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I recently joined this forum and after several hours of reading would like to thank everyone for the excellent information that is posted here. My wife and I bought our current house 4 years ago and I recently upgraded our basement family room from a 62" RPTV to an Optoma H27 with a 118" DIY screen. We are very happy with the results and have been watching many more DVD movies. We have a couple of issues to solve. The first being a wall of windows and a patio door that face south flooding the room with light during the day and relegating the movie watching to only after sundown. The second is sound propogation throughout the house.
The wife has ordered me to create a dedicated room for the theatre which will address both problems. I tried to argue with her about this approach (for at least a millisecond) but it was in vain. This leads me to my questions:
1. The area that I will be enclosing will use 2 exisiting foundation walls (which are currently sheetrocked - pictures attached). I will use a center support beam, which runs the entire lenght of the basement as a natural divider to create a theatre space and a play space for the kids. The dimensions I end up with are 18'W x 22.5'L x 8.5' H. I am thinking this should be enough space for 2 rows of 4 seats - seating positions at 13.5' and a rear at 18.5' on an 8" riser. My question is with regard to the length and width. Are these dimensions too close to the square box = really bad acoustics or am I ok. An option I have would be to make the room narrower by a couple of feet but this would create a long dead space on the foundation wall side (some of this I would use for an equipment rack that I can vent into a utility room). Or am I better off keeping the larger space and treating any acoustical problems after the fact.
2. Sound transmission. My primary issue is with sound transmission to the main floor of the house (bedroom directly above the theatre). The basement was already completely finished by the builder when we decided to purchase the home and he decided to save a couple of cents and leave the ceiling joists uninsulated among other highly intelligent money saving techniques like using CAT3 cable for the phones instead of CAT5. Sometimes finishing a house yourself is a great opportunity. My next inquiry is with regard to insulating the ceiling. One idea I have is to balance out 2 soffits that run the length of the room front to back. This will make them symmetrical and be much more aesthetically pleasing. While doing this I could cut a channel in the sheet rock ceiling the entire length of the room and insulate. What would be the best method for insulating? Blown in cellulose or fiberglass batting? I was then thinking of just adding another layer of sheet rock to the existing rock. Since 5/8" is already there should I use 1/2" over the top? Has anyone had an issue where adding rock over an exsting ceiling made the problem worse? I am concerned that the ceiling has a knock-down texture on it and the second layer could cause a problem placed directly over the top of this surface.
3. Would it be a good idea to insulate the heating ducts or would I be ok? The reason I ask is that this would be very difficult with the existing sheet rock in place. I may have to remove all the existing sheet rock which is definitely not an appealing option to me.
4. After reading many posts I think I will use the staggered stud wall design for the 2 new adjacent room walls with acoustiblok. There are 2 bedrooms on the basement level so sound transmission from the theatre into the play area and also into the bedroom areas would be very undesireable. Is it standard to use 2"x8"s for the top and bottom plates and then 2"x4"s staggered on 16" centers? I plan to double layer the sheet rock in the theatre but is it necessary to put 2 layers of sheet rock on the outside walls?
5. Interior wall finish. What materials work best for finishing the interior walls? Does anyone have a good guide on how to cover the walls with fabric panels? I have looked at some of the prefabricated panels but they seem pricey and would not be as custom as DIY covering methods. I would also like to know where I could purchase fabric to cover the walls with.
6. Center and surrounds to mate with my Infinity Kappa 8's? I have auditioned several floor standing speakers as possible replacements for my current setup but I really have not found anything within my price range ($500 - $750/speaker) that can match them (at least with my current setup). I will have to purchase new side and rear surrounds and would like to know if anyone out there currently has found a good center and surround option for their Kappa's. The bostons that I currently use are neutral but just ok. They really do not have the dynamic capability I am looking for (as well as the capability to play at high volume levels).
I appreciate any feedback you have regarding my issues. I hope to get started in the next month or so and will post pictures with my progress.
Thanks in advance,
JD
The wife has ordered me to create a dedicated room for the theatre which will address both problems. I tried to argue with her about this approach (for at least a millisecond) but it was in vain. This leads me to my questions:
1. The area that I will be enclosing will use 2 exisiting foundation walls (which are currently sheetrocked - pictures attached). I will use a center support beam, which runs the entire lenght of the basement as a natural divider to create a theatre space and a play space for the kids. The dimensions I end up with are 18'W x 22.5'L x 8.5' H. I am thinking this should be enough space for 2 rows of 4 seats - seating positions at 13.5' and a rear at 18.5' on an 8" riser. My question is with regard to the length and width. Are these dimensions too close to the square box = really bad acoustics or am I ok. An option I have would be to make the room narrower by a couple of feet but this would create a long dead space on the foundation wall side (some of this I would use for an equipment rack that I can vent into a utility room). Or am I better off keeping the larger space and treating any acoustical problems after the fact.
2. Sound transmission. My primary issue is with sound transmission to the main floor of the house (bedroom directly above the theatre). The basement was already completely finished by the builder when we decided to purchase the home and he decided to save a couple of cents and leave the ceiling joists uninsulated among other highly intelligent money saving techniques like using CAT3 cable for the phones instead of CAT5. Sometimes finishing a house yourself is a great opportunity. My next inquiry is with regard to insulating the ceiling. One idea I have is to balance out 2 soffits that run the length of the room front to back. This will make them symmetrical and be much more aesthetically pleasing. While doing this I could cut a channel in the sheet rock ceiling the entire length of the room and insulate. What would be the best method for insulating? Blown in cellulose or fiberglass batting? I was then thinking of just adding another layer of sheet rock to the existing rock. Since 5/8" is already there should I use 1/2" over the top? Has anyone had an issue where adding rock over an exsting ceiling made the problem worse? I am concerned that the ceiling has a knock-down texture on it and the second layer could cause a problem placed directly over the top of this surface.
3. Would it be a good idea to insulate the heating ducts or would I be ok? The reason I ask is that this would be very difficult with the existing sheet rock in place. I may have to remove all the existing sheet rock which is definitely not an appealing option to me.
4. After reading many posts I think I will use the staggered stud wall design for the 2 new adjacent room walls with acoustiblok. There are 2 bedrooms on the basement level so sound transmission from the theatre into the play area and also into the bedroom areas would be very undesireable. Is it standard to use 2"x8"s for the top and bottom plates and then 2"x4"s staggered on 16" centers? I plan to double layer the sheet rock in the theatre but is it necessary to put 2 layers of sheet rock on the outside walls?
5. Interior wall finish. What materials work best for finishing the interior walls? Does anyone have a good guide on how to cover the walls with fabric panels? I have looked at some of the prefabricated panels but they seem pricey and would not be as custom as DIY covering methods. I would also like to know where I could purchase fabric to cover the walls with.
6. Center and surrounds to mate with my Infinity Kappa 8's? I have auditioned several floor standing speakers as possible replacements for my current setup but I really have not found anything within my price range ($500 - $750/speaker) that can match them (at least with my current setup). I will have to purchase new side and rear surrounds and would like to know if anyone out there currently has found a good center and surround option for their Kappa's. The bostons that I currently use are neutral but just ok. They really do not have the dynamic capability I am looking for (as well as the capability to play at high volume levels).
I appreciate any feedback you have regarding my issues. I hope to get started in the next month or so and will post pictures with my progress.
Thanks in advance,
JD
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