[Brian Hampton]

Hey,


Now that I've got a basement (approx 1000 Square Feet), I can't seem to get past the design stage of my HT.


Actually I thought I had a good design but I was mis-informed about the clearences needed for the boiler and now I'm going back to the drawing boad.


This theater will have a Sony 1271 for now which will eventually most likely be replaced with a Electrohome 8500. I want to use the theater chairs that I have (I have 8) and would like to have a single row of 5. This makes the row 113 inches wide.


I've been trying but can't seem to figure out just where to put the room. In the attached pic there is a well pump where the electrical box is and the unlabled box is a oil tank.


Anyone care to speculate on where to put the room?


Thanks and Good Luck,


Brian

 

[draganm]

those black dots all over the place, are those lag-poles for supporting the floor above?

 

[onlink]

It's fun and easy without rules.


If you can lose the posts (ie. I-beam with posts at either end). can build false walls to hide end posts. can mount pj on new steel beam if required. You'll need reasonable ceiling height. I moved the laundry and boiler to maximize room/screen size. Looks as if you can access from back wall.


Pic should be self explanitory - I'm not a artist.

 

[Brian Hampton]

Hey,


Thanks for the replies so far.


Those dots are supporting beams. I'm not sure that relocating the boiler or oil tank are doable because there's some type of connection that it makes to under the concrete.


It's a poured concrete basement. And the modified picture is where I initially thought about putting the theater because that cut out portion of the basement houses stairs and so there would be a door at the rear of the theater that would serve if ever there was a need to escape.


I'm not sure moving the posts is feesable but .. then I'm not sure about too much of anything as I'm new to this for the most part.


Thanks,


Brian

 

[GeorgeIII]

Brian


I would make a scaled drawing on some graph paper that shows all the obstacles (poles, stairs, etc.). Then on some more graph paper make a scaled representation of your seats. Cut out your seats and slide them on top of the floor plan and where you can put them without visual obstructions would be a possibility. If there isn't any place then you are going to have to rethink your seating desires.


To me it doesn't look like you have anyplace to put 10 ft. of seats without moving something.


What is Fleu? and can it be moved?

Is the electrical box really out into the floor as the drawing indicates?


When we built our house, the basement was to be unfinished. I wanted to plan for a pool table eventually, so I got the builder to put in an I beam rather than several poles. It cost more but that really paid off when we decided to put a theater in the basement. My 9500 is mounted to the floor joists right beside the I beam and there is no deflection at all, even with all that weight. I would imagine that trying to put in an I beam after the fact isn't going to be DYI, but I agree that would give you the most floor space to set up in.


George

 

[Brian Hampton]

George,


The electrical box doesn't stick out that much but there's a well pump there that does.


When I first considered this project,.. I ruled out strucural modification and/or moving the posts.


Now,.. It seems like it could help a lot. For the moment I am planning on making a room in the bottom right corner of the above drawing. One wall will be on the side of the stairs and the room will have a slighly L shape to make clearence for the flu and the water boiler. Oh, and I have no idea how to spell flu but it's that thing that expels combustion gas up to the chimney and it can't be moved and it requires some extra clearence from combustable walls.


With this L shaped room the 113 inches of seating isn't a problem. Actually if I made the room rectangular I could fit them in but there would be little room to navigate around the seating and so on.


Oh, and thanks for your input.


-Brian

 

[Don Rombach]

Rod's layout seems to make good sense.


Brian. High how are your basement ceilings?

 

[emdawgz1]

Brian, Does this space exist yet or is it still in the planning stages? If it is still just a plan, inquire about steel beams to get rid of the posts. It really opens up the usable space in the room.


Also what is the ceiling height for the room???

 

[GeorgeIII]

Brian


I was looking at either side of the basement, to the right or left after coming down the stairs as possibilities. For me, which ever side would allow for the most floor space. I assume that you will have to box in a pipe from the boiler area along the ceiling to the box marked fleu (that looks like a French word to me, but I think it's flue). If that's the case, that side would be okay.


Yeah, I'm sure you are already aware of potential clearance issues trying to navigate around the furniture. Are you considering another row? I think that is one of the reasons people are asking about the room height.


One aspect I didn't do with my basement but really wish I had, was to allow for access to the rear of my audio equipment. The front panel is in the theater room but there isn't a way to get to the cabling without having to pull the damn thing out of a shelf!


Also, make provisions for running more new cables in the future. I know it is very difficult to locate sub(s) without any walls. You can guess and lay wires that you might use, but there always seems to a new reason that you will need more wires at some time in the future.


How high does the well pump come up? Is there room along that wall for screen & speakers? If so, in the space back toward the oil tank, you might be able to put the wall on the other side of the support posts. I'm no audio expert but I would think that L-shapes, open areas and irregular discontinuities would be audio headaches. The more rectangular you can keep it, the easier thing can be....(rectangular but not square).


I think Rod's layout requires insertion of an I beam into something that is already built. If that's the case, I'd bet on that being expen$ive.


George

 

[Brian Hampton]

All,


The height is 92 inches unless it's one of the places where there's support posts because there is drops down to 83.


This height difference is one reason I would like to work around the places with the support posts.


