My New Theater - Version 2.0!

Hi everyone. I'm in the process of completing my 2nd theater and was looking for some ideas on color schemes. My first go around was a burgundy/black split, but I want to do something this time around that's more of a mix between Raiders of the Lost Ark, Jurassic Park, and the Mummy, if that makes any sense. I'm thinking somewhere in the brown/black/amber family of colors. I've attached a picture of the sconces I'm considering using, and I'll be putting a yellow LED rope light in the cove of the ceiling to project that amber glow. Hopefull these two things will help drive the paint and carpet colors.

I'm very open to ideas at this point, so feel free to suggest. I'll be happy to add additional pictures as well once the room starts to take shape. Currently I'm framed out and have added Dricore to the floor. Next up is electrical.

Ha! I immediately thought Temple of Doom when I saw it. What initiall drew me to the sconce was Jurassic Park. It was on the other night. The character of John Hammond carries a cane with a ball of amber (mosquito inside) as a knob on top. I really liked the color. Also, if you pay attention to the decorating inside the main building, they have similar colors. I think one of the colors we'll end up using will be a chocolate brown. I was thinking of doing a leather or suede finish to it, to give it that worn look.

Leather and suede was definately something I was thinking of. Something with some depth and a little character. I really like the rock idea, but that might be a little too adventurous this time around.

I'm not 100% sold on the sconces yet, but they're growing on me.

I'm in the process of setting up my webpage to track costs, as well as pictures showing the progress. Until that's up, here's a link to some recent pictures:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/7279360...7602812896394/

Currently, I'm a little over $3900 into the project. This was for framing, 50% of the DriCore, and moving some pipes around in the basement.

I haven't ordered them yet, but here's the URL:

http://www.bearsinthewoods.net/shop/...mpsm23956.html

$64 each.

Thanks. I'm hoping to get a pic of where I stand with the DriCore up later today.

Here's a picture of the DriCore down in the theater area. I need to finish the other half of the basement next before getting the riser and stage built.

I was originally going to use a 2X10 for the riser (which I used the last time around) but now I'm leaning towards a 2X12 with a step. I'll need to start searching the forums for some cool designs now.

I also have an issue that I identified early on. As you can see in the attached picture, I have a water meter in the basement that I still need to read on a monthly basis. We were able to reroute several of the water pipes in the ceiling to clean the room up, but the city would not let me move the meter.

The solution was to build a column around the meter. I framed out an additional column equidistant from the front wall. I'll be mounting a sconce on each column, but I'll still need access to the meter and the shutoff valve above it. The picture should explain things a little better.

The two ideas I've had so far are to (1) frame the entire column in wood while creating an access panel on the bottom half for getting to the meter or (2) cover the section where I need access in a fabric panel that can be removed.

Does anyone have any other suggestions or have similar issues they may have run into? If so, how did you tackle them?

Does anyone have any suggestions? I could really use some feedback on this one.

I'm still up in the air about the columns (any takers??) but I have another choice that I'm looking for some opinions on.

I went to the lighting store today to look at sconces. I saw a few that were interesting, but none that caught my eye more than the one I saw online:

http://www.bearsinthewoods.net/shop/...mpsm23956.html

I'm still thinking about this Indiana Jones type color palette, but as of right now all I know is that I will probably do some brown suede or leather paint for the walls. I really like what I've seen from Masland carpet

http://www.maslandcarpets.com/Broadl...dloom_main.htm

and I'm currently leaning towards something in a black, brown, or burgundy. I think we've decided to limit the black in the room to the front wall, seats, and possibly ceiling. The wife had talked about doing a brown/burgundy combo on the wall, but I'm not seeing it yet.

Does anyone have a theater they've done or see that uses something similar? I'm really having hard time visualizing the look. I'm also wondering if a brown might go better on the ceiling. Considering I'm pulling the theme out into the hall and up the stairwell, have most people painted their lobby area ceilings dark or just left it white?

Thanks a bunch for the comments. I'm really starting to dig in to this (electrical going in in less than 2 weeks) and the feedback really helps.

Lots going on in the build of theater 2.0 right now. I PROMISE to post pictures before the weekend.

Electrical rough-in is now done. I decided to go with the Lutron Spacer system for lighting control. The equipment rack, projector outlet, sub outlet and popcorn outlet (yes popcorn!) are all on their own 20 amp circuit now.

My sconces are on order and hopefully will be here soon.

