[DEEEEEEEZY]


Been lurking on this site for some time, but I bit the bullet on a new home and the wife has granted me a dedicated home theater room.  I'm very excited about it and have started drawing up ideas of how I would like it to be set up.  I am at work now and will later add in some images of my space and also a napkin prelim drawing of my ideas for the room.  Once things get started.  I will add in build progress images to boot.

 

I'd love for anyone to chime in with their experiences and advice as I am a first timer and can use all the help I can get.

 

I don't have hobbies outside of this so the DIY aspect of it is important to me, so here goes.

 

The space I will be working in is 16'x21'x9.5'

 

I am thinking of a 120 inch AT screen built onto a screen wall with an approximately 30" space behind it to hold the front, center and subwoofers.

 

The screen size is limited to 120" due to the fact the wall available has 2 doors on it (one leads to a bathroom and the other to the AV closet (wiring for surround speakers, projector, cable and power are already placed [from last owner]).

 



 

You can see from the image above the two doors on the screen wall, and another door on the side wall in what will be the back corner of the room.

 

I haven't decided whether I would like the back the back row of seats all the way against the back wall (or at least closer to it) because the air vents come through the floor below two large windows (that will be filled with sound absorbing material and covered) and ventilation would need to be routed out of the riser.  Right now I have a "wall" behind the last row, but I don't know if I like that idea just yet.

 

I'd like the seating to be a 4 seat row with loveseat in the middle.  I am neither for nor against reclining seats.

 

On the screen wall I'd like to add curtains to the sides so that the doors to the AV closet and bathroom are obscured.

 

I could use advise on anything and everything, so hit me with it as I'd like to do it right the first time.

 

Thanks all.

 

(I'll add pictures of the room when I get to my home computer.)

 

[schmidtwi]

Welcome to AVS! You'll get some great ideas here, but you should provide additional information. Post your entire floor plan, if possible. Three doors in a dedicated HT is not ideal. Perhaps you have options you haven't considered yet.


You also need to plan for type of room construction, HVAC, electrical, sound isolation, room treatments, etc.


Enjoy your journey, HT is an addiction...

 

[DEEEEEEEZY]


Thanks for the reply.  I suppose I did leave a bit out.

 



This is a rough sketch of the bottom floor.  I'm not a hundred percent on the measurements of the closets and bathrooms, but the general layout is there.  The room in the Bottom Right is what is slated to be the home theater room.

 

As far as sound insulation goes, I am thinking of carpet for the floor.  And dampening panels on the walls with bass traps in the windows and back corners of the room.

 

As far as HVAC goes.  There are currently only two input vents in the far wall under the windows.  If pumping the air out becomes a necessity/which i'm sure it will get stuffy, I suppose putting a return behind the screen wall could be possible.  That way there would be a good flow of air from behind the back seat row all the way to the front of the room.

 

The ceiling in the room already has Can lighting that is far enough out to be compatible with a recessed ceiling.

 

The speaker wiring is already run through the walls in a 7.1 distribution, and while the placement of the middle surrounds is not perfect, it will not be hard to move where it comes out.  Especially if I cover the walls with sound absorbent paneling.

 

Sound system wise.  My current setup is not my end setup, but I have klipsch reference center RC62 ii and surrounds that will likely remain part of the final product.  I have a reference subwoofer rw-12d that will be replaced by two PB-2000 SVS subs.  The front towers currently are klipsch f-20s but I suspect I will need to replace those as well.  Since the screen wall will not require permanent installation of speakers I will have flexibility with replacing speakers in the future.  LCR and sub-wise anyway.

 

When you say room treatments, i'm not sure I follow.  I would LIKE to have a matte black recessed ceiling, with perhaps a rope light around the bottom.  Color wise.  Most of the house paint is a matte gun metal gray color and unfortunately for this room a very beautiful dark hardwood/laminate floor.  So the floor will get covered up by carpet or a very large area rug for sound absorbing.

 

Phew... did I cover it all?

 

[Cthanatos]



Quote:
Originally Posted by schmidtwi  /t/1522641/hi-all-first-time-poster-first-time-ht-builder#post_24486493


Enjoy your journey, HT is an addiction...

 


I'm learning that. I don't even have plans that I can work from yet but I've already learned a ton as well as learned that what I know is a drop in the bucket compared to the ocean available here and elsewhere. One step one day at a time. I look forward to following this thread as we'll be building later this year

Good luck DEEEEEEEZY!

 

[BIGmouthinDC]

Put down the hammer and step away from the woodpile, seriously your plan needs some fine tuning.


when you said sound insulation do you mean soundproofing? if the later you need to do some more homework.


eliminate the door to the bathroom PLEASE


Lets figure something else out on the AV stack to eliminate that other door. Probably flip the room 180 degrees and have a built in wall rack in the back corner.


Move the door to the theater between the stage and the first row on the side wall.

 

[Crash11]

OK before any other decisions are made.........pump the brakes.


I think you should flip your theater 180 degrees. Put the screen wall to the bottom with the vents behind the false wall. Put your side door a few feet up so you enter between the stage and riser (assuming you have a stage).


Shoot, I just saw that Big already mentioned this. Damn you Jeff. Ohh well, my fault for not reading the entire thread. I just had this major urge to say something immediately.



Edit: another thought, build the A/V equipment into a rack in the back wall. Then open up the back of the A/V closet to the bedroom closet behind it. The back of the room is a great place for an A/V rack anyway.

 

[petew]

++ what Big and Crash11 said.


+++ remove the bathroom door.

