Jump to content

My basement home theater project (pics)


dkp

Recommended Posts

My two favorite sayings for this project: 1) "Close enough for government work" and 2) "Mud'll cover that!" [:P][:D]

I am attaching several pictures of the project from just after the time I got it studded and wired. I will post a description of each picture as a reference, along with a more detailed overview of the project tomorrow. As always, your thoughts, suggestions and questions are welcome.

Back right wall (with Victoria, 5, pictured)

Basementconstruction001.jpg

Some of the obstacles I am having to work around.

Basementconstruction007.jpg

Back wall (you can see a portion of the back right wall as well)

Basementconstruction014.jpg

Back wall and the back left wall

Basementconstruction013.jpg

Back wall, insulated

Basementconstruction028.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Replies 97
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

Top Posters In This Topic

Posted Images

Back left wall, insulated.

Basementconstruction031.jpg

Front wall, insulated. (Emma, 2, on cooler)

Basementconstruction035.jpg

Front, right wall (door to multi-purpose room)

Basementconstruction037.jpg

Front wall would be on the right side of this picture. The previous picture would be behind the camera.

Basementconstruction038.jpg

Projector support (vent ducts for hushbox are both visible, although not yet connected)

Basementconstruction039.jpg

Right wall.

Basementconstruction053.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

looking good

What all are you planning to do with this room? I think a top-down drawing of your floorplan would help the pictures make more sense. Will you be going the whole nice yards with acoustical treatment and all that too?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

looking good

What all are you planning to do with this room? I think a top-down drawing of your floorplan would help the pictures make more sense. Will you be going the whole nice yards with acoustical treatment and all that too?

Thanks, Mike. The only thing that I have is a hand-drawn version on graph paper. I could try to scan it, but I'm not sure how well it would come out on the forum. I'll check into that.

The room will be used primarily as our home theater, approximately 17' across the front and 24' deep, although the seating I purchased will allow for alternate uses (it can be moved around quite easily). The ceiling in the front portion of the theater (screen side of the beam) is a bit higher due to ductwork, drain lines and water runs in the back (seating) area, but it is what it is. I'm planning on installing a small riser in the back of the seating area which will be constructed with 2x6s and probably 3/4" plywood on top. I should be able to get away with that as my theater seats sit a bit lower to the floor than a typical couch or theater seat. One of my primary concerns was the support pole located nearly in the center of the viewing area. However, we have laid this all out and the pole should only be an obstacle to traffic flow, not the viewing area.

I'm not yet sure what to do about acoustical treatments. I really don't know anything about them, other than what I read on the forums I frequent, and that is not very much. I would enjoy hearing any suggestions you have. I would imagine that the best course of action would be to get the theater set up properly and diagnose any room issues at that time.

I am working on the drywall right now and expect to be done with the ceiling by tomorrow night. I'll post some more pics in my next post.

You may have noticed the junction box in the picture of the projector support and ductwork for the hushbox. I think some clarification on this may prove useful to you as you review these pictures. The insullated duct you see in the left of the pic has the junction box under it. This is an intake from the front of the room for the hushbox. The duct on the right is the exhaust and vents out the side of our house, which conveniently already had a vent that was for the dryer when it was located there. Both the intake and exhaust ducts have fans in the run which will be powered up and running when my system is on. (*edit-the left intake duct is just laying on top of the beam for now. It will be pulled down into the hushbox when it is constructed). The projector will be turned on and off via remote.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It looks like your life is quite busy right now.

I had a couple of questions. Are you putting up any sort of insulation or acoustic treatment before the ceiling is dry walled?

Have you considered "splaying" the walls along the sides? I am not sure if all the framing has been completed.

Is there any extra "stuff" being put around the drain pipes to reduce noise?

Good Luck,

-Tom

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi Tom-

Yes, life is very busy right now!

No, I am not adding any insulation nor acoustic treatment prior to drywalling the ceiling. I have read that insulation is basically worthless in soundproofing applications and actually experimented by using R-13 in the room I just finished (this may not be the type of insullation you are referring to?). Since it had absolutely no impact on the sound transfer to the upstairs, I opted against it for the theater. However, I will be adding a second layer of drywall to at least the ceiling of the theater which will add some additional mass and should help with sound transfer somewhat. How much that will help remains to be seen.

