# My very own (first!!) home theater.



## lcjr71 (Jan 8, 2013)

First of all, let's start by saying that this particular home theater is not what you would call "high end". This project is about a year and a half in the making. I started finishing our basement after I had built my wife her salon to cut hair on her time off. Little does she know that she is unknowingly funding what is set to transpire (insert evil villan laugh here). Anyways, I began framing the rest of our basement and somehow convinced her that a man cave for me, I mean us, is something that our home needed. Now while she didn't mind the home theater, the bar outside the home theater was something that I had to do some convincing on. Finally got her approval and it was full steam ahead.


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## JQueen (Jan 11, 2012)

Congrats on the beginning of something I'm sure will be great..and "High End" or not doesn't matter if you enjoy it


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## lcjr71 (Jan 8, 2013)

Thanks. Yeah, your right. As long as I enjoy it, dosen't make a difference how much something costs or where it came from (thank you ebay and Amazon). Will be posting a few more pictures. I'm about 80% done, I think. Just wanted to set the foundation of my build.


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## lcjr71 (Jan 8, 2013)

After all the mudding and priming, it's time for some paint!!


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## ALMFamily (Oct 19, 2011)

Nice color scheme! :T


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## hjones4841 (Jan 21, 2009)

Looks like a lot of fun putting it together. Please keep us posted on progress.


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## BD55 (Oct 18, 2011)

I really like the ceiling in there! Nice job on the theater so far; keep up the great progress pics! :T


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## Prof. (Oct 20, 2006)

It's looking very nice! What size is the room?


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## tcarcio (Jun 27, 2007)

Looking good......:T


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## tonyvdb (Sep 5, 2007)

Love the ceiling look and the room is coming along great! Nice job :T


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## lcjr71 (Jan 8, 2013)

The room is not very big at all. 12' by 18'. With the layout for the rest of the man cave, this side of the basement worked best for the HT.


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## Prof. (Oct 20, 2006)

There's nothing wrong with that size room for a theatre!..My room is smaller than that and it still feels very much like a theatre with the 8'6" wide screen!


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## lcjr71 (Jan 8, 2013)

Nice! I scored a 119" DaLite screen off eBay for $100, so I tried to work around that. More pics soon to come.


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## fschris (Oct 31, 2009)

very jealous... keep the updates coming. are you going to do any sound proofing? green glue, roxul ? 

depending on your LFE you may really want to invest in some acoustic treatment.


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## lcjr71 (Jan 8, 2013)

I installed Roxul Comfortbatt along the concrete Walls and Roxul Safe'n'Sound in the ceiling and separating walls that make up the rest of the HT. I also double drywalled to add a little more of a sound barrier. Not sure what kind of numbers doubling drywall actually does for sound. Something is better than nothing I guess. I never made the attempt to do a floating wall system. My goal was to think about acoustics but I knew I would never be 100% soundproof. Also, I will be dropping the ceiling about 4" in the center which is where I will be adding the fiber optic star ceiling. Will finish the acoustic treatment by adding some acoustics panels to the room. Especially where the electrical panel is. Going to make some kind of board to cover the door then put some panels on top of it. Hopefully I will make it in a way that it doesn't cause any vibrations.


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## chrapladm (Jun 17, 2009)

What brand of paint did you use?

Great build so far.


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## fschris (Oct 31, 2009)

very interested in your fiber optic star ceiling install!!


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## lcjr71 (Jan 8, 2013)

I used Behr paint throughout the basement. Will be adding a star ceiling to the room.


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## ALMFamily (Oct 19, 2011)

Curious as well how you will be doing your star ceiling....


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## lcjr71 (Jan 8, 2013)

Carpet is down and now i have started on the drop ceiling as well as making sure the screen is nice and level and just where I want it. Built the screen out so that I can run some LEDs lights around the screen to make it pop. Also started to paint the ceiling panels. Hope you like!!


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## chrapladm (Jun 17, 2009)

Awesome build....Jealous....and even better now with the HTS paint. lol


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## jgourlie (Jun 16, 2012)

This project is coming along really nice. Welcome to the forum and I can't wait to see how this build progresses.


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## ALMFamily (Oct 19, 2011)

Great progress! And, really nice touch with the HTS sign - you should totally just put them up that way!


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## Wardsweb (Apr 2, 2010)

Congratulations on getting a dedicated room built. I only wish I had the space for one. By they way, I have the same saw and stand. It is a very handy tool.


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## Prof. (Oct 20, 2006)

Nice colour!..The room is looking great! :T


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## lcjr71 (Jan 8, 2013)

Finally got the doors installed. And the lock to keep the kiddies out when i'm not home!! Hopefully this Sunday i can continue on the ceiling while the wife is home watching the kids.


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## lcjr71 (Jan 8, 2013)

After seeing the doors up, now i'm not sure if I shouldn't of done white doors and trim on the inside of the HT too. Leaning towards leaving them the way they are. Don't want to give myself any more work than i have to.


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## bamabum (Dec 7, 2012)

Nah. The grey will reflect much less light and be less distracting during a movie. It looks sharp as is.


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## fschris (Oct 31, 2009)

looking great....nice lock job!! I will do the same thing when I have a dedicated HT.


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## Prof. (Oct 20, 2006)

Yes I agree..Leave them the colour they are now..
If you want a bit of contrast, I would suggest painting the trim and baseboards black..


