how much does it cost to get someone to do everything?

First of all most of us, "Guys" are not having someone come in and completely design and build a theater for us and fill it with equipment, because for one, if we were we would not need to be in a forum such as this.

There are some here that have used designers , or contractors or AV specialists, and I use that term with reservation, since many of the "Home theater" stores have less of a clue what's needed than the man on the street.

People here have put together their own home theaters from from a couple thousand, real basic set up to multi hundred thousand.

I am a do it yourselfer have NO professional assistance at all, and my theater which is about 18'X15' has soundproofing treatments ,two rows of Theater seats, an acoustically transparent screen, 720p projector, anamorphic lens, 7.2 speaker system, Bass shakers, and some kick butt electronic equipment, carpeting, lighting, AC, the obligatory POPCORN machine, and other concession area goodies, cooling fans for equipment and projector.

Hm I am sure I missed a few items, anyway still working on it and up to roughly 60K for it so far.

Now if I had hired someone to come do that for me???? take a guess.

A friend wanted a theater, didn't have the time or interest to DIY but had a checkbook. After visiting a couple of home theaters came up with some basic parameters for his.


He then talked to a contractor who had "some" HT experience.


The ceiling had to be removed and a return duct relocated (to the side rather than right down the middle of the room), then the ceiling rebuilt with a soffit and rope lighting. Risers were built and carpet installed. A few decorative 1/2 columns were installed and a front stage (Minimal) and speaker "NOOKS" were built (against my advice). Sconces added and wiring reworked. and Window tinting applied to the glass panel door. No soundproofing or acoustical treatments other than insulation in ceiling. The room was repainted.


He bought a Sony Ruby and a Stewart screen and a Middle atlantic rack.


His contractor hung the projector (with the help of one of his buddies who knew a little about it) and hooked up his equipment.


He already owned speakers, DVD player and receiver,


He ordered 8 berkline chairs from an internet vendor.


He said the construction tab was 25K and I think the equipment/chairs was about 15K


Just for one reference point.

Your question is a bit vague...


But, here in the Northeast, to build a 14x25 room (not HT) in a basement with electric baseboard heat, no AC, drop ceiling, one layer of drywall, standard base & door trim will set you back $30K.


Luckily that was my neighbor's house and not mine. Given that figure I'd hate to guess how much my 14x23 sound treated theater, lobby, and bathroom with central heat/AC would cost to have built for me.

Well what do you know?


Once again, my BPE (Ball Park Estimate) holds true. In one of many prior threads about "how much this will cost" I came up with the Standard BPE of 30K.


To recap, it seems that in my area (Northern VA/DC suburbs) no matter what you want done by a contractor, the BPE is $30K. If you bite, he drops everything on all of his lesser contracts, comes to your house to get started, and then goes back and finishes the others and then finally gets around to finishing yours. From what I can see, this appears to be spreading around to other areas of the country as well.

Quote:
I'll do it for $2.5 million, assuming you are somewhere in the U.S.

Click to expand...

Not to start a bidding war or anything, but I can undercut that bid by $250K! And I'll put in writing that I will only disappear for 6 months at a time after starting demolition.


Tom

i cant make a theather by myself. i am not good with DIY projects and I am pretty bad at anything to do with "house" projects. Thats why I am asking whats the average price for someone to come in and make me a mini-movie theather. The example below is a HT that I have in mind.



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


The example below is a HT that I have in mind.

Click to expand...

Couple of things about that theater for your planning.


The box at the bottom holding the subwoofer will cause all kinds of resonance issues muddying the sound unless it's properly filled with acoustical treatment.


The location of the center speaker below the screen will likely make the dialog less clear for the middle seat of the back row of seating. The front row blocks the direct sound path to the rear seats. Better to have above or behind an acoustically transparent screen. It looks like the R/L seats can see the speaker so it may be a problem just for the center.


It looks like that theater might have acoustical treatment on the side walls between the columns which is a good practice.


I would have painted the recessed lighting trims and used darker color outlet and switch plates.

Lets try this again.


How large is your budget?


How much money are you willing to spend?


If you have no idea what you want, then figuring out how much something that you have no idea about is going to cost isn't going to get you any answers.


The theater pictured above you could build aesthetically for not too much money if the room is already basically in place, but the equipment costs could vary tremendously depending on what kind of performance you're after. I mean, there are just so many variables having to do with room design and equipment design, just building a theater that "looks" something like that picture could cost very little, or a whole lot.


You should visit some HT design companies near where you live and spend some time educating yourself about what kinds of capabilities are out there, because at this point it seems you have no idea what you want or what is available, so obviously it's going to be impossible for anyone to give you much assistance.


I mean, we still have no idea if your budget is 10K, or 100K, or what.

John Kotches is the reviewer that Dennis' crew did. He writes for Widescreen Review.


These guys aren't trying to badger you, they're really trying to find out what you're after. Just decideing between painted walls and cloth walls can change the price of a project by a couple thousand dollars. Carpet can vary a couple thou - as can seating. Don't even think about the differences in price for PJs or speaker systems.


Also very true is the huge difference in material costs and labor in different areas of the country. If we knew where you were, we'd at least be able to take a resonable guess as to whether the labor is going to be on the high or low end of the spectrum.


Reasonable estimate? In most places if you look around for labor, have reasonable expectations, buy middle of the road mainstream equipment, etc. - you should be able to do a decent sized room for around $40k. But that can vary a LOT depending on the 100's of variables.


Bryan