# Steve's basement/theater construction



## ScruffyHT (Sep 23, 2008)

Moved into the new house in October 2004

Started to plan basement development in spring of 2006 ... we have about 1100 sq ft ( not including stairwell and furnace room ) ... The plan was to develop a theater, games room, gym, bathroom and hallway


Theater is 23'2" X 14'3"

Games Room 22'2" X 10'7"

Gym 13' X 10'

Bathroom 8' X 9'

Basement layout


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## bpape (Sep 14, 2006)

Looks like a nice plan. Just a couple of things.

The screen is very big for a room that size. IMO, the only way that will work is if you go with an AT screen. As it sits now, the speakers are way too close to the side walls and you'll have issues. It also minimizes the ability to use broadband bass control in those 2 corners. Your rear corners aren't an option given the door location so the front two are kind of important.

Bryan


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## ScruffyHT (Sep 23, 2008)

We initially bought a 110" diagonal RichVision retractable screen on ebay with a HD70 projector and planned to put a plasma behind it for everyday watching in the theater

I started to research dedicated home theaters ... the HD70 and the retractable screen that I had bought for the home theater I decided to move into the games room

So I bought a HD80, CAVX anamorphic lens and a 136" diagonal 2.37:1 Carada screen in the summer of 2007 ( biz was very good at the time and I was ambitious as to when I could complete the build -  )

The room had a few challenges like waterlines in the way, gas lines, rerouting HVAC main lines, beams etc

In the end I moved everything myself and created a 2'W X 14"H soffit around the perimeter of the theater

For soundproofing ... games room will have whisper clips and hat channel on ceiling, double 5/8 drywall on ceiling and all walls ... 8" duct muffler for air supply ( will take pictures and post later ) ... basically a 8" duct lined with Linacoustic insulation

Theater will have whisper clips and hat channel on ceiling/soffits, double 5/8 drywall on back, left, front and ceiling with green glue, right wall siding on stairwell will have staggered studs and 1 X 1/2 + 2 X 5/8 drywall and green glue along with a 9' long duct muffler

Solid core doors for all rooms in basement except the gym

Theater pics


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## ScruffyHT (Sep 23, 2008)

Hey Bryan ... I bought the screen already so I have to figure a way around that ... I already got some OC703 for the front corners to do a superchunk style corner bass trap ( I have 18" in the corners for bass traps ) and I have Linacoustic for the screen wall and the first reflection points ... hope it works


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## ScruffyHT (Sep 23, 2008)

The door to the bathroom and resulting hallway for access is a limiting factor in how far back I can put the seats so that was my thinking in not getting a AT screen in the first place

How much trouble will I run into by having only 18" on either side of the screen for the main speakers ?


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## ScruffyHT (Sep 23, 2008)

Games room progression

whisper clips/hat channel up



















Backer box to go over can lights


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## ScruffyHT (Sep 23, 2008)

Some updated pics

Top of stairwell 










Hallway looking towards Gym straight ahead and doorway to theater to the right










looking inside the Gym


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## ScruffyHT (Sep 23, 2008)

Left wall in Games Room










screen wall in games room










Right wall in games room










Recessed area above screen wall in games room which will hide the mechanism for the retractable screen ( before I finished drywalling it - will take a updated pic after I finish taping it ) ... there is a switched plug on the face of it on the left for possible rope lighting around the perimeter of the room and a fixed plug on the right for power for the retractable screen


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## ScruffyHT (Sep 23, 2008)

Games room taping has started

left wall - first doorway is the area under the stairs that I will use for a equiptment room ... wired for 2 X 20amp and 1 X 15 amp plugs ... farthest doorway is to a future marine fishtank room










back left corner










Screen wall










right wall


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## ScruffyHT (Sep 23, 2008)

Here is a rough sketchup of what the theater will look like with a quad Shiva 28 cu ft sub built into the base of the riser ( thanks Mike P ) ... total size of riser is 81 cu ft and plan to insulate the cavity around the subs










I want to build a coffered ceiling as well ... in between the squares I want to put OC703 for bass trapping and a LED puck light in the center ... here is a sketchup drawing of what I have in mind


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## bpape (Sep 14, 2006)

Plan on some 2" thick panels directly to the sides of the main speakers to minimize the impact of being so close to the side wall.

