The RTROSE (take my sweet time) HT Construction Thread - Page 3

That's funny! I wonder if I can incorporate that into my theater? Super Man theme music playing in the background anyone?

I'll look into the tool-belt deal I think I can take the extra ribbing from my wife! I have been attaching my base plates with the TapCon screws that require the predrilling the base plate using a mortar drill bit then screws. Time consuming but I have been very happy with the result and they seem ultra secure. I am almost done with the base plates now just a few more to go and then on to the final framing. I would estimate I am now about 95% done with the framing.

I still have not heard back from my kitchen designer and "my electrical guy" has not gotten back with me either. Oh well one step at a time I just wish they were more than baby steps.

Regards,

RTROSE

Well finally I (well my wife too) have chosen the lighting for our basement. After several attempts to get somewhere to look at lighting we finally were able to get to Lowe's to look at some options.

I have decided to go with basic "cans" in the workout area, kids media area, and the kitchenette. These cans will have black baffles and white trim rings. I have decided to "go fancy" in the HT area by using a combination of cans with nicer inserts




and sconces.



Thanks to the op of the sconces thread as I have decided to go with the Leonardo sconces pictured in that thread.

I heard back from my electrician and he is coming on the 29th to do the wiring and electrical, phone, networking etc.

I have still yet to finish the framing (almost done) and got to get all of my boxes up so he can terminate. I have been talking with my kitchen guy and he is still doing some design work in between the paying customers and has been asking questions that shows me he is making some progress with the design. I am on vacation next week so I have high hopes that major steps will be taking place in forward progress on the basement.

Regards,

RTROSE

Ladies and Gentlemen may I have your attention Please!!!!!!

Today I have reached a small but very important milestone. I have finished the rough framing of my basement project! I have a few minor "detail oriented" framing issues but the major rough framing is DONE!!!!

I have to focus on getting these minor issues completed (such as the built in component rack framed up) and then I'm on to wiring. I have in the past two days received my HDMI and inwall speaker cables (thanks Monoprice) and my coax cable (thanks Hifi for Less) so I have plenty to keep me busy until the 29th when my electrician shows up.

I still need to post some pics of the work so far.

Thanks everyone for ideas, suggestions, and your support. I know that just getting the framing done is no where near being done, but I feel it is a milestone none the less.

Regards,

RTROSE

Double Whoot!!!

Today I spent tearing out some old drywall that lined the stairway to the basement. I had forgotten how messy it is to do that! There is just no way to tear down drywall without it going EVERYWHERE!! My wife had also forgotten how messy it was and was not thrilled when my construction/destruction mess ventured up the stairway and traveled throughout the rest of the house.

After finishing tearing the drywall down and cleaning up the mess I had a few minutes to spare so I started the framing for my built in component rack. I am following the lead of YW84U (Tom) and silkd (Kevin). Thanks guys those are awesome looking racks! I don't know if I will go to the finishing standards of the faceplates but it is something to strive for.

I purchased my inserts and cans from Lowe's yesterday and the cans and inserts I ordered from usalighting arrived today so I have those to install and mu speaker cable RG59 and my HDMI cable arrived earlier so I'm all set for running wires.

Tomorrow I'm planning on finishing the component rack frame hanging can lights locating electrical boxes and running wires. Whew!

I have really enjoyed this adventure so far I guess that is the point of DIY though isn't it?

Regards,

RTROSE

All right.....

Well I pulled a brain freeze today and mounted my electrical boxes with the wrong recess. I was an 1/8" off but at least I did not get them all mounted! I'll go back pull them off and remount them. Just a reminder to myself to always measure twice when checking dimensions. I usually do but on this small "detail" I just did not double check. Shame on me.

I was able to get the equipment rack framed up so now there is a place for me to start some "fancy" wood working to make the home for my future equipment presentable. Still a lot to do and Sunday is Easter (He is risen indeed!!!!) and will be spending time with family and friends so maybe in the late afternoon I may get back down there to undo my boo boo and get the rest of my boxes up (this time with the proper spacer!

Regards,

RTROSE

I have been saying for weeks now I need to get some updated photos so maybe in the next few days I can snap some pictures.

Aaron,

This has been a interesting journey so far. Yup I forgot just how messy tearing down drywall is/was and so did the wife. I usually try to do the "messy stuff" while she is at work. She forgets that construction/destruction is messy business!

I am amazed at the pictures some show here where there construction area is cleaner than my house! I am not that "tidy" when I work. I try to keep things as clean as possible but still not as clean as others.

The only thing I would do differently is I would completely empty the basement and not have to work around all of the "stuff" in my basement. I could have hauled everything off to the garage but the prospect of not having her garage for say a year or two did not sit very well with her.

I have just about finished mounting electrical boxes and the next step is to start running cables, mounting light cans, and electrical wires.

