Flaming Oak Cinema (A Cathan Production)

EDIT MAY 17, 2010:

Welcome to my now completed the Flaming Oak Cinema thread. After almost exactly three years of work, this build is now done. You can read all about my journey over the next 90 or so pages. There were many ups and many down, but in the end I'm pretty happy with what I managed to accomplish with zero prior construction experience. But without the help of this forum's many passionate and giving participants, none of this project would have been possible. So to all of you, thank you. Now enjoy the show...









I will be posted a summary thread and index here in the next few weeks.

Greetings!

It's been nearly a year in the making, but it's finally time to step out of learning mode and enter the planning and building phases. After hundreds of hours of reading some fantastic threads (Chinadog, SMX, Swithey, Mark, BIGmouthinDC, ebr, Zinema, and ChinaClipper and many, many more) and trying to unravel what the pro’s know (BPape, Dennis, Terry, Ethan and others), I think I'm ready to start putting plans into motion.

But a word of warning, if you are reading this expecting a non-stop action type build thread, you may be disappointed. This thing is going to take me a while, maybe even a few years. I promise that if you do chose to tune in to my occasion posting, that I’ll try not to bore you. This is going to be a long journey for me, but hopefully it will be a fun one.

Over the next few days I going to start putting some of my ideas down on paper, start posting some photos and design ideas in order to help define the scope of the project. Like many of you, I have to work for a living, but I should be able to sneak in the occasional update during lunch, breaks and in the evenings after work. So I hope you stay tuned for the creation of the …




Hehehe, thanks Gonzo. I have been bitching about not being able to start for a while now, eh? I can't tell you how good it feels to have the go ahead to start.



Now I'm sure you are wondering what the scope of the project is going to be. Well at the moment I have a bunch of ideas, but not all of them are firmly fleshed out. But what I know that I want in the end is a space in the basement (currently completely unfinished) in which my wife and I can invite a few friends over to watch movies, special TV events, football and the occasional late night cooperative Halo-fest. So I'm absolutely thinking dedicated room, CIH screen, sound isolation, double drywall/GreenGlue, dark ceilings, acoustically optimized via treatments, one hell of a subwoofer, riser, recliners and did I mention, one hell of a subwoofer.

Currently we have a completely naked basement. It holds some stuff and contains our workout gear and laundry machine, but otherwise it's pretty empty.

Here are some photos of what I have to work with.

The lobby space:


The theater back wall:

The view looking towards the front:

The view looking into the lobby:

View of a stupid pole and beam:

As you can see it's not bad space. Basically I'm thinking a layout that looks something like this:


You'll have to excuse my noob Visio skills and the spelling error. I've only just started playing with the software and I really am a crappy speller.

If you look closely at the design I'm just not sure what to do with that second pole that is in the current false wall. I'm hoping to perhaps integrate it into the screen wall. The space that is available behind the screen wall is basically limitless. I am however hoping to perhaps build a beast of subwoofer similar to what ebr has done. clickie

Also, the measurements are concrete to concrete, so not the final interior room dimensions.

Here is a short (40 second/10MB) video for those who would like a quick tour.

Click for Video

Thanks for the encouragement gang. I expect I may need a lot of that over the ...ehhhh... seasons to come.

dc-pilgrim - Whether I can move that pole is a fair question. I just don't know the answer. That beam runs from the pole to the back wall. And the ceiling joists rest on the beam and are cut to length. I imagine moving the pole to increase room width of the room would be cost prohibative. However moving the pole a few feet along the beam to create more depth could be a posibility if I really needed the space. The question is what would that get me? Any thoughts?

Clipper - You should absolutely make the list. Afterall, I figure if you could manage not to destroy your house, I couldn't possibly do too much harm.

Strange/Gonzo - Flipping the room is something I have throught about, a lot. If there was a way I could move that pole six feet or so back along the beam it would give me the "ideal" space for what I want. HVAC, projector location would also be a plus. And I'd get a few more inches of ceiling height over the second row riser.

Anyone know how feasable it is to move a pole so that it's not sitting at the end of a ceiling beam? I would even care it it resulted in having to add a second pole somewhere further down the span.

Gonzo - The video took five or so takes. I had to keep it under 40 seconds, so that took a few tries. Plus my wife came down to poke fun at me ruining one of my better attempts.

Craig - I will very well will want to chat about your pole moving experience. I think the first step is hiring an engineer to look at it to see what can be done, and then deciding if the scope of the work is something I'm comfortable doing myself or if I need to hire it out. Given that I also need to have the bathroom rough plumb put in, I may be able to combine the jobs.


Satelite - Screen size and projector selection will get worked out a bit later down the road. Once I know the room size I'm actually working with and seat locations set, I should be able to get a better idea of projector location. Besides, who knows what will be out on the market a couple of years from now. But point definately taken. Thanks!

Mark - "About Time" No kinding, right? Can't promise that my Scotch vise will taper off much though. Everytime I think I've put a dent in the supply, those silly folks on Islay make more.

Moving that pole really is what I'd like to do. It just makes sense. I'll draw up a rough plan of a flipped design and post it ater this week

Anyone know what hiring a structural engineer costs? Any referrals for the NoVA area?

If I were to keep the design as posted, the wall behind the screen wall is completely variable. I just through down a random depth. I will be building a massive sub (think 100+ sq foot enclosure) behind the screen so will need a bit more space than the typical screen wall.

Yep. We're avid divers. I was looking to get into the more technical side of diving, but this project is going to take a chunk out of my play money. By the end of the summer I will hopefully be practicing with doubles, although only within rec diving specs.

Zinema - what I like most of your build is the use of light woods. As we renovate parts of the house I've been bringing more and more maple in for things like kitchen and bath cabinets. I'm envision using maple for the theater trim thereby bringing in some of the things that you did with a few of ebr's ideas as well. That keeps the house's overall design and use of materials pretty consistant. I always hate homes where it feels that each room was frankensteined together. We keep a pretty consistant palet throughout and that includes the wood.

Thanks. I just hate the premium costs we have to pay in this area. Just another reason to be self-sufficient and go the DIY route. I have some down time later today, so plan on calling a few local engineer firms.