My basement home theater - COMPLETE!!! (lots o' pictures)
01-02-08, 01:12 PM
#1
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My basement home theater - COMPLETE!!! (lots o' pictures)
We moved into our house August 15th, 2005. The next day, I started framing out what would end up as the laundry room in our unfinished basement.
Last night, I glued down the last board.
The plan has changed a dozen times. An egress window was added. I redid the electrical 3 times to satisfy the inspector, turning 2 outlets into 14 and 4 lights to 10 in the process. It's been a long, painful process but a great learning experience and I'm thrilled with the outcome. And I'm never doing it again.
Anyway, I thought I'd share the process. I must say I didn't do this alone. My parents were instrumental, as my father did about half the work and my mother and wife were big helps during the drywall portion. I did do all of the electrical myself, but everything else was a true team effort.
This is the view from the top of the stairs before we moved in (not our stuff).
Here's the stud walls and door of the laundry room. This was a few days after we moved in.
More studwalls going up a few months later. You can see my arcade machine here, which I posted a thread about a while back, but it had to be dismantled because it didn't fit into the final plan. I'll need to make a smaller version, but I am done with projects for a while.
Jumping ahead a few more months, here's the first test of my homemade projection screen. It's a wooden frame behind a 4x8 sheet of Polywall I got from Home Depot for about $30 bucks. And I must say, it works great. The small window you see above the screen eventually becomes the egress window, and the screen is easily removable but currently blocks that window.
That's my ScreenPlay 4805. I got it as a refurb unit, but it also works great.
Jumping ahead to about 8 months ago, the drywall is up on the ceiling and the can lights are functioning.
Here's the egress window going in. This is the only thing I hired out, as I didn't feel comfortable cutting into my own foundation. That's not the kind of thing I wanted to fuck up.
Yay! An egress window.
I don't have good pictures of the painting and carpeting, so now we jump to last week. One of the biggest problems was "what do we do with these shitty stairs?" We thought about carpeting them, but I had used carpet tiles on the floor and didn't feel like piecing that together on the steps. We talked about refinishing them, but they were in such bad shape that we said "screw it" and built new ones.
And here's the result - very proud of these.
The final room! This is the main theater room, with a play area off to the right and my toy collection in the back. My computer desk will also eventually go in the back corner.
Here are the rooms we made (behind me from the previous shot.) The door on the right is the laundry room and the one on the left is storage. They still need some help but I can close the doors and forget about those
This is the kids' play area. We haven't brought all the toys downstairs yet, but my parents made these wooden kitchen pieces for their big Christmas present this year. Everything is handmade by my father and decorated by my mother.
Here's my custom AV cabinet (apparently I didn't upload a photo with the doors closed). It's very cluttered now, but I've got my Xbox 360, Wii and HD DVD player in there. A Media Center PC is going in up above, and the rest is filled with Rock Band and Guitar Hero stuff, along with my PS2 and three guitars for the PS2 versions of the game
Here's my custom DVD case, on the side of the AV cabinet. I always wanted a "secret" compartment in my house...
...so I made one. This allows me easy access to the back of my AV stuff, and is probably the best idea I had in this whole process. The wooden door above leads into a storage space in the backside of the cabinet.
So there you have it! I also forgot to upload pictures of the toy collection, which I'll add later. But anyway, I'd do about a dozen things differently if I had to do it again, and I could tell you horror stories about running new electrical lines from the garage, or solving a terrible HVAC design decision made by the original builders, but the fact is - I'm done. And when my wife and I settled in last night for a movie on the big screen and followed it up by continuing our Rock Band tour, it made it all worth it.
Enjoy!
Last night, I glued down the last board.
The plan has changed a dozen times. An egress window was added. I redid the electrical 3 times to satisfy the inspector, turning 2 outlets into 14 and 4 lights to 10 in the process. It's been a long, painful process but a great learning experience and I'm thrilled with the outcome. And I'm never doing it again.
Anyway, I thought I'd share the process. I must say I didn't do this alone. My parents were instrumental, as my father did about half the work and my mother and wife were big helps during the drywall portion. I did do all of the electrical myself, but everything else was a true team effort.
This is the view from the top of the stairs before we moved in (not our stuff).
