Great - this is my home theater build thread and my first home theater that I will be designing/building. I am looking forward to the entire process.
We are having a new home built - and while we are a few months out until completion I am am trying to finalize some details with the builder to maximize the space. This is in a planned community and is a semi custom build meaning that a lot is to spec but we have a lot of leeway with certain design elements. the new home is 4400 sq feet (our current one is 3700 sq feet). even though it is a larger home the movie theater will be smaller then what i am used to. going from an 18x18 room to a 12.6x17.4 will be a big change.
So far we have added the media port for wired internet/streaming($170). We added the tube (not sure what it is called) to run the hdmi cable from the projector to the receiver letting me swap cords in the future as the tech changes without having to get into the crawl space(about $220), prewire (about $350). we will be choosing carpet soon but will go with the one pick for the rest of the house since it is included in the cost,
I am keeping our DaLite 106" screen and Panasonic 4000 projector (unless it is negotiated with the sale of our current house) but decided to do ceiling speakers to save on space in the smaller room - we added paradigm cs-60r-30 speakers for the LCR and paradigm cs-60r-sm ($2k for the speakers and install). 5.1 set up....though i do not have the sub yet it is something that has been on my wish list for a few years.....and maybe for a few more -
I will be building a riser, stage and a pair of floating walls (one on each side of the screen) to block the a/v eqip and movies.
My main concern at this time is the size of the room and how i will design the riser -
This is a screen shot of the movie theater - it is on the 2nd floor and has a bathroom on one side, a bedroom on the other and to the left is an open game/bonus room. don't pay attention to the room measurements on the image as that is showing it as an optional 7th bedroom with a closet. The way i will have it configured is one open room, no closet and like i mentioned 12.6x17.4 with 9 ft ceilings.
The doors cannot not be moved but I would like to have my riser on that side of the room so that my screen and LCR speakers are at the bathroom wall and not on the wall that boarders my kids bedroom. I have the option to add additional insulation to the screen wall or all 3 walls but am waiting to hear back on pricing as we have a million other expenses for the house to think about.
my current riser is 8'x6'x12" and fits our back 3 movie chairs perfectly so they can recline but there is only about 2 inches left on each side so it is a great size. I would like to build a riser just like that one but at 8ft wide i would only have 2'3" feet of space on each side of the riser. I am waiting to heat back about the width of the doors. If they are each 2ft wide (like ones we have now) then I am all set as one door can be locked and the other with swing in without issue. If they are wider then I will need to think more about my placement and size of the riser. we have two rows of 3 and would like to keep it that way. if the doors are an issue i could make everything off center to the right side of the room but i think that would get on my nerves. I am also trying to get a price on making the double doors pocket doors but am hoping that the doubles are 2 ft each. of course i could offset the seating by 2 or 3 inches and still be good.
any thoughts on the insulation? my sales consultant said that instead of the standard insulation they would use a thicker one and fill in the walls as much as possible to add more of a sound barrier. does that sound like something worth doing? we need to hear back from that vendor about cost.
I think there will not be much for me to add until i get into the room and house (not until nov 2013) but wanted to get this started with my beginning stages. I have a lot of inspiration for building some of the features, wall colors and lighting from the forum and will post those when i can.
and if anyone cares here is the exterior of the house....colors are different but you get the idea - we are very excited!

We are having a new home built - and while we are a few months out until completion I am am trying to finalize some details with the builder to maximize the space. This is in a planned community and is a semi custom build meaning that a lot is to spec but we have a lot of leeway with certain design elements. the new home is 4400 sq feet (our current one is 3700 sq feet). even though it is a larger home the movie theater will be smaller then what i am used to. going from an 18x18 room to a 12.6x17.4 will be a big change.
So far we have added the media port for wired internet/streaming($170). We added the tube (not sure what it is called) to run the hdmi cable from the projector to the receiver letting me swap cords in the future as the tech changes without having to get into the crawl space(about $220), prewire (about $350). we will be choosing carpet soon but will go with the one pick for the rest of the house since it is included in the cost,
I am keeping our DaLite 106" screen and Panasonic 4000 projector (unless it is negotiated with the sale of our current house) but decided to do ceiling speakers to save on space in the smaller room - we added paradigm cs-60r-30 speakers for the LCR and paradigm cs-60r-sm ($2k for the speakers and install). 5.1 set up....though i do not have the sub yet it is something that has been on my wish list for a few years.....and maybe for a few more -
I will be building a riser, stage and a pair of floating walls (one on each side of the screen) to block the a/v eqip and movies.
My main concern at this time is the size of the room and how i will design the riser -
This is a screen shot of the movie theater - it is on the 2nd floor and has a bathroom on one side, a bedroom on the other and to the left is an open game/bonus room. don't pay attention to the room measurements on the image as that is showing it as an optional 7th bedroom with a closet. The way i will have it configured is one open room, no closet and like i mentioned 12.6x17.4 with 9 ft ceilings.
The doors cannot not be moved but I would like to have my riser on that side of the room so that my screen and LCR speakers are at the bathroom wall and not on the wall that boarders my kids bedroom. I have the option to add additional insulation to the screen wall or all 3 walls but am waiting to hear back on pricing as we have a million other expenses for the house to think about.
my current riser is 8'x6'x12" and fits our back 3 movie chairs perfectly so they can recline but there is only about 2 inches left on each side so it is a great size. I would like to build a riser just like that one but at 8ft wide i would only have 2'3" feet of space on each side of the riser. I am waiting to heat back about the width of the doors. If they are each 2ft wide (like ones we have now) then I am all set as one door can be locked and the other with swing in without issue. If they are wider then I will need to think more about my placement and size of the riser. we have two rows of 3 and would like to keep it that way. if the doors are an issue i could make everything off center to the right side of the room but i think that would get on my nerves. I am also trying to get a price on making the double doors pocket doors but am hoping that the doubles are 2 ft each. of course i could offset the seating by 2 or 3 inches and still be good.
any thoughts on the insulation? my sales consultant said that instead of the standard insulation they would use a thicker one and fill in the walls as much as possible to add more of a sound barrier. does that sound like something worth doing? we need to hear back from that vendor about cost.
I think there will not be much for me to add until i get into the room and house (not until nov 2013) but wanted to get this started with my beginning stages. I have a lot of inspiration for building some of the features, wall colors and lighting from the forum and will post those when i can.
and if anyone cares here is the exterior of the house....colors are different but you get the idea - we are very excited!