There a chance to make a purely rectangular room with the finished dimentions of 130x150x92 in the area to the left of the stairs (lower right of the picture above.) When I plugged these dimentions into the spreadsheet I have there are no peaks, valleys, or problem frequencies at my planned "best seat." And the room is infinitely easier to build too which makes it very tempting.


The only problem is it seems much too small. I would like to have at least 5 seats becuase we are currently a family of 4 but will someday become a family of 5 with luck.


If I turn the room such that the screen is on the wall that's 150 inches wide I can fit a single room of 5 but I'm not sure about how to put the door or the surround speakers to maintain the ability to get around.


If I put the screen on the wall with the 130 inch dimention I could have a row of 3 followed by a row of 4 but the rear is certainly going to be up against the back wall so sound won't be so good there. Also I don't know if 150 inches can really accomidate 2 rows of seats. I want the screen to be at least 75 inches wide so the first row should really be 100+ inches back and I don't know if there is enough room to give the second row any type of leg room. Still Sometimes this seems like a good solution because I don't really care much about the quality of the back row. I mostly watch alone or with one other person so the back row would be for rare occasions and then I wouldn't mind sitting there.


-Brian

 

[onlink]

Whatever you decide you're going to spend some cash. If your trying to squeeze in chairs you might end up with something you're not totally satisfied with. Once you get it fired up you might find it'll attract more 'friends' than you think. You may also 'adopt' new kids to the extent you won't want a third

Replacing the post with a beam is not that bad if you look at big pic (no pun intended). Find a friend of a friend who knows structural eng. and buy him a beer even if to get an estimate and rule it completely out.

Also having a 3eyed-monster in a small room as you suggest might heat up fairly quickly. Make sure you provide for adequate ventalation.

 

[GeorgeIII]

Brian


What is the distance from the wall at the foot of the steps back to the row of posts that go across the basement?

What is the distance from that wall to clear the well pump and the door to the outside?

I'm trying to visulize a room with the screen on a wall parallel to the stairs. And I'm trying to rationalize if the posts are within the theater, can seats be placed in a way there are no sight line issues.


George

 

[Brian Hampton]

George and All,


Thanks for the help but after much thinking I think I've arrived at a design. The theater will be in the lower right corner of the drawing above. The room will be rectangular and have the dimentions 150x130x90. (The 150 is the distance from the bottom wall to the posts and the 130 gives the almost the correct servicing distance from the water boiler. The door will open out of the theater.


There will be 2 rows of seats. The first row will be 3 seats centered in the room parralell to the bottom wall and 100 inches from the screen. The second row will be 2 seats almost if not against the back wall and again centered so that they are offset from the front row. They will also be on a risor.


The most of the gear will be in a small finished space just outside the theater between the theater and the stairs. This will also provide the space for the theater door to open out into. That side of the stairs will be framed and finished and the other side may get finished with a sloping wall. That will put several walls between the theater and the well pump side of the basement. The end of the theater that faces the laundry/storage/boiler area will have a double wall.


The CRT projector will have a hush box and have a ventilation system. And the front speakers will be on stands while the rears will be on the walls. The room will be optimized for sight and sound for the front row and if we have guests, I'll happily sit in the rear row. (It doesn't happen often.)


I think I'll have the lights in the ceiling and have carpet and pad on the floor.


If there are any suggestions for further improvements or changes they are of course welcome.


-Brian

 

[MRaitio]

Brian, i´ll contribute by advising to check out my CRT-gallery with 338 pics of different installs:

http://www.hitechplace.com/crt/


The pics helped me a lot on planning my own theater.

 

[onlink]

Terve Mika, nice pics. Now I'll go cry


BTW will be in Tampere in December visiting your fellow Fins.


Good luck Brian. Half the battle is making the decision. On final word of advice is to ensure EVERYTHING you include in the HT is vibration proof. Even the screws in the electrical boxes need to be either removed or tighten. Light fixtures, ventalation, pipes, wiring, etc. Those rattles will drive a man to drink.

 

[Phil Smith]

Quote:

Originally posted by Brian Hampton The room will be rectangular and have the dimentions 150x130x90.

Brian,


That's 12'6" x 10'10", the size of a small bedroom. It seems a shame to have that big o' basement and not take advantage of it. If you wanted to, you could easily do rear projection with all the room you have.


I think I'd do whatever was necessary to remove the obstacles and open that basement up.

 

[windtrader]

Quote:

The only problem is it seems much too small. I would like to have at least 5 seats becuase we are currently a family of 4 but will someday become a family of 5 with luck.

I see your recent post about having a design and it reflects what I was going to suggest: less seats per row. The reality is your kids are small, one on the drawing board. This means you have a number of years where the theater seats are needed. Until they are 6-7, kids can flop down anywhere and enjoy themselves. You may want to consider leaving some open flat area in the front row area where you place kid friendly seating. This could be mini bean bags, kid folding chairs, comfy body cushions, whatever. Anything they can lay down and prop their heads and throw a blanket over themselves.


Having this space is very nice with the very young since you have plenty of room for that high chair, bassenet, spring powered swinging chair, etc.


ditto - on the current dimensions. Go bigger if you can, even if it becomes more open plan and the design is acoustically sub-optimal. With 1k sqft available it seems like you can allocate more to the HT. Then again, much of this planning takes into many other factors and considerations that would take quite some effort to communicate here.