Ceiling Dilemma (1 Viewer)

[ScottH]

I posted this at the other forum and thought I'd get some other opinions here as well...

I'm getting ready to frame out my ceiling bulkheads, and I'm torn about the "theater" area of my club room. Basically, the situation is this...on one side of the room where the RPTV will be (probably front projector in the future), there will have to be a 4 foot wide bulk head due to duct work and and and i-beam. My thinking is to make things symetrical, I will make the same bulkhead on the other side. The bulkhead(s) will come down 12". The center, "higher" area would then be just over 4 feet wide (about 4' 3"). My concern is how this will look. The "high" area won't go all the way to the back of the room, I'll actually be bringing it down to the height of the bulkhead about 13 feet from the front wall (where the TV will be). So basically, there will be a 4'3" wide by 13' "tray" 12" deep into the ceiling. Any opinions on if that will look okay? Are there acoustical implications as well? Height is not an issue as it is just under 8' from floor to just under the duct work (about 7'10"). The "high" area will be 9' high.

I know this is kind of hard to describe, so I've attached picture (view from front & view from back).

Another option I've thought about is instead of having the "tray" area go straight up, have it go up at a 45 degree angle instead.

Let me know what you think.

 

[Legairre]

Damn Scott your really bringing back some memories. last year I was completing my basement HT and I had the exact same problem as you. That damn trunk and return for the heating and AC. When I finished my basement I made three rooms(family, office and HT). I decided that I would have to make my HT with a main beam, trunk and return in the same room. The HT ended up being 13x24x7'3" while the family room was 13x11x7'3" and office would be 10x11x7'3". In the end I ended up boxing in the trunk and retun with a drop ceiling.

I Also made a trade with the wife. I got to paint the theater any color I wanted and even have a black ceiling if I had the main beam, trunk, and retun in the HT and not the family room and office(she also wanted the family room and office painted toupe with a white drop ceiling and bifold french doors to seperate the theater from the family room). All in all it was a good trade(like I had a choice:b). It was a trade off but it turned out pretty good. The boxed in part is 6'8" with capeting and ceiling. It also sounds great even with the one side lower than the other.

Take a look on my site and you'll see how the HT turned out with things boxed in.

 

[Gary Thomas]

There is some duct work at the front of my room, but the drywall was installed at an angle, rather than squared off. (does that make sense?)

I'm really happy with the tray in the ceiling of my theater room...especially the recessed rope lighting. It is remote controlled, along with the track lighting.

You can see it on the pictures on my link.

 

[Adam Gregorich]

I think it would look funny to do it the way you are describing. If I understand correctly, you would have 2/3 of the ceiling soffited (4ft soffit, 4ft raised, 4 ft soffit). It is going to be an asthetic compromise no matter what you do. Are you planning on having a raised floor in the back? That could cause height problems. Another option is to cover the ducting and put a smaller soffit (18-24 inches around the other side and back. Your soffits won't be even, but you will have a bigger center section. You could also lower the entire ceiling, but that may make the room seem more cramped.

 

[JamesG]

I can't tell exactly what's going on in that picture, but it looks like you could separate the two HVAC lines and run one around the left hand-side of the room. It would run all the way around the left-hand perimeter, then across the front of the room to meet up with the existing outlet point. That way you'd have a two-foot soffit all the way around the room (perhaps wider at the back?), which would probably look at lot better. I'm not an HVAC expert, but if this is doable, I would guess it wouldn't cost much.

James

 

[ScottH]

Thanks for all the input guys. I think I'm leaning toward just doing the two "wide" soffits with the 4 foot wide raised area in the middle. Call me anal, but I like things symmetrical. Perhaps if I put some crown molding up in the raised area it will look a lot better? The other advantage to this way is that in the future I will be able to put a projector "in" the ceiling and have it pointing out through the back of the raised area.

Are there any acoustical implications I should be concerned about?

 

[Roy Brooks]

Scott:
Your set-up is exactly the same as mine. I'm basically at the same stage trying to decide how to frame the soffits. I'm thinking of going the same way, 4' wide on both sides and adding 2' sections across the front and rear of the room. The only other option I have is to move 2 runs of the ductwork off the main truck and move them further down. This would allow me to remove about 8' off the screen end of the main trunk ( shorten it ) and then I could angle the soffit down to 2' wide at the screen end of the room. This sould give a similar effect to " Pinebrook Cinema ". Would like to see pictures of your final decision.

 

[Tom Jr]

Here's my suggestion, for what it's worth:

You say you have ~8' under the soffit, and 9' under the high area. You could sacrafice a bit of height and make the high area 8'3" or 8'6". Then, build a 'second soffit' under the first, but only out 2'. Do this all the way around. This way, you have a more gradual, stepped appearance, instead of one large step. More of a tray ceiling.

Taking it a bit further, perhaps consider a ceiling sloping from the side walls to the ceiling. It would look like you had a vaulted ceiling in the basement.

I think I would do something along these lines if my soffits were that wide and I had the height to play with.

 

[Adam Gregorich]

Great idea Tom. I think that would be the best balance.

 

[ScottH]

Tom, good suggestions. I thought of doing something like your first idea, but have the raised area come inward at a 45 degree about halfway (6") up.

As for your second idea, I like it, but I think the height of the side walls would be too low.

 

[Roy Brooks]

Scott: I came up with another idea after looking at some other theaters. What about going with the 4' wide soffits down both sides of the room then breaking the center raised area into 2 sections by putting a 2' or 4' cross section in? This would give you 2 smaller rectagular raised areas, and would help reduce that long skinny look.