The RTROSE (take my sweet time) HT Construction Thread - Page 5

Good Eye!

Yes the romex has been properly stapled along the stud(s) and I appreciate the heads up on that.

In the theater area I am currently double checking staples and putting the metal plates up on the 2 x 4's where the romex goes through the center of the stud. Just as I think I have gotten all of them I see one or two that need attention and then I start the whole looking process over again due to paranoia!

Regards,

RTROSE

No you are not alone. Others are watching er ah I mean others can appreciate our paranoia.

I think a little paranoia is a good thing but unfortunately right now I have to watch what I say and do because at this very moment there are "black helicopters" hovering about and I know they are trying to intercept my communications and are using high frequency waves to influence my thoughts. Sorry got to go just ran out of aluminum foil.......

Regards,

RTROSE

Hello all,

Just a quick post so my build doesn't get lost 20 some odd pages back. As my signature shows currently my build is on "Pause". I have been busy with some other projects around the house namely replacing our "contractor grade" interior doors with solid wood six panel doors. This "upgrade" sure adds to the looks of the interior of our home and there is a definitely a different "feel" to the solid doors but boy o boy is it a pain and opens up a can o worms regarding how the builder initially put the doors in. Who would have thought that my wife would have gotten "upgradeitis" before me.

My father-in-law has been a great help but we have had to be creative in some aspects and as always in home remodeling projects have discovered that there is nothing in my house (except MY construction in the basement) that is plumb or square.

I am also working on building a loft bed for my youngest so this is also taking time away from the basement. I'm very hopeful that in a week or two I can get back to the basement full speed ahead. The one good thing about my build being on pause is I have had time to look at a couple of things in the basement and determine my original plan may have been flawed slightly. This is mostly regarding outlet placement and a couple of other small details that are much easier to fix at this stage vs. making the same realization after is is all said and done.

Regards,

RTROSE

Ha! Little far from Denver area and the whole reason I am DIY is for the $$$$ savings and I want to say I DID IT (even if I'm slow)!! If I were to hire anything out to be done it would be for all of the Honey Do's I have been doing for about two months!

I appreciate you pointing me in the right direction though!

Regards,

RTROSE

Sheesh!

I feel so used and violated and in my OWN thread too! Should have known better.

topak you have been reported as a spammer hope your short life on AVS was fun.

Regards,

RTROSE

A quick update,

Well it has been roughly four months since I have set foot in the basement for the purpose of doing anything constructive down there. I have finished replacing all of my interior doors in my house, built a loft bed for my youngest, and some other miscellaneous odds and ends around the house these past few months along with other summer commitments which left me with little to no spare time and also "burnt out" on the whole construction thing.

I am ashamed to admit when I went down there today I had to spend a few minutes reacquainting myself to my project and reorganizing just to work more efficiently.

I spent the majority of time cleaning up and getting rid of cob webs galore that had taken over my space. I realized I needed to double check all of my electrical runs and realized there were several that I needed to staple in several additional locations to tighten things up a bit. I also was in the process of putting the cable guards up when I ran out. I bought a box of 100 and thought I would have plenty. Wrong! I was running out of time anyway so it wasn't too big of a deal.

In the next few days I'll finish up putting up the rest of the cable protectors and then I'll progress to actually running cables!

Oh and thanks to Staffy I'll be coming up with an idea to quiet all of my can lights either by silicone or electrical tape to eliminate the possibility of rattling.

Regards,

RTROSE

Staffy,

Thanks for the tip regarding the electrical tape relaxing over time. I wasn't even thinking about that possibility but you are absolutely correct.

logan, staffy, cathan, tony,

I am just going to try to commit to working in the basement a couple of times a week now for the simple reason most of my commitments and honey-do's for the summer have been completed and now I can focus again on the basement.

I just need not get bogged down looking at the whole project and seeing a lack of progress. I just need to look at all of the "little things" and check one thing off at a time and be happy with the progress as I complete each small step.

Thanks for the encouragement guys!

Regards,

RTROSE

Well I spent the holiday (Thanks Mr. Christopher Columbus) working in the basement. Had the opportunity to spend about 7 whole quality hours "down there". Finished wire stapling and putting up metal wire guards all over the place so I could move onto running some cables.

