[R B]

UPDATE: 20200123

I thought I would explain why the name of this project is called The Clearing. I built this house in an established neighborhood that is heavily wooded. I had a State Forester come in and inventory what trees I needed cut out for a multitude of reasons. I cut down around 120 trees on the lot as it was a mature forest. I had a neighbor unhappy with how many trees that I was cutting down and confronted me. He said that "we are no longer living in the woods, but The Clearing!!!" The Forester indicated that I should cut down many of these large trees or I would be paying to cut them down in the next few years. In the end, I have a nice yard that the neighbor even commented on. My plan is to put a "The Clearing" sign on the Marquee, if my wife will let me, See the below image for the before and after.

Hello,

I would like to first thank everyone on these threads for their help and information. I have been reading through these forums for the past couple of months. I am planning on building a home theater and have jumped right into it with some lessons learned along the way. I plan to document what I am doing and hope that I can help others along with receiving some feedback. You will see that I am already moving along by the pics I post and this has been a changing plan. You will see that I Drywalled some of the TV area due to family coming in over Christmas before I planned on building a theater. Now I ripped it out after getting inspired to spend money from everyone on these forums.

Room Summary
-I do not own AV equipment for a Home Theater. Currently the old 50" Plasma was being used by the kids.
-Screen Size along with building a stage is still being debated. Looking for guidance.
-This was a tv room in the unfinished basement for the kiddos.
-I can hear the kids and TV in the Master Bedroom above the basement through
vents
-Have an existing window in the room along with framed in window for future upgrades. Although now I recognize that I will not be adding another window and will have to work to soundproof the existing window.
-Designing Room for 9.2.4 Dolby Atmos
Adding more ceiling speaker boxes due to concerns of speaker placement. Wanted the flexibility to change speaker locations if they did not sound right.
-House was framed at 24" OC with 2*6 walls. 1/2" foam on the outside of exterior walls to create an airtight envelope. Exterior walls were spray foamed with open cell. Now I realize that the foam is bad for a home theater.

Dimensions (Before Construction)
Width: 14' 10"
Length: 22' 5"
Height: 8' 10"

Dimensions after construction
Width: 14' 5"
Length: 22'
Height: 8' 7" and 8' at Soffits

Color Scheme
TBD

AV Equipment
Projector
-Was looking at the Optoma UHD60 for a budget 4K projector.
-Was looking at the AVR-X6500H or X4500H.
Screen
-TBD, was looking at 135" 16:9 as this will be used for movies, gaming, and everyday tv mostly.
-Still debating about building a stage as I am limited by the width in the room to put speakers on sides. I do not want to lose space from the 22' length for a stage with speakers behind the screen. Looking for guidance.
Future Upgrades
-Running conduit to back porch for future Jacuzzi and TV area.
-Running cabling for TV in Game room in basement.
-Ran Carlon smurf tubing for future cabling.
-Building ceiling speaker boxes based on the forums.

Lighting
-The whole house has Legrand Adorne but would need to add Legrand Adorne Wifi collection to the theater room.
-Now looking at Insteon or Lutron Casetta based on these forums. Not sure what to do though.
-Had 6" cans in the area with multiple different circuits. After building I have had to rewire the area after reading through these forums for ideas.
-Purchased 90540 4 inch Swivel Spotlight Recessed Lighting Kit Dimmable Downlight, White Finish, Contractor's (10-Pack), Easy Install Push-N-Click Clips from Amazon for small lights in room layout pic. These will be in the Soffit as to not disrupt the soundproofing.
-Purchased Wireless Control GU10 LED Bulb RGBW Light Bulbs, LOHAS Color Changing LED Spot Cabinet Lights, 5W(45W Equivalent), Daylight White 5000K for Spotlight, 450 Lumen for Showcase Kitchen Lights, 4 Pack
-Ripped out old can lights (new construction) and purchased NEW Round Flush Mount Thin Ceiling Light | LED Disc Shaped Thinnest Round Dimmable Lighting Fixture | Direct Wire Lights | No Drywall Work Required | 3000K Bright White | 5.5" White from Amazon.
-Attaching the 5.5" lights to FA426 ARL ADJUSTABLE CEILING BOX from Crescent Electric. I did not want to make large holes in the ceiling after soundproofing so I will puddy the back of these boxes and place more Roxul around them.
-Will run future ceiling LED's.

