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OK the time has finally come for me to put together a thread for this basement build. I've been lurking and posting around here for the last year and I have been saying that I would do it. Plus it's so much fun to watch the progression of everyone else I figured this would be a great way to get more advice from you guy's and also hopefully be able to help others just starting out with questions just as I have been helped out all this time. First off I have to say this place is the BEST! These boards and all you guys are an incredible wealth of knowledge it's unbelievable. What we did before the internet I just don't know!
Let me start by saying this is my first time ever finishing a basement or doing anything of this size before. I have been learning as I go. I started framing probably 3 years ago. There were large gaps in time where I didn’t even set foot in the basement. My family has had a few things where my 5 year old son (now 7) needed to have some scary surgery on his back so the basement went unworked on for quite some time. I’m glad to say he is now 7 and he is great! He and his 5 year old brother play Hockey like crazy men and are on the ice 3-5 days a week. My 7 year old is on 2 teams at the moment because he tried out and made the league select team so he is kicking butt! With all that hockey however comes a ton of time out of my free time as well so I work when I can. But now I am hell bent on getting this project moving along and completed! My main goals for the media room portion of the basement is to have a nice place where me and the boys and wife can go do our movie nights. Also another huge motivation to get this project done is to have it ready for the Stanley Cup finals! We live just outside of Chicago and are huge Black Hawks fans. Well my 7 year has taken a liking to Crosby so he’s become a big Penguins fan >
So the space will be split between sports and Movies.
I am 99% sure that I have decided to go with an Epson 5030UB projector when the time comes to purchase that part. Its right in my price range and from what I have been reading in the PJ forums it is a great picture for the buck. As for Screen size and Screen I am still up in the air. I want to go as big as I can so I’m thinking 120 16:9 screen maybe the ticket. But if I can get away with a 133 incher I may try it. But I do plan to get the pj first and shine it on the wall then play with sizes, aspect ratio’s etc first before purchasing the Screen.
Sound I’m still undecided. I may have to do a mix of some new stuff and fill it in with some old stuff I have just for a while. Will have to see what the budget allows for when it’s time to purchase things.
So without further ado… Welcome to my build.
I will start with the media room. The dimensions are roughly 14' wide by 16' long. I have a few annoying obsticals to deal with. One being a sump pump in the corner and the sencond being 2 different ceiling heights.
This is a shot as walking into the media room
Another shot from media room entrance
Screen Wall
Another shot of Screen wall
Back Wall. I put the outlet on the wall because I thought I would put the projector on a shelf. Now I'm thinking of just using a ceiling mount. I could still just leave the outlet because it will still be back just off the wall no matter what. but I have been thinking of moving the outlet down a bit towards the entrance to center it a little more on the wall. I would then have to use the lens shift but I am thinking of adding 2 wall sconces on the back wall so it may look more centered that way.
Another shot of the back wall
This is a shot of the sump pump closet. I still need to actually frame the door. This was one of the first things I framed down there years ago. I may of done it a bit differently now but I'll make it work. I'll be putting some shelving in their for storage as well.
All my lights in their are fully controlled. The first row in front of the screen are dimmable. The second row is also on a seperate switch and dimmable. Then the upper lights are also seperate and dimmable.
With lights slightly dimmed.
dimmed more
And more of the same.
More photos coming in just a few minutes.
Let me start by saying this is my first time ever finishing a basement or doing anything of this size before. I have been learning as I go. I started framing probably 3 years ago. There were large gaps in time where I didn’t even set foot in the basement. My family has had a few things where my 5 year old son (now 7) needed to have some scary surgery on his back so the basement went unworked on for quite some time. I’m glad to say he is now 7 and he is great! He and his 5 year old brother play Hockey like crazy men and are on the ice 3-5 days a week. My 7 year old is on 2 teams at the moment because he tried out and made the league select team so he is kicking butt! With all that hockey however comes a ton of time out of my free time as well so I work when I can. But now I am hell bent on getting this project moving along and completed! My main goals for the media room portion of the basement is to have a nice place where me and the boys and wife can go do our movie nights. Also another huge motivation to get this project done is to have it ready for the Stanley Cup finals! We live just outside of Chicago and are huge Black Hawks fans. Well my 7 year has taken a liking to Crosby so he’s become a big Penguins fan >

I am 99% sure that I have decided to go with an Epson 5030UB projector when the time comes to purchase that part. Its right in my price range and from what I have been reading in the PJ forums it is a great picture for the buck. As for Screen size and Screen I am still up in the air. I want to go as big as I can so I’m thinking 120 16:9 screen maybe the ticket. But if I can get away with a 133 incher I may try it. But I do plan to get the pj first and shine it on the wall then play with sizes, aspect ratio’s etc first before purchasing the Screen.
Sound I’m still undecided. I may have to do a mix of some new stuff and fill it in with some old stuff I have just for a while. Will have to see what the budget allows for when it’s time to purchase things.
So without further ado… Welcome to my build.
I will start with the media room. The dimensions are roughly 14' wide by 16' long. I have a few annoying obsticals to deal with. One being a sump pump in the corner and the sencond being 2 different ceiling heights.
This is a shot as walking into the media room
Another shot from media room entrance
Screen Wall
Another shot of Screen wall
Back Wall. I put the outlet on the wall because I thought I would put the projector on a shelf. Now I'm thinking of just using a ceiling mount. I could still just leave the outlet because it will still be back just off the wall no matter what. but I have been thinking of moving the outlet down a bit towards the entrance to center it a little more on the wall. I would then have to use the lens shift but I am thinking of adding 2 wall sconces on the back wall so it may look more centered that way.
Another shot of the back wall
This is a shot of the sump pump closet. I still need to actually frame the door. This was one of the first things I framed down there years ago. I may of done it a bit differently now but I'll make it work. I'll be putting some shelving in their for storage as well.
All my lights in their are fully controlled. The first row in front of the screen are dimmable. The second row is also on a seperate switch and dimmable. Then the upper lights are also seperate and dimmable.
With lights slightly dimmed.
dimmed more
And more of the same.
More photos coming in just a few minutes.