The RTROSE (take my sweet time) HT Construction Thread - Page 12

Sounds like your wife is a keeper like mine. My wife is pretty flexible when it comes to this theater stuff even though she may not fully understand why I do what I do regarding building the theater. The black/dark ceiling was a tough sell, but when I explained why I needed to do it that way she was cool with it.

I don't see us with two PS3's playing COD4 though She is not a gamer and I'm more of a movie guy, but I play a mean drum on Rock Band and she is a great lead guitarist. The kids corner the gaming console for the most part and that is just fine with me.

Regards,

RTROSE

Hint taken. I've got some pics of my doors I have been working on. I'll get them posted later on tonight.

Man all you guys are persistent!

I guess that while photos of doors may not seem all that exciting to me, to all of you at least it shows progress.

I must admit even if I do say so myself (shameless self plug, and sprains hand as he pats himself on the back) that my doors are starting to look very nice.

Regards,

RTROSE

All right you guys. Here are some pics of my progress.

Earlier I told you about having a duct cleaning company come in. I totally spaced taking pictures of anything they did, even if they did have some interesting equipment. Sorry guys, let you all down on that one.

Here are a couple of pics of my doors. I have two 24" inch doors and two 36" doors. Both of the 24" doors will go on the equipment/furnace room, one of the 36" doors will separate the theater/kitchenette from the kids area and the other the kids area from the unfinished storage area.

The sanded/prepped doors just waiting/begging for stain.



Doors after one coat of stain.





The stain is stain is a lighter shade in the photos than "real life". I was able to get a second coat of stain on the two smaller doors, but time and patience was waning so the second coat of stain will have to wait for Saturday for the bigger doors.

I did change up my technique for these doors. I went with a finish sanding of 150 grit vs. 220 grit and used a high quality stain brush vs. the cheap foam brushes. I still wiped the excess stain off with an old "t" shirt though. I think I have noticed the biggest difference with using 150 grit vs. the 220. Still a very smooth finish but seems to leave the grain "open" accepting the stain more readily. I know have used more stain for these doors than I did on the other doors we put in the rest of the house. The brush vs. foam is a wash I believe. IMHO there is not much difference. The foam tends to hold more stain than the traditional brush which depending on the situation is good and bad. I do like the "feel" of the traditional brush better but here again I'm nitpicking and a highly personal preference. I know I could have bought a lot of foam brushes for what I paid for the "traditional" brush.

Well I hope I have temporarily satisfied your need for a photo fix. I know you all are photo junkies so this "fix" won't last long so I'll continue my progress and include more photos.

Regards,

RTROSE

All,

I was able to get a second coat of stain on the other two doors so all four doors now have two coats of stain. Save for a couple of touch ups they are pretty much done. I THINK we have settled on our paint colors. A combination of blue and brown. The brown (which will be pretty dark) will go on the back wall where the TV will be mounted and the blue on the other three walls along with the stairway leading down. We have also decided on an "off white" for the ceiling vs. the traditional bright ceiling white paint.

On the "To do" list several items still remain.

* Finish the rest of the insulation
* Run additional electrical to the sump pump area
* Attach flooring to the concrete slab
* Re-install HVAC registers
* Install doors
* Order equipment for the boys area.

Regards,

RTROSE

More progress....

Finally decided on paint colors...er ah at least I have purchased a total of five gallons in three different colors. I know I have mentioned it before but man who is the person responsible for picking these paint colors. We ended up with "chocolate curl" "zurich white" and "boathouse blue". There were a couple of colors that the wife and I looked at but I simply refused just because of the names!!!!!

I have also purchased the needed supplies to attach the subfloor to the concrete. Not looking forward to that job, lots of drilling in concrete. I have guessed that each full sheet of OSB will need at least four to six nails to hold it securely.

Tonight I was able to get one coat of ceiling paint on the stairway and the media/kids area. This color is the zuric white. This color is not as "bright" as your standard or typical bright white ceiling paint. It will need a second coat to even out the roller marks I can see but should turn out very nice.

Once I get the ceiling painted I can progress to getting the wall color up and the doors in and then some more progress pics! Whooo Hoooo!!!!

I hope the next few days will be productive ones. My plan is to paint each evening and then work on the flooring while the paint dries. Ohhh I'm multitasking! There's a switch. If Logan only knew!

Regards,

RTROSE

I don't know if it would work, however in the directions for the best method of attaching the floor is to drill a 3/16" hole which extends at least 1" into the concrete, place some plumbers solder into the hole and then drive a fluted masonry nail into the hole.

Or they state you could also use Tapcon screws. I used these to secure the base plates to the floor and you had to do them "just right" for them to hold. They tend to strip out pretty easily if you over tighten them much at all. I had to learn to have a feel for them when they were tight enough. I knew that I did not want to go the tapcon route. My drywall guy also mentioned a similar method to the solder/fluted nail and that seems more bullet proof way of doing it.

Bummer because I'm always looking for a reason to get a new play toy.

I was able to get the second coat of ceiling paint on and after a full day of real work, time with the kids, and hauling some trash out of the basement I just did not have the umph to start on the floor this evening.



I know! That is why I'm bummed. I have had the chance to use one before and thoroughly enjoyed using it. But I don't think it is useful in this application. Sigh......

