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Garage Door For Sale: (Making room for the HT room!)

post #1 of 6
10/25/03 at 5:35pm
Thread Starter 
After sharing our HT with the Great Room since the early 90's I am finally building our own dedicated HT room. It will be in my half of our 2 car garage. I'll be doing most of the construction myself and next week will begin framing of the room. I've got some ideas but am always open to suggestions, advice, and opinions.

The dimensions will be approximately 11' X 19.5' X 8'with an FP and 100" screen planned after construction is complete. Current front runners for FP's are the upcoming models: Sanyo Z2, Boxlight 2HD, and Panny L500.

The garage door will remain so that the outside will look like it does now. The hardware will be removed and the door siliconed and screwed shut then dampened. It will be concealed from the inside by the north wall of the HT room.

The HT room itself will be 99% isolated from the garage walls and ceiling by about 1/4". The exceptions will be the trim around the outside top to make it appear completely connected (I'll still leave a 1/8" gap and seal with silicone) and the a/c return and vents (which I will dampen heavily for the first few feet into the attic). I don't want to attach the room to the existing walls and ceiling because I am afraid it will resonate through the attic. I'll construct the ceiling the same as the walls.

Layout Diagram

Garage Pic 1

Garage Pic 2

Wall Frame Diagram



As I stated above, I've got some ideas but am always open to suggestions, advice, and opinions.
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post #2 of 6
10/25/03 at 11:44pm
Sonnie, first off if you do it right, your wife will love it.
I too wish I had separate garage doors, this alone is going to make your job alot easier. Just like in the Driftwood I had to create a drop ceiling in order for me to still be able to open and close my garage door. You won't have to do this.
You said on your website you were going to make your front wall 12" thick. If you were to take down the garage door tracks and the opener and make the door non-operational then you can would only need a 2X4 wall and because you are in your garage already your side and back walls could be 2x4 as well. At least that's the way I did mine. Except for some bass here and there I can't hear anything in the rest of the house. Your fortunate that your garage is deep enough and you are able to construct a back wall separating your HT from the back wall of the garage. This will help with stopping sound transfer as well. A couple of thoughts about your layout. I would put the door in the back of the room because if you have to get up or someone comes in it's not that big a distraction. The same holds true with putting your equipment on the side of the room or perhaps in the back of the room. Also the closer the equipment is to the projector the less cables you have to run. Which could save you money.
How far back is your seating from the screen and do you know what kind of FP your are going to use?

Hopefully this helps.
Brandon
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post #3 of 6
10/25/03 at 11:46pm
Not a problem to cut and paste.

In response to having trouble getting furniture in and out you could always put furniture in and built around it.

Brandon
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post #4 of 6
10/25/03 at 11:58pm
Thread Starter 
Thanks Brandon!

As you can see I edited my first post to say the garage door is staying. The wife wants it to look natural from the outside. Much of the hardware will be removed but I'll still build a wall to isolate the room from the door and wall. The wall will probably end up being around 7" thick. The 12" included furring out the garage opening even with the brick... but that has changed.

I also edited in the possible projectors and 100" screen size. Prime seating will be 11-12' (11' being THX recommended) with viewing between the 11' and back to about 17-18'.

True... I could build around it but then if ever I wanted to change it out I'd be in an awkward position. I'm probably going to be narrowing up that corridor even more than planned as well.

But it's something to consider over the next few days. The biggest issue would probably be a couch but I haven't decided yet to add a couch. Then again I may one day.
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post #5 of 6
10/27/03 at 8:16pm
Sonnie your wife is correct in wanting to leave the garage door. It will not only retain the look of the front of your home but will make your job a whole lot easier.

Your room dimensions are almost exactly the same as mine. I was lucky enough to find some theater seats from a home theater store that was remodeling a showroom. I built a riser about 8" ( I will get you exact measurements) out of 2x6's and 3/4 plywood on top and bottom. I was limited in space in the back of my room because of my water heater. I had to build a closet around it, which left me with enough room for 2 of the theater chairs. I put a leather sofa in front of them. The front row is 13 feet from the screen and the back row 17.5 feet. The projector is mounted directly over the front row.

I built an in wall cabinet to hold all my equipment. I also built my screen, it took me and my brother about an hour an cost about 40 bucks. I have had several home theater installers over who couldn't believe how good it looked. I think having a good projector helps alot.

Depending on how construction talented you are I would recommend that you do all the framing and hang the drywall yourself. But if you haven't had alot of taping and texturing experience i would definietely recommend hiring this out. It is worth every penny you spend to have someone else do this.

Let me know if I can help.

Brandon

By the way do a search for the name Erik Farstead or ecinema. Any postings he makes are very informative and his website is awesome in the step by step process of how he built his room. I got most of my ideas from his rooom as well as the Driftwood Theater.
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post #6 of 6
10/27/03 at 9:37pm
Thread Starter 
Thanks again Brandon.

I'm kinda like one of those jack of all trades but master of none guys. But one thing for sure... I hate sheetrock mud. I don't mind hanging it and I've mudded enough but I sure don't like it.

E, (Erik), is a good buddy of mine. We exchanged about 10 e-mails just today. He's a mod over at htguide where we hang out a lot. He's also part of our TTP gang. I followed his construction from the beginning. I remember when he was looking for a house. Nice fellow and very knowledgeable.
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