I still need to take pictures of my progress but I have been saying that for a while now!

I think (if I can recall correctly) the framing for my basement has taken just nine or so months! Give or take. Glad the labor is cheap!

Regards,

RTROSE

longwa,

I'll take a pic tonight to show you we are very similar in our messes as well. It is actually uncanny.

I am still mounting boxes and running wires! The only boxes I have left to mount is for the sconces and the projector. It is very time consuming to drill and pull wires so I can see why my electrician wanted me to run as many wires as I could before he shows up on Saturday. I still don't have any of my fixtures up yet. I am still working out locations for the recessed lighting and the sconces. I am working those out after making sure where the speakers and the projector will go. You have to have your priorities!

I usually don't have any reservations doing home projects (was not always like that though) but the electrical aspect really concerns and baffles me even as I read and try to learn about installation and wiring. Electrical and drywalling are the two things I decided at the beginning of my build NOT to tackle and have the professionals do that.

I purchased my switches and receptacles last night and took my wife along so she could have some input. You know you have a great wife when she says she it is fun to start buying "finishing type stuff" for the basement and we are buying switches and receptacles!

Well I am planning on doing more of the same tonight and hope to get done or mostly done running the speaker and coax cables so I can concentrate on mounting fixtures on Friday so I'm ready for my electrician on Saturday.

Regards,

RTROSE

longwa,

I told you our builds/messes are very similar see lookie here.



The area behind the framing will remain unfinished and will be storage. Now it is where all of my overflow gets stashed. The wall will eventually be the kitchenette area. I just got a mock up of the first rendering of the kitchenette from my kitchen/cabinet designer. Looks good but I am going to have him make some adjustments. I was going to link it here but alas it won't let me.



Here is another shot of some framing and misc items that I am constantly shuffling/working around.



The rest of my build/basement is too disorganized/messy now that I do not feel as though in good conscience I could show any more photos at this time.

I was able to get the two cans associated with the stairway mounted as well as the stair lights. I was also able to get the cans in the kids area mounted and I got the locations of the cans in the theater area worked out so now all I have to do is mount them tomorrow. Still much to do before my electrician shows up Saturday.

Regards,

RTROSE

I do not have any issues with plumbing I have done my share of DIY pluming for my 15 years or so of home ownership. I have only resorted to professionals three times during that time (one was a complete bathroom remodel) the other two times were out of convenience and the fact I have only worked with pvc not copper so I was not comfortable with "sweating" the pipes.

Now on to the electrical.

My electrician showed up today (after I had contacted him yesterday telling him I was not as far along as he wanted me to be and warned him of what he was getting into) he assured me it was ok. He said he would just come anyway and would start where I had left off.

Now mind you he has not ever seen my house let alone my basement and the only idea he had of what I actually wanted/needed had taken place through e-mail and phone conversations. I wish I had a camera of his face when he saw all of the boxes/outlets/lights etc. etc. It was truly "priceless"

I told him "I told you so" and he said "You went kidding were you?" My reply "Nope"

After the initial shock (he told me he has people describe the work they need and they really blow it out of proportion) he said it looked worse that what it really was so we commenced on getting started.

He decided that I needed to have 8-9 circuits in my basement. With one dedicated to the actual HT gear. The others split between the lights and outlets in the other three areas. Boy is there a lot of romex to run during these things or what? I am glad I waited to start running romex because I would have gotten it all wrong and run even more than necessary. I was pretty confused by all of the electrical ins and outs but after watching my electrician do his thing and helping out I have a better idea how it all works. I still am very glad I am having a professional do this part of the HT, one because he is much faster than I and two, wont burn my house down (hopefully). It is actually very satisfying to watch someone who is good at their trade work and have them pass along some of their knowledge to you.

We worked for about six and a half hours today with 3 trips to Lowe's (my fault bought the wrong supplies two trips) and once to buy more romex. We got the HT proper wired and got a game plan for next weekend when he can come back to finish the project. I have my marching orders to pull romex and drill, drill, drill. Actually it is drill, drill drill, and then pull, pull, pull.

As always we are here to pass along valuable information and I would like to do my share (if even a small part) so here goes.

I normally use this type of bit to bore larger size holes is 2x4's etc.



My electrician suggested this type of bit and I must say it is much nicer to use than the typical "spade" type bit.

Faster but most importantly smoother ie. easier on the wrist and more precise.

Forgive the long post. I am just really excited to see some "real" progress on my basement project. It is fun to see walls go up but it was a slow process. This stage has seemed to move much faster (and it has) and it is fun to transition to a different stage of the build.

