last week and have since moved over to my bedroom/bathroom area to finish up some framing so my plumber can add my new drain pipes (I don't really want to crawl under my floor and tap into my sewage pipes!) We're also going to relocate some of my gas lines which is holding up the remaining framing for the back of the HT.

Anyway, here's the framing for the HT as it stands. I went with a 2x6 staggered stud wall, and I still plan on two layers of drywall at least on the theater side - possibly with green glue in between layers.

Part 1 of the wall separating the Theater from the bar and living room area:



And part 2:



I'm posting the larger images here, for no reason other than I can. Is this better than the smaller ones?

-Ryan

Here are a few pictures which are a little off topic I suppose, but relevant to the overall basement plan. I've got a bit more framing around this area before I get back to the theater walls, but I'm anxious to get back over there so I'm driven to finish up framing on this side of things.

Looking into the bathroom from the main living space. There will be a wall separating this space from the living room, with a door. I expect to frame that tonight.



Looking into the bathroom from the bedroom:



From the bathroom into the bedroom:



And the bedroom closet (with access to under the floating floor and my sump pump.) The plumbing clean-out will be moved under the floor for access from the sump pump panel.



-Ryan

Thanks! I had a few HVAC contractors have a look at my system and we discussed what made sense. I expressed concern for additional cooling (especially in the summer months). Based on the fact that I don't have a walk-out or garden level basement but rather a fully underground basement, and the size of my existing single-zoned system, I was told that adding additional registers in my basement, with two in my theater room would be adequate. Everything runs of the same single-zone system with no additional thermostat at this time.

I also have some exterior wall space which can provide future access for a mini-split or otherwise if I need one.

I also checked out what r00ster is doing in his build of the Fly-In theater in my area and his results to date, as well as my experience in other finished basements (with and without home theaters) in the area. Hopefully I haven't made a poor decision!

Adding zoning or a separate unit is what I would have preferred for piece of mind given a larger budget, but I didn't see the need based on this limited research. The cost was going to be in the neighborhood of $3000 or more depending on what I did.

-Ryan

This past weekend I had a plumber out to add the drain lines under my floating floor for the new bathroom and bar sink. While he was out we also relocated three separate gas connections, added a stub-out for my basement fireplace and moved my a/c compressor line out of the center of my HT ceiling.

I'm scheduled for a Thursday Feb 1 inspection of the new drains. Afterwards I'll be able to close up where I've cut into the floor.

I've also framed several additional wall segments since I last posted. I count 5 major segments remaining and several other small tasks. I also need to frame all of my soffits and my fireplace. I'm still plugging along.

Without further ado, here are the pics:

Framing for a closet by the bathroom, and the bathroom entrance wall. This is also where my water supplies come into the house, so I'll end up doing some clever framing much like r00ster did in his basement to hide this but keep it accessible in the closet.


These are the new drain lines for the commode, tub and not completely pictured to the left is the vanity drain.


Here I relocated the main sewer clean-out into the sump-access panel instead of in the floor of the bedroom:


This is how we tied in the drain line for the bar sink (to the right in the picture, but not shown - sorry for the rotation). The theater door is just on the inside of the pole and drain line show in this image. That is the back left corner of the theater:


Lastly you can see the new route of the A/C line. In a previous picture you can barely see this line as well as the gas line right next to it just completely in the way at the back of the theater which would have required me to lower the ceiling by 1 1/2" and taken away the ability to put the projector in the back of the room. Now I don't have that problem any more:


-Ryan

I passed my underground plumbing inspection! I promptly left for vacation followed by a work trip and have just now gotten back into town. I'll get back to construction this weekend. I made a to-do list of all the things to do before I'm ready for my combined rough-in inspection. It is a bit daunting, and I'm wondering if I can make my Mar 31 goal.

I've sealed up one of the major holes in the floor, and all three of the holes where previous drain rough-in pipes were. I'll probably do the rest of that this weekend, and then I expect I'll install my tub and get back to framing the remainder of my walls. Stay tuned,

-Ryan

Thanks Scott! I can definitely adjust how I've covered my window. I wasn't sure how I wanted to do that, and when I did it, I posted here some of my concerns. I like the suggestion. How did you affix the plywood or drywall? Just a friction fit?

I'm glad to hear you did the second layer of flooring. I think that's probably the way to go, even though it adds to my green glue costs.

That's a great point on the mold mitigation fan. I've been thinking that I'd need an access panel to get at it if it fails. Maybe I should just drywall over it and make a note of the exact location in case I have to open up the wall sometime. I haven't heard mine in a while but I'll be sure to turn it own and listen to exactly how loud it is before I close up that space.

Thanks for watching! I'll likely be installing my bathtub today, so I'll take pictures of that and whatever else I get to.

-Ryan

Good deal, I like the suggestion. I'll add it to my todo list.


That sounds like a great idea. I'll drop you a PM and see if we can't work out a time. I have plenty to keep my busy with as I continue to rough-in, so I have a little time before I need the green glue, but I'm definitely leaning towards using it.


Makes sense. I think double-drywall around that corner, and filling that space with insulation around the pipe and near the fan is probably the right choice.

-Ryan

I was able to get in several hours yesterday and during that time I picked up and installed my bathtub. The only challenge was that I ended up under my floor again to get the tub drain all lined up right. Otherwise it was a pretty straightforward install to the new drain line.

After the tub, I installed new bracing where I cut holes in the floor, and went around the covered up all of those holes, so the floor is finally sealed up again. Then I added two new walls at the back of my bar, leaving me with only 3 more major wall segments remaining.

I've continued to put off the back of the theater walls because I would like to re-route some of the water supply lines there which would force me to lower my wall height the way it is currently plumbed. Later today I'll go make a run to the store for the CPVC parts I need, and hopefully tonight (or perhaps tomorrow), I'll re-route those pipes so I can *finally* get the back of the theater walled up. This includes the opening for my built-in equipment rack and the "closet" on the other side with a door for accessing the rear of the components from the furnace room.

Here are the latest pics.

New tub shot from the bathroom:


New tub from the bedroom:


The last of the exterior walls are in! This is looking into the bar space from the living area. I'll put up the bar's knee wall later today. You can also see the new drain pipe for the bar's sink (and dishwasher). I'll cut that much shorter when the time comes.


Finally a shot looking from the bar area into the theater. The knee wall for the bar will butt up against that support post. That's the best I could do with the requirements we had for the bar, and the location I could get a door into for the theater.


-Ryan