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So close to my home theatre dream room..

3K views 12 replies 5 participants last post by  rburnett 
#1 ·
I'm new to the board and have done a ton of reading up on this site over the past 2-3 weeks. You guys are amazing.

About a week ago I received my brand new Optoma HD65. Loving it so far and thanks for the reviews and comments found here and on projectorcentral.

I first put it in my all white room (new house) and realize I wasn't getting the contrast I expected. So last weekend I painted all the walls (excluding ceiling) with a dark gray color called "Almost Charcoal" from Lowes. It made a huge difference darkening the room and the picture looks a lot better than before. I received my "Vantage Point CGUPM12-S" mount had have it securely installed on my ceiling. It was really easy to do.:T

Now that the initial wow factor has worn off, I'm thinking the dark gray color on the wall that I'm projecting on is a little too dark. I notice some shadows and other dark details getting lost.:help:

I am going to paint my new screen directly on the wall with BW. I ordered my AAA paint yesterday so it should come sometime next week. I have painted all the rooms in my house so I have experience rolling even coats of paint, but I still have a few questions about painting the BW.

1) I'll be painting over dark gray so I think I'll definitely need the Kilz latex primer right? I read complaints that people say its think, so I really need to water it down?
2) Since Lowes can make the bermuda beige, can I just bring in my 2 4oz tubes of AAA and have them mix that in the quart too? I don't have the screwdriver mixer attachment...
3) Whats the deal with rolling all the same direction, does that really matter? I'm confident I can avoid roller marks, but my technique I usually go up and down a few times to smoothe them out. Do I just need to go over the same vertical strip multiple times the same way (top to bottom)?
4) Should I do a black border? The "Almost Charcoal" color of the wall is pretty dark already.. If so should I paint this black or use some type of velvet material - what's the best way to attach velvet to a wall?

Thanks for all your support and knowledge
 
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#2 ·
4) Should I do a black border? The "Almost Charcoal" color of the wall is pretty dark already.. If so should I paint this black or use some type of velvet material - what's the best way to attach velvet to a wall?
Welcome to the forum!

I suggest you try the image without a border first to see how you like it. You can always add one later. I don't know how dark your paint is; the area around our screen is "Blackwatch Green". It's so dark that my black speakers are hardly visible in photos. We don't use a border.

Good luck.

Doug
 
#3 ·
Thanks Doug. "Almost Charcoal" is pretty dark, especially with all the lights off and curtains covering the 1 window. I'll test it out then go with some kind of border only if its needed.

I can't wait to get my AAA paint in the mail so I can paint my BW!
 
#4 ·
I'm new to the board and have done a ton of reading up on this site over the past 2-3 weeks. You guys are amazing.
Welcome! :party:

1) I'll be painting over dark gray so I think I'll definitely need the Kilz latex primer right? I read complaints that people say its think, so I really need to water it down?
I think you mean thick and yes it is really thick. As for watering it down, you don't have to. Just roll it onto the wall. Avoid roller marks if you can but in my experience, roller marks on the sub layers never pass through to the top layer. But I almost always put on three top layer coats. The water helps to extend the working time of Kilz so that you can eliminate roller marks.

2) Since Lowes can make the bermuda beige, can I just bring in my 2 4oz tubes of AAA and have them mix that in the quart too? I don't have the screwdriver mixer attachment...
Sure! That's a great idea! You'll have to buy an empty one gallon can from them to put it all in though. :T

3) Whats the deal with rolling all the same direction, does that really matter? I'm confident I can avoid roller marks, but my technique I usually go up and down a few times to smoothe them out. Do I just need to go over the same vertical strip multiple times the same way (top to bottom)?
Most of the rolling instructions were for the HE558 mix which we don't advocate anymore as it, like a lot of other things, starts to yellow a bit over time. The key is to avoid roller marks. Set up a worklight at an angle off to one side so that you can see any marks before the paint dries. I use a twin halogen tripod light.

4) Should I do a black border? The "Almost Charcoal" color of the wall is pretty dark already.. If so should I paint this black or use some type of velvet material - what's the best way to attach velvet to a wall?
That's personal preference and I think Doug gives good advice above! :bigsmile:

Thanks for all your support and knowledge
That's why we're here! :dancebanana:
 
#5 ·
Thanks for the help guys. I will be done with it by this weekend and post some before/after pictures. I have taken a bunch of pictures which I will upload when the project is complete. I will share the comparison from "almost charcoal" to white primed kilz to Black Widow. I should have it all complete by this weekend.

On another note, the bedroom which I converted into this home theatre had a full size bed which I sold on Craigslist for $200. A few days ago I found a great microfiber/suede reclining couch which I bought for $200. What a great trade!!

I'm so close guys, can't wait to show you all the pictures.. stay tuned.
 
#7 ·
AHHH I just painted it, not dry yet, and fired up the projector... its tooooo shiny. I really hope the flakes of aluminum blend in better when its dry. I have a big hot spot in the center of the screen and he flakes are reflecting too much light back. I definitely used the "fine" AAA... is this normal when its drying? HELP
 
#11 ·
2nd coat is dry, just calibrated and all I can say is WOW. Especially impressed with how bright oranges are in special effects like fire. Another thing that looks amazing is how flashy the light sabres look in Star Wars. My personal movie theater is now complete and a great big thank you to everybody's help and support. I'll post all the pictures soon and provide some tips and observations from my experience. THANKS!
 
#13 ·
SORRY for the delay, I've been out of town on business. Also, the pictures I took comparing the picture didn't come out well. I don't have a great camera or tri-pod to use with no-flash setting. They all came out blurry.

Anyway, here are the before/after shots of the room.

Before....
http://picasaweb.google.com/robertjburnett/HomeTheatre#5248253279183519970

After... shot of the black widow, wall color is Almost Charcoal from Lowes
http://picasaweb.google.com/robertjburnett/HomeTheatre#5248253287172635058

After... shot of the reclining couch, projector, and AV gear.
http://picasaweb.google.com/robertjburnett/HomeTheatre#5248253280211228258

Lessons Learned:
1) BW is amazing and so easy a caveman can do it
2) I didn't have any tools to mix the Bermuda Beige with the AAA so I had them mix it at Lowes. All I had to do was buy an empty gallon can ~$2. The guy working the dept was blown away when I told him about the story of how this mix came about.
3) When framing your screen with tape to paint your screen area -use a quality masking tape. I have used cheap stuff when painting my house and its much more likely or paint to seep under the tape and cause problems for you. I used the blue stuff from lowes recommended for delicate surfaces (didn't want the tape to remove any of my almost charcoal color paint aready on the wall)
4) Prime at least 2 coats of kilz2 if you're going over a dark color. It is very thick as others have stated on this board, but I didn't need to water it down or anything. Mech's advice of using a bright light to see any uneven spots is a good one. As long as you do multiple coats you sholdn't see any roller marks.
4) No special techniques needed to get a nice roller-mark-free screen. Just painted it like anything else applying 2 even coats using a bright light to help see any marks.
5) Maybe I'm a little crazy, but it looked to me like the BW wasn't mixed as well when I went to do my 2nd coat (swirls of AAA up on the top surface) -It was about 12 hours after it was originally mixed. So I took it to the nearest paint store and just had it shook up 1 more time before applying the final coat.
6) Don't freak out if you see hot spots and sparkles when its drying!!!
 
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