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Minimalist Approach to Screen Wall - Page 3

post #61 of 280
2/2/09 at 1:03pm
Ok thanks, how big are you gonna go this time?
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post #62 of 280
2/2/09 at 1:37pm
Thread Starter 
Maybe a couple of inches taller but 2:35.
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post #63 of 280
2/2/09 at 4:48pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by BIGmouthinDC View Post

Maybe a couple of inches taller but 2:35.

You won't regret it!
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post #64 of 280
2/16/09 at 4:10pm
Big are your GOM panels on your screen wall made exactly to fit against your screen frame, or did you do it like Queens where it was mounted on top of the panels?

If mounted exactly to fit, do you see any gaps between the panels and the screen frame or is it a tight fit and don't have any issues?

Just trying to decide which way to go with it - I think I'm going to do the exact made to fit route and try to make them as tight as possible. But then doing it kind of like Queens has it's benefits too (not quite as much overlap as hers, but maybe making the panels 6" larger than the space needed) would allow moving the screen up or down without having to make new panels.
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post #65 of 280
2/16/09 at 4:46pm
Thread Starter 
Mine are made tight to fit and while I originally thought I would use Velcro after I put it on the one panel below the screen I found it actually not necessary in fact kind of a pain because it makes it harder to remove. Use the Velcro sparingly. The panel above the screen rests on the screen and keeps the screen from lifting off the brackets. I also have a panel ceiling treatment so the L/R are wedged between the carpet and pad on the bottom and the panel on the ceiling.

The panels fit snug against the velvet Stuart screen and I can't see a gap.
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post #66 of 280
2/16/09 at 5:08pm
Thanks for the info. Probably going your route. I plan on making them and dry fitting them without the screen material on the frame and see how it looks. Glad I don't have to use a bunch of velcro!
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post #67 of 280
4/7/09 at 1:18pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by BIGmouthinDC View Post

From time to time I've seen builds posted where the screen wall looks like a load bearing wall, so last week when I had mine apart for carpet installation I took a couple of pics to document my approach which is minimal and considering I intend to join the 2:35 club at some point easy to modify.

I started with 2 rectangular frames of finger joined pine trim boards. Connected on the top and bottom with a cross member. I doubled up the outside leg with a space between the two boards.

I stood them in place and screwed through the top into the ceiling and bottom to the stage. Added Linacoustic and some leftover eggcrate from my speaker building projects. Also three blocks on the side walls.



Next built 4 frames and covered with black GOM. Added a few dabs of velcro. A little goes a long way because if you use too much it's really hard to pry off a panel. Paint the visible sides of the frames black before attaching GOM.



Then I put up the two sides, the screen and the top and bottom panels, in that order.



I viewed you screen wall several times.

You indicated that you built 2 rectangular frames and I see 4 vertical pieces of wood in your photo, with doubled up wood on the 2 outside pieces.

Are all four vertical pieces of the pine aligned or are the 2 inside ones inset?
How did you mount your screen? French cleat or did you center it between the outside pine posts and attach it?

I couldn't tell from the photo if the 2 rectangular frames were the same size.

Thank you
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post #68 of 280
4/7/09 at 1:28pm
Thread Starter 
They are two equal rectangles. You can't see the top or bottoms because of the ceiling treatments and the carpet. Trust me.

I doubled up the outsides (and put a spacer between) just so I would have a wider landing zone for the edge of the screen and edge of the side fabric panel. They are flush with each other.

It is a Stewart screen and it has key hole brackets that slip over the heads of 4 big screws. They are on the inner uprights. You can see the location by the little white marks where my roller didn't make contact.

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post #69 of 280
10/28/09 at 12:50am
Big, I'm going to be implementing your design soon. But I do have a couple of questions:

What is the purpose of the innermost vertical supports. Wouldn't these be directly behind the screen (which I presume wouldn't really cause a problem).

Wouldn't it be possible to just have supports that are on the sides of the screen?
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post #70 of 280
10/28/09 at 6:49am
Thread Starter 
My current screen is not acoustically transparent. It is a Stewart and is hung by 4 brackets that slip over the heads of large screws. The brackets slide along channels in the top and bottom of the frame. I chose to bring them in from the very outer most edge based on the principle that supporting a long item at the 25/75 mark is more stable than at 0/100. My HT2.0 will be with an acoustically transparent screen and those supports will be moved. To answer your question, yes, if your frame is stiff enough you can mount it from the side edges. I could have the Stewart is stiff enough.

The outermost uprights fall 1/2 behind the screen edge and 1/2 behind the false wall side panels. I actually doubled up the thickness just so that I would have a larger landing zone.
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post #71 of 280
10/28/09 at 10:56am
That makes more sense, then. I just presumed your screen was AT.

I've got a roll of Seymour AV here (the new XT stuff). I will likely try to span the entire width of my screen to avoid vertical bars in the middle of the viewing area.