Bryan


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## ScruffyHT (Sep 23, 2008)

bpape said:


> Plan on some 2" thick panels directly to the sides of the main speakers to minimize the impact of being so close to the side wall.
> 
> Bryan



At the first reflection point or closer to the speaker itself ?

btw ... you a airplane movie fan too huh  ... one of the funniest movies ever


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## bpape (Sep 14, 2006)

Both actually. The one beside the speaker will help with the boundary interaction in the midbass through lower midrange. The others are for reflection control to the seating.

I love the coffered ceiling. It's a great way to break up a large flat surface while still looking classy. I wouldn't do 703 on all of it necessarily. It'll end up being too dead. You can use some at the reflection points and just hardboard in the others.

Airplane is one of my favorites, 'low humor' or not. 

Bryan


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## ScruffyHT (Sep 23, 2008)

hmm ... I only planned to use the 1" all along the outside walls as I have minimum space to the right of the riser to get to the front row ... if I have 2" up to the edge of the first reflections and then 1" to the back it may look funny right ?


This is my room from that proggy to determine first reflections ... so you suggest just the coloured areas in OC703 then or 2 layers of Linacoustic ?


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## bpape (Sep 14, 2006)

Side wall reflections can be 1". On the rear wall, you'll also want something thicker to assist with bass nulls off the rear wall.

Also, with the center channel above the screen, you'll have a boundary issue there also. I'd recommend 2" on those points.

Bryan


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## ScruffyHT (Sep 23, 2008)

I plan to have the center channel angled down to the listening area ... but building it into the soffit was my only option due to the sub(s) planned for the front ... how much of a problem will it be to have the center channel enclosed in inside a cavity and how will that affect the speakers performance ?

I thought of lining the cavity with insulation if that could help


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## ScruffyHT (Sep 23, 2008)

Bryan ... thanks for the help so far ... One other quick question while I have you online ... where I dont need Linacoustic or OC703 would you leave that empty and cover with GOM or I have heard some people use cotton or poly to fill it and even out the wall ?


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## bpape (Sep 14, 2006)

I personally don't like the fill behind the top parts. It is high frequency only absorbant and I find it makes the room too dead sounding. My personal preference is to go floor to about 5' high after the first 5' of the wall most of the time. If you want a little tweak, you can use a facing on the bottom couple feet to give a bit of extra lower mid control in an area where you're not having reflections and anything that does skip off it likely is going to the carpet anyway.

Bryan


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## Prof. (Oct 20, 2006)

If you're planning on using a CIH set up, and providing that you're not using tall floor-standers for the L&R speakers, you could put them under the screen, enabling you to move the speakers in from the corners and placing your full size bass traps in the front corners..


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## ScruffyHT (Sep 23, 2008)

I have Axiom M80 tower speakers for L& R so I am stuck with trying to make it work ... problem is that when I bought most of the equiptment I was still researching ... decide to go one way and then change directions but it becomes too late to change some stuff

example is the projector ... I got the Optoma HD80 but had I waited I would have got the RS20 

Did not really have a choice with a AT screen as I am at 10' to screen for the front row right now


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## bpape (Sep 14, 2006)

If the room is 23'3" long, you should be MUCH farther back than 10'. Should be closer to 14'. This is for better room acoustics.

Also, sitting 10' from a 136 wide screen is going to be awfully close. I'm afraid you're going to have a lot of SDE issues. Lastly, sitting that close is going to magnifiy the problems speakers being so far apart. 

Any chance you can move back a bit?


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## ScruffyHT (Sep 23, 2008)

If you look at the blueprint in the first post ... the bathroom is to the left so I have to leave a hallway at the back of the room for access. The back edge of the riser will be at the edge of the doorway to the bathroom. I know it is not ideal but it is what I have to work with. Might be closer to 12' eyes to screen

I think the 10' number came about when I was playing with the idea of adding a eating bar with stools behind the back row ... I decided against that in the end


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## bpape (Sep 14, 2006)

Understood. Even if you did say 14', that leaves you 6' for a 2nd row plus a 3' walkway behind. Am I missing something?

Bryan


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## ScruffyHT (Sep 23, 2008)

Hey Bryan ... the rough opening for the doorway is 34" and it is 15" away from the back wall ... allow for trim etc about 4'4" to the riser ... I plan on a 6'8" riser ... so 12'2" to the front row sounds about right


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## ScruffyHT (Sep 23, 2008)

Here is the WinISD model that Mike P did for me comparing the 4 X Shiva 12" drivers tuned to 17HZ in a 28 cu ft box built into the sub compared to a single Mal-X ... the idea of using part of the riser as a box for the sub was born by trying to use the space in the theater more efficiently ... even though the box for the Mal-X was only 17 cu ft it would have to be in the front of the room and would take up quite a bit of space










and here is the model for my SDX15 in a 13 cu ft box tuned to 15 HZ ... I already own a SDX15 driver and will build the box for it when I complete the theater


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## ScruffyHT (Sep 23, 2008)

ScruffyHT said:


> I plan to have the center channel angled down to the listening area ... but building it into the soffit was my only option due to the sub(s) planned for the front ... how much of a problem will it be to have the center channel enclosed in inside a cavity and how will that affect the speakers performance ?
> 
> I thought of lining the cavity with insulation if that could help


Hey Bryan ... any thoughts on the center channel speaker location ?