I thought it prudent to check my HDMI cables before running them through the walls because I figured my luck I would run them button everything up and then find there was a problem. Both worked just fine so no worries there. The two HDMI cables I have are really stiff and I'm a little concerned how well they will "stuff into" the boxes I have mounted for all my video cables. I did leave a lot of wiggle room with the cables for just that reason so I should be OK. I just may have to get a little creative with the cable management.

My overall plan is to have two different areas in the basement one the dedicated HT the other is the kids hangout/media room. My plan includes running the necessary cables HDMI, component cables with a plan for running cables in the future and then running HDMI, component/audio, composite/audio to the kids area. The main viewing in the kids area will be with SD dish over composite and RCA cables for audio with the receiver in the equipment rack in the HT. The HDMI, component cables are for the main receiver in the HT. The kids area will be served with by a separate HTIB such as an Onkyo 5100 and a upconvert DVD player, and assorted game consoles. I have planned on having the additional cables to use the main receiver in the HT to pass along any hi def sources either through the component or HDMI cables from the main receiver turning the tv in the kids area into a mirror of what is being watched in the HT. Basically the kids area will have two options watch the source in the HT or independently watch dish or their own DVD.

If this explanation makes sense let me know if the idea is sound or if it doesn't make sense or is not a sound idea let me know.

I also remembered that I have got to move an outlet in the workout area. I pulled a boneheaded move and put the outlet in the wrong area. Always something to fix or modify.

I am just happy the electrical is done and I'm moving on to something different.

Regards,

RTROSE

Well just as I thought my honey do's were over we got the custom wood in to replace the last of the old wood work in the entry way between the rooms downstairs. So more sanding, staining, polyurethaneing to take me away from my theater work.

When this adventure started (the doors) I had only thought it would take a mater of weeks to get it all done not several months to complete. Plus in replacing one of the door ways I discovered that what was supposed to be 2 x 6 construction isn't and this has caused me a huge headache in using drywall mud to build out the wall so the edge of the wood matches the edge of the wall. I am hoping to be done (and my wife is requesting) all of this be done before Thanksgiving due to the celebration being at our house.

I have put my foot down and (Staffy you would be proud) told my wife there would no new home projects or honey do's until I get the basement much further along or completed. She has agreed (mostly because she is tired of the drywall dust and my air compressor sitting in the living room) with me a switch for sure but I think she is tired of the main area of the house being in a constant state of disarray.

I have done some little things around the basement and have gotten some additional cables cut to length and pulled. I do have a question regarding how I ran some subwoofer cable. I'll post a pic later and see what you all think.

Regards,

RTROSE

I agree with you that a dead line is a good thing and a motivator but alas does add stress to a somewhat stressful situation.

I don't ever like to take on too many projects at once and I think with all that I have done over the last few months has just about put me at my limit.

I'll get this one last project finished up and then I can get back to focusing on the HT.

I guess the reality of home ownership is there is typically always something to do maybe just not owner induced projects.


Regards,

RTROSE

Hey sugarbeth,

Not to worry I had a licensed electrician do the work and everything checks out ok. I appreciate your concern though. My electrician made no mention of having issues or problems with romex in the plastic conduit.

Just to clarify these are my new circuit runs from my existing breaker box to the basement remodel and to leave you even less worried about the conduit the romex only runs about 15 or so feet before it goes into the basement and not all the circuits will be active at once.

Thanks for helping my post back onto the front page. It needs to see the lime light every once in a while. Lord knows I don't post enough (work enough) on my own theater to get it on the front page.

Regards,

RTROSE

I know what you mean about the planning. Currently I have had the money but not the time. Now I seem to have the time but not the money.

I have spent the last seven months doing odd jobs around the house and now it is finally back to concentrating on the theater.

Yeah you sure don't see Seymour or Indiana in general for that matter mentioned much here on AVS. Lots of guys on the East coast/West coast though. So it is up to us here in fly over country to show'em how it's done here in "corn country" Yeeee Haawwwww!

That is pretty bad, but be careful about being Loganed it can have some strange side effects. After being Loganed I actually SLOWED DOWN. If you get Loganed before you even start you might be doomed from the beginning.

Regards,

RTROSE