On the other hand, I'm not sure supports in the middle of an AT screen would impact performance in any way.
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post #72 of 280
10/30/09 at 7:19pm
I have a 10' wide AT screen and I used interior supports on the screen. The screen material does not rest against the supports, which I painted black, and I placed the supports so as not to block the speakers. As a result the supports do not affect the picture (are not visible) or audio at all. My screen is large enough that it needed the support for whenever I move it, although that happens extremely rarely. Not to suggest that the supports are required, but whatever you decide, you need not worry about interference from the supports when making the decision.
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post #73 of 280
4/27/11 at 10:24am
Thread Starter 
Since this got brought up today I guess I should update this thread with my current screen wall which continued the theme of using the least amount of framing as possible. Discussed in my thread but here is a photo summary of the update to install a scope SMX screen.

Two uprights. A cross piece to hang the screen (with mid span support) and some friction fit Black fabric panels surrounding the screen.



Mid span support screwed to ceiling





Fitting the top and bottom fabric frames



template for angled side panels



installing fabric on side panel frame



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post #74 of 280
4/27/11 at 10:50am
Cant wait to do mine!
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post #75 of 280
4/27/11 at 11:06am
Hey Big... this looks like the best version yet.

Did you include another cross member screwed to the ceiling and stage between the uprights, or are you just using the midway box into the ceiling? If just the box, then how did attach the uprights to the ceiling and floor?

Any ideas on securing the bottom of this type of design over carpet? I don't really want or need a stage, and don't want to take up the carpet or use the .22 concrete nails. I'm just looking to keep the everything plum, and maintain the ability to remove with minimal damage to existing. Currently, my back wall is carpeted with the rest of the room, has baseboard and crown, all of which I want to leave intact. Just looking to build a wall to hide my LCR and two subs up front. Screen will not be AT, but I have enough width right now for LR to be to the side. With your design, the screen can be secured from the ceiling and side walls, as well as the upper and side masking areas. The bottom masking is what I want to somewhat secure. Perhaps just another
cross piece at the bottom edge of the screen to attach the lower panel to, and nothing on the carpet?
Thanks.
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post #76 of 280
4/27/11 at 11:54am
Thread Starter 
Just the box at the mid span of the cross piece for stability.

Found some more pics,

These were my old screen wall uprights



I cut them down to this, You can see I left some little footers and top pieces. Then just screwed at an angle through the footers,



I also need to mention that I added a front plate to clean up the look.



As I look at this now I can see that the uprights were a bit "overbuilt" I was just using what I had on hand. If I was to build from scratch I might use a L shaped upright.
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post #77 of 280
4/27/11 at 1:36pm
Beeeeuuatiful!

This room was one of my inspirations.

With the growing trend of 2:35:1 screens, I have to admit going back to the original pictures these days the thought arises "Looks great...too bad all that work to build in a smallish 16:9 screen."

Now that you have a truly theatrical looking 2:35:1 screen..."the circle is complete."

:-)
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post #78 of 280
4/27/11 at 7:47pm
Big, just wanted to thank you for posting such great detailed info about your build. I picked up an identical screen about the same time you did when AVS had their overstock sale but only got around to the screen wall build about 2 weeks ago.

I copied your design (probably a bit too literally but why fix if it's not broke!) and yes, those uprights are seriously sturdy! Much heftier than they look in pictures. I still have a very long way to go in my build but there seems to be a solution/answer here to pretty much any problem/question I've come across.

Anyway, thanks again, the minimalist screen wall is great... easy to build and remarkably sturdy.


screen1 by twct, on Flickr
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post #79 of 280
4/27/11 at 8:52pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by BIGmouthinDC View Post

Mid span support screwed to ceiling



Sorry for the OT, but I thought you swapped out your speakers for 4-pi's?
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post #80 of 280
4/28/11 at 5:46am
Thread Starter 
Twells, thanks for the feedback.

Rader, they hadn't been built yet when I took that picture.

here's proof:


Anybody wanting to read about the Pi's building here is my thread that was on the designers own forum.

http://audioroundtable.com/forum/ind...15168&start=0&

He sells kits, finished speakers and makes the plans available for free for those who want to do a total DIY.

Still left to do is build some new subs and a better stand system for the Pi's.

On the subs, I'm leaning toward the four sealed 2.5 cu ft boxes with the MFW-15 drivers powered by a customized amp that Mark Seaton and Sandbagger at Motor City Custom Audio are working on. I have the drivers in hand. If that doesn't happen then two THT -LPs
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post #81 of 280
4/28/11 at 6:05am
Id love to see a couple THT LP's I've got the plans for them...just havent had the chance to build them yet...
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post #82 of 280
5/2/11 at 9:55am
Thread Starter 
Had a chance to build another screen wall for a client so I'm going to copy some of the details of the construction into this thread. This is for a 120 inch wide DIY 2.35:1 screen.

I like to use the 5/4 finger joined exterior trim boards that HD sells in 16 ft lengths. They are knot free and importantly are straight and stay straight. Of course they are significantly more expensive than studs.

Here is the supply for the screen wall, screen frame and fabric panels, I get them cut to rough lengths at HD so that I can fit them in my SUV.



