"The Thunder Deck" is officially underway

First, the name.
My last 2 years in the Fraternity House at Drexel in Philly, we built a deck in 2/3s of the room and we put my car sub box under the deck and it was known as the "The Thunder Deck".
The room in this house is unfinished under our kitchen and it measures 15'x15'x9' with no ducts whatsoever. Last fall I bought an Infocus 4805, WilsonArt laminate from HD, and black fabric from Joannes and overnight had a quasi "Movie Room" for movies and mostly the NFL season (Sunday Ticket HD games was the weekly hangout for our Fantasy Football league). The plan was to finish it for real after the Superbowl, so here we are.
I'm a noob in the Theater area (been reading here since the fall), but have been on AVS for years in the Plasma/HDTV forums, so ANY advice from you guys will be my greatest resource to help me build the best within my VERY tight budget. I'm very excited to start my own and post pictures for your amusement as I go.
I framed and built the deck (2x10s) this weekend with my little brother. The deck is resting on the 2x4 wall plates on the ends, and floating over the entire 15' span. I already did a sound test with the 12" Cerwin Vega and I can "feel" what it's gonna be like. I since bought a matching 10" Cerwin Vega figuring they'll complement each other well. So it's 1-12" and 1-10" mounted in the joist bays in perfect enclosures upfiring and ported up under an oversized coffee table.
Soon we're ready for electric, equipment rack in the rear, 12"x12" soffit on the back wall(for the projector) and sides for asthetics, routing wires, and I'm thinking 4" high hats. Not 100% on what I'm doing on the screen wall, or if I'm installing a soffit above the screen. I have 2 bump outs on the sides of the screen because of plumbing on the left side and the right side was to match. So any advice or comments are the reason I come to AVS....some days I feel like it's all I've done for 8 hours at work.

more photos to current.
That's my little bro cutting the 2x10s to size, and you can see the 2x6 step all along the front.
Probably doing 4 step lights, 2 on each step.

Nothing will be able to bring back the original.
The performance will be far superior, but that was the pinnacle of my existence as a male on this planet.
Beer.
Sports.
Girls.
In that order...now it's the wife, 2 kids, and SpongeBob.
Although I do get Howard on Sirius everyday, and repeating now so I get to laugh and hear the entire show....but it was free then too, so you get what you pay for.

No ducts meant it's a 9' ceiling in the basement, and it's all joists in this room. The drywall for the ceiling will screw directly to the joist bottoms (with a 12' soffit, with light bar in crown moulding)
The adjacent room is a 700 sqft jumbo playroom for the kids....toys, moon bounce, TV w/ video games, little kitchen, bball court, etc.
So subs rumbling is not an issue.
Having the quasi theater for the NFL season gave me a great preview of what life is like with a room like this, and it's either gametime and movietime.
For movietime, either everyone's watching or those that aren't are in bed. I don't want to be sound isolated from the upstairs, if someone's walking around the kitchen/FR I wanna hear them...cause they're not supposed to be there.
I do plan to GG the back wall where the water heater chimes on pretty damn loud during the SB !

I'd LOVE for someone (hint, hint) to help me with a 3D sketch like your very cool images.
It will really help the wife see what's in my head, select colors, curtains and BS like that.

I want maroon walls, black ceiling and screen wall.
THEN
Get FATHEADs for the logos for the Eagles and Phillies on the back wall, Sixers on the left, and Flyers on the right !
OR
I emailed Fathead to get the NFL Shield as a Fathead, and put that up on the back wall.
This room will probably have more hours watching HD sports than movies.

Anymore comments on the little brother will result in big brother's wrath !--as I typically don't read anything from those with single digit posts.

Sorry about the previous crappy photos, I was using a miniDV video camera that "can" take Stills, but they're soooo bad, I just bought a new digital "Still" camera, so here are some new photos to-date.
First, I completed the framing stage with the deck floor on, I have the center 4x8 sheet screwed in with only a couple screws cause I'll need to pull it up and build the enclosures for the Subs very soon.
I ran romex to new blue boxes for the outlets around the room, and one for the rack outside the room in the back. I plan to use a Terk IR/RF (I use one for upstairs) to control a basic vinyl shelf rack on the "Cool" side of the basement (temps range from 48-65 year round!).

I just bought Polk 300Rs for the fronts that fit nicely in the new cavities I built on either side of the screen. I saw they have ports in the rear, so I'll need to plug them, and install identical ports facing to the front and finish them through the drywall.

I also reversed the Theater door so it open out, not into my front right speaker...also helps with light entering the room when it's open...like our Polar Express ???