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## bpape (Sep 14, 2006)

Center up high is always an issue. If you can't do it low, definitely plan on some VERY close treatments on the ceiling to tame it.

Bryan


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## ScruffyHT (Sep 23, 2008)

bpape said:


> I personally don't like the fill behind the top parts. It is high frequency only absorbant and I find it makes the room too dead sounding. My personal preference is to go floor to about 5' high after the first 5' of the wall most of the time. If you want a little tweak, you can use a facing on the bottom couple feet to give a bit of extra lower mid control in an area where you're not having reflections and anything that does skip off it likely is going to the carpet anyway.
> 
> Bryan



So you recommend that the Linacoustic be 5' high X 5' wide for first reflection point and nothing behind the GOM after that ? 

what is a facing ?

Thanks


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## bpape (Sep 14, 2006)

5' high for the entire length of the wall on the side walls.

Bryan


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## ScruffyHT (Sep 23, 2008)

So do I leave the space above the Linacoustic empty or is there anything that I can use as fill so that the GOM looks the same ?

Thanks


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## bpape (Sep 14, 2006)

If you fir it out, it will look the same with nothing behind it.

Bryan


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## ScruffyHT (Sep 23, 2008)

So I had my shoulder surgery 10 days ago ... but prior to that I made it my goal to at least get the kids games room, gym and hallway complete ( or close to it )

here are some updates

hallway done except for baseboards and doors


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## ScruffyHT (Sep 23, 2008)

Gym is done as far as drywall, paint, stipple ... need to do final electrical, window box, door & baseboards


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## ScruffyHT (Sep 23, 2008)

Games Room is done as far as drywall, paint, stipple and final electrical ... window box, screen wall door & baseboards still to be done


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## bpape (Sep 14, 2006)

Looking good. 

Hope you have an easy and speedy recovery from that surgery.

Bryan


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## patchesj (Jun 17, 2009)

Looking very nice. Hopefully the shoulder injury was not from lifting all of that drywall!!


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## ScruffyHT (Sep 23, 2008)

Thanks ... the shoulder is healing quite well ... see the specialist on thursday for first post-op checkup and will see when I can start driving again

Alot of the stuff that was being stored in the theater has been moved into those 2 rooms so I can now actually finish the theater as the floor is relatively clean ... just as soon as the Doc says it is OK to start lifting again

PS ... injured it last christmas when I fell off a ladder onto my elbow ... drove that bone up into the rotator cuff and tore the tendons


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## bpape (Sep 14, 2006)

> drove that bone up into the rotator cuff and tore the tendons


:yikes:


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## ScruffyHT (Sep 23, 2008)

Yup ... my wife said my face looked just like that ^^ right after it happened :gulp:


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## ScruffyHT (Sep 23, 2008)

Hey Bryan ... I saw Ethans latest video ( http://www.realtraps.com/video_hearing.htm ) where he used bass trapping plus diffusors in that test room

would a diffusor be something you would recommend for the area above the linacoustic ? I could still cover in GOM so the wall looked the same

I had a link to a DIY diffusor but cant find it ... any suggestons ?


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## bpape (Sep 14, 2006)

You certainly could do that on the top portion of the side walls. Just understand that under the GOM, you're going to have only 1-2" so the effective range is going to be maybe 3kHz to 8kHz depending on the prime seed you select.

Bryan


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## MacBuster (Jul 26, 2009)

Something like this?

http://www.pmerecords.com/Diffusor.cfm


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## ScruffyHT (Sep 23, 2008)

MacBuster said:


> Something like this?
> 
> http://www.pmerecords.com/Diffusor.cfm


On a smaller scale ... yes


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## ScruffyHT (Sep 23, 2008)

OK ... updates

Gym with some of the equiptment in it ... still have a Smith gym to assemble thats been in the garage over a year


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## ScruffyHT (Sep 23, 2008)

And a couple shots of my games room/temporary HT


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## ScruffyHT (Sep 23, 2008)

And the actual Theatre as it sits today ( messy ) ... still a few more rough-ins left to do and then clips/drywall etc etc


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## MacBuster (Jul 26, 2009)

You should be able to wrap that up by the weekend.

haha...sorry.