Here's the stud walls and door of the laundry room. This was a few days after we moved in.
More studwalls going up a few months later. You can see my arcade machine here, which I posted a thread about a while back, but it had to be dismantled because it didn't fit into the final plan. I'll need to make a smaller version, but I am done with projects for a while.
Jumping ahead a few more months, here's the first test of my homemade projection screen. It's a wooden frame behind a 4x8 sheet of Polywall I got from Home Depot for about $30 bucks. And I must say, it works great. The small window you see above the screen eventually becomes the egress window, and the screen is easily removable but currently blocks that window.
That's my ScreenPlay 4805. I got it as a refurb unit, but it also works great.
Jumping ahead to about 8 months ago, the drywall is up on the ceiling and the can lights are functioning.
Here's the egress window going in. This is the only thing I hired out, as I didn't feel comfortable cutting into my own foundation. That's not the kind of thing I wanted to fuck up.
Yay! An egress window.
I don't have good pictures of the painting and carpeting, so now we jump to last week. One of the biggest problems was "what do we do with these shitty stairs?" We thought about carpeting them, but I had used carpet tiles on the floor and didn't feel like piecing that together on the steps. We talked about refinishing them, but they were in such bad shape that we said "screw it" and built new ones.
And here's the result - very proud of these.
The final room! This is the main theater room, with a play area off to the right and my toy collection in the back. My computer desk will also eventually go in the back corner.
Here are the rooms we made (behind me from the previous shot.) The door on the right is the laundry room and the one on the left is storage. They still need some help but I can close the doors and forget about those
This is the kids' play area. We haven't brought all the toys downstairs yet, but my parents made these wooden kitchen pieces for their big Christmas present this year. Everything is handmade by my father and decorated by my mother.
Here's my custom AV cabinet (apparently I didn't upload a photo with the doors closed). It's very cluttered now, but I've got my Xbox 360, Wii and HD DVD player in there. A Media Center PC is going in up above, and the rest is filled with Rock Band and Guitar Hero stuff, along with my PS2 and three guitars for the PS2 versions of the game
Here's my custom DVD case, on the side of the AV cabinet. I always wanted a "secret" compartment in my house...
...so I made one. This allows me easy access to the back of my AV stuff, and is probably the best idea I had in this whole process. The wooden door above leads into a storage space in the backside of the cabinet.
So there you have it! I also forgot to upload pictures of the toy collection, which I'll add later. But anyway, I'd do about a dozen things differently if I had to do it again, and I could tell you horror stories about running new electrical lines from the garage, or solving a terrible HVAC design decision made by the original builders, but the fact is - I'm done. And when my wife and I settled in last night for a movie on the big screen and followed it up by continuing our Rock Band tour, it made it all worth it.
Enjoy!
01-02-08, 01:34 PM
#3
DVD Talk Special Edition
I like your egress window. I have one also. Did you put it in yourself or did hire someone? I like the metal framing, The company that did mine used wood. Where did you get that metal framing?
01-02-08, 01:39 PM
#5
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Originally Posted by TylerDurden_73
I like your egress window. I have one also. Did you put it in yourself or did hire someone? I like the metal framing, The company that did mine used wood. Where did you get that metal framing?
The people I hired provided everything. It's pretty much the "plainest" thing on their menu. I ended up paying about $2500 when all was said and done, and it was well worth it. The ground was still cold but they came down and knocked it out in two days. Very happy with it.
Thanks for all the compliments everyone!
01-02-08, 02:22 PM
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Holy crap my friend, that is awesome. I love the before and after, that was a hell of a lot of work you guys put into that. Someday I'll have my own dedicated room (probably the next house in a year or two), but for now I make due with my living room.
Awesome work, very jealous of you.
Awesome work, very jealous of you.
01-02-08, 02:50 PM
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Thanks all.
I forgot to mention we hit a financial snag toward the end and didn't end up getting the furniture we wanted, so we had to make do with our loveseat from the living room for now. I'll be getting that resolved in the next few months.
I forgot to mention we hit a financial snag toward the end and didn't end up getting the furniture we wanted, so we had to make do with our loveseat from the living room for now. I'll be getting that resolved in the next few months.