The ceiling will be drywalled first with a layer of 1/2" sheetrock and a second layer of 5/8". I am still considering whether or not to do that for the walls as well. Please note that the drywall in the back portion of the theater is not attached directly to the ceiling joists (see pic), so I am considering only a single layer back there. I realize that there will still be a connection between the two, but my thought is that the surface area of that connection will be much smaller than that of drywalling directly to the joists so I may opt for only one layer of 5/8" drywall back there. Your thoughts on this are welcome. One key ingredient to my thinking is that the ceiling height in the back portion of the theater is about 6" lower than that in the front. This places a premium on headroom, which is why I may opt to only put one layer of drywall in the back.

All of the framing is done-I considered the "room within a room" concept, but since my ceiling will already be so low I just didn't think I could afford the additional headroom that this concept would cost. The walls are another matter, but without doing the ceiling it just didn't make much sense to stagger the outer walls. I did look into using resilient channel and that sort of thing to decouple the drywall from the studs and joists, but there is a cost/benefit relationship here that just didn't seem to make it worthwhile. My soundproofing concept is quite inexpensive-I bought all of the kids hearing protectors. That way I can crank up the theater, they can sleep peacefully and I didn't spend a bucketload of cash doing it! [;)][:P] In all seriousness though, I have been coming home from work and heading right down there working until 11pm or so every night. The kids have had to live with the sound of my framing nailer and accompanying compressor, hammering, drilling and all sorts of racket so I figure that they will sleep even more peacefully once I get done working down there! Heck, the sound of a movie will probably sound like a lullaby compared to what's been going on down there lately!!! lol

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Nice progress... and great to see you've started a thread... how's the dry walling going?

Thanks, Mike. The only thing that I have
is a hand-drawn version on graph paper. I could try to scan it,
but I'm not sure how well it would come out on the forum. I'll
check into that.

That would be easier for all of us to follow along... so anything you can get up helps

I have read that insulation is basically worthless in
soundproofing applications and actually experimented by using R-13 in
the room I just finished (this may not be the type of insullation you
are referring to?).

Actually the insulation it does
increase the STC (sound transmission coefficient) but is most effective
when combined with resilient channels.... but it does not significantly
improve room acoustics (ie: inside the room). On the other hand,
reducing sound transmission by several db doesn't make a big difference
when you are doing 110db in room... ;)

What kind of lighting are
you going to be using? If it's pot lights... I wouldn't bother
with the double gypsum as sound transmission through air leaks will
outweigh that through the mass. Lifting 5/8 gypsum overhead is a
pain in the a$$...

Did you get around to finding a link to the iJoy chairs you got? www.intertemp.ca ... I do like the flexible seating idea... as most of us have to use the room for multiple purposes afterall.

ROb



Link to comment
Share on other sites

David: The room is looking wonderful! What a great size, too. I am envious! I think it's great that you are posting photos of the room starting from the stick-building process to insulation and then drywall. This will really provide other beginners who are considering doing a project like this themselves some real-life perspective as to what to expect and also educate them to the fact that this is definietly not a one-weekend project! Time, research and precision all count here!

So, how have you been staying on your "foreman's" (Victoria) good side? Plenty of milk and cookie-breaks I suppose? LOL

Keep up the great work and the photos posts and especially all of the details! It's stuff like this that makes this forum so valuable to the rest of us in the hobby. Thanks for taking the time, David! -Glenn

Link to comment
Share on other sites

i don't know if you want to do this or have already passed this point, but there is "quiet roc" sheet rock. there is a few other brands out there. you can google them and come up with different manufactures. all it is, sound "proffing" your room so no one else can hear it. i just chimed in becasue i read you want to put an extra layer of gypsem on the celing. i don't think they help with the accustics of the room, but it does sheild out noise from other rooms, and your room to theirs.

nice pics. i am taking the lazy way out. i am buying a David Weekely home and in the bonus room option, i am having them build it for me. [:)]

Link to comment
Share on other sites

From what I ascertain from reading the other posts, your focus is not so much on sound transmission through the walls.

I think it is important NOT to confuse sound transmission issues to other rooms, and sound performance within the room. They are two separate issues.

Just a note, the double wall is the most economical way to minimize sound transmission, combined with sealing all of the various additional vectors (think sealing it for watertightness) such as outlets, vents, door gaskets, etc. Also, doors are a critical factor in this as well. The water analogy might be the easiest way to imagine the sound transmission issue. You can have the thickest and most dense walls available (i.e. a boat hull), but if you have a hole in the hull, the boat fills will water and sinks. And the various doorways, outlets, etc. are equivalent to the holes.

Additionally. double sheetrock, resilient channels, 'added mass' panels, etc. are all simply methods used in an attempt to reduce sound transmission if the basic double wall technique is not used. They are all less effective and more expensive than simply adding the second wall with an air gap.

