She wants to keep it brick! I need a compromise! (1 Viewer)

[Dave Poehlman]

I'm posting this mostly to vent.

Okay... I moved into a brand new house over the summer and I'm hoping to start rebuilding the basement HT next year. Right now, everything is just thrown down there to get it functional:

Now, our basement has poured concrete walls that have a brick texture to them. The wife just wants to paint the brick to look like real brick. Admittedly, it does look pretty cool (we have some friends who painted theirs).

However, I'm trying to drive the point home that concrete is cold, there's no where to run electrical or cables, and hanging pictures is neigh impossible (although, I have some up now via some wire attached to the sill at the top of the wall).

I haven't even brought up the acoustics issue yet, because that would be dismissed with a roll of the eyes and a "geek" or two being tossed into the conversation.

She's looking for a more open, loungy, entertaining type space while I want a balls-out 100" front projection with stadium seating. It doesn't help that we had a Christmas party a couple weeks ago and everyone said they loved the brick.

>sigh

 

[Elinor]

Well, you could always paint the sheetrock to look like brick

 

[JoshGivens]

You can hang pictures if you've got a good drill and some of those plastic inserts that you can run screws in. Also, there are products that can be run along the walls to tuck wires behind. You'll still have a piece of plastic stuck to the wall but you could make a design out of it or something. At least you wouldn't just be looking at bare wires.

You might want to think about some sort of ceiling stucture though.

 

[Dave Poehlman]

Well, I was thinking of some sort of half-wall with wainscoting along the bottom to at least give me somewhere to run wires and electrical.

But, I'm not sure how that would turn out.

And yes, the ceiling would be an issue.. probably wind up with some crown moulding for the transition between drywall and "brick".

 

[Rutgar]

Comprimise by putting lots of Acoustical Treatments on the walls. Otherwise your sound will suffer badly. Or, tell her the rest of the house is hers, and this one is yours. Also, show here some pictures of some nice looking GOM theaters, etc.

 

[CRyan]

You have got to get rid of the bare brick. There is no compromise to be made. It simply will not give the sound a dedicated theater should give.

Is it not cold as HEll in there now? My wife would give in on that aspect alone. You can get creative with baseboards and wiring - that would not really be a problem. But the sound man!

I have drywall and carpeting and I am even having to conisder a few sound treatments. I am getting some reverberation with highs.

Now, you could get pretty cool with wall-to-wall curtains like a local theater would have. It would be easy if you can sew, provide acoustical deadening, and could be pulled back when she wants to see the brick. Hiding wires this way would be super easy. However, this might actually be more expensive than drywalling.


C. Ryan

 

[Adam Gregorich]

Tell her you want the walls to match the ceiling

 

[Wayne A. Pflughaupt]

Make it a point to make all the wiring as messy as possible. Pick the ugliest stuff you can find – gnarly speaker and coaxial cables run everywhere, orange extension cords laying around, etc. Women hate that - she’ll see the light in no time.

Regards,
Wayne A. Pflughaupt

 

[Adam Gregorich]

LOL Great idea Wayne!

 

[PaulRob]

why not create a fake wall on brick wall, like put some stud timber up then some plaster board, pad the gap out with some installation foam bricks that keep the heat in. this means you could run some ducting in it as it can hold the wireing for you. ma make the room seem smaller but will make it feel more nice.
i think bare brick is just cold and doesn't give a nice warm feel to a room. which i think helps alot when watching stuff. unless you want to be cold while watching day after tomorrow!

like someone said before she can have the whole house you can have the basement. just like my dad, my mum gets a house he gets the garage. when we tell people about are new place we jsut brought he says its a garage with a house detacted.
i'm sure you can do the same in this case!


Dont let the women win they win enough already!

 

[Tom Rosback]

Dave,
Do a rendering showing all the surface mount panduit you'll need to run outlets etc. to bring the room to code. Then add condensation that will form as heated air touches the cold concrete walls. [unless your foundation is insulated on the outside.]

I did a half wall sort of concept in my theater. Top half is drywall, bottom is ductliner covered by GOM fabric. Check out my website for some pics. It is a workable solution.

 

[Dave Poehlman]

It's funny you mentioned orange extension cords... I used to have one running along the floor because the nearest outlet was on the other side of the room. But, she made me exchange it for a forest green one for the Christmas party.

 

[Parker Clack]

Dave:

I would tell her that the HT is your room. She can decorate the rest of the house but you are concerned with other things besides the asthetics of the walls.

