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Home Theatre Redesign- Feedback Appreciated

1K views 34 replies 6 participants last post by  Tedd 
#1 ·
Hi All.

I've recently gone from trying to soundproof my whole basement (about 400 square feet) to walling off the viewing area and focusing on that. So, at about 235 square feet its more like a 'viewing cove' but the wall will eliminate a lot of cost and frustration. The rest of the basement wasn't functional for viewing anyway.

I thought The dividing wall/entrance should be a double wall. In order to make it look right I'll need to have about 3 inches of space between walls. I was also going to decouple it with the DC-04 clip. According to the soundproofing company website this setup might be worth an stc rating of about 73. That seems to be without decoupling.

What to do about the door? Is there anything I can do that is in the same ballpark as the wall that wouldn't require a second mortgage? I'm favouring communicating doors but some of the ideas for beefed up solid core doors I found on here are also interesting. What would you folks recommend?

Unfortunately I did not decouple my other walls. (Found out too late!) I'd read that if DC-04 clips are used for decoupling you don't have to use clips/channel/double drywall/green glue. Would this be the case? If so, I might be tempted to try to fix this on my exterior facing walls since I'd just be worried about flanking noise, not room to room transmission. It would involve cutting the studs away from the top plate, removing just enough to make a suitable gap and re-attaching with the clips- I might have to leave the original top plate and cut enough away to attach a new one as they may be too difficult to remove. I'm thinking the cross members should keep things more or less in place while I'm attaching the new plate. Is this worth the trouble or more trouble than its worth?

The wall behind the seating area separates the theatre from the laundry room/furnace. I'm probably going to have to do clips/channel/2 layers drywall/gg because I don't think I can afford the space for another double wall. Which side should the ISO clips/channel be installed? The theatre side or the furnace room side?

There will be some duct work done. The current situation is unacceptable. I've got a heating vent in the theatre room in the ceiling which is a short run off of a trunk. Bottom line is the sound would get to the kids rooms 2 floors up. I just spoke with the HVAC guys and they propose running heating and cold air return ducts at floor level. There would be more distance, bends and corners for the sound to travel and the line would not be run from the offending duct in the ceiling. HVAC is not my strong suit so I would welcome any feedback there. (I did look into radiant heating but that was still very expensive and it didn't address the lack of air circulation in the room)

Unfortunately the seating area will have to be under some duct work. There seems to be no real way around it. I was thinking of Anti-Vibe damping paste over the ducts themselves + insulation + channel + 2 layers of 5/8 drywall with a layer of gg. Ceiling will be lower in that area then I'd like but I don't see a realistic way around it.

So am I on the right track?
 
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#2 · (Edited)
Decoupling framing strategies never eliminate the need need for damped mass wall assembly. It is always DDW + GG.
IMHO, the best beefed up single door construction is usually less effective than communicating doors using average sound containment doors, heavy, thick and airtight.
Use minimal framing techniques for building around the ducts, where possible span the bottom with just the DDW and GG, no framing. Hang the framing off the decouple drywall ceiling and it will be decoupled you can skip clips and channel for the duct. Dimensions you are working with needed.
Use sound attenuating duct work, not just longer sheet metal with more bends. Lined ducts and duct mufflers.
 
#3 ·
Thanks for that. Unfortunately the duct work has already been boxed in and everything is buttoned up pretty well. I don't think I can backtrack as much as I'd like to. So what's the best solution for a less than ideal situation? Clips and channel around the duct boxes? I'd even considered Quietrock (or Silent FX which is similar) just for around the ducts to save valuable head space. Communicating doors I can do. Same with duct silencers. Duct liners seem to be fiberglass. Rational or not I have a real concerns about using the stuff anywhere in the house particularly where it might get into the air vents. Are there liners which don't use fibe that anyone can recommend?
 
#6 ·
Okay, that was easy. Just in case the pencil's not coming through, I've got the walls labelled by letter and the areas by number. Area 1 is just going to be movie shelving. Area 2 is part of the viewing area where the ducts are. Area 3 is the rest of the viewing area. Entrance is on wall 'F.' Screen will be on wall A. (I thought about B but I've got a small window there and the vent is in the way. Laundry room/furnace is behind walls D and E. These * are the approximate locations of the lights (Lotus 4' LED's) The grid is to scale except I rounded it. Actual measurements are listed near the walls in question. HVAC warm air and cold air returns are supposed to go in at floor level on walls D and E. Hopefully this helps visualize it. I can send pics if requested but you'd still have to use your imagination as it is quite the construction zone.
 