I have a nice 4 day weekend, so I should be able to install the Polks, prewire all the speakers, and starting installing insulation !
As always, I appreciate any suggestions or advice that will make this easier to build, or nicer in the end, I'm very open to suggestions.
Anyone have any thoughts on a all black ceiling fan I have ?

Hello all,
I had a 4-day weekend for Easter, so I was able to put in some time.
I went to HD and got 16-2 inwall speaker cable, and wired all the speakers and subs.
The Polk 300s are mounted as the Fronts, I have them running now in "stereo" from my Onkyo 6.1, and they sound great. They will be perfect fronts for me. If you look close you can see the 3" ports I had to move to the front, and seal the hole in the back.
I then went to HD to get insulation, and came across "Soundstop". The orange apron explained when they're get rid of these last 10 sheets and they won't be getting more in...so I grabbed 4 sheets for $38 !, had them cut them in half, brought them home, and screwed them to the outside of the rear wall where my mechanicals roar! There's already a great drop in sound. I bought 2x6 R19 insulation to stuff in the 2x4 cavities, then drywall....I guess I'll see what that sounds like, then decide whether I need double drywall+GG. unless anyone has thoughts on this...and that little girl is my daughter whom I love to levels I've never felt before....then there's the know nothing me crooked because the 3yearold didn't hold the camera straight

I also brought up the center 4x8 and built the Twin sub enclosures to support the Thunder Deck name ! These are the first enclosures I didn't care about how they looked, so it went fast. 10's on the left, and 12's on the right....you can see the 10 is a tad smaller, I need to add 3/4" to the bottom of the 10 when I make the holes for the drivers and ports, probably do that just prior to carpet...it feels like it will take up until NFL opening weekend.

Thanks for looking, thanks for any advice, and like the Blue Angel pilots say after every show...."happy to be here".

WOOOW, almost 2 months since I posted....with the summer here, it's SuperDad every night with the kids needing to be outside, on the swings, riding bikes and weekend have been jammed up staying at the parents Beach House, BBQs and the like. I have been chipping away, finalizing insulation, electric rough, speaker rough.
SO....I said just order the damm drywall, and I'll get over the self-inflicted "Drywall Hump". 16- 4x8x1/2s, and 6-4x10x1/2s, delivered for $250, my neighbor's pickup easily moved it from the driveway to the walkout basement door in the back and into the Thunder Deck !
My big, little brother (and 5year old ) helped me lift 6-4x8s for the ceiling, and I did the walls by myself.

The required front bumpouts (water spicket access on the left) house the Polk300 towers look cool. Recall I sealed the rear ports, and moved them to the front, so it will protrude through the drywall, and help deliver the low end. I'll cover the drivers with the original grills and the entire front wall bill be flat black.


I commented in another thread I started on how much echoing is going now VERSUS my quick black fabric Theater had. Even opening the door and unlocking the door you can hear the echoing, sounds like your entering a church. Let alone when my 5 year old starts practicing his hammering....where's the Tylenol. Sound panels are going to be needed.

I got the corner bead on the only outside corners at the bumpouts, used sticky mesh joint tape for the flat seams, (real joint tape in the corners, hard to get the sticky mesh into a 90degree corner) and I'm set for Spackle . Before I spackle, I'm building a soffit for the side walls (4" recessed), and back wall (projector and recessed, after a visit to HD yesterday at lunch (got a great job), I can get 4x8x1/2 of MDF ($20), they make the cuts, and go 16"deepx12"high soffit. I plan on a rounded soffit on the front wall between the bumpouts also 12" high.
It's Beach House Party again this weekend, but next week I aim to get the MDF from HD, use 2x3's for the nailers on the walls and ceiling, and build the soffit. I knew I'd feel relieved, and remotivated once the Rock was up. Cause I can see the room coming together. Any advice is always appreciated. thanks.

Hey T. Wells,
It's funny, I go through spurts, and I'm on a high....so I need to ride it.
I MUST have it up and running by opening Sunday NFL season....so I have June, July, and August. I get the Sunday Ticket HD every year, and NFL football is why I love HDTV...and I host Sundays being Commish of our FF league.

It's soooo hard with the weather so beautiful, and a 3 year old and 5 year old that need to be outside, active, not watching TV while Daddy's in the movie room. (that's simply not fair, cause they ain't playin' outside without an adult, and my wife has them all day)

My brother said he'll be over Saturday, I'm calling HD to get 1/2" MDF cut up for the soffit construction, which will house 4--4" high hats, and maybe a column on each side midway.
Do I need to stuff insulation into the soffit ?
I heard guys here say to, I guess I understand it at Competition Levels of volume, but that's not what I do....it's either a group watching sports, or comfortable movie levels...full sound, just not pounding to where things rattle.