Regards,

RTROSE

Hello all,

Just a quick update. I have been drilling and running romex throughout my basement since last Saturday. I have now past the 750 ft mark on romex and tonight just bought another 250 ft. and I am not sure if this will end up being enough. I have about 1/4 of the project finished and found out yesterday that my electrician will not be coming on Saturday and is not going to be back until the following Saturday which should give me enough time to get all of the wiring pulled so he can finish wiring the fixtures.

I think I will end up with 10-11 circuits total instead of the earlier total of 8-9. I ended modifying my lighting plan by adding another sconce for a total of four and I added two more can lights for eight total and I axed the cable lights for the HT. Where I was going to run the cable lights would have been directly in front of the rear surround speakers and also saved some money doing this as well.

I am still working on the kitchenette design with my kitchen designer and have had a second mock up presented and we are getting closer to what I really want for the basement.

Loving the journey so far.

Regards,

RTROSE

Well I have now passed the 1000 ft mark on romex at 65 bucks for 250 ft. which comes out about 26 cents a foot. I am not sure if I will get it all done with 1250 ft or not but I can say I did not anticipate having to use so much romex.

Here are a few pics of my electrical so far.

The old......





and the new.......





I think I can get it all done with 11 circuits which is 3 more than I and the electrician originally worked out.

I changed out 2 separate 1/2" conduits for one 2" conduit. I had to tear into the drywall so we could fish the wires from the conduit into the electrical box. Obviously the mess of wires you see is what runs into the basement and has not been fished through the conduit into the electrical box.

My wife an I also picked out some doors that were on sale this past week for the HT. We decided to go with Oak 6 panel doors. Here they sit ready to find a home in the basement.......



but it will be awhile before they make the trip downstairs to their final home.

I still need to post some pictures of my progress in the basement but will have to do some tidying up before that will happen.

Regards,

RTROSE

Well,

I finally have gotten all my circuits run for the entire basement. I ended up with 11 that I ran plus the 2 that were there before. Tally so far....5 rolls of romex (1150 ft. approx so far and not done) approx 30 outlets, 13 switches (7 dimmers), 20 can lights, 4 sconces, 3 pendants, and one poor mans power bridge setup for the projector.

I still have to run romex to some of the can lights and outlets but I have predrilled everything (I think) so it is just a matter of doing it. I need to have all the romex run and the can lights prepped so when my electrician comes again this Saturday all he has to do is fish the wires to the breaker panel, make the connections, and run the phone/cat 5 hopefully he can get everything done in one more long Saturday.

On a side note I went down into the basement on Sunday and noticed a small puddle of water under our water softener soooooo...... 527 dollars lighter I come home on Monday with a new water softener I'll need to install in the next few days. Yippie!!! I knew my old one was on its last leg however I was hoping to have it last for about another year. Better to find out it is leaking now before the basement is finished vs. after.

Purchasing the water softener has extended my budget and now I am about 1000 to 1500 over what I wanted to spend up to this point but I guess that is just the nature of this beast.

My wife was hoping we were getting close to drywalling and then I burst her bubble having to tell her before drywall comes insulation and vapor barrier.

On a positive note I believe I have settled on a kitchenette design. If I can get it to load properly I'll share it here.

Regards,

RTROSE

I have been working with and e-mailing my kitchen designer on what I want for the kitchenette area. After many e-mails and ideas/concepts I have narrowed it down to these two final designs. More than likely I will select one of these designs for the kitchenette area. I was able to get the image to load to photobucket so now I can share here.

Behind Door Number One. Candidate number 1.



Behind Door Number Two. Candidate number 2.



Another view.



I'm leaning towards number 2 because I want a snack bar and the design is more compact and does not intrude into the workout area and where I may in the future add a popcorn machine.

Give me your opinions, suggestions, and ideas.

Regards,

RTROSE

I had hoped to finish up the basic wiring runs tonight so I could prep the can lights and start to clean up some.

Well wouldn't ya know I was about 50-75 ft of romex short but did not find out until about 20 minutes ago so a run to Lowe's was out of the question....bummer. So if my count is close I have used 1250 ft of romex so far and counting!

Oh and no one has commented on my kitchenette design? Come on guys and gals I need input!

Regards,

RTROSE

Cathan, thanks and using a term like divine.......well you may have been watching too much HGTV!

Actually since this is the other feature besides the HT that my wife really gets excited about it is key to keeping her motivated about the project.

Anyone else besides Cathan want to chime in about the "divine" kitchenette?

I was actually looking for adjectives or comments such as That Rocks!....or.....Cool, should look sweet in the basement......or Dude why are you worried about a kitchenette in the basement as long as there is a fridge with beer in it your set!

Hearing that my kitchenette is "divine" is kind of like your wife/girlfriend telling you that your new suit, sweater, NFL jersey, tool belt etc. looks "cute" on you.

Thanks anyway Cathan!

Regards,

RTROSE