 

[Dave Poehlman]

Thanks for the support guys... the HT construction is third in line behind a deck and a patio this summer. So, there's time to wear her down. I can't really claim it as my space since we both spend a lot of time down there.

But, perhaps I could use the brick to my advantage... If I talk her into keeping just the front wall brick, I could say "honey, there's no place to plug in the RPTV... we're going to have to get a projector".

 

[France_G]

Hey Dave -

I'm an interior designer specializing in home theatres. I've just finished a HT project that may give you some solution ideas.

Our theatre space was an upper level in a loft. The owners didn't want the brick walls touched in any way, so here's what we did...

Our carpenter put together wooden frames 48" wide by the 10' (the height of their ceiling). We cut foam to the same dimensions and purchased bolts of ultrasuede material. Wrapped the material around the frames and stapled on the back to create upholstered panels. We hung them side by side along three walls with lots of doublesided tape.

The room went from hollow and cold feeling to warm and cozy. We hid all the wiring within the panels which deadened the accoustic bounce problem created by the brick. The panels were secure enough they didn't vibrate even with the woofer shaking the room.

Your space:
Basements are always a challenge. I do think the light grey concrete in your room makes it feel cold and not as inviting as it should be. I think your space would be the perfect place for the panel concept.

With your already contemporary black/grey color scheme going on, select one material or a combination of different ones in dark to medium greys - ultrasuede, velvet or even some in a matt faux leather would look great. Base the size of the panels on the vertical lines already on your wall! If you can build and upholster them yourself, you'll save big bucks on labour. Look for bulk material at a fabric wholesaler or talk to an upholsterer who brings in bolts to keep costs down. An interesting option could be to create deeper panels and use a specialized material that doesn't impede sound so you could mount your speakers (fronts, center and even woofers) behind it. But, that means giving up valuable room depth which may not work for your installation.

You can build extra supports into the panels to hang pictures that aren't too heavy.

If you decide to go the painted brick route, I'd suggest going with a darker, matt, single color. If you do a faux-brick finish (mottled reds), you'll find it annoyingly distracting especially if you turn the lights way down or off when you're watching. I always find darker, matt paint colors or fabrics are the best choice in a dedicated HT room (as yours seems to be). Afer all, the screen is the focal point.

Also would suggest painting the ceiling, ducting and metal supports the same color as the walls so they blend and disappear visually.

Anyway, just info based on my experience. Everyone is unique and every project - very personal. Hope you can use some of the ideas, as it's a great space! Hope you'll post some "after" pics when you're done!

France

 

[Parker Clack]

France:

Post some pictures of your completed HT here on the forum. I would like to see some of your work and I am sure that others can get some great ideas from what you have already done.

Parker

 

[Dave Poehlman]

Thanks for the ideas, France.

Actually, the acoustics aren't the biggest problem.. it's the wiring and electrical. We could go for the "industrial" look and run conduit around the room.

 

[TeddM]

I suggest you take the time to educate your wife, and give her the reasoning behind choices you'd like to make. She's thinking solely about decor, and the brick idea as a decor solution is a great one. It is however, a poor choice if you want a quality home theater. Nothing changed my wife's thinking more, then visiting a local high end home theater. It changed her preceptions immensely. Now she asks for the reasons as to why a certain choice is being considered, and her suggestions are based on being quite knowledge, and she really contributes some some great ideas now.

I can envision just how nice that "brick" wall would look, (I'm thinking industrial loft with exposed metal chase wiring runs) and see it's huge attraction, but a home theater is just not the right room for that treatment for many reasons. Creature comfort and the sonics issues are worth fighting for. If you are doing a lobby area, why not compromise and do the brick treatment there?

I REALLY have to wonder if you don't come up out of that basement in winter, chilled to the bone. I really expect those walls radiate cold that just creeps up on you, and you don't notice it until you are suddenly realise you are chilled right through. Or do those concrete walls have a foam insulation center in them?

I'd also suggest you drywall the ceiling with a double layer of 5/8" drywall with a coat of Green Glue in between, and give some serious consideration to sound transmission, both into, and out of the home theater.

That space looks to be an excellent space for a home theater. No windows, and the ductwork is not a problem. A drawing of the basement layout would be even more helpful.

 

[hgerman]

I agree with TeddyM and the others. You mentioned wainscoting before, and if your going to be doing that in a basement, make sure you use MDF, and not wood, if your basement is very humid. Softer woods tend to warp and you don't want to have your wainscot curl up on you. I've seen it and it ain't pretty. Here's a good wainscoting site to check out. Good luck with your project.

 

[Kevin Stewart]

Ummm, he might be done by now.