#7 ·
That room is a challenge, the duct work is huge. Going to be hard to use minimum headroom loss techniques. Before you get too far down the path have you looked at projectors and screen sizes, I’m concerned about the available throw distance. If the room is 10’9” a throw distance of lens to screen of something less than 9 ft won’t produce a very large image with most of the popular projectors.
 
#8 ·
Yeah that's a point I'd considered. If I could do whatever I wanted I'd have a wider aspect ratio (ie 2:35:1 or something like that.) I did a cardboard mock-up of a 100' 16X9 screen and then expanded it using that aspect ratio. Based on that experiment I'm prepared to go with a smaller screen (less than 100') ideally if I can get the aspect ration I want but I'd also do 16X9 if that's what worked.

It also wouldn't be too late to change the orientation of the room and project on to wall 'B.' That would give me more throw distance and just require some minor re-working of the wiring. Trouble is, if I wanted to get beneath the duct work I'd have to hang the screen about 13 inches below the ceiling. If I don't, I've got about 8 feet before I run into it which would also limit my screen size.

What about a short throw projector?

If worse came to worse I'd get a big scrren tv. That would be my last choice as I honestly see more value in projectors even at smaller screen sizes. At my viewing distance the experience, the experience would still be quite immersive.

I'm probably a few years away from completing this project. Money considerations as well as a work schedule which is crazy at times means this gets done slower than I'd like. I can always keep my fingers crossed for some technological leaps :D

It's not an ideal situation but its what I've got. i just want to do the best I can with it.

Does this give you any more thoughts?
 
#9 ·
Okay...

So that's to that feedback I decided to check out my options for projectors given my potential viewing distance. I found a formula online (width of screen X throw ratio). I'd lose a total of about 6 inches off my walls after channel/gg/double drywall so I'd have about 10.3 feet left to play with. Assuming 100' screen I'd fall just short of the required distance with throw ratios of 1.32,1.35 or 1.36 given I'd have to account for the length of the projector itself. I'd need about 8.8 feet from lens to screen with the Optima I checked out so I might just squeak that one in.

If I go down to a 90' screen things seem to open up. In that case I'd need roughly 5 1/2 to 6 1/2 feet. Should be do-able I'd think. As I said given my viewing distance and preferred aspect ratio that might be just fine for me. (I find, in practice, you don't get a 100' picture with 16X9 aspect ratio anyway.

I appreciate you bringing that to my attention, BIG. If you have any other thoughts I'd be all ears!
 
#10 · (Edited)
How tall is the basement, and how tall is it under the HVAC?

How many seats are you after?

Any chance of getting more details on door locations and the location of the window, on the floor plan?

You might be able to shrink the existing soffits. I did, at some cost for a new sheet metal profile, and some work, to shift the ductwork over slightly.
The upside was that I could have symmetrical soffits in just 9'5" width.

Another thought is could you shift the entry door over, and take the entire room depth, and then hide some of the HVAC soffit depth by an AT screen and screen wall.
You could put in four commercial style seats, and go with a large AT screen. So if the furnace area and laundry room aren't already finished off nicely, you might give yourself
some options there, for a new entry location. Definitely more work and expense, but maybe a bigger screen is worth it, and a nice laundry room might add value.
 
#11 ·
Currently I've got 6ft 8' under the duct work and 7ft 6' from joist to floor in the rest of it. If I project on wall A I don't think any kind of theatre seating would be practical. I'm thinking some kind of sectional couch would be the best I could do for that space.
 
#23 ·
6'8" is plenty of height for even a 133" 16x9 screen. If you went 2.35:1 you could get a larger screen in there. I'd definitely be projecting onto wall B and also going far larger than 100".
 
#12 ·
There will be only the entrance to the theatre room on wall F. I'm thinking 36' door so I can bring furniture in later on. There's space to put it under the ducts and center it which is what I was leaning towards. The window on wall B is about 3ft 10' in. It's about 8 inches lower than the joist.

Your suggestions sound great! I just don't know how much backtracking I can do at this point. (If I only had it to do over...:))

Should I send pics of anything?
 
#13 ·
Never mind. I'll just take a couple and post em! won't do any harm. This is of the future viewing area. I couldn't get any further back to show the duct boxing a little more but, like I said, its all locked in pretty well. I don't know practially speaking how much I can go back. (If I could go back I'd rip everything out and start from scratch but here we are...
 

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#14 ·
This is a shot of wall B on the diagram standing just behind where the entrance will be. (That's the 2 2x4's inthe foreground. As you can see, in order to get a double wall across the whole span I'll have to run 1 wall in behind the existing laundry room corner on the right then run a second wall in front so that the corners match up. (I hope that makes sense!) Like I said, if the screen is on wall B I can do a little theatre seating but the duct really gets in the way. Hope this helps!
 

