Jamis' theater thread! - Page 2

Bathroom is mostly framed out. Just have to add some blocking here and there.

Looking towards the bathroom entrance and stairs:



Looking through the equipment rack area into the hallway behind the bathroom:




View of the bathroom from the utility room/boiler area.

I need some framing advice.

Take a look at the pictures below. I am trying to figure out how I want to frame in the last section of staggered stud partition wall with the sewage pipe. You can see the tape line I was originally planning for the wall (to match the bump-out for the foundation on the other side).

The easiest solution would be to build the staggered stud wall out to where the tape line turns into the theater and finish the rest of the wall with standard 2x4 construction (though this would kind of defeat the whole purpose of a staggered stud wall).

Another option would be to follow the tape line with a 2x6 (and/or staggered stud wall), though the bump-out would have to increase in size to clear the pipe (and on the other side to match) thus reducing the overall width of the stage area.

Yet another option would be to have the top and bottom plates of the partition extend all the way to the foundation wall and frame out the studs right to the pipe (staggered) and box in around the pipe. I'd then do a vertical soffit out of 2x4's to cover the vertical part of the pipe and follow the original tape line.

I hope my descriptions make sense...

Yeah.. I had accounted for that. The bump-out I was originally planning for the pipe side would match the bump-out to cover the foundation. You can kind of see it with the blue tape on the floor.

Any one else wanna take a stab at it?

I was planning on having a soffit/bump-out combo of some sort to cover the pipe. Unfortunately I can't reroute it without significant work.

I think my plan of action will be to build the staggered stud wall all the way to the foundation wall, boxing around the pipe, and then building a 2x4 bump-out (vertical soffit) to cover the pipe and house wire runs. Then fill the whole thing with insulation and cover with drywall. The bump-out/soffit will be attached to the theater side of the staggered studs, so will remain mostly decoupled from the utility room side.

HVAC guys were out today to deliver the equipment, do the fresh air vent for the boiler, and start running the duct work.

I hope to continue framing tomorrow.


Fresh air vent:






A few of the ducts and line set:

Made some framing progress today. Finished up the screen wall. There will be a false wall with an AT screen a few inches behind the end of the bump-outs on each side.

You can also see what I came up with as a solution to my pipe problem. It's hard to see in the pics, but where the bump-out attaches to the staggered stud wall, it is completely decoupled from the utility room side. I may still add some more blocking here and there.

The HVAC guys were back out today while I was at work. Mostly a decent job.. some stuff I'm not wild about but not much I can do about it.

I was kind of hoping the primary return on the side wall of the theater would have been lower, but not a huge deal. They also removed a couple studs that I need to make up for.

I'm surprised that the second return goes into the primary return's plenum before going back to the air handler. Its a 16" box on the wall (primary return) with an 8" flex coming from the second return and 12" flex going to the air handler. Maybe I'm wrong, but it seems like the 8" return feeding into that box wouldn't have much air moving through it.

Boiler guy comes out tomorrow to add a zone to the boiler and feed it to the air handler.

The clean outs I framed around could be accessed if they really had to be. There is another clean out in the utility room that will not be obstructed at all.

I've been making steady progress since my last post...

Framing is pretty much done except for the soffits, equipment closet and kitchenette half wall. I am not looking forward to doing those soffits.

HVAC is done except for startup, electrical and registers.

Plumber is here doing the rough work as I type this. Drains, PEX for hot and cold, vent, and a SaniPlus toilet with macerator/pump.

Electrician is lined up to do the HVAC portion next week, and the rest of the basement when the framing is done.

Bought 200' of Smurf tubing and boxes for the speaker wire runs.

Bought a diamond blade for my skil saw, cold chisel, some 3/4" and 1/2" PVC conduit, and a bag of quickcrete so I can run the electrical and wires for buttkickers on the riser under the concrete floor. If the chisel doesn't cut it, I'll rent an electric jackhammer at the local rental place.

I will post pics when I'm done for the weekend.

Done for the weekend!

What I still have left before the drywall can go up:

1. Soffits
2. 2x3 furring strips on the ceiling to support the drywall below the pipes.
3. Finish rough-in for A/V closet
4. Run 2" PVC conduit for projector
5. Riser/bar
6. Stage
7. Rough electric
8. Insulation


Looking at the screen wall and the Smurf runs for L/C/R and sub...


Looking towards the back of the theater... you can see the Smurf runs, the rough out for the A/V closet (I will be shrinking it down to fit a standard 19" rack)...


Another shot of the A/V closet and pass-through to the kitchenette...


Rough plumbing for the kitchenette sink...


Rough plumbing for the 1/2 bath. You can see the SaniPlus macerator/pump. All the fixtures (including toilet) tie into the pump.


$40 for a diamond skil saw blade, 3/4" and 1/2" grey PVC conduit, PVC cement, 40lbs of quickcrete, a cold chisel...

A few hours and some sore knuckles later... future electric and LFE hookups for the riser. A jackhammer would have gone much quicker than the chisel and 3lb sledge, but the rental place was closing soon and I was too impatient to wait a day. I also saved $90. A local cutting company wanted $600 (ha!).

All in all, it went fairly well. I made three cuts with the skil saw (one on each side and one down the middle), and just went to town with the chisel. I kept the area wet as I cut and the shop vac nozzle inches from the saw.

Grafik Eye 3106 (6 zone) ordered as well as two entrance controls.

Also ordered some rack shelves (2U ventilated 2-post) to use with my scavenged rack rails that I pulled from the dumpster at work. Just need to cut them down to size.