01-02-08, 04:03 PM
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Originally Posted by parrotheads4
Really nice. You should be very proud of yourself. Having done mine myself I can appreciate how much work you did. I am very jealous of your egress window.
01-02-08, 04:10 PM
#11
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Originally Posted by BravesMG
I can't say I'm familiar with egress windows. Are they purely an aesthetic thing or do they serve a purpose?
Originally, I wasn't going to do one. I thought you only needed it for a basement bedroom. But I soon found out that the code classifies my room as "livable space", so I had to have the window. That had been updated recently (they had to go back and check to see if I was grandfathered in).
In hindsight, it's a good thing. If there is a fire and we can't get up the stairs and out the door, we can go through the window instead. Couldn't have done that before.
01-02-08, 04:31 PM
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Originally Posted by Draven
In my state, they are required by code.
Originally, I wasn't going to do one. I thought you only needed it for a basement bedroom. But I soon found out that the code classifies my room as "livable space", so I had to have the window. That had been updated recently (they had to go back and check to see if I was grandfathered in).
In hindsight, it's a good thing. If there is a fire and we can't get up the stairs and out the door, we can go through the window instead. Couldn't have done that before.
Originally, I wasn't going to do one. I thought you only needed it for a basement bedroom. But I soon found out that the code classifies my room as "livable space", so I had to have the window. That had been updated recently (they had to go back and check to see if I was grandfathered in).
In hindsight, it's a good thing. If there is a fire and we can't get up the stairs and out the door, we can go through the window instead. Couldn't have done that before.
Please update the thread when you get your new furniture, I always end up getting good ideas from these threads and your set up looks sweet.
01-02-08, 04:50 PM
#14
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Originally Posted by Sdallnct
Nice job. Very Nice
But don't think that just because you "glued that last board" means you are finished. It is a never ending (but fun) project.
But don't think that just because you "glued that last board" means you are finished. It is a never ending (but fun) project.
Originally Posted by BravesMG
That makes sense, especially regarding the livable space issue, I'd never seen one before.
Please update the thread when you get your new furniture, I always end up getting good ideas from these threads and your set up looks sweet.
Please update the thread when you get your new furniture, I always end up getting good ideas from these threads and your set up looks sweet.
01-02-08, 05:31 PM
#15
DVD Talk Limited Edition
For a minute I thought that first picture was the end results.
Nice comeback.
Nice comeback.
01-02-08, 06:56 PM
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That's ok, Mordred. Basements tend to be more common in the north, but so is the cold. My thermometer currently says 60F in a heated basement, 6F outside. I keep piles of blankets for watching movies, even in the summer!
Draven,
Nice montage and setup. I really need to do an equipment closet. But....if it was a great learning process, why will you Never Do It Again?!
Draven,
Nice montage and setup. I really need to do an equipment closet. But....if it was a great learning process, why will you Never Do It Again?!
01-02-08, 07:14 PM
#19
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Originally Posted by Spiky
That's ok, Mordred. Basements tend to be more common in the north, but so is the cold. My thermometer currently says 60F in a heated basement, 6F outside. I keep piles of blankets for watching movies, even in the summer!
Draven,
Nice montage and setup. I really need to do an equipment closet. But....if it was a great learning process, why will you Never Do It Again?!
Draven,
Nice montage and setup. I really need to do an equipment closet. But....if it was a great learning process, why will you Never Do It Again?!
Mostly because it was just such a big project, and I just wanted to have it right away.
The main problem was that I never really had enough money or time to do it all at once. So everything went in spurts, with long breaks in between. I wanted it to be done so we could enjoy it, so I'm never going to move anywhere else and do it again.
01-03-08, 01:31 PM
#23
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I like those inserts! Too bad I'm covering my big window
Here are some pictures of the "toy corner" and another shot of the main room with the lights on. The Star Wars toys on the table are going on eBay - cannot believe I had that much stuff in storage.
Here are some pictures of the "toy corner" and another shot of the main room with the lights on. The Star Wars toys on the table are going on eBay - cannot believe I had that much stuff in storage.
good work!
01-04-08, 07:29 PM
#25
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Thanks - watching Ratatouille down there right now
