[schmidtwi]

The Schmidt Haus Theater - Perpetual Build Thread

Hi All,

I've been studying and learning here for years, (sorry, I don't lurk...

) and I'm finally starting my build. I have to thank all the AVS'ers who have posted and contributed all their valuable information - way too many individuals to list.

I had my first HT in a previous home in 2003, but we had to sell before it was finished (sorry, no pics). I've been planning another HT ever since. Due to job, home and life changes, I've had to wait until now to get this plan moving.

We recently built a new home, and I designed our basement with an HT in mind. No obstructions in the way, like HVAC, plumbing, windows, etc. The only regret I have is I didn't go with a 9 ft. ceiling (oops

).


THE (BIG) PLAN

I'm finishing about 1200 sq. ft., with the HT, Equip room, Lobby, Rec/bar/kitchenette room, 1/2 bath, and a bedroom/craft room for WAF. This project will take me awhile, due to funding impairment. I'm just going to finish as fast (or slow) as the $$ are available.

I'm subbing out some HVAC and plumbing rough in. Everything else is DIY. Estimated budget is somewhere between $18 - $30K, depending largely on the electronic toys.




HT

• Roughly 14.5 x 21 x 8 feet

• Room-within-a-room construction - walls/ceilings will be OSB/GG/Drywall and sealed tightly for WAF

• Separate dedicated HVAC zone - 3 supply's, 1 return - all flex duct hidden in soffits

• 2 entry doors (one in each wall, hinged on opposite sides)

• 6 Zone GE, Sconce and can lights mounted in columns & soffits, rope, riser, stage front & back

• 2 rows of 3 seats, 1st row about 11.5', second at 17.5'

• 12' DIY AT screen 2.35, 2' from front wall

• Riser, stage, soffits, treatments, columns, etc. Basically the works. I'll provide more details.

• Equip room is a separate closet, will use IR Repeater and/or RF

• Plan for tubes/conduit for all low voltage wiring

• Have a Denon 4802 AVR, Sony BD, HDDVD, Xbox, and some old Cerwin Vega speakers 5.1 - will buy new or build DIY speakers 7.2. Projector, HDMI switcher, Power Conditioner and other goodies TBD.

Basement Plan

Here's the entire basement plan. I'll zoom on the HT in another posting.

I have everything framed except for the room-within-a-room for the HT. Hope to finish that this weekend.

 

[schmidtwi]

I need some help in finalizing my Circuit Plan. I hope to apply for permits in the next few weeks, so please shoot some holes in my design - or just offer some constructive criticism

Basement Circuit Plan


Bathroom/Kitchenette

- 1 20 amp dedicated for vanity light/overhead light/closet light, outlet - GFI breaker

- 1 20 amp dedicated for 5 outlets in kitchenette - GFI breaker

Lobby

- existing circuit, tie basement light into 1 sconce, add 5 outlets

Rec room/Bedroom/closet

- 1 15 amp dedicated for 6 bedroom outlets - AFCI

- 1 15 amp dedicated for 8 rec room outlets - AFCI

- 1 20 amp dedicated for 14 can lights, 3 sconce lights, both on 3 way - AFCI

Main HT

- 1 20 amp for 6 zones of lighting wired to Grafik Eye (7 soffit cans, 6 sconces, rope, riser, 3 stage front, 3 stage rear) - AFCI

- 1 20 amp for outlets (riser 2, columns 6, stage 1, projector box fan 1) - AFCI

Equipment Room

- 1 20 amp for 2 outlets - 1 powerbridged switched outlet for projector & 2 powerbridged switched outlets on stage for subs - AFCI

- 1 20 amp for 3 outlets - AFCI

Storage room east

- 1 20 amp for storage room work bench area - 4 outlets, shop light, Equip room light - GFI

 

[schmidtwi]

Here's a shot of the future HT, mess not included.

Here's some shelves I built for mess - thanks IndyGreg!!!

Here's a shot of the HT room - screen wall.

And back wall (rec room wall already framed). Sorry for the bad quality pics - doing these with my cell phone...

 

[schmidtwi]

Here's a pic of my future HT, all piled up and ready to go. Please disregard Moe and Larry, they like to get in front of the camera.

I mentioned I didn't have any obstructions - well, mostly true. I will remove this upstairs return and box in the joist span with MDF. I have 2 of these. I will also box in 2 feeds that are in the HT area. Not too serious.

Questions, comments, slams and slurs welcomed!

 

[theWalkinator]

What a nice and clean space you have, no HVAC duct mess like mine.

Quote:
Separate dedicated HVAC zone - 3 supply's, 1 return

Not to criticize or anything, just wondering, is that too many supplies? Just talked to Honeywell guy in my office fixing the thermostat today, he said generally you go 1 CFM for per sf of space, a 6" duct will deliver roughly 200 CFM, so if you have 3, that will give you 600 CFM, which almost double the need for the room and if most of your basement is below the grade, you don't need a lot to heat or cool the space.


Keep posting, looking forward to your build.

 

[fotto]

Herr Schmidt!


Nice space you've got going there, and it looks like you've done your homework. I have little in the way of constructive advice for you as I don't see any obvious issues. If there was one thing though (that I am running into)you might consider a bit more room behind screen for your speakers/sub. Although 2' seems like a lot at first, it starts getting eaten up pretty quickly with wall treatments, screen wall etc.


Looking forward to seeing your progress.

 

[schmidtwi]



Quote:
Originally Posted by theWalkinator /forum/post/18050081


What a nice and clean space you have, no HVAC duct mess like mine.



