[ejhuzy]

Well, it was 2+ years (started in November '06) in the making, but I'm finally getting to starting my construction thread. The problem is the construction is done (well mostly, we're never done). So I guess this is my construction is done thread.


First, let me just say I *never* could have done this without the help of everyone on AVS. Forget the fact I could barely use a hammer when I started on this trek, but the inspiration alone was enough to get me going. I know everyone does this and I'm sure I'm forgetting some people, but I need to thank some people by name.


Thanks to swithey, chinadog, mbgonzomd, bpape, jikkjack, sandman, ronnie_jackson, eq_shadimar, garykagan, w00lly, strange_brew, and arron_hinni. Also, some non-AVS people like Charlie, John K, Jeff, Johnny D and Frank. All you guys answered many questions for me over the two years. Thank you. I really appreciate the help and so does my family.


Ok, enough gushing (can you tell I'm excited about my HT?). On to the important stuff. Quick summary here with some details and pictures to follow.


- Drywalled room dimensions: 16' 6" W x 18' L x 8' 6" H

- Finished dimensions: 16' 2" W x 15' 6" L (30" behind the screen wall)

- Projector: Panasonic PT-AX100U

- Screen: SMX 2.35 AT 110" viewable

- A/V Receiver: Pioneer Elite VSX-01

- Speakers: Ascend Acoustics 340SE L/C/R and HTM-200 SE for side and back surrounds

- Sub: Hsu VTF-2 MK3

- Blu-Ray: Pioneer BDP-51FD

- Gaming: XBox 360 with HD-DVD drive

- TV: DirecTV HR21

- Power Protection: Belkin PureAV PF31

Front

Back

Side

 

[ejhuzy]

I've always loved going to the movies. When I was a kid it was a real treat to be taken to the movie theater. Later in life I remember visiting Walt Disney World in Florida. It was around 1977 and I remember some exhibit that was a home theater. I was just 10 at the time, but I couldn't help but think how cool it would be to have a theater in my home.


Then one day I stumbled on AVSForum. At the time I was thinking about finishing my basement and was searching the web for ideas. I'm pretty sure I stumbled into the basement forum here. The first thread I went into had a home theater and that was it! I was hooked. I spent about a year living on AVS and one of the first threads I started to follow was Ruben's. Then I stumbled onto Bud's, Ronnie's and Steve's. These guys really set the tone for what my basement and HT have become today. Thanks again guys.


While I'm thinking of it, I really have to hand it to guys that document their builds as they go. I really wanted to be one of those guys, but I just never got it going. All my free time (not much really, I work for a large blue company company and coach my children in numerous sports) was spent working in the basement. By the time I was done, I just couldn't get the thread started.

 

[ejhuzy]

First and foremost, I wanted this to be a DIY project. Saving money was one reason, but I just felt I could do it myself. My family and friends all thought I was nuts because I've never been known as the "handy" type. But after reading some of the construction threads here on AVS, I really wanted to give it a go. And did!

Some other key elements I wanted in the theater:


- Fixed screen in a dedicated room. At first I started with a real open floorplan for the basement. I figured it would be better for entertaining, but the basement space just wouldn't agree. Mostly HVAC lines and support poles. I know I could have moved them, but I couldn't get the significant other on board with that idea. In the end, I'm very happy to have gone the dedicated room route. It allows for much more use in the basement as other members fo the family can do their own thing in the other rooms.


- 2.35 anemorphic screen. After venturing into that forum, I just know that I needed to rid myself of the dreaded black bars.


- Hidden speakers and acoustically transparent (AT) screen. I liked the clean look of hiding the speakers and really liked the idea that the sound would come from behind the screen, not somewhere around it.


- Stage. It just seemed cooled. In my picture above it's hard to see, but it's there. The sand was a PITA though.


- A black/red/oak motif. I wanted something that was classy and reminded me of the old home town theaters. I'm not sure that's what I've done, but I really like how it's come out.


- Two rows of seating. This one is still in the works. Given my room dimensions and desire for a AT screen, this has been tough. As of this post, I'm still not sure if I'll do a back bar or a riser with seats.


- Light tray for downward lighting and in-movie lighting. Here I stole from Ronnie and Sandman. I have can lights in the tray with a blue led rope light in the tray. Works great and I love the ambient blue lighting during movies.


- Acoustically treated room. Both for good sound and keeping sound in. Thanks for Bryan Pape for his designs and providing me all the materials for doing this. The room sounds fantastic. While it's not totally sound proof, it's dang close. I did the stagger studded walls and green glue drywall sandwich.

 

[ejhuzy]

Ok, so something is wrong with my pictures. They showed up in the thread when I wrote it. My pictures on on kodakgallery.com, will that site work?

