Buying a new home: Home Theater & a full finished basement? (1 Viewer)

[mylan]

My builder did all of that, at the base of the foundation is a french drain system with black corrugated pipe that channels any water away and all downspouts are fitted with the same pipe that is buried and terminates into the woods probably 50 ft. away from the house, i've never had any problems and still stand by my recommendations concerning locating a HT in the basement.

 

[Steve...O]

The water in the basement issue really is a case by case situation. My current house is near the bottom of the hill but I've never had any issues due to good construction, adequate landscaping around the house, and a sump pump that runs when heavy rains come. It's fully finished and I have no qualms about putting TVs, etc. down there. My prior house was much older and, despite being on level ground, had water issues.

You really need to visit with the current homeowner/realtor to see what the water history of the house you're looking at.

In my opinion, the flooding issue is much greater from rain or a sewer back-up than a water heater. Unless the current water heater is ancient you really shouldn't have any problem. Many localities now require a "drain pipe" to be installed on the heater that mitigates much of the risk. I agree that a water heater should be replaced every 8 to 10 years or so. If you're buying a house with an old one, the energy improvement you will get will help pay for a large cost of the heater.

Sewer back-ups can occur if there are large trees between the house and the street (where the sewer will empty out). The tree roots can get tangled in the sewer lines and cause blockage.

 

[drobbins]

Check out what a busted under the sink water filter did to my 3 month old theater:

http://www.hometheaterforum.com/gallery1/main.php?g2_itemId=3411

I did get to build a better one though.

Dave

 

[Andrew Pratt]

My preference would be to find an unfinished basement for a number of reasons...for one you get to see the exterior walls. This will show you the cracks or signs of water damage etc. and secondly almost all the finished basements I've been in are ok but not ideal for Home Theaters so you'll want to renovate anyway and its much easier to do so from scratch.

My HT's in the basement and I wouldn't want it any other way. Its dark, cool and doesn't bother anyone at night when I'm watching TV/Movies or listening to music etc.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

Hey, Ron, what'd you end up deciding upon?

 

[Grant B]

Ron
Best of luck in your new home!
A buddy of mine bought a HT built into his new home and I was at his 1st party in it.
He pointed the remote and hit play and nothing happened.
After awhile he put down the remote and said he needed the tech to come out.
I sniffed around and found a IR flasher fell off on a unit which I put back and everything was hunky dory!
Make sure you get the installers to explain in detail what's going on or else you will be at their mercy (as the clock ticks) until you sell which is what he did.
All the best
Grant

 

[Philip Hamm]

Yup. They are.

I got the builder's basement in my house, and with a little tweaking it has much more of a custom look and feel than some friends' basement theaters which were completely custom!

Make sure you get good water handling. Flooding would be Real Bad™. This means if there's a sump pump make sure you have a 12V battery backup or other powered sump pump installed also. Be advised that in the most extreme flooding situations with power outage like a couple years ago when hurricane remnants came through here in NoVA, city water pressure can be lost. We had areas with no electricity or running water for days, in the midst of heavy heavy rain. In such an extreme situation, a battery backup pump would work and a water powered one would mean a flooded basement.

I didn't want a "dedicated room" I wanted the movie room to be open to the rest of the basement, so using the builder's design worked perfect for me.

If you're buying brand new, there may be some kind of "structured wiring" option. You can do like I did and get things like wall sconce locations for lighting, in-wall middle-atlantic racks, in-ceiling power on a dedicated line, in-ceiling and in-wall speaker wire installation, conduit for cables, extra lines to the attic for HDTV antennas, etc. etc.. Contact local HTF buddies for specific advice. RAF lives nearby, doesn't he?

Nice thing about a basement is that you can control light with some opaque curtains for a front projector or best performance from a rear projector.

 

[todd s]

Ron, My ht is in my basement. It was finished and the house is 30yrs old. The biggest concern I have is just making sure I keep the dehumidifiers on. If I do that I have no problems. But, each basement is different. If you have a good home inspector. He should be able to determine if the basement has flooded before or if it might.

I live near you in Ocean twp. If you want to come by and see how my basement is set up. You are more than welcome. Just let me know...


Link to my home theater pics...(all of the pics are from my basement)
http://www.hometheaterforum.com/gall...g2_itemId=1873

 

[Joe Szott]

Our HT is in our basement. It is perfect, I will never have it anywhere else if I have a choice. I can crank our SVS way up and shake the foundations and the neighbors rarely hear a thing.

The only thing about basements is be sure to use about 50% more lights than you would need in any other room. Darkened is great for HT, but if you want to read a magazine or something else while watching TV, you'll want that extra light. Dimmers are a real god option, that's what we do now.

Go for it, it's awesome.

 

[judithva]

Hope you don't mind a gal replying to your query.
I love, love, love, home theater (did I say I love home theater?) That said, I would love to have a basement home theater. I like the idea that it is away from the main floor of the house, for privacy, noise control, and me being able to decorate it "over the top" for home theater. When I lived in New York I had a basement, and like the others have said definately get a good sump pump and a dehumidifier. During the time I was there (military housing) the military contracted to have someone come in and retrench around all the home redoing the waterproofing around the house (although I had never experienced a leak/flood of water. I don't have a basement now, and I greatly miss it.
So go for it if you can.