If, as you have mentioned, sound transmission to the rest of the house is not critical, you are fine with a single layer of sheetrock, unless you simply enjoy carting that stuff around and spending the extra money(and no fair cheating with the sheetrock hoist!).

I would however suggest installing a simple second wall (a simple stud wall with an air gap - details available if desired...) and sound proof the door between the 'industrial' room - the room with the HVAC unit, and the listening room itself. I think that you find that this added isolation will be greatly appreciated.

Regarding the room itself, there are several issues to be aware of. One, the downward sloping ceiling. This is going to have a negative effect. And the fact that you do not have the extra vertical room to work makes it even more problematic, as adding diffusion &/or absorption is also impeded....and even the use of convex panels is going to result in hard specular (focused) reflections in the small space and would not be optimal.

So what to do...here is one idea that will work. Instead of sheetrock, I would seriously consider spray painting the unfinished ceiling black and installing a phase grating - a grid of 4-5 inch deep open cubes that looks just like the plastic grates that so often are in commercial fluorescent light fixtures. That would act as a diffusive grating and help with the response dramatically And the recessed can lights would work great with this.

Additionally. if you can splay the side walls out from the front to the back ~6-7 degrees each (roughly 1" per running foot), flutter echo will be reduced. In lieu of the actual splaying, a series of 'kickers' to redirect the sound will work in this regard as well. PM me for details.

Beyond that, room symmetry is important, especially for imaging. As imaging is almost all room geometry.

So, building on the symmetry issue...From memory, I am not sure how the stair well relates to the room (side, back...). (Like Doc suggested, a top down floor plan view would compliment the great picts tremendously!) But I would seriously consider enclosing the stairway and installing a pocket door that can be pulled shut when listening in the room (with enough clearance in the 'pocket' to accommodate an appropriate surface diffusive/absorptive treatment.

As far as the front and side and rear walls, I would simply wait and have a few measurements taken in order to address standing waves (in order to determine placement of some DIY OC705 bass panel bass traps or tube traps in the corners and floor/ceiling and wall junctions), and anticipate the surgical placement of some absorptive and diffusive surface treatments, but only as necessary determined by the measurements. There are many options for this as well without spending the money many are asking for the ready made products. (But no, tapestries, curtains, carpeted walls, etc. are not going to help in regards to this.)

If this is a bit confusing, PM me and I will be glad to explain it and suggest some specific alternatives.

But, bottom line, if sound transmission is not a critical issue, don't mess with the 2nd layer of drywall! And I would suggest NOT drywalling the ceiling, but going with a phase grid to diffuse the reflections without sacrificing the limited headroom so common in basements.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

What is your work around for that support pole? My room was finished when we bought our home and if structurally possible, I would have moved the pole 2 1/2 feet, but it's right there almost in the way. Trey found a nice wrap at Home Depot to cover mine. The owner before boxed it in with drywall, I will remove that mess and wrap it. Too many square edges. I am still working on acoustic treatment ideas.

What are your plans for projection? Screen size? Do a screen over painted wall if you had thoughts that direction. If you need to budget, painted wall works till you can go screen, but the diff with a "real" screen is very noticeable.

Hey scooterdog, your room looks great. After 2 years I replaced my 4805 with a Yamaha DPX-1200. Man steping up to 720 over 480 was a great move, I am fine now for a while, no plans on 1080p. I have a pull down now, gave up on the painted wall. Still woking on the right screen, but a friend gave me his old Luma 106". Colors jumped with a "real" screen over the painted wall screen when I still had the 4805. I would love to build a frame or just do a new one fixed. The gain is my question, still working with samples.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

One good thing is you get NO FAN NOISE AT ALL below it.... You may be on to something hahahahahaha

Show us what is up front too??? Curious minds want to know!!!

[H] the front end kinda looks like your room with the covers down......we'll geter done soon......complete renovation from the last room.....gonna be nice down there for sure

Link to comment
Share on other sites

"gonna be nice down there for sure.."

I would expect nothing less from Trey as he finsihes it.

A big part of me doing three La Scalas was from his guidence too. He asked me how much I liked the K horns.. well dugh??? A Lot! Well, he said, if you like that big ole horn sound..... your always gonna wonder what if, if you do not do it now.. He was right.. I think it is just awesome. Add the THX subs and well the rest is happiness!

Just curious what the kid in the candy store does for his own set up is all... LOL

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.


×
×
  • Create New...