Sound Proofing
-Used either Owens Corning Thermafiber Fire and Sound for 16" OC or Roxul Safe n Sound for 24" OC walls.
-Used Owens Corning Thermafiber Fire and Sound in the ceiling attached to the 1st Floor Sub Floor.
-Also using Roxul at the bottom of Floor Joist
-Using Whisper Clips on walls and ceilings with OSB for the first layer, then Green Glue, then 5/8" Drywall.
-Started making Joist Mufflers based on these forums and will wrap more into the soffits after finishing the last layer of drywall.
-Used Putty pads on electrical Boxes
-The AV Rack is open and exposed outside of the theater. Plan to build a Murphy Cabinet outside of the theater to access cables in the future.

 

[R B]

Current State as of 20190210

Thought that I would document where I started. This was the basement bathroom. Had to move some of the pipes.

 

[R B]

Update

Before reading on these forums. I started to soundproof the ceiling in a rush to get drywall up for Christmas for family and to make the space livable. I probably wasted some money here but do not want to rip down the drywall now.

Pic of the room with drywall

TV Area after the drywall was done. Short-Lived though as I started changing the plan and framing walls and put in Roxul.

Started building home network in Utility Room
[

Decided I did not want the AV equipment in front of the screen after reading through the forums. So I built an AV closet.

Had to get it around the red post, so I framed two walls for soundproofing and to enclose the red post. I also framed for a future Murphy Door in the back to access cables and also nooks on the sides for built-in cabinets. I am concerned that I am working to soundproof the room and the closet will be a place for failure.

I did not leave enough room for whisper clips, channel, and drywall in the AV closet so I will use RESILMOUNT A48R ANGLED RESILIENT CLIP BRACKET to frame the interior walls of the closet. Unless someone has a better recommendation.

Started framing for an overhead sign above double doors. Just winged it to be honest. Still not sure about the double doors as I do not want the sound to leak, although the wife likes it. She wants to use the area outside to have more people socialize when we have get-togethers.

 

[R B]

Update Again

Was making good progress with Whisper Clips Channel, etc.

I know this is a not correct based on @Ted White Ted's comments from his site soundproofing company, but I would either fix the hole on the other side of the wall (finished bedroom) or re-run the line in, to the right gang box (which is enclosed in bedroom which is drywalled). Will this cause too many problems?

Started running the flex conduit for future cable runs from AV Closet to Projector, then from the projector to TV Wall. You can also see the grey conduit that goes to the upstairs Living Room. I plan to build some kind of box here to access the cables later and still maintain the soundproofed envelope. Looking for suggestions.

Had the realization that I would need to replace all the can lights in this room. Thanks to these forums @BIGmouthinDC I was able to install the Arlington FA426 ARL Adjustable Ceiling Boxes. Will also use the flush mount LED lights from Amazon.

If you hadn't noticed yet. I used the wrong Channel from Menards. Thanks to @BIGmouthinDC for redirecting me to the correct channel from one of his posts. Luckily was able to return most of it.
Incorrect
https://www.menards.com/main/buildi...resilient-channel/rcdn-12/p-1444426596013.htm

Correct
https://www.menards.com/main/buildi...ge-furring-channel/fcn-12/p-1444426600961.htm

I debated about ripping out the existing drywall to soundproof all walls but after reading on these forums and taking everyone's advice I decided to start demoing the walls.

Off to the dump.

I knew that spray foam is not the best for soundproofing and the more I read in these forums the more I became inspired to rip half it out and put in Roxul. The walls are 2*6 with a 1/2" of foam on the outside so there is still plenty of insulation in the walls.

