ELmO's Bachelor Pad Construction - Page 8

In any project I do, I always exceed the budget by 30%.

Cables, equipment you forgot to buy, etc - adds up quickly.

The slower you do the project the easier is to buy stuff, it's easily $10K+ when you count your projector, screen, chairs, etc.

That hoop is actually a real hoop, made for indoors. It weighs over 100lbs (fun to mount that by myself). I have a 2-story greatroom in that room, so I can lob shots. It seems low, I could have mounted it much higher - but then the ceiling fan would get in the way of my shots - HAHAH. On my perfect shots, it barely touches the ceiling fan as it is.







A long time ago I had this in my great room, I hope to buy another one someday but it was 4K in price at the time...could'nt justify it based on playing time (once a month). Mcclure makes a cheaper one that's smaller in width/butcher block size and uses smaller pucks, not sure if I'd like that:



Edited by elmalloc - 12/12/12 at 3:33am

It's called Brunstucky. There are a lot of hicks here. The first day I went to Giant Eagle, I saw a guy with a mullet. I have since seen none, but still, there are some hillbillies over here and I think some are racist. I don't care....I mind my own business. It was cheap to build here (30K less than North Olmsted, same house).

HAHAA!!! I was so thinking of putting train tracks on the walls of this room for my Christmas decoration. The things I can do without a wife. But I also make many terrible decisions that a Woman could stereotypically help with (paint colors, furniture, etc). I only know what I don't like, not what I like.

For instance, I'm thinking of taking the black fabric panels in the theater room I'm making now, and using the burgundy/red for the whole room. I can't say until I do more of the red panels to just hover one over the black panels to see if I'd like it more...sigh.

Space,
HAHAHA Space! A long time ago in the AV123 forum, I asked people how much it would cost to create an underground bunker connected to my house, that was approximatley 15-18ft deep. Everyone came back with 100K excavation costs, why would you do that, etc.

Because I wanted to install an underground halfcourt basketball court. HAHAAHAH!!!!!! SOME PEOPLE ARE CRAZY!!!! I was willing to consider it for 30K. Usually only millionaires would consider that photo....

It's difficult to really understand how much height you need for a "home gym" like that. I would have been fine with just the 3 point line room. Rhino Courts makes a lot of indoor courts (and outdoor, like full tennis courts).

Someday when I'm really old I might have enough land to actually do that. I was crazy enough to put a putting green in the backyard, I am crazy enough to put a tennis court.

Doc Holliday,
Unfortunately I make every frame for it's particular spot. My room (FOR WHATEVER REASON) can vary a whole inch in height. It was partially finished by the original builder (Ryan) is my only excuse right now.

Instead of having a possible 1" gap on the top of the ceiling in some parts, I measure every frame and cut each individually. Each is 4' wide (so I cut a bunch of bracing strips), but the height of each frame varies! You as the viewer would never know, but as a perfectionist there are many small details we have to take account for. =( I'm not planning on using any trim, which slows the process down.

I tested hte Conquest last night with 4 of the frames attached and no rattling from the frames perspective - GOOD!
Edited by elmalloc - 12/12/12 at 11:06am

Alright, I finished one sidewall with canvas duck cloth fabric. This took weeks. I will not do this again in my main theater room.

If you have any questions, let me know.

Thanks!

You can do it, those won't be that hard. That will only help your boomy bass though, I don't believe it will do much to keep the bass in your room.

OK got a big time bonus at the christmas party this year (along with this award). The benefits of working in a 50 employee company:


Everyone asks me what I'm doing in my basement/etc, and I tell them I'm seeing all this crazy crap on the AVSForum that I'm trying to live up to. They don't understand why for the most part. I tell them you must work hard and take everyday as your last, but hope there's a tomorrow. With the recent events in CT, we all must obtain this knowledge.

The award was about 10K. The problem in the audio/video world, is this can amount to chump change if you're doing a theater room. Does anyone realize how much money we spend into this "hobby"?

