# Which space for the HT?



## lkazista (Feb 1, 2010)

Hey everyone, some good and helpful reading on this board, so first off thanks for everything so far!

Anyway to my situation. We are planning on finishing our basement. We start rough framing later this week. I need to include a play area for my kids (currently 2 with a 3rd due this summer) as well as the HT.

The basement has 9 foot ceilings.

So we have 2 spaces that either the play room or HT could go into. The first is at the bottom of our stairs. This are will work out to be 20 x15. It would work well because I could have the stairs end two steps early putting you onto the riser. for the back row, then stepping down to the first row. The down side being that you will be right at the bottom of the stairs. 

The other option puts you behind the stairs, you would walk through the are mentioned above to get into this space. It measures 14 x 20 back there, but my wife is hoping to use 2 feet of the 20 for a small "bar wall" that wall would be at the back side of the theater set up, essentially making the space 14 x 18.

I will try to upload a sketch of the space tomorrow to help explain the potentials.

Anyway, with a family of soon to be 5 people, I am thinking that sooner or later each kid will want to invite a friend, so that would call for 8 seats total. Can I even fit 8 seats into either of these spaces? Can I fit a riser? Can I just lay the HT on its side and have a huge single row of 8 angled (curved) seats running over the 20 feet, or will that crush acoustics?

Any help would be great.

Thanks everyone!

Lee


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## Ted White (May 4, 2009)

Hello Lee. If sound isolation is a goal you'll have to take care when framing near the stairs. Stairs are connected to everything.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## spartanstew (May 7, 2009)

Lee,

My HT is 20 X 12.5 and I have 7 nice reclining seats in it with a riser. The 4 seats in the back are 12' wide, so it's almost an exact fit. I couldn't do 2 rows of 4 because I needed an aisle in front in order to get to the back. 8 seats would be doable if you found some thinner seats (especially since you have an extra 1.5' of width).

I would not put it at the bottom of the stairs, because that would mean everyone would have to walk through the theater every time they went downstairs. I wouldn't want my kids running through my theater every time they wanted to use their playroom. You're better off having the playroom at the foot of the stairs and having the HT more isolated. 

You can do a lot of things with a 14 X 18 (or 20) foot space.


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## bbieger (Sep 15, 2009)

First off, welcome to the forum!!!!

Man, I wish I had 9' ceilings in the basement! The options are many for sure. The first layout you described sounds better but a sketch of the existing conditions would really help out quite a bit. 

You know, instead of dedicated theater seats you could always throw in two couchs...they seem to suite the little ones better as they like to squirm, jump, pull and kick on each other..ya know kids stuff. 

Are you interested in soundproofing the room at all? If so, before you nail your first stud in place be sure to throw out some questions first. Soundproofing is not that much more work or $ but it sure can help when you are trying to work when the kids are playing or when you want to play Call of Duty at 1 am at reference levels with the sub cranked up waaaay to much. :R


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## jmmdm2 (Mar 3, 2009)

Welcome! Just a quick note... if you have any outlets planned for the room, set them for double thick drywall (like I wish I did). That includes recessed fixtures in the ceiling too. With 9 foot ceilings, I'd bet everyone here would tell you to double the drywall on the ceilings and use green glue.

Your room dimensions are fairly close to mine and I think the 7 recliner option is a good idea. I just had carpet put in the HT and the kids have choosen to lay there rather than use the seating. Either they don't yet appreciate the sweet spot or the chairs we have are too ratty for them.


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## bbieger (Sep 15, 2009)

jmmdm2 said:


> Welcome! Just a quick note... if you have any outlets planned for the room, set them for double thick drywall (like I wish I did). That includes recessed fixtures in the ceiling too.


Your probably all done by now, but they make little plastic shims that clip onto the outlet screw and hold the outlet even with the wall. They come in a bag and are available at HD and the like.


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## jmmdm2 (Mar 3, 2009)

I found the box extenders (maybe the same thing) they were color coded for different thicknesses.

The best part is I put in seven outlets when I thought the room was being used as a computer room also. Aside from plugging seven subwoofers into the grid, I may only need one outlet for the vacuum. 
What a mess!

Lee, don't go outlet crazy! :yikes: What did you decide?


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## bbieger (Sep 15, 2009)

The spacers I am talikng about are little pieces of plastic that you fold over in itself to get the desired thickness. They act like plastic washers not like a box extention. I would always. Error on the side of too many outlets. They are like 40 cents and you never know when you are going to need to plug in a lamp or something. 

Are you doing this work yourself or contracting out?
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## jmmdm2 (Mar 3, 2009)

I've done everything in the room myself except for the carpet install. I have no problem wiring new circuits directly into the box as well... another detail for Lee to consider. Add a few dedicated circuits for the HT. I have wall sockets, in ceiling lighting, the TV/BD/Receiver all on their own lines plus a 12 gauge line for amplifiers (yes, four independent circuits).


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## lkazista (Feb 1, 2010)

Thank you for the help so far guys. I am not able to upload the drawings because I do not have 5 posts yet. I will be going for option #2 (not at the bottom of the stairs, but behind them instead). I think keeping the kids closer to the stairs will be better in the long term.

I am thinking that perhaps I can do 3 or 4 theater seats in the front row and then a row of seats or a couch in the back just in front of the bar area.


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## jmmdm2 (Mar 3, 2009)

Good deal! Keep posting so we can see your drawings :T


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## SierraMikeBravo (Jul 1, 2007)

Hi Lee,

Going for the smaller room is probably the wisest choice. Now, for the tough questions. Do you plan on incorporating sound isolation and how do you want this theater to sound? I can tell you for certain, adding eight chairs with those dimensions will result in a less than optimal solution. 3 to 4 of those chairs will be wasted acoustically, and will find no one wanting to sit there. If dropping $2-3K on the extra seats means something to you asthetically, then go for it! Otherwise, I think you will find you may have wasted good money that could have gone into something to improve your sound. Also, at 20 feet, you'll be pushing the edge of the envelope for proper seating...not to mention adding the bar. If possible, I would look at other options.


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## lkazista (Feb 1, 2010)

Sierra Mike,

I would like the Theater to sound like... well a theater.

At 20 feet, where would the sweet spot tend to fall? At a bare minimum I really need to try and cram at least 5 chairs in there (one for each family member). I do not think that the kids will really notice any difference in sound, but obviously I would like for at least my seat to be 'ideal'.

I am open to all opinions currently, nothing is set in stone yet.

I have been trying to read through some older posts to see what options I have as far as framing to try and dislocate the room from the house.

Once I get my 5th post and can upload a sketch of the basement I will open the floodgates with the question of "if it were you basement, how would you do it?"

Lee


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