# New garage to HT build, comments welcome



## mrloofer (Mar 27, 2010)

Hi all -

So my dream HT is finally in the making. My build will be similar to Sonnie's Cedar Creek HT (ver 1.0) which has given me great inspiration to do this. 

The plan is to create a new room within a room in my two door garage. The garage door will be derailed and completely sealed. The only stipulation from the wife is that I make it part HT, part office. So I have dedicated the back area/row for a small desk for my 27" iMac. I do a lot of photography so I am looking forward to utilizing the room's acoustics for ambient music and nice lighting for a great work environment while editing images.

Sizes are as follows:

Pre build dimensions: 18' 6" x 12' 8" x 8' 6"
Room size: 17' 6" x 11' 8" x 8'
Screen size: 110" - 120" diag. 16:9 fixed.

Attached is my initial design.

I plan on building a small entrance way in order to avoid having to walk through the garage to get to the HT and this means putting the HT entrance right at the front, but I would also like to frame my speakers into columns either side of the screen (screen will be mounted flush with back wall). Right now I've only accounted for 16" of depth for the speakers (they are only 13" deep) which is pushing the columns right up to the door way. Will this be a problem? The center speaker will be below the screen. My choice in speaker upgrades in the future may be limited!

For seating I am planning a front row of 4 theater style seats or recliners and the 2nd row will be on a riser, currently 5' wide which will house my small desk and *maybe* two additional recliners or theater style seats if room permits.

I am planning on putting all equipment in a recessed DIY rack the back of which accessible in the other side of the garage.

I am planning on fitting an A/C mini split system rather than take a feed from a line in the adjoining room. My neighbor (same house design) converted their garage into a playroom and they told me they had an issue with the A/C not being powerful enough and had to upgrade their A/C unit. Luckily my neighbor is an AC guy and has offered to install for free providing he's invited to watch this season's football from the room!

For lighting I'm planning on using the Smart Home Insteon range. That will be up to 8 zones using their dimmer modules and keypad for scenes and their IR linc system. I am not quite sure where this should go though, is it better inside the HT or outside the door in the walk way area? Using the IR system it can be controlled from either position. Also what is the best ceiling lighting to use for a room-in-a-room design? 6" cans will be too deep to install. What are the alternatives and can someone point me to some additional discussion threads and/or links to online retailers?

I've re-arranged the room a boat-load of times but this seems to be the most optimal layout. Any comments or suggestions most welcome. This weekend I am doing clean up and installing additional storage areas in the garage for my lawn equipment etc. then framing will start next week.

Cheers.


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## bpape (Sep 14, 2006)

A couple of thoughts.

If the speakers are not designed to be in-walls, I would suggest that you keep those columns as open as possible or skip them all together up front. They're already very very close to the side walls and you'll need to address that with treatment.

If it were me, I'd flip the room 180 degrees so the entrance is more toward the rear.

Bryan


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## tonyvdb (Sep 5, 2007)

Looks like a great design:T
Here are some suggestions for you, Your screen will be a bit large if your planning on placing your speakers beside as that pushes them to far into the corners. This causes problems with first reflections off the side walls.


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## mrloofer (Mar 27, 2010)

bpape said:


> A couple of thoughts.
> 
> If the speakers are not designed to be in-walls, I would suggest that you keep those columns as open as possible or skip them all together up front. They're already very very close to the side walls and you'll need to address that with treatment.
> 
> ...


Hey Bryan- thanks for the comments. What's your rational behind flipping the room? My previous design had the room flipped but then I lose a bunch of space due to the walk way.



tonyvdb said:


> Looks like a great design:T
> Here are some suggestions for you, Your screen will be a bit large if your planning on placing your speakers beside as that pushes them to far into the corners. This causes problems with first reflections off the side walls.


Thanks - I may have to bring the size down to 106" (which is my current screen size). I have both the 106" (retractable) and 120" fixed in my home already so I may have to go with the smaller and cut the fabric from the retractable in DIY a frame.

What is the actual recommended dimensions for speaker layout at the front of the theater?
Cheers.


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## tonyvdb (Sep 5, 2007)

Ideally you should keep the speakers at least 2' in from the side walls.
The reflective properties of the door will be quite different than the opposite wall meaning that your sound on the left will be different than on the right due to the door. Flipping the room will help with that.


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## bpape (Sep 14, 2006)

I was just thinking more about usability, distractions, and treating the space. With the entrance more in the rear, it doesn't have much light or visibility impact on the screen if somebody leaves and it stays out of the way of the reflection zone.

Not sure how much space you'd actually lose compared to what you have now. 2' walkway should be OK and the rear row could move over a bit toward the desk area.

Bryan


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## mrloofer (Mar 27, 2010)

bpape said:


> I was just thinking more about usability, distractions, and treating the space. With the entrance more in the rear, it doesn't have much light or visibility impact on the screen if somebody leaves and it stays out of the way of the reflection zone.
> 
> Not sure how much space you'd actually lose compared to what you have now. 2' walkway should be OK and the rear row could move over a bit toward the desk area.
> 
> Bryan


If 2' walkway is enough then that could work. I think I stayed away from that design because I would have to put a riser in the entrance way too (you have to step down 4" when entering the garage). But I like the idea of stepping up into the theater and stepping down towards the screen, which is more theater-like IMO.


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## bpape (Sep 14, 2006)

Either will work. It was just a thought. I'm more concerned about speaker performance in columns and closeness to the side walls.

Bryan


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## corock (Sep 7, 2009)

If you didn't want the riser into the garage, you could always leave that 2' at floor level and have the step up in front of the rear seats. Assuming you have the room without impeding on the leg room of the rear seats.


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## mrloofer (Mar 27, 2010)

Actually I quite like it now


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## mrloofer (Mar 27, 2010)

Just going over lighting as I need to start ordering parts soon. Here's what I'm thinking I'll need for my room, taking into consideration I'll need some additional zones for my work area. Note these will be fed through a bank of Insteon dimmers (one for each zone) and the keypad scene control:

Zone 1: 3 Low voltage pucks above screen
Zone 2: 4 wall sconces
Zone 3: Riser/Walkway lights
Zone 4: Rope light in crown molding
Zone 5: Two 4" recessed IC rated cans (front)
Zone 6: 4 4" recessed IC rated cans (rear)

I'm going back and forth and wondering if the cans are really necessary since I have the 4 sconces. I'll be needing some nice soft light above my desk in the rear as well as above the entire rear (for seated guests/reading etc.), so I could even put the rear 2 scones on a separate zone. Also will small low voltage puck lights be an alternative (granted they won't be as bright but then again I don't like working in bright right, I prefer nice soft light)?

Edit: After further late night research it looks like I'll have a bit of a problem with recessed ceiling lights in a room within a room build. There is no way I'll be able to fit an IC rated recessed light with backing box into the ceiling so looks like that's out of the question. Interested to hear what others have done in this regard..

Cheers.


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