I know I have seen someones theater construction pictures that showed how they built a room within a room. The walls and ceiling of the theater did not touch the surrounding walls or floor joists above. There were some steel brackets that the person used to strengthen the connection between the walls and ceiling joists for the theater. Can anyone remeber the link to these pictures.
I'm not sure which photos you are referring to, but Here is one of my HT ceiling that is constructed the way you describe.
I don't know if this is the one you are thinking of, but Ron-P built a room within his garage that sounds like what you are describing. Here is a link to his site. MikeP
Here's another: http://www.tedwhite.homestead.com/Whitepapers.html -Gerry EDIT: Meant to link to the gallery for the pictures! Check there.
I'm in the planning stages of a home theater, and up to this point, I had a room within a room in mind. However, I have some questions that I plan to pose with the local building and codes inspector. One reference I've started looking at is from the Black and decker DIY series, "Codes for Homeowners". The section on wall and stud specifications raised some questions in my mind about the resulting space that occurs between walls. While it makes sense for sound isolation, the space also provides ventillation and a draft space for fires. Without something to obstruct the space as a fire block (my terminolgy may not be quite right here), I'm wondering if the room within a room construction will pass local building codes. Maybe I'm over thinking things. I'm planning on completing the space in the house I'm having built myself. I'm pretty sure that the amount I'm planning on doing will require a building permit, and I intend to ask before I submit plans. I'd be interested in anyones experience or information about this.
You are correct in thinking that you will need to fireblock the space that is created as a result of doing a room within a room. A lot of people use roxul insulation which is fire resistant up to 2150 degrees F (info found on their website).