Regards,

RTROSE

Ok,

With a little research I found that I was Loganed on 4-10-08, now I have been HaneSAmatized 8-1-09. Now I don't know if one cancels the other, one compounds the other, or they work in conjunction to speed up my progress or conversely slow it down just that much more. Now I'm totally confused. Good thing I did not know this until I was done painting for the day.

Here are some updated photos.

The dark color is "Chocolate curl" the lighter is "Seaside villa" ***incorrectly called "boathouse blue" earlier in my thread*** Too many paint names to actually keep track of!

Here ya go. The ceiling is finished with two coats (zuric white). The walls only have one coat. The lighter color will only need another coat, will see if the darker color will need just two or a third to make it look nice. Ceiling is flat finish the walls are in eggshell.

Stairwell



Looking from the stairs to the TV wall.



From the TV wall back towards the stairs.



Another shot of the stairway



The colors are off slightly from what I see in person the dark color is actually very close to the color of milk chocolate and the blue is slightly more gray than what the photos show.

To be completely honest I really like both colors very well, I am just not sure if I like the combo together. My wife really likes it and this is one room in the basement (since it is the kids area) that I really want her input on. So if she is happy I'm thrilled I had initially wanted the lighter color down the stairwell due to the concern that the stairway would be too dark. She wanted the dark color so it would not show dirt as easily since the stairway will see lots of traffic so I see her point. The best thing is that I'm making progress and plugging away with the goal still being that the kids area is finished by Christmas.

Regards,

RTROSE

Thanks. Like I said I too like both colors and the dark on the stairs is growing on me. I am still not sure how well I like to two together. I'm planning on the doors going in later this week. I want to get what painting done I can, and get the subfloor attached before I bring the doors into the picture, I'm hoping by the weekend I'll have the doors in. If that does not happen it would not be the first time I missed a deadline/goal.....Thanks Logan!



I see your point it never works out very well for the canaries!



Oh, I did have the courtesy to change my OP to update the correct spelling, I have never been known for my spelling abilities, but thanks for pointing out my indiscretion. I DO have a woodpile mister, yeah that right I do. Just because I have not photographed said woodpile doesn't mean it is not there. Surprised? You should be. Be careful how you wield this new power of yours. It just may come back and bite you! I'm really more worried what will happen if I MISS my Christmas deadline vs. explaining why I have been UN-Loganed and UN-Hanesamatized. Thanks for weighing in. I'm just a littel disappointed there was not a useless photograph associated with this post! Now off to do some work in the basement.

Regards,

RTROSE

Ah, yes. I did forget to mention that I was going to use minwax poly on the doors.

I should have said........

"My staining is done on the doors except for a couple of touch ups. Once the touch ups are done then I will need to put a couple of coats of poly on them to protect them."

Not to worry BeerParty. With two kids, two dogs, a cat, and the neighborhood hooligans all at the house I will definitely be putting some protection on my doors. I replaced all of the interior doors in my house with the same type of doors I will be putting in the basement and all of those doors have a couple of coats of poly on them as well. Thank you for the input.

Regards,

RTROSE

Quick update,

Since my last post.

Nailed down subfloor.

Finished touch up painting.

Hung doors

Painted/stained trim.

Installed trim.

Shopped for carpet and picked up some samples.

Pics to follow since all of you pretty much don't believe that progress has occurred with out photographic evidence.

Regards,

RTROSE

All right....

I don't want to give you all my pictures at once then I would lose you all again so I'll provide pics as I have progressed these past few days.

After painting the kids area I needed to get the floor buttoned down before I did anything else.

I had figured I would only need 4 to 6 nails to do the job, but this was not the case. I needed at least 6 in some of the smaller boards.

The process was/is to drill a pilot hole through the OSB then use the hammer drill to drill into the concrete floor.

Here are the tools. The big DeWalt drill I borrowed from the guy who did my drywall. My Hitachi is a hammer drill, but it does not have the umph that the DeWalt does.



Going to work with the big drill.



I was very surprised at how well or at least how much easier the DeWalt drilled through the concrete vs. my Hitachi. No comparison, just another example of why it is important to have the right tool for the job.

Once I drilled the holes I placed a piece of 12 gauge copper wire in the hole.



Then the fluted masonry nail to button it up.



Lots more holes than what I had thought and took more time too, but was easier than I had planned due to the bigger drill. I am really glad I did the sub-floor my basement feels just like the main levels underfoot and you don't get that cold feet feeling. Still need to button up the theater and the kitchenette but that is just going to take some time.

I'll post some more progress pics later.

Regards,

RTROSE

I thought about the powder actuator option, but it was not listed as a method to secure the sub-floor to the concrete and I was worried that over time the nails would work loose and could easily control the depth with a "manual" hammer. I was also looking at the tapcon route too, but just the expense of the screws themselves becomes prohibitive as many as I would need to use to secure the OSB. The tapcon screws also (in my use anyway) easily strip leaving you high and dry only to use another screw with the same possibility of stripping.



You are correct about the collars on the nails. I helped a friend do some framing where he was using powder hammer and just about every nail had some orange collar hanging on it. This was not an issue for the walls, but in your application Logan and mine this would be a very big negative for "smooth" floors. The method I'm using is pretty much "bullet proof" and leaves the floor very secure and the nails basically sit flush on the surface of the OSB. You could use the tapcon screws, but what I'm doing is cheaper and gives the same or better result with just about the same or even less effort as what the tapcon's would be.

Regards,

RTROSE