 

[BIGmouthinDC]

About the HVAC, pipe it to the front of the false wall on the sides of the screen.

 

[DEEEEEEEZY]


You know, my first inclination was to reverse the whole room 180 degrees and move that door.  The problem is, I dont know if I can convince my wife to do it.

 

I'll show you why once I get a chance to, but the flip side of that wall is a 19 foot blank wall that she had planned to make as a photography display.  The size of that wall was a big part of her inspiration to do it, but I may be able to convince her to change her mind (its only a few feet right?).  The other problem will be that I have never done any BIG renovations like cutting holes in walls and installing doors, and may not be comfortable tackling that on my own.  The house is on the side of a mountain and anything that I do I dont want to compromise the strength of the house. I suspect the middle long wall is a load bearing wall.

 

I'd really like to avoid paying a contractor or the like to do this if I can do it [well/safely].

 

I'll draw up some stuff in the other direction as well and mill it over.  I'd like to try to make a scale model somehow.  I've seen folks use the sketchup program and I'll see what I can do with it.

 

Thanks for the input so far.  Its good to have multiple opinions on this.  I don't wanna regret a poor decision.

 

[Tedd]

Design the new door so it is flush, so you still have a 19' photo wall... That way, the photo wall won't be compromising

a room that has a lot of work, time, and money invested in it. Flush mount the bath room door and get a 24' photo wall.


Close off the bathroom to the theater. Build a wall to wall riser and further leverage it as a full range bass absorber.

The av rack could be recessed into the existing back wall closet.

 

[BIGmouthinDC]

figure out how the ceiling joists run, from your diagram it doesn't appear to be a load bearing wall, but I can't tell for sure.

 

[Cthanatos]

Crash11 - you mentioned that you assume he's got or will have a stage. Is that just an aesthetic choice, or is there some benefit that I'm not aware of? Is there a reason why someone might want a stage and not just a flat wall?

 

[BIGmouthinDC]

one more time, here are 9 pages of threads on why build a stage:

http://www.avsforum.com/newsearch?advanced=1&action=disp&search=why+stage&titleonly=1&byuser=&output=all&containingforum[]=19&replycompare=gt&numupdates=&sdate=0&newer=1&sort=relevance&order=descending&Search=SEARCH&Search=SEARCH


it is about the sand

 

[NYGIANTSFAN23]



Quote:
Originally Posted by BIGmouthinDC  /t/1522641/hi-all-first-time-poster-first-time-ht-builder#post_24488668


one more time, here are 9 pages of threads on why build a stage:

http://www.avsforum.com/newsearch?advanced=1&action=disp&search=why+stage&titleonly=1&byuser=&output=all&containingforum[]=19&replycompare=gt&numupdates=&sdate=0&newer=1&sort=relevance&order=descending&Search=SEARCH&Search=SEARCH


it is about the sand

I know all about the sand!!!

 

[Crash11]



Quote:
Originally Posted by Cthanatos  /t/1522641/hi-all-first-time-poster-first-time-ht-builder#post_24488480


Crash11 - you mentioned that you assume he's got or will have a stage. Is that just an aesthetic choice, or is there some benefit that I'm not aware of? Is there a reason why someone might want a stage and not just a flat wall?

Well my argument is that it is in fact for aesthetics. If all one wanted to do was build a structure that weighed a lot, then it wouldn't protrude into the room and look like a stage.

 

[CHILINVLN]


Agreed with the above, but I'm going to expand just a bit on it.

 

1. Flip the room 180 degrees

2. Remove the door for access to the bathroom from the theater.  This is not necessary, as its accessible from the main rec room already.

3. Relocate the door to the theater somewhere else on the wall, all depends on how you design the seating layout, but not near the screen.

4. Ensure that your door opens OUTWARD, not inward.  This will better utilize your space inside the theater.

5. Have your wife's paintings/art on the long outside wall.  You can even add accent lighting to enhance them.  If they're in the theater, you need to securely mount them so that they don't rattle.

 

[Tedd]

4 will also violate most (- likely all) building codes so that might be something to carefully consider.

X.jpg 175k .jpg file


You also might the Mrs more agreeable if you educate her as to the reasons things are being done a certain way.

 

[DEEEEEEEZY]


Finally home!

 

Here are some shots of the room.

 



Above is a shot from the stairwell looking in the open living space of the bottom floor.  The far wall is the Long wall that was to be the photography display.

 



Above is a shot of the "infamous" bathroom door looking into the theater room.  I am standing in the doorway of the bathroom taking the shot.

 



This shot is standing in the doorway of the bathroom door looking into the room which is to be the theater.  You can see the wire coiling out of the walls where the 7.1 channels were previously.  As well you can see the wiring from previous installed projector.

 



Above is the AV closet as it stands currently.  The HDMI and composite wires here are the ones that terminate from the ceiling in the previous image.  See the cable and ethernet socket as well.

 



This is a shot from the far doorway looking back at the AV closet and bathroom.

 

 

Now you all have a better idea of what I'm working with, lets hear it.

 

[BIGmouthinDC]

what is throwing you off your game is the space is finished. Nothing a hammer and some contractors cleanup bags couldn't solve in a weekend. You are looking for an easy fix, we want a great theater space.


Remove all the doors and reposition as has been suggested. The theater door can swing in without a problem if you place it properly.


You may want to contact the Erskine group for the basic design service.

 

[Tedd]

Awesome space.


So how far are you prepared to take this space? Is it to be a sound proofed dedicated theater, or a simple rework of the existing room?