Not to criticize or anything, just wondering, is that too many supplies?

Thanks tW. Actually the HVAC guys installed the 3 supply's when the house was built, I didn't know they did that until it was too late. But after discussing with them, it may be OK. I told them about my dead vent plan, just dumping the return into a storage room totally isolated from the HVAC, where there will be a return vent into the main return line. He thinks it will take 3 supply's to adequately heat/cool the room with that approach.

 

[schmidtwi]



Quote:
Originally Posted by fotto /forum/post/18050200


If there was one thing though (that I am running into)you might consider a bit more room behind screen for your speakers/sub. Although 2' seems like a lot at first, it starts getting eaten up pretty quickly with wall treatments, screen wall etc.


Looking forward to seeing your progress.

fotto - Thanks, good advice. I can adjust that part of the plan when I get to it. I thought most guys found 2' was enough, but am open to widening that.

 

[schmidtwi]

BTW - I've read both of your threads - and gained a great deal of info. You have both done a nice job on your builds so far!!!


No, I don't want to race. Actually I do, but my funding impaired wallet won't let me...

 

[bat3329]

Glad to see you are getting started!


I like you're design. Looks like a good plan.


On the electrical, do you have a drawing you could post? If so, can you show the expected loads (i.e. watts) per recessed light, sconce, etc. With that information, you can calculate the circuit loads. This is same thing the inspector will want to see in the plan.


You probably know this already - 15 amps - 1500watts. Most electrical inspectors consider 1200 watts safe operating load on 15 amp circuit. Add up the loads for each 15 amp circuit. If below or equal to 1200watts, you have a winner.


In kitchenette and bathrooms, you must use Ground Fault Interupt circuits or individual outlets that are GFI.


Can't wait to see more!

 

[schmidtwi]

Thanks Brett. I don't have my electrical drawing finalized yet - it's still barely legible scribbles and notes. I think I'm pretty safe with all the circuits, but that's why I'm looking for some help. I also may just hire a sub to finalize my design.


The most I'll have on the 14 can light circuit is 75 watt bulbs, so that's still under 1200W if all are lit full on (also plan on dimmers). The HT light circuit is already 20 amps, so I'm good there. And I plan for a GFI circuit breaker for the kitchenette & bathrooms. Only planning for a small size frig and small microwave (

 

[schmidtwi]

Here is an electrical placement map I drew up from an older version of 3D Home Architect. This shows all outlet and light placement. Now I just need to develop an organized list of all elements on each circuit. I've used this type of diagram in the past with inspectors, and it was fine.


Notice the chaos in the HT...

 

[Fuzzybear50]

Looks like an aggressive and interesting build. I am doing the same thing with similar dimensions, (HT 21x15 and basement around 1700 sqft.) I have stalled a bit with the electrical rough in and other house issues but I am getting back on track.

What is your electrical supply plan? You going to run a sub panel off your main? At first glance, I was thinking you might have planned too many 20 amp breakers but I could be wrong.

 

[In2Photos]

Bill, have you thought about flipping the HT room so that when you open the door you don't walk directly into a chair? Having the door open into the room between the stage and chairs is much more inviting and won't block the aisle!

 

[schmidtwi]

fB50, I have 200 amp service and a 40 slot breaker box, with 11 open slots. I had the builder put this beast in when I designed the basement, with the HT in mind of course.

Do you have a build thread? Sounds like you have a sizable project on your hands also.

 

[schmidtwi]



Quote:
Originally Posted by In2Photos /forum/post/18052448


Bill, have you thought about flipping the HT room so that when you open the door you don't walk directly into a chair? Having the door open into the room between the stage and chairs is much more inviting and won't block the aisle!

Great observation! My original plan had the room reversed, but there are some joists on the outside (right) that run perpendicular to the main joists, about 3' out. It's for an upstairs bath that sticks out a couple feet outside the foundation. So I'll need to lower my new isolated HT ceiling joists down about 6 inches to get joists in there, effectively lowering the ceiling.


Decided to have that 6 inch lowered ceiling as part of the stage instead of the riser. It will fit right in with the stage. Here's a pic to give you a better idea.

 

[schmidtwi]

I also modified my circuit plan based on some input from here . Great site if anyone needs input from professionals.

 

[schmidtwi]

More updates from this past weekend. Here's a pic of my (hopeful) 12' screen mocked up in the obligatory blue tape.

And here's the framed up outside wall & HT entrance door, with the equipment closet. I really need to buy a decent camera...

 

[schmidtwi]

In case you're wondering, it's 82" under the main beam. And I plan to install Drycore, so I'll need to shave the door down to fit.


All ductwork was installed on that side of the beam, so I have 4 doors to shave down a bit. Trim may be a bit short, but I can live with that (stupid me didn't go with 9' walls...)

 

[In2Photos]



Quote:
Originally Posted by schmidtwi /forum/post/18052556


Great observation! My original plan had the room reversed, but there are some joists on the outside (right) that run perpendicular to the main joists, about 3' out. It's for an upstairs bath that sticks out a couple feet outside the foundation. So I'll need to lower my new isolated HT ceiling joists down about 6 inches to get joists in there, effectively lowering the ceiling.


Decided to have that 6 inch lowered ceiling as part of the stage instead of the riser. It will fit right in with the stage. Here's a pic to give you a better idea.

It's still hard to tell exactly what is going on here, but I'll take your word for it. Sounds like you have thought things over!