Here are the parts for the uprights, two 5/4 x 3 1/2 x height plus some scraps for the base and top.



I used butt joints and here I'm setting up to screw them together.




added the bases



My two twin towers



Picture of the cross piece



One screen wall to go, stopping off for a quick beer:



installed at Jesto's



We used a laser level on a ladder to give us a reference line for the cross piece and added blocking that the cross piece rests on. As I look at this picture I wonder why I made the blocking so long, I think I will cut them down to a length even with the bottom of the cross piece if Jesto lets me.



Added 3 - 18 inch Zbar brackets.



The whole structure will get painted black and hidden behind the screen and black fabric panels. The structure is screwed together and screwed in place. If in the future Jesto wants a different size screen it can be recycled by just modifying the cross piece. The width is calculated so that the edge of the screen falls half way on the uprights. The fabric panels will park on the other half.

Update, I did swap out the blocking



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post #83 of 280
5/2/11 at 6:02pm
Are you going to put in the mid span blocking from the cross piece to the ceiling?

I am thinking of doing a similar build, and am thinking about putting another cross member at the bottom of the screen frame to help to support the bottom GOM frame. I don't want to put additional supports to the floor though. Do you think that bottom span would be strong enough to be unsupported and not sag over time? It won't be carrying any weight, but just something to maybe tack the velcro to on the bottom GOM frame.
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post #84 of 280
5/2/11 at 7:17pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by ADDUpstate View Post

I am thinking of doing a similar build, and am thinking about putting another cross member at the bottom of the screen frame to help to support the bottom GOM frame. I don't want to put additional supports to the floor though. Do you think that bottom span would be strong enough to be unsupported and not sag over time? It won't be carrying any weight, but just something to maybe tack the velcro to on the bottom GOM frame.

My bottom GOM frame is the same width as the screen frame so it rests between the 2 uprights just as the screen does and sits on the stage and somewhat wedged under the screen (mine's a bit tight and it doesn't come out easily). Definitely no need for another span assuming you build the GOM frame with supports (like Big's screen frame above). My speaker's drivers are all above the bottom of the screen frame so no real concerns for me about having supports on the lower GOM frame.
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post #85 of 280
5/2/11 at 7:49pm
I plan on building supported GOM frames. I guess I still want to overbuild it to provide support to the upper portion of the lower GOM frame. I'll let you know when my 2 year old decides to crash through the wall like the intro to a football game.

He's been great so far, knowing not to touch the screen or speakers that are Daddy's. I suppose hiding everything behind the wall will reduce the temptation even further.

Thanks.
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post #86 of 280
5/3/11 at 5:50am
Thread Starter 
If the middle bottom GOM frame is sturdy enough there is no need for a top support. I like to keep that area wide open so that if you are swapping out gear it makes it really easy to get in and out.
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post #87 of 280
5/3/11 at 6:04am
Big,

Before you build false wall do you already know the exact size, brand of the screen you plan to use. Do you also know how the screen hangs?

I am not planning to build any detachable panels to get access behind the false wall. I will just remove the screen the get access to the area. I don't think I will need to get behind the screen very often so this should work out well.

Your tip about using 5/4 exterior trim boards came at a perfect time. I will tell my builder to use these to build the false wall.

Thanks
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post #88 of 280
5/3/11 at 9:12am
Big, the curved area you built on your ceiling that matches the curved look of your stage, is there a name for that piece? It seems like most peoples theaters do not include a curve there but it sure makes yours look sharp, and with all of it being so black it kind of disappears into one cohesive look, at least in your photos.

How did you build that area and how difficult was it to get the curve right?
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post #89 of 280
5/3/11 at 9:46am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by hehateme View Post

Big,

Before you build false wall do you already know the exact size, brand of the screen you plan to use. Do you also know how the screen hangs?

Yes, Yes and Yes

The screen wall is built to accommodate the selected screen
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post #90 of 280
5/3/11 at 9:57am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by nebrunner View Post

Big, the curved area you built on your ceiling that matches the curved look of your stage, is there a name for that piece? It seems like most peoples theaters do not include a curve there but it sure makes yours look sharp, and with all of it being so black it kind of disappears into one cohesive look, at least in your photos.

How did you build that area and how difficult was it to get the curve right?

Somewhere I documented that in my thread. Basically I build a two inch deep frame on the ground. The rounded portion was PVC lumber. I stuffed it with two inches of Linacoustic and wrapped in black GOM fabric.



Then I lifted it in one piece and glued it to the ceiling with loc-tite construction adhesive. Once I lifted it up I wedged it tight to the ceiling with about 8 studs that I had cut to the exact length. Waited overnight and removed the studs and it has been there 6 years now.

As a side note I practiced about 4 times taking it from the saw horses and lifting into place by myself. Once I felt confident I laid on adhesive on every piece of framing and lifted it up. The wife positioned a few of the studs and then I finished the task. I wrapped the ends of the studs in fabric scraps to protect the fabric.
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