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## ScruffyHT (Sep 23, 2008)

MacBuster said:


> You should be able to wrap that up by the weekend.
> 
> haha...sorry.


Wrap up the cords on the ground ? 

Hanging the LCD in the games room today ... mostly supervising actually

The wife has promised to lend a hand ... buddy of mine is giving me some Cat6 tonight to finish off the rough-ins


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## ScruffyHT (Sep 23, 2008)

Found a possible DIY solution for the diffusors 











cinema mad has a DIY thread on constructing these here ... http://www.hometheatershack.com/forums/home-audio-acoustics/14456-broadband-bass-traps-build.html


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## ScruffyHT (Sep 23, 2008)

Hey Bryan ... I have a question ... Theatre will have 7.1 surround with 4 speakers for side surround ( a pair for each row of seats ), plus a pair on the back wall, in the front of my theatre I can build corner bass traps easily

however at the rear wall of the room in one corner I have the entrance door ( no way to move it ) and on the other side I have about 15" on the side wall to another door to the basement bathroom - as a result I could only make maybe 1 small corner bass trap only on the bathroom side

my question is ... could I make the rear wall 6" thick OC703 with the lower portion as a bass trap and the upper portion empty so that it does not make the room too dead and then cover it all in GOM ?

would there be any benefit to making that wall 4" of OC703 with a 2" air gap behind it ? ( I have read that this air gap can be beneficial )


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## bpape (Sep 14, 2006)

The air gap extends the useful range of the absorber. That said, 6" ON WALL will still outperform 4" with a 2" gap. The gap is a 'cheat' to get better performance for less money. It works certainly.

On the rear, I'd still do the whole wall but bond FSK or something similar to it to minimize mid and high frequency absorbtion while still being effective at cancelling nulls off the back wall.

Bryan


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## n1co_ws (Aug 10, 2009)

hi...
i'am new in this forum...
i want to learn how to bulid a home theater, i'm very intresting about it...
help me to know about what all i need to build a home theater...
thx.


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## bpape (Sep 14, 2006)

Hi N1ck's

The best way to go is to start your own thread and ask specific questions.

Bryan


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## ScruffyHT (Sep 23, 2008)

Do you have a suggestion for a manufacturer of fsk insulation that I can get here in Canada that would do the job ?


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## bpape (Sep 14, 2006)

Not sure in Canada but you can try one of the local metal building insulation houses. You could also try Roxul and see if they have some material that they'd sell you independent of the mineral wool.

Bryan


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## ScruffyHT (Sep 23, 2008)

Is there a specific density that I should be looking for ? ... I assume I can put 2 layers of 2" OC703 first and then a 2" fsk over top of that to create a 6" absorber ?


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## bpape (Sep 14, 2006)

Sure. You can do that just fine. 3lb density is fine in that thickness.

Bryan


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## ScruffyHT (Sep 23, 2008)

bpape said:


> Not sure in Canada but you can try one of the local metal building insulation houses. You could also try Roxul and see if they have some material that they'd sell you independent of the mineral wool.
> 
> Bryan


I just reread your post ... do you mean that I can use roxul mineral wool on the rear wall 6" thick and then see if they will sell me just the fsk sheet to cover it ?


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## bpape (Sep 14, 2006)

You could do that too. They also likely have some already prefaced if you want to use mineral wool

Bryan


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## ScruffyHT (Sep 23, 2008)

Would mineral wool 6" thick work just as good as OC703 in this situation ? ... I assume that HD would not carry that product so any suggestions as to where to find it ? 

Thanks


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## bpape (Sep 14, 2006)

The mineral wool will work just fine in either a 4.5lb, 6, or 8lb density. If you're going to do that, use Roxul

Bryan


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## lglura (Aug 25, 2008)

Hi. I follow in this thread and wonder what GOM means.
lgl


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## bpape (Sep 14, 2006)

Sorry. GOM stands for Guilford of Maine fabric - specifically (usually) the FR701-2100 series which is fire rated and acoustically transparent.

Bryan


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## MacBuster (Jul 26, 2009)

Steve,

I have a huge roll of FSK here. I'm not sure of how much I will use but Crossroads sells it by the roll. I think you can just glue/bond it to the facing of the insulation.


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