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Ceiling too low?

1746 Views 16 Replies 8 Participants Last post by bud16415, May 21, 2007

Flyer1

Discussion Starter · May 18, 2007

I am getting ready to move into a house that has an unfinished basement. The plan is to finish it and include a theater/media room. It's not a very large basement, but there is a section that is current walled off and being used as a work room, so I thought that would work the best. Well, I noticed that the ceiling seem lower then the rest of the basement, I then realized the sunken family room is right about it, so the ceiling is lowered, but the never made the floor lower to compensate. I measured today and the ceiling is only 6' 10" high. Is this high enough to mount a projector on the ceiling or will I have problems? Any other options? I guess I could table mount it but I'm not a big fan of the way that works.

Input greatly appreciated.

1 - 17 of 17 Posts

bmwracer3

· #2 · May 19, 2007

a pj with vertical lens shift is what you are looking for. My big concern would be if you plan on having a second row with a riser.

ScottS

· #3 · May 19, 2007

If the ceiling is that low, you might have code issues. I would check with your county inspectors.

Scott

BritInVA

· #4 · May 19, 2007

Flyer1,

Another Ashburnite

It is definitly doable......another Ashburnite had exactly same issue and while it was a challenge he ended up with a great HT and also a riser.

Give bmackrell a PM.

Cheers,

Mark

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BIGmouthinDC

· #5 · May 19, 2007

Food for thought:

Fool your eyes. Instead of hanging some sheet rock on the bottom of the ceiling joists. Run furring strips on the sides of the joists and reccess strips of drywall a couple of inches. That will make the ceiling look a couple of inches higher with just the bottom of the joists sticking down and looking like some kind of trim.

If you have engineered joists you could actually just rest some panels on the upper edge of the bottom board of the joists. You could even cut pieces of acoustical tile down to the right width.

BIGmouthinDC

· #6 · May 19, 2007

I just checked the Fairfax county specs and basement finishing code minimum ceiling height is 7 ft. Some structural members can hang lower (beams) but they have to be at least 4 ft apart.

Loudoun may be the same. If so you will need to finish this room below the radar (no permit) and when you sell, the HT should not be counted in the finished rooms/sq ft space.

If that is a fairly new home, in my opinion the builder screwed up big time. It would not have been that big a deal to plan a 9 ft ceiling height for the basement. (that was the way my builder did my house)

Update I checked your code:

http://inetdocs.loudoun.gov/b&d/docs...1/basement.pdf

Sorry it says 7 ft.

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Flyer1

Discussion Starter · #7 · May 19, 2007

Quote:
Originally Posted by bmwracer3 /forum/post/0

a pj with vertical lens shift is what you are looking for. My big concern would be if you plan on having a second row with a riser.

Thanks. No plan for a second row with a riser. Thanks for pointing out the shift, it'll be something I look for when I go and buy my projector. This is not an uncommon feature, correct?

jjcritch

· #8 · May 19, 2007

Quote:
Originally Posted by bmwracer3 /forum/post/0

a pj with vertical lens shift is what you are looking for. My big concern would be if you plan on having a second row with a riser.

You do not want a projector with just any veritcal lens shift. Well you can get one with it but you dont want to use it.

First of all, almost all projectors now use digital lens shifts. This will decrease the resolution of the picture if you use it. As long as you can mount the projector in a way that makes it close to level with the top of the projected picture, you dont need to worry about lens shift.

However, if you need to use a mount that uses an arm which drops down the PJ (to head hitting height) then you will need an 'optical' lens shift. I perfer to just flush mount the projector and not worry about it.

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BIGmouthinDC

· #9 · May 19, 2007

Not all projectors are created equal. Some have a fixed offset and may not work with your application because they would have to be too high to hit your screen.

Some may need to be hung at the same height as the top edge of the screen. Those should work fine.

My projector allowed mounting anywhere between the top and bottom edge of the screen and had a lens shift (not digital) capability to make the adjustment.

So you just need to verify the capability of the projector of interest. There are plenty that should work.

BIGmouthinDC

· #10 · May 19, 2007

Thought you might like to look at this thread. Kirk's theater has the same height issue that yours does but it turned out beautiful. Be sure to click and check out his construction web site.

http://archive.avsforum.com/avs-vb/s...0&pagenumber=1

be careful about showing the pictures to the wife. When I was discussing a theater with the misses she looked at the pics and said "thats what I want"

before that, putting fabric on the walls was going to be over her dead body.

Flyer1

Discussion Starter · #11 · May 20, 2007

Quote:
Originally Posted by BritInVA /forum/post/0

Flyer1,

Another Ashburnite

It is definitly doable......another Ashburnite had exactly same issue and while it was a challenge he ended up with a great HT and also a riser.

Give bmackrell a PM.

Cheers,

Mark

Hey, thanks for the tip. I will follow up with bmackrell probably after I am in the house. I did take some time and go through your HT thread, well skipped around and looked at the pics

Very nice job, love that bar! Not sure I am up to that level of work.

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Flyer1

Discussion Starter · #12 · May 20, 2007

Quote:
Originally Posted by BIGmouthinDC /forum/post/0

I just checked the Fairfax county specs and basement finishing code minimum ceiling height is 7 ft. Some structural members can hang lower (beams) but they have to be at least 4 ft apart.

Loudoun may be the same. If so you will need to finish this room below the radar (no permit) and when you sell, the HT should not be counted in the finished rooms/sq ft space.

If that is a fairly new home, in my opinion the builder screwed up big time. It would not have been that big a deal to plan a 9 ft ceiling height for the basement. (that was the way my builder did my house)

Update I checked your code:

http://inetdocs.loudoun.gov/b&d/docs...1/basement.pdf

Sorry it says 7 ft.

thanks for the research! 7ft

Damn, only 2" off. Not sure how to get around that issue, well and stay legal.

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BritInVA

· #13 · May 20, 2007

Flyer1 - what part of Ashburn are you moving too? If over by Windmill Dr you could have same model house as Bill. When you hoping to move in.

Cheers,

Mark

Flyer1

Discussion Starter · #14 · May 20, 2007

Quote:
Originally Posted by BritInVA /forum/post/0

Flyer1 - what part of Ashburn are you moving too? If over by Windmill Dr you could have same model house as Bill. When you hoping to move in.

Cheers,

Mark

check pm.

Don't know Windmill dr.

BIGmouthinDC

· #15 · May 20, 2007

Flyer1, you may want to call them (loudoun code office) and ask them about your situation. They might not consider a Home Theater as habitable space so it can have less than 7 ft.

Maybe you could build it as a kitchen or a bath get it passed and then convert. Seems odd that they allow 6-6 in those rooms.

scaesare

· #16 · May 21, 2007

Ashburnite #3 checking in...

You definelty can hang a projector low if using a flushmount.... but you may be pushing it that low.

My PJ is on the underside of a 7' soffit:

The combo of the mount and projector together allow about 6'5" of clearance underneath. You'd be at 6'3" with the same setup...

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bud16415

· #17 · May 21, 2007

72x96 screen in a converted coal bin in my circa 1850 farmhouse ceiling height is 6'4 and projector is running zero keystone.

I wish I had all your head room. But Hobbits don't require much

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