I nixed the idea of a rope light for riser lighting and instead decided to use 3 step lights (1 in the step and 2 on the front of the riser) to light the way. These are the same lights that I've installed going down the stairs to the basement as well (pics soon).

The dricore is just about finished and I still need to run my low voltage. Insulation is next and I'm in the process of getting bids to hang, tape, and mud the drywall.

Oh, I ran an HVAC line to the theater as well.

Seeing as how I need to run my low voltage now, I have a few questions about what I need to run for future proofing.

I picked up a 500 foot spool of 14/2 wire for all speaker runs. I'll be running this from the equipment closet to all speaker locations. I'm also running the 14/2 through the riser to each seating position. Does anyone have a diagram showing how to wire up 6 shakers? I did 4 the last time so I'm assuming i can just daisy chain one more on to each row like i did before?

I'm planning on running HDMI, Component (2 maybe), VGA and CAT5 to the projector. I'll install a PVC conduit as well and keep it empty for any future wiring I need to do. All current runs will be outside of the conduit.

For the riser, I was planning on running RCA, USB, CAT5 and termintating it into a plate either on the floor of the riser or on the front edge.

Two questions I did have were regarding the front of the room. I need to run a cable to handle an IR repeater and would like to eventually install a Wii in the theater. I see people mounting sensors up front for the Wii. Is this something I need to prewire for? Also, could someone steer me in the direction of what I need to look for in terms of IR repeaters?

Am I missing anything on my runs? If not, I'm hoping to get my cable order in tomorrow so that I can get busy once I'm done with the Dricore, which hopefully will be wrapped up this weekend.

Thanks Mike. You guys are great to work with.

Thanks. The general feeling in the forums seemed to be to run new wire outside of the conduit and keep the conduit open for new wiring. I can always install a fish line to provide easy pull through.

So, I ended up ordering a handful of things tonight from monoprice:

HDMI 1.3a Category 2 Certified CL2 Rated (In-Wall Installation) Cable (22AWG) - 25ft (Gold Plated Connectors)

PREMIUM 25FT 3-RCA Component Video RG-6 18AWG 75Ohm CL2 Rated Cable

25Ft SVGA Super VGA M/M Monitor CL2 Rated (For In-Wall Installation) Cable w/ ferrites (Gold Plated)

25FT Triple RCA Stereo Video Dubbing Composite Cable (3 x RG59U)

25FT 350MHz UTP Cat5e RJ45 Network Cable - Orange

100FT 350MHz UTP Cat5e RJ45 Network Cable - Purple

HDMI Male to DVI-D Female adapter

DVI Male Digital/DVI Male Digital Dual Link (24AWG) Cable - 3FT (Gold Plated/Black)

The DVI cable and adapter are for my TV and cable box upstairs. The 100 foot network cable will go from the equipment closet, through the basement, under the crawl space, and up in the router in the office. This is how I'll get wired internet into the theater.

I still need to get some bare CAT5 for various drops, but I think that covers it. I also need an RCA jack for the wall (black) so people can plug in ipods, game devices, whatever while seated.

Thanks for the comment on the Wii sensor. I'll check out Bud's thread and see if I can research it more. I just don't know enough about the technology.

In my opinion it was relatively inexpensive in the grand scheme of things. I have a little bit more to put down, but I'm looking at roughly $700 to cover the entire 480sft area I'm doing. The theater was about 60% of that amount. I picked it up at Lowe's for $5.98 a sheet (2x2 square). Even without the carpeting in yet, I can tell a dramatic difference between standing on the Dricore and standing on the bare concrete.

Man.. my thread is getting no love.. dissapointing

Hopefully posting some pics this weekend will help.

Ok, time for some pictures

I'm in the process of puttin together a Visio floor plan so everyone can get a better idea of the room. It's hard to get the jist of it from a handful of pictures.

Here is the view from the top of the stairs. I've already completed framing and electrical rough-in. My wife and I wrapped up the Dricore this weekend (save 3 more pieces I need to finish a corner) so the next step is to get the low voltage wiring ran.

Here's a close-up of the step lights I went with. I have two in the stairwell leading down to the basement, and decided to use 3 more in the riser. One will be in the step going up the riser, and the 2 others will be in the front of the riser.




Here's one that shows the glow from the lights:

The sconces should be here in a few days. I'm mounting them 23 inches down from the ceiling. Two will be on the columns in the theater, with the 3rd being mounted to the wall directly across from the rear one. The 4th sconce will be mounted in the hallway next to the popcorn machine