Pre-planning attic "bonus room" theater (1 Viewer)

[JoshGivens]

Another thing to consider. This room will stand alone in the attic. The only part of the room that will share a space with any other part of the house is the floor. So I guess I also need to consider what to do for floor treatment other than the standard carpet and insulation. The current ceiling/floor joists that will be under the room are 2 x 8 which isn't sufficient for a floor. We're doubling those up with 2 x 10's so that will hopefully help some of the sound transfer.

 

[JoshGivens]

Well, I got started on a web page to chart my progress. So far I've got some pictures of where the construction is going to be taking place and some information about the components I have currently. It's just in the beginning stages but go check it out.

http://joshs2000ss.home.insightbb.com

 

[Richard K.F.]

Hi Josh;
Is your Yamaha happy driving the 4 ohm speaker loads. I'm using an Onkyo SR 701 and have three LSi 9s in the front and three LSiFX in the back. I'm pretty happy with the sound and the Onkyo appears to have enough soup to drive them. I hav two Audio Source subwoofers (one 12" and one 15") they can shake a room pretty well. I'm not sure what other folks have been using on their walls, but I've had pretty good success with Homosote. I'll be covering it with felt using wall paper paste. It tones down the room and seems to have fairly good conductive noise performance. Ive never used it on a floor, but i would think it could be used ok under carpeting. i would think conducted noise to your downstairs will be tricky to deal with. Well, good luck with your project. I will watch your progress with interest

 

[todbnla]

Josh,
Best of luck on your room, there is noting like a dedicated theater! Mine is 20x20 and I only have 4 can lights on one remote controlled dimer (see the big thread about dimmers, I have the same one.) To be honest, we only use the can lights when coming in or exiting the room. When not watching a movie on our P/J we have some small room lamps for mood lighting so our cans see lil action, except of course, for the WOW factor when the movie starts!

As far as contractors and DIY, I offer this advice:
If you have the time and the skills, do as much as you can to save money. If not, hire it out. When we started our first theater, it started out as a planned 20 x 24 extra garage. Once the walls were framed the theater wheels went into motion and $30k later we were done. Keep in mind this was for excavation, fill, tree removal, concrete work, framing, wiring, sheetrock, insulation, paint/trim, hvac, carpet and landscaping. That is like $60+ per sq ft. Now after Katrina, contractors here are getting $120+ per sq ft for new holmes and be prepared to wait a few months before they can get to you!

I have a 2600 sq ft house we are redoing due to flood water and the sheet rock alone will be greater than $10k!

So, it all depends if you have the extra time to do this work, but it will be worth it, enjoy!

 

[JoshGivens]

Richard,

Yeah, I think the Yamaha handles the load pretty well. Sounds great to me anyway.

Todd,

I'm planning on doing some of the work but I've talked it over with the contractor I'm using (friend of a friend) and he said the difference between me doing the rock and him doing it would be negligible. I think I'm getting a great deal and it would take me at least a week longer or more do the sheetrocking and wouldn't look as good either I'm sure. I am doing all of the wiring, paint and trim work however.

 

[JoshGivens]

Well, I went shopping for some seating last night and I may have found my chairs, at least one row anyway.

http://www.havertys.com/web-catalog/.../HVT41056.JPEG

They had a good price going on it in the store so I'll probably end up with this as one row of seating in a tope color more than likely. I haven't decided on additional seating as of yet, maybe a couple of individual chairs but it's really up in the air right now.

 

[JoshGivens]

Contractor is coming by today for me to sign the contract.

Need help with some design ideas now. I've decided on a dark blue, I think it's called midnight blue, for the wall and ceiling colors, now I need to decide on trim and carpet colors. The seating that we're looking at for the room is a tope color. Slightly darker than the seating pictured in the link above. I'm open to suggestions about trim paint color as well as carpet styles/colors.

If anybody has pictures of a theater that is dark blue in color that I could get some ideas from, that would be great.