Just a quick update, I've been particular motivated as of late, actually getting down there one day over the weekend, and 1 or 2 days at night during the week.
The soffits are done....I used 1/2" MDF ($18) with HD making the long cuts, and my 6' tall brother helping...I left the projector area open, not 100% on whcih model, and cooling.


I had HD cut up an extra $18 sheet into 10" strips, and made 2 square columns on each side wall at the front of the deck...I think it will create a neat illusion of supporting the soffits after I do crown moulding on the top.
I also did the first wave of spackling and ragging.
I HIGHLY recommend wet ragging instead of sanding....ZERO dust....you just have to spackle carefully without too much excess...then ragging is difficult.

There's me in deep thought about the front wall, but I found a solution !
Next is 4" high hats in the soffit (2 back, 1 on each side), next wave of spackling, installing rear inwalls...then PAINT....my wife likes black front wall, ceiling anf soffits, with burgundy/red side walls and back wall.
I want GOLD crown moulding under the soffit, and above the soffit, (2 tier) just don't know how that will look.
Thanks for visiting !

YES on the soffits, I didn't want them being open drums, and I wanted the added isolation from the kitchen above.
The riser/deck is ZERO insulation...I want the low frequency explosions from the separate 10" and 12" sub enclosures rumbling those joist bays. (at least that's my theory). If I need to add bass drums, or accoustical panels, I will after.

Thoughts/opinions are welcome on IF that deck will THUNDER like I want.

I have not noticed that about the Celotex, I hade alot of leftover drywall pieces and almost an entire extra 4x10, so I screwed all that to the Celotex about 90% covered.
So the back wall= Drywall + on 2x4s stuffed with 6" R19, then Celotex + drywall.
I used HD 50 year caulk the Mrs. MCcall told me about, and sealed all the gaps on the Celotex layer....it's pretty quiet when the AC or Hot Water heater fire up !....one of the zillion things reading/learning on AVS.....MASS is good for isolation, and those boyz ain't lyin'

Think of the performance VS dollar with the way I'm doing it.
Using the Sub Preout RCA off my Onkyo, Y splitter into L/R input into a sub AMP.

I got both CerwinVega Stealth subs for about $100 new on Ebay (not CWs top of the line), enclosures were $20 in MDF, the sub amp might be $100.
The 10 enclosure is slightly smaller than the 12, so it should have the 10 hitting higher frequencies, I've had the 12 setup already, and she does go low....so they should complement each other beautifully !

McCall....you're right in stuffing the riser being a risk....if I was doing more music listening, but this will 100% be F14s off the Carriers, movie explosions to put you right in the movie...so if I get a couple "false frequencies" in the 2x10 joist bays, it should be a bonus !
I caulked the tops of the 2x10 before the decking went down, the etire deck is very tight with hopefull zero rattles and squeaks.
Remember it's 10'x14' deck is supported only on the sides, completely floating in the center span....so it should be alot of fun !...hope....hope...

Unfortunately the subs won't go in until the day before carpet....there's no reason for me to be stepping around them now.....and you can tell how far off that is since carpet is at the end.

I'm so happy....I feel like I'm sliding downhill now, as it's starting to resemble a Theater now.
I finished fine spackling, stopped worrying about the little defects and blemishes, and said PAINT IT ALREADY.
So the next morning, got the rollers wet with my 5year old and 3 year old, and had a fun family event. They never can help with how sloppy they are, but who cares with no floor yet!

Disneys Mouse Ears flat black (ceiling and front wall, soffits and columns) from HD, and a Dark redish/Maroon leftover from our dining room for the back wall and sides.

The color combo is awesome !
As you can see from my Son, I didn't do that good of a job at the last poopy stop !

Now it's time for crown moulding under the soffit and above the soffit. If anyone has any ideas for COLOR for crown moulding. I'm thinking a dark gold or antique brass, something without the shock of a yellow gold.
Before I do the moulding, it's time to install the outlets, ceiling fan, and turn on the POWER.

Thanks,
Yeah, all my son wants now is his bedroom to be black too.

Did you get your Theater turned on, to here the subs ?

I will be powering up the theater, and having the audio going, but unfortunately, I don't want to install the floor subs until the construction is over.
I figure life will be easier without worrying about stepping through a 12" or 10" driver !