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## ALMFamily (Oct 19, 2011)

Yup, I agree with the other guys - I would go with it as is.


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## MrAngles (May 1, 2012)

I like the grey. And I love the keypad lock, I've been saying from the start that I'll be getting one of those. My wife doesn't like the idea though...


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## lcjr71 (Jan 8, 2013)

Well, finally got around to installing the fiber optics star ceiling. Had to go to Home Depot to find smaller drill bits that were better suited for the three different size fiber optic stars. All in all it took about 9 hours to do. It went faster once i got the hang of it.


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## lcjr71 (Jan 8, 2013)

Made a printout of the stars for a certain date. Then threw it in Illustrator to grid out the panels. I will tell my wife when the Home theater is done that the star pattern is for the night that we were married.


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## lcjr71 (Jan 8, 2013)

Feel like I'm in Avatar. After all of the panels are up, I went to each strand and brushed black paint around them to cover up some of the white that was showing thru when I drilled for the strand. Some were worse than others. But not too bad. I then went ahead and trimmed each piece and tapped it in just a little so that it would be flush with the panel.


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## BD55 (Oct 18, 2011)

Extremely cool! Nice touch on using your anniversary for the pattern; that was a stroke of genius :T and the effort should pay off with major kudos in the bank!


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## bamabum (Dec 7, 2012)

stealing the idea before your patent it. I was considering this but on mdf ceiling. Do you see any issue running this though drywall or MDF instead?


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## ALMFamily (Oct 19, 2011)

Nicely done mate!

I remember that sensation when all the strands were dangling - I felt like the room was a spider home again.


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## Prof. (Oct 20, 2006)

Looks great!..Very nicely done..:T


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## phillihp23 (Mar 14, 2012)

Nice job....Love the star lights....:clap:


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## lcjr71 (Jan 8, 2013)

bamabum said:


> stealing the idea before your patent it. I was considering this but on mdf ceiling. Do you see any issue running this though drywall or MDF instead?


Personally I think that the drop ceiling panels would be a lot easier to work with. Especially if your doing it by yourself. Drywall and MDF's dimensions (4x8' panels) I think, would make it difficult to run the fibers thru and then have to lift it up. Maybe renting a drywall lift would ease things a bit. Or would you be installing the drywall or MDF and then drilling from the top (attic).


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## Owen Bartley (Oct 18, 2006)

Great theatre, and very nice work so far. Colour scheme is classy and modern, the ceiling looks awesome, and that was a brilliant idea to actually copy the sky from the day you got married, I bet your wife will love that!


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## fschris (Oct 31, 2009)

so cool.. and what a great idea for WAF.


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## lcjr71 (Jan 8, 2013)

Well I can kinda see the finish line. All that is left now is to get the seats, projector, Panamax 5400 and hopefully the Oppo BDP-103. Come on tax return!!! A Mac mini as a server running XBMC or Plex with a Drobo with Thunderbolt can be the very last thing i get. I would prefer a Kaleidescape system. But not in this lifetime. :crying:


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## lcjr71 (Jan 8, 2013)

Going to make the electrical panel accessible with some type of hinged piece of plywood or something and then top it off with the acoustical panels.


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## mechman (Feb 8, 2007)

Looking great and I love the star ceiling!! :T :clap:


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## fschris (Oct 31, 2009)

where did you get the room treatments?


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## lcjr71 (Jan 8, 2013)

If you mean the acoustical panels, I got them off ebay.


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## chrapladm (Jun 17, 2009)

Looks awesome. :clap:


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## ALMFamily (Oct 19, 2011)

Very well done mate! :T

And, I concur with Mech - the star ceiling turned out really well!


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## lcjr71 (Jan 8, 2013)

Had a couple of Fed Ex packages come this week. Felt like Christmas!!


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## lcjr71 (Jan 8, 2013)

Then came home from work yesterday around 6 and started putting everything in it's place. Almost at the finish line with the room. Just need the seats and some odds and ends here and there.


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## Prof. (Oct 20, 2006)

Looking very nice..:T


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## JQueen (Jan 11, 2012)

It looks great.. Ceiling is awesome


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## ALMFamily (Oct 19, 2011)

Looking great mate! :T


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## lcjr71 (Jan 8, 2013)

Well finally had time to cover up the electrical panel. Need to add two more hinges and paint the sides, but overall it does the job.


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## Morpheus (May 13, 2013)

What brand of fiber optic star system did you use? I am thinking of doing the same in a black suspended ceiling. Your's looks great and great touch of using the pattern of stars!


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## hyghwayman (Jan 15, 2008)

What an awesome place you've made for yourself and loved ones to enjoy. As others have said, cool ceiling, paint scheme and I really like the door lock. Now can't wait to see what you got for the seating. 
Not sure if you've already posted but curious what speakers and sub are you using in your HT?


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## bamabum (Dec 7, 2012)

very nice!!


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## lcjr71 (Jan 8, 2013)

Thanks. I purchased these here. http://www.wiedamark.com/288ledstarceiling.aspx


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## lcjr71 (Jan 8, 2013)

I had found a deal on Amazon in December for the Onkyo HT-S9400THX. Picked it up for $507.94
Couldn't pass that up. And it sounds amazing! Have to still use the mic to calibrate it. But so far so good.


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