 

[Krishna]

Hi Josh,

I am in a remarkably similar position. We have a bonus room in the plan of our house. It's a bit different, since the attic space is part of our second floor and a door already exists. Similarly, I believe we'll be able to get a room nearly the same size (though with full height walls), and we'll also need access to remaining attic space for residual storage. I'm also planning front projection with a 110" screen height, with a door at the left back, so I read your post with a smile.

I'm very curious regarding your final estimate--you initially received a $21K estimate, and I'm curious about how low the final estimate was, if you're comfortable posting this information (either total, or in $ per sq ft). I'm starting to talk to people regarding bids--I'm hoping for a room construction cost of

 

[JoshGivens]

Let's just say, I'll be able to complete the project, ready to watch a movie, including the furniture and projector purchase for about the same price.

Went by a local furniture store yesterday and they had a big sale going on. Ended up going with a different set of seating than I thought before. It's made by Catnapper and it's the model shown in the picture



But the configuration is slightly different. Instead of the three seats its four, there's another one of the middle sections so the center is more like a love seat. They'll hold these until the construction is complete, which is great because I really wouldn't have any place to store them for the time being.

Also decided to not go with the blue. Read some posts where many didn't believe that to be a good theater room color. Now I'm deciding between a red and black combination or a very dark brown. Any pointers on where to look for theater style carpeting?

 

[David Noll]

Josh,

I purchased my "traditional" theater carpet at a local carpet installers retail store.

http://www.hometheaterforum.com/gall...g2_itemId=1107

I did have to shop around until I found what I wanted. There are 5 stores within a 30 mile radius from my house. Make sure you look at everything. Most stores have books with pictures or little samples besides the bigger samples. My carpet is made by Karastan. And, remember, the wall paint doesn't have to be boring:

http://www.hometheaterforum.com/gall...g2_itemId=1125

Good Luck,

David

 

[JoshGivens]

Looking at you're first link (that carpet is pretty much what I had in mind) I notice that you walk only down one side of your seating. I'm probably going to be in the same situation. Is your screen centered with your seating or is it slightly to the left and centered with the room? It appears that it's in the middle of the room but thought I'd ask to make sure.

 

[David Noll]

Screen is centered in the room. With the aisle fairly narrow, the seating isn't really off-center by much. Only the far right seats, up against wall, are not the greatest sound wise. With a screen that big, visuals are excellent no matter where you sit, even at the bar way in the back. (There is a little too much rear surround back at the bar though.)

David

 

[Scott*B]

Hey, are you the Josh Givens from Bowling Green? If so I know a guy with a decent HT you should check out. PM me.

 

[JoshGivens]

LOL, thanks Scott. I've seen a home setup in Bowling Green but it wasn't all that.

 

[JoshGivens]

Contractor called. They are starting on the staircase up to the room in the morning.

I need to get a run down and final listing of all of the wires I need to get from my component closet to the projector and to the rest of the room.

Audio:

Wired for 7.1
Run for Sub (Should I use coax with RCA ends?)
In floor run to front of seating area for component box (hooking up vid camera or something)

Projector:

Component
DVI
HDMI

Power:

Dedicated circuit to the component closet, projector and plugs for possible sub location
Another circuit for lighting and remaining outlets.


Am I leaving anything out? Just trying to get this down before I have to get started on the wiring in a couple weeks. Need to purchase everything and make sure that I've got all that I'll need.

 

[JoshGivens]

Updated with some construction pics of halfway through day one. I'll add some more tonight when the workday is done.

 

[Richard K.F.]

hi Josh;
cant post a URL here but if you go to the homasote,com! website there's some valuable acoustics info

 

[JoshGivens]

More pics up from day 2, I'll post day 3 and 4 soon.

 

[JoshGivens]

Wiring for audio and electical done. Wired my lights for front track, front 2 cans and rear 4 cans to be on seperate switches.

Insulation is going in tomorrow. Pics on my site are up to date.

 

[JoshGivens]

Insulation is up (pics on site updated). Sheetrock is being delivered in the morning. Also got all of my cables prior to sheetrock and got them installed.

I ran a Stereo A/V wall plate to just in front of the seating area and also a component/fiberoptic wall plate for hooking up gaming systems.