 

[R B]

Hopefully, someone can answer. Some places the Roxul touches the hat channel where I ripped out the foam. Will this cause short circuit problems in the wall? Or is it not a big deal since it is touching the Roxul and not the framed wall?

 

[R B]

Worked a little tonight. I weigh 240 and can dead hang from the overhang. I also cut in a single gang box on top so that an led rope light will turn on at the same time.

 

[sirjaymz]

Hopefully, someone can answer. Some places the Roxul touches the hat channel where I ripped out the foam. Will this cause short circuit problems in the wall? Or is it not a big deal since it is touching the Roxul and not the framed wall?

I'm pretty sure it would absorb any frequencies that transfer from the channel to roxul. IMHO, not an issue. Minimize contact as much as possible though.

 

[R B]

I'm pretty sure it would absorb any frequencies that transfer from the channel to roxul. IMHO, not an issue. Minimize contact as much as possible though.

Thanks for the feedback. I assume if I build a stage after I drywall with absorbing material on the wall, then this will be even less of an issue. I have to convince my best half why we need a stage though.

 

[tjambro]

Just so you know you aren't the only one that got the wrong channel from Menards. I ordered and paid for the right channel and when I got home I saw that I actually had 2 different types. They didn't seem to know any more about the channel than I did. I'm now an expert when I need to go back for more. Lol

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

 

[R B]

Just so you know you aren't the only one that got the wrong channel from Menards. I ordered and paid for the right channel and when I got home I saw that I actually had 2 different types. They didn't seem to know any more about the channel than I did. I'm now an expert when I need to go back for more. Lol

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

Glad to know I am not the only one. I was expecting to receive the rest of the channel yesterday from Menards and now they indicate that it is back ordered until the middle of March. Luckily found a couple of other places that can get it next week.

 

[R B]

Some Updates. Took the day off work to work in the basement.

Spent time cleaning up electrical in the walls, ceiling, and junction boxes.

Put in the ceiling adjustable boxes for the flush mount LED lights.

More wires cleaned up in the ceiling and the majority of roxul put in.

Made progress on joist mufflers and grey conduit run to the back porch for future tv/hot tub area. Wanted to make the joist muffler with thicker walls but would have had to re-run wiring in the ceiling.

Itchy Day. Put in rest of roxul in the AV closet area.

Started putting up 5/8" OSB on the hat channel I currently have.

Roxul in the back wall and stuffed the lighting overhang full of insulation even though its outside the room.

 

[R B]

Looking for input here. I am planning on using the A48R Resilient Isolation Clips to build a floating rack inside the AV closet. I plan to make the walls out of oak plywood with shelves so I can put a dark stain on it. Wonder at my amazing artwork below.

All my cables are coming in the ceiling as seen below. Does anyone have any good ideas or some examples for how the cables are routed into the Closet and still maintain some level of soundproofing? The back of the AV closet in the main area of the basement. I plan to throw a lot of roxul/insulation on top of cables in the ceiling, but I did not want a big mess when I cut through the ceiling of the oak plywood.

 

[R B]

I have another question for the community here. I originally ran a gas line into the now theater room as we wanted to put a fireplace in the basement entertainment area. The line currently sits about 2' from the screen wall as indicated by the red circle and would be inside any future stage construction. The hole I cut in the OSB is larger as I am debating about calling the plumber to re-route this into the bedroom on the other side of the wall or extend the valve further into the room in case I ever install some type of fireplace. Are there any examples of using a fireplace in a theater near the screen? I cannot think of any good future uses for this.

 

[R B]

BUMP.

Does anyone have some insight on my last couple of posts? The gas line and the cable input into the AV Closet. Thanks for everyone's help and time.

 

[R B]

Getting caught up here. I haven't been able to log into the site in the past week for some reason and I have been on travel. I will break my posts up into a few smaller ones.

Mounting of the Speaker Boxes. Added extra Whisper Clips on both sides of box. Still need to put in drywall.

