Flaming Oak Cinema (A Cathan Production) - Page 3

Thanks guys.

Mark - check out the projector/powercord/ups in equip closet discussion in Craig's ReedZone Theater thread. You may remember the thread that I'm trying to find.

So my structural engineer is coming out tomorrow morning to take a look at what can be done with this beam. The picture was taken from what would be outside of the back of the room.



My original thought was to just move the column from the end of beam to some point around 5-6' further in. The beam would then be enclosed in a soffit, but the soffit would have to be pretty wide. My concern is that the wide soffit may created problems once I put in a riser in the back of the room.

So then I started thinking what if I move the column as planned and then cut the beam off at the column. To support that section of the house I would then install that 6' beam so that it is closer in line with the other beam (basically the other side of the HVAC trunk). Now that would mean having to install three columns total (relocated, and perhaps I would need to replace the ceiling joists that are just slightly longer. I would also need to reroute that main HVAC trunk line which could be a pain.

Anyway, before I go much further with the engineer who I'm paying by the hour, I figured I'd float the idea by here. Good plan? Bad plan? Waste of money? Also, no clue what this would run me if I farmed some of it out. Bracing a house from collapsing on me has me a bit nervous.

Sorry for the confusion. The false wall makes it a bit confusing. If you can imagine a room, the photo is taken from the perspective of the right rear corner of the room looking to the front on the room. The right pole that you see will be in the right-hand wall eventually.

The pole I need to move is left one that is partially hidden behind the steel shelving. The beam that I want to cut short is connected to that left pole.

If it's still confusing let me know and I'll try to draw a picture.

I used my uber artist skills. Perhaps this will help you picture it better.


The big fat circle is where I would move the pole to.

The visio plan I drew has the pole moving about 6 ft. That was purely a guess. The engineer will need to tell me how far back I can move it.

What Bpape tells me that for every foot I move the wall back, I'll get about another 4 inches to provide for a third bar-rail row. By moving the pole 6 feet i will have around 40" behind the second row of seats. That's pretty tight of the stool users. While I don't expect to host many events where the stools would be used, it would be nice to know what it would take to make this configuration work during this planning/design period. If I can't get it to work, I may just scrap the idea.

As for the soffit. The Visio diagram is to scale as to pole locations and how deep that soffit would run into the room. If I made one the same depth on the opposite wall, I would have around 40% of the back ceiling soffited.

That's exactly it. I think I would need to replace 5 joists if I wanted to cut the beam and move it. Besides one cable that would be moved the moment I remove the current false wall, there are no obstructions keeping me from adding new joists. Right now the joists run up to the right edge of the duct work. Even moving the beam this far would help keep the soffit to a reasonable size. Of course the HVAC would need to be redone, but I think it will need to be done regardless.

Not entirely. That main duct eventually runs into the theater room two feed to registers on the main floor. But I would be replacing the metal duct with the soft tube kind. On the opposite wall is where I would run the room's HVAC feed. I think...

Sistering would seem to be easier. And no easy access from above. It's the kitchen right above and although we want to redo the kitchen floor, that project wasn't going to be done until a couple more years. I guess I could always redo the kitchen floor first if I had to...but I think my wife may rebel if I told her I had to do the kitchen floor only because it would effect the threater room.

The part of the HVAC line in the photo that I would want to replace is only what's running into the room. So from the "T" on down.

So the visit from the engineer was productive. It looks like I can sister the joists using only around 3' long lumber and with very little problem be able to extend the right side beam (from the photo) and cut the left beam. The extended beam would just need to be connected with a steel plate to the existing beam and run just short of the HVAC "T" connection that you can see in the photo. Almost none of the electrical, plumbing or gas lines would need to be relocated or moved either.

That would give me a room that would look something like this:



I should have a pretty clean work area that will be 26' (L) x 12' (W) x7'2" (H).

Once I get the final plans from the engineer I'll start bidding out the work. Assuming I install the cement footers, install the sistered ceiling joists and gather the beam materials, I can't imagine it will run me too much to pay for some help installing the beam extension and columns and cutting out the old beam section.

Next step is to go look at some chairs with the wife. If I could just drag her away from studying, we may be able to do it this evening.

Not sure yet. Likely in a couple of weeks. It may make sense for me to put in the egress window well before starting. That way I can get things into the basement without having to go up and down stairs. The engineer mentioned something about the footers needing 3,500 lbs of concrete.

I should also bring in an HVAC guy to look to see if my current system can handle the addition.

All of these are pretty big ticket projects (a few thousand each) so will absorb a few months of my theater cash flow. That being said, I'm sure I'll end up buying some studs the moment the permits have been pulled just so that I can swing a hammer.

Or if I end up using metal studs a cordless screwdriver.

Craig - If our current HVAC can't handle the basement, then I think we'd put in a larger unit that could before we would get a seperate unit. Either way, my plan is to try to have the theater HVAC run in such a way that if we decide to put it on it's own unit, that could be done in the future. I'll tie everything in at a location in the storage area for easy access and upgradeability. It may not be ideal, but seems like a decent compromise on keeping costs down. Of course once I talk to the HVAC guy(s), I may completely change my mind again.

As for the concrete, I've never mixed it before. Any reason why one couldn't do that in the basement? That way I would only need to haul the dry bags and not the wet stuff.