 

[ejhuzy]

Ok, pictures should be working now. I moved from Kodak Gallery (don't ask), to photobucket.

 

[ejhuzy]

So, what did all this look like when I started? Well, pretty empty. I cleaned out the whole basement. Pushed everything into the back area that wasn't getting finished and got it ready to be framed out.


Ok, time for a confession. So this was a DIY project right? Well, I didn't do everything. It took me two years as it was, I needed some help

I had a contractor (thanks Johnny) frame out the entire basement. Then I had a electrician do *most* of the rough electrical. The contractor handled getting a plumber for the full bathroom and wet bar. The contractor also got someone to do the drywall. The drywall guys never heard of Green Glue, never mind actually doing it. I only DD/GG the HT room. All the walls and the ceiling. The ceiling was also done with furring strips over the joists to give me a little more sound isolation.


I ended up doing all the low voltage wiring and rough electrical in HT.


Some early pictures:


Theater Room To Be

Closet for equipment right behind the HT room.

 

[kciaccio]

Envious! Very well done. Hope I get to do something like that one day, but The Houston area does not lend itself well to basements!


Thanks for sharing. These are my favorite pics to view on this site.

 

[RTROSE]

Very nice. Great work, you should be very happy and proud of you theater.


Regards,


RTROSE

 

[ejhuzy]



Quote:
Originally Posted by kciaccio /forum/post/15479897


Envious! Very well done. Hope I get to do something like that one day, but The Houston area does not lend itself well to basements!


Thanks for sharing. These are my favorite pics to view on this site.

Quote:
Originally Posted by RTROSE /forum/post/15479905


Very nice. Great work, you should be very happy and proud of you theater.

Guys thanks for the kind words. It was a labor of love. I put myself on a movie watching ban during that time. It really helped drive me towards completion. Since the screen/PJ went up I've watched around 30 movies (around 3 months).

 

[ejhuzy]

So, what the heck took me so long? Well, I had to finish the rest of the basement before moving to the HT. That was the deal with the boss, so that's what I did. The rest of the basement is basically one big room made up of a bar and sitting area. The sitting area is a couch with a 50" Samsung DLP for my son to play XBox360 on.


The bar is red oak with a granite top. I can't take credit for the construction of it, but I can for the design and finish. My wife and I did all the staining and polying. I used Sketchup to design the bar and give the constractor a vivid description of what I wanted. I'm real happy with how it came out.


One thing missing is a brass rail. I was supposed to buy that about 18 months ago, but got side tracked with something else. Hmm...

Main shot.

Bottom close up.

Fridge and sink in the back.

Back wall.

Shot from hallway approaching the main room.

 

[chinadog]

Nice job Ed and congrats!


Bud

 

[ejhuzy]



Quote:
Originally Posted by chinadog /forum/post/15480336


Nice job Ed and congrats!

Thanks Bud. I really do appreciate the help you gave and thanks for the Ascend tip!

 

[WingZero94]

Is that a window behind your bar? Everything looks good - can't wait to see more build pics.

 

[ejhuzy]



Quote:
Originally Posted by WingZero94 /forum/post/15480383


Is that a window behind your bar? Everything looks good - can't wait to see more build pics.

Yeap, there's a window up top and a large window to the left.

 

[ejhuzy]

Looking at the pictures of the bar I just remembered something. When the HT was finished I moved the DirecTV receiver from the bar to the HT. I then got a new black receiver for the bar. Looks way better now. I forgot how annoying that silver receiver was.

 

[warrenP]

Very nice! Any more pics of inside the theater you can share?

 

[SCHNEEDOO]

What type of ceiling do you have in the bar? Is it a drop ceiling? I like it.


Your theater is very well done. You should be proud to show off your hard work.

 

[ejhuzy]



Quote:
Originally Posted by SCHNEEDOO /forum/post/15485245


What type of ceiling do you have in the bar? Is it a drop ceiling? I like it.


Your theater is very well done. You should be proud to show off your hard work.

Thanks Schneedoo.


It is a drop ceiling and it's one of the stock variety that Home Depot carries. We like it a lot and get lots of compliments on it.


Batavia huh? I have good friend that hales from there. Lives in Poughkeepsie, NY now though.

 

[Screen Shot]

Great work. Looks awesome!


Could you post a pic of the sitting area with the couch and Samsung DLP?

 

[ejhuzy]



Quote:
Originally Posted by Screen Shot /forum/post/15487145


Could you post a pic of the sitting area with the couch and Samsung DLP?

Screen Shot, here's the rest of the bar area. Pictures aren't that great, but you should get the idea. Taking these pictures reminded me we really need to move on to the decorating phase. Pictures especially.

This picture shows the spot on the wall where I hope to hand a ticket window ala chinadog. I think it's a perfect spot for one. That door is the entrance to the HT.