Box after stuffing extra Roxul and insulation around it.

 

[R B]

Had to insulated flex ducts that I installed inside joist mufflers. I didn't want the drywall to be mounted to the bottom of floor joists, but there are too many objects I had to work around (pipes, wires, etc.). I guess I should have planned on building a theater when I built the house.

The hat channel barely touches the drywall as you can see in the below pic. When I started hanging the ceiling OSB, the channel naturally dropped and does not touch the drywall.

 

[R B]

Started hanging a lot of the OSB last weekend. I plan to get more done in the next couple of days before I travel again.

Had to stop on the ceiling as a pipe is in the way of where a speaker box is going.

You can see how busy my joists with previous wiring and HVAC. I ran the grey conduit from the AV closet to the back porch. This will let me run future coax, HDMI, etc. to the back porch if we are entertaining and I put in an outside TV.

 

[R B]

Based on the room layout and reading on these forums I have been changing the layout. Right now I am stuck on doing the 2:35 or 16:9 screen because I do not want to build a gigantic riser for the rear row of seating. This is based on us using the theater as an entertaining area where people can sit outside the double doors and still watch the screen. The 2:35 screen gives me the flexibility to put the screen closer to the ceiling and to shrink my riser to only around 5-6 inches but the majority of the theater will be tv and games when my kids are using it. I think the direction I am going to take is to put in a 16:9 screen and still build a soffit behind the screen. If I lower my screen under the soffit I am stuck with around a 20" riser in the back row as I would have 8' from the floor to the soffit. After reading through these forums and the https://www.avsforum.com/threads/837848/, I think I am going to still put in the soffit on the screen wall and shift the actual screen 2' forward in front of the soffit. This would put my first-row seating around 9.5-10' away from the 135" screen which I do not think that I will mind. Building the false screen wall from the Minimalist thread, I should be able to put the screen closer to the ceiling and lower the rear riser to around 11-12" which I can live with. Here are pics of the original and new layout. Any feedback would be appreciated.

Original Layout with the screen on the exterior wall.

New layout after reading through many of the 2:35/16:9 threads. You will notice that the Dolby Atmos Ceiling speakers have moved also. They are closer to the seats than I think is recommended but I had little room to adjust this layout based on pipes, wires, and existing HVAC. My goal was not to redo a lot of upstairs work building this theater so I am having to work around the existing construction. You will also see behind the back row of seating I added the grey rectangle which is representing a drink countertop for people to standing room only when we leave the doors open and are entertaining family and friends. Thanks to @BIGmouthinDC for this idea from one of his posts.

Here is the pipe that was moved to put the speaker box in.

 

[A.T.M.]

I have another question for the community here. Are there any examples of using a fireplace in a theater near the screen? I cannot think of any good future uses for this.

Nor I. Unless... you wanted to create the worlds first backlit Screen using a rectangle of flame behind it (just like a backlit OLED). I hear it will increase your Contrast Ratio and Black levels to unimaginable levels (if you use the black felt behind the AT screen). At least, right up until the whole house goes up in flames.

I would have it rerouted unless you imagine your going to sell the house in 20 years and want it there for future resale value of the potential fireplace hook up.

Keep up the good work, we're watching just not posting.

Aaron

 

[R B]

Nor I. Unless... you wanted to create the worlds first backlit Screen using a rectangle of flame behind it (just like a backlit OLED). I hear it will increase your Contrast Ratio and Black levels to unimaginable levels (if you use the black felt behind the AT screen). At least, right up until the whole house goes up in flames.

I would have it rerouted unless you imagine your going to sell the house in 20 years and want it there for future resale value of the potential fireplace hook up.

Keep up the good work, we're watching just not posting.

Aaron

Thanks for the feedback. I honestly do not plan to use the fireplace. There is a window within 2 ft on the other side of the wall in the bedroom so I cannot use it there. I am just going to build the stage around it and leave the shutoff valve alone. The house is insulated so well that I do not need it anyways and your right it would be a future upgrade for someone else.