I was also playing around with my soffits last night. I finally decided on using OSB as a front face and I will cut the horizontal braces to fit (probably 2x3's or 2x4's). I had Lowes cut 4 sheets of 4' x 8' 1/2" OSB into 12" strips at the store. Made bringing it home so much easier. I hope to have the soffits and ceiling furring strips done this week, riser and stage as well (if I get lucky), and the electrician soon after.

If all goes well, I'd like to have the drywall up by the end of June.

Made some decent progress with the soffits this weekend. I've got all the vertical OSB pieces hung and most of the horizontal blocking on one of the 30' runs. All said, there are ~90 feet of soffits in two 30 foot runs and two 13-15' runs.

Also picked up the materials for the riser/bar.

I am going to try and power through the soffits this week so I can start the furring strips on the ceiling this weekend.

I will post pics when the soffits are done.

150' foot spool of rope light, 17 4" IC-rated can lights, and black baffle/trim also ordered.

Roughed out and mounted the A/V rack. I used two rails that I grabbed from the dumpster at work and bought four 2U shelves from cableorganizer.com (I'll probably get 3-4 more) ... You can also see the one completed soffit. I didn't photograph the incomplete ones.

Grafik eye arrived today, rope light comes on friday, and the rest of the cans should be in next week. Hopefully I can finish the soffits this weekend and start on the riser.

Yet another busy weekend...

I finished the soffits in the theater (just need to finish the one in the kitchenette) and about half of the ceiling. The rest of the ceiling in the theater will be 1.5" lower than the front of the theater due to pipes and other obstacles .

I also finished the riser. The finished dimensions of the riser will be 8" tall, 8' wide, 7' deep. There will be a 2" overhang for rope lights (included in the overall dimensions). If you look carefully. you can see the conduit I ran for electric/buttkickers.

I keep saying it, but I hope to finish the framing by next weekend (ceiling + kitchenette soffit) and have the electrician in following week.

Huzzah!

Framing is done (except for a curved front to the stage, should I feel industrious enough to attempt it). A friend came over this weekend and helped me knock out the rest of the ceiling. Only took three trips to Lowes, stepping on a nail (ouch), an incident with the framing nailer (ouch), and a sore back.

The electrician should be in tomorrow and I am starting the process of getting drywall quotes.

Pics:

Ran the vent for the bathroom fan last night...

Rough electrical is 95% done...

Contemplating insulation...

Starting to get drywall quotes...

Pics soon...

Rough electrical is done and passed inspection.

Rough plumbing passed inspection.

Waiting for a call back from the building dept. to schedule the framing and mechanical inspections.

A few small items I have also accomplished recently:

• Ran speaker wire (through 1/2" ENT conduit)
• Ran RG6 for subwoofer (through 1/2" ENT conduit)
• Ran HDMI, Component, VGA, cat6 to the projector box (through 2" conduit)
• Put in boxes for the buttkicker connections on the riser.
• Blocked out and secured all HVAC supplies and returns in their proper places
• Ran a 25' flex duct and vent for the bathroom exhaust fan to the outside
• Used some scrap 2x6 to block out the two most likely places I will put the projector mount.
• Put up some double gang LV openings for access to two water shut offs in the ceiling. I will cover these with black 2-gang covers.
• Ordered (almost) all of my wall plates for speakers, sub, etc.
• Started bringing home a few rolls of R-13 with each run to Lowes. I should have all I need in no time given how often I'm there.

After I get the framing/mechanical inspection out of the way (hopefully this week), I will start insulating, followed by drywall.

I will post pics when I am done for the weekend.

Grafik Eye goes here. I would have preferred a metal box, but this one is very deep and fits everything just fine. I may pop out some of the punch-outs for ventilation and put some aluminum foil on the left side of the stud to block EMI from the rack.


The tenticles of my currently unorganized A/V closet. Most of the wall plates and such have arrived. I can't wait to wire 'em all up.


Blocking around one of the HVAC supplies...


4" IC-rated can light from USALight.com...


Outlet for the rope light which will lay in some crown molding.


Electrical in the riser. The outlet in the upper right corner will be for some rope light under the bar counter.


Grafik Eye 3106 (6 zone) and two entrance controls.


Looking at the screen wall.


Kitchenette/pass-through. There will be two pendants above the pass-through.


Blocking for the projector mount. I will mount it to the 2x6s...


Electrical in the riser (part 2)... the blue boxes are for the buttkickers/transducers.


Looking back through the theater towards the back...

Passed the framing inspection and the wife and I finished the insulation tonight. I hope to get the insulation inspection this week and finish up the riser and stage this weekend.

We pretty much filled just about every bay (except the one the grafik eye will live in) and the soffits with insulation. Probably overkill, but whatever.

Drywall should start July 7.

Just got word that we passed the insulation inspection. Drywall should be a go for July 7th!

I will post pics this weekend if/when I complete the stage and riser.

Gotta do more cleaning and organizing too before the drywall crew shows up.

Any last minute suggestions on things I should do while the walls are still open?

Riser and stage are done!

Thanks to BIGmouthinDC for the homemade 2-by 'c' scribe idea to mark the curved stage. I ended up using a couple 2x3's with a scrap of 3/4" ply in between. Having the gap be the same thickness as the floor made the scribe more steady.

It was the slowest, most careful use of a jigsaw I've ever done. Not a perfect cut, but the carpet will cover the waves.

It feels weird having pretty much nothing left to do until the drywall is done... the calm before the storm.

What do you all think?

Should I have the underside of the soffits textured (and painted) to match the ceiling?

I was probably going to paint them to match, but I am undecided if they should be textured as well. Probably doing a stipple (brush) texture similar to knockdown.