About 4 years ago I bought my first projector, the Sim2 HT380. Retail was 15K I think. I hung it up in the basement, painted the front wall black (except for the screen area) - that's it. White walls, light carpet. Picture looked fantastic. My coworker told me over the summer he pumped 50K into his theater room - and used the JVC RS1, which was 3K at the time.

I asked in my head, what is he spending 50K and so little on the "engine"? His room looks spectacular, comparative to many of the dedicated builds here.

But I'm driving a ferrari. Maybe they think I have Kmart tires on my Ferrari, it may be true....but my projector trounced his (at the time). The question is, how much is all the look and feel worth to you...many of us can blow money too fast.

I am a software architect and do consulting work (mainly around Cleveland, but I've traveled to Buffalo recently for some months out of the year). I basically got this award for that, when I'm out of town - there really isn't much to do other than work (and drink). Like 70-75 hour work weeks for 3 months. I had a goal in mind, if I can get through this, I can nearly pay off that fricking putting green that I always wanted since I was 20. So I swallowed the pill and worked. The pain of working that much OT lingered for a few months afterwards. I know some doctors work that routinely, it definitely can change your personality after some time.

I believe in my Optoma room I have done a good job of minimizing costs. My Sim2 room is going to cost me a chunk, the projector itself was expensive enough. I'm worried that I won't be able to convince myself to go AT screen unless it's 4K resolution, and at that point the price will just be too high for admission for me.

I'm more about simplistic designs, but I wish I could do some of the crazier things I see people have in this forum.

I do enjoy life's luxuries, and I wish I could help a family that wasn't able to have a good christmas for their kids - I would gladly be santa and buy something for their kids unknowingly. I don't like the programs as much because I'm not connected to what's happening, sure take my money - I want a little more satisfaction than that.

The dedicated subforum is about taking control of your dreams and making them happen. There is a certain personality type that lives in here.
Edited by elmalloc - 12/16/12 at 5:21am

Yes, I went to case western. It was expensive. I regret not going to graduate school.

I'm working with 2 sub-projects now.

1) Does anyone know who I can consult with who could help me design a double door entry way?

2) I don't know what to do with some of my unfinished space. I probably should put a bathroom in, but I kind of want a TV and small kitchen there instead. For home value, it will be terrible to not have a bathroom in that living space.


I will clean that up for you guys so we can see the area better.

I like the fridge/microwave/sink combo here (without dishwasher) - I think I can implement it:





Edited by elmalloc - 12/29/12 at 2:20pm

I've seen the snack bars, I could probably build one (if you want to come over and help HAHAH), but I had a gumball machine in my theatr once and realized wow - I barely eat out of this thing. Once a month I'll have a party with people over. How quickly do these gumballs get stale?

The snack bar would kind of be for looks only. I guess I could put my popcorn machine on top of it?

This entry way looks cool, it uses 2 architectural illuminated columns that are 1K each though:

You can do whatever he's doing, just watch lol. At some point you may get tired of paying him money for things you can do yourself, at least, it took over a year for me to reach that point.

Thanks! Actually the other side wall isn't done yet either, it's hard for me to visualize the completion. Even though I have an idea, I guess my dreams don't have color in them. The front wall, I have syfabrics triple plush velvet to do still. That will make the front and back walls match.

Good point regarding the stage area. One of the main reasons I went with laminate flooring here, is so under floor heating would be effective. My basement was ridiculously cold before I demolished it. Putting rigid foam, 1/2" OSB, and radiant electric heating mats underneath the laminate has definitely warmed it up. I can see myself living down here playing video games after work.

I turned the projector on recently and yeah, the floor reflects. It's a shame, as I have enough knowledge about this, and I built this room from scratch after demolishing. I thought, I just need 4ft+ of stage carpeted and it will be "OK", but I ended up not having that much stage. I should have designed it better. I could do a mini step down (2x2) to extend the stage area and carpet it.

Any mistakes I make here will not be duplicated in the actual theater room across from it.