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#15 ·
Some of those measurements sound very familiar. Although I had to rebuild my HVAC to get 80" beneath. (Even your media storage area is something I am doing, next time.)

A sectional is a really nice option, but I could also see doing seats that come apart and could fit through an 18" wide door, if you wanted to not fuss with the soffits. Something
like this shrinks the volume, but if you don't have speakers already, it is pretty much a low hanging fruit sort of option.

I would look at that HVAC first and see what might be done, though. That is potentially the key to getting more out of the space. More being better audio, and separation of seating
off the walls, and a bigger screen experience.
 

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#16 ·
The soffit framing could be shrank. I had that same little angular HVAC piece and it got a plywood box, and it was almost invisible when painted out. There are inches to be had,
if you don't ladder frame everything. You do need a slight separation to allow for any floor deflection between HVAC sheet and the drywall.

My HVAC is boxed in by plywood, then I ate some of the spatial savings with double drywall, and GG. The curved section of my HVAC that hides an S bend, is multiple layers
of bendable 3/8" drywall, with GG.
 
#18 ·
Actually, Tedd you've got me thinking...Could I use, say 3 layers of GG/drywall if I recess two of the layers inside the framing? I'd forego the clips/channel in that case to save head space. Or are clips/channel essential for this part of it? If I wanted al little extra throw distance could I build some kind of recess or shelf in the viewing area wall? I'll bet people on here have done some interesting things as far as projector placement goes. Thanks for the pics of your HT. by the way.
 
#21 ·
I should have explained better. One layer of drywall on the clips. Two layers behind BUT with green glue in between each for a total of two layers of green glue and three layers of drywall. I don't think that's triple leaf but if it is I obviously don't wanna do it!
 
#24 ·
Believe me Markmon I would loooove to do just as you suggest. I have some duct work that might get in the way of that. I made a cardboard mock up of a theatre screen based on 100' 16x9 aspect ratio. I'll try it out on that wall and post a pic.

BTW I think my drywall idea probably wouldn't work. Too many gaps. I suppose the best way to save head space is to replace what's there with plywood as was suggested...
 
#25 ·
So what exactly does this ductwork look like? Is any of it "shrinkable" or replaceable? Is that something you'd spend some time, money, and /or energy on, if you can get away with smaller soffits?

I have 80" under all five soffits, which is another common factor with your room. Just a 54x96" screen but that screen has 19" below it, and 8" above.
 
#26 ·
I'll do pics of the ductwork. At this point I'm cautiously optimisitic that there is some kind of workaround to my space issues. I could either build some kind of inset or shelf somewhere along wall E so that the projector sits back far enough. I also think as has been suggested that wall B might not be a lost cause either. I've got my 100' cardboard mock screen mounted there. My wife (who is brutally honest with me when she needs to be :) said that from a logical seated position she didn't feel the soffit would be distracting when watching. I'll post a pic of that for feedback. (Might have to wait until tomorrow when I've got more light.) I wanted to mark out a smaller screen size on my mock up as well. What's the smallest common screen size that projector screens are made in?
 
#28 ·
That suggestion isn't really about the visuals, except maybe there's a chance for some room symmetry. A 100" screen in 10.5' of room depth, means the seating will be right on the back
wall. Bloated bass and any rear channel surround speakers are right on top of your seating. The upside of one row as such, is you can turn down the rear surrounds. But you do need some
separation to have a proper surround sound field to develop.

I see tools..... You can make a screen, but I expect you still might see something as small as 52x92" as a 16x9 format.

The real question is what's possible and if you want to do the work and invest some money to improve the room's layout? Assuming there's some wiggle room to be had, and the cost and effort is worth it, to you...
 
#29 ·
Realistically at this point I don't think I can have my ducts moved or shrunk. I'll have to just see what I can do to get a little more headroom based on your suggestions. I think the question for me at this point is which way to orient the projector? I have provided a pic of my cardboard mock 100' screen assuming a 3' border all around. This is it on wall B. The red tape is just holding it together. The green tape is 92' for comparison's sake. I did both 16X9 and 2:35:1 aspect ratios. As you can see with 100' I've got no room on either side for speakers. Might be able to fit them in at 92. It would have to be a 16x9 aspect ratio as well. If the walls are dark and the room is dark I actually don't think the soffit will be a distraction. The screen will hang lower but not that much lower as I expect the ceiling will drop about 3 inches or so when all is said and done. Throw distance won't be a problem here and I suspect sound setup will be better as I've got plenty of room to put speakers behind the seating area.
 

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