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Ambrosio's Unaplex II: Room within a Room Build

82K views 250 replies 22 participants last post by  tjambro 
#1 · (Edited)
Here begins the tale of Ambrosio's Unaplex II...

Yes, this is my second theater build. My first build was in a single level ranch with the biggest room becoming my dedicated theater. Unfortunately, when the HT wasn't being used, the house became very small. Also at the time of my build, my budget did not allow for any real sound isolation. At first my wife could tolerate my movie parties but when I added two large 18" DIY subs behind the AT screen, I must admit, it was pretty loud and rattled the entire house. My neighbor said I actually rattled a picture frame off HER wall.

So, we sold the house and now I have a full basement. My wife has given up rights to the right half (and portion of the left) of the basement for my "man cave". The only stipulation was that she had to have unfettered access to the laundry room and storage rooms in the back of the basement. You see, in the last house, I killed the pantry, hall closet and the family room. So her request was not unreasonable to me. :D The basement was completely finished before I got my grubby paws on it.

**Note**: This basement layout has changed. Look below for the latest layout...or click here
Here is my current vision:



Note that the red walls and hot water heater are to be removed. The blue walls, hot water heater, and separate HVAC are to be added. The yellow circles are my lolicolumns.

If that's too much color, here's the same layout with just the finished "blue" items: Ambrosio's Unaplex 2 layout

I have made initial contact with BPape and he will be on board to hopefully stop me from making any major snafus. I am planning a room within a room with the theater's new ceiling joists nestled in between the current joists. I am going with 3 layers of 5/8" DW with GG. I plan on building an IB chamber ala Cathan and the walls will be finished with fabric frames ala GPowers. I already have my dricore but I cannot put it down until I convert my finished basement into an unfinished basement.

Here's what the room looked like prior to me picking up a hammer and pry bar:

The walls with X's on them is the bedroom wall that will be removed. The IB chamber and AT screen will be back here. The room does look a bit long in the layout and can be adjusted somewhat by making the IB chamber bigger if necessary.

The door by the CO detector is the only entrance to the back rooms and I will be sealing it off as it is on the left wall of the theater not far from where the screen will be.

To make this happen, the water heater in the laundry/sump room was moved near the mechanical room and a new door is to go directly from the lobby/arcade to the laundry room and other back rooms.

To my surprise, here's what I found when I removed the paneling to make way for the new door:


Looks like I'm not the only one who thought a door should go there...

One more before shot:


This is the future lobby/arcade. The back closets will be removed and note the "blue" doorway by the popcorn machine. That is roughly where the new entrance will go. That 200amp electrical panel you see on the closet wall is now gone...thanks Dad! It's not the original panel either. The house was built in '65 and had 100A service. The original box is in the room under the stairs which is just a couple of feet to the left of the panel. It is currently just a junction box and was fed by the new 200A panel. Why they didn't put the new panel in the room under the stairs is beyond me. There was plenty of room to do so. Fortunately, when they removed the old 100A aerial service to the house and installed 200A underground service they spent a few extra bucks and installed a 200A breaker below the power company's meter so we could disconnect the house from the grid and move the 200A panel back under the stairs. This allows me to take the rest of that closet wall out and the driving Xbox 360 cabinet that is mostly finished can be located closer to the wall. The driving cabinet is a blast and will provide stress relief to me when I get burnt out from theater planning/building. If you look close, my previous theater's HTPC is sticking out the front of the cabinet...and do you see the cat6 cable going to it? Yep, that driving cabinet is also a personal hi-def (.mkv files stored on a Unraid server) theater... Yes, I have my own "Drive In Theater" complete with DD/DTS 5.1 surround. A little sub sits behind the 2005 Neon seat. :p

And here is the room as of now looking toward the IB chamber:

You can see my old sub boxes standing upright behind the 2x4 wall. I killed myself getting these things down the basement (no walkout) and now I am just going to pitch them in favor of an IB chamber...it's Cathan's fault! ;) If anyone near Evansville IN wants them, they're yours...
 
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#150 ·
Supply vent/Dead Vent Advice

Wow, I can't believe how time is slipping by. I am making progress but it is slow. The first layer of soffit mdf is all but finished in both the theater and the sound lock "lobby". No new pics because it doesn't look much different.

After I got that done, I decided to quit working on the theater for now and finish the other half of the basement. I converted a storage room - complete with shop light - into a storage/exercise room by removing the shop light, installing cans, a drop ceiling and a lcd panel on the wall. I painted this room as well as two other little rooms: a nook where we put the chest freezer and the laundry room. It's amazing what a little color will do for a room.

My plan is to finish the rest of the basement and then resume work on the theater. The only non-theater room is the large room that I call the arcade. This room still needed a 3 layer wall to go near the theater 3 layer wall. Dad came down in October and we got this wall installed, put up a full drop ceiling...the old room had a partial drop ceiling with stucco covered drywall around the HVAC trunks. My wife and I decided we rather have one slightly lower all level ceiling than a multiple height/texture ceiling.

That work is all done and I am off for Thanksgiving week. I hoped to get this large room ready for painting but before doing so, I decided to build my closet sized HVAC supply baffle aka muffler or dead vent.

Here's a photo of where I stand:



At the bottom right of the picture you can see the 16x16 grill cover where air will be pulled into the Fantech 8" inline fan and pushed up and around indicated by the blue arrows to the mdf box that becomes my supply ductwork for the theater. This opening in the wall does not lead directly into the theater, it first goes into the soffit in the equipment closet which then goes through the soundlock/lobby wall that is adjacent to the theater wall.

I put the inline fan near the 16x16 grill cover thinking that I could remove the cover to service the fan if needed. The structure has 3 layers of DW/GG on all sides including the ceiling. I planned on using DD/GG for the baffle partitions and then lining it with some 2" cotton that I have left over from bpape.

Before I build the baffle partitions and close the box up, I figured it would be wise to at least test the inline fan. I wired it up temporarily and I must say I was horrified how loud this thing is. I hooked it up to a speed controller and even on the lowest speed it sounds like a jet engine spooling up. I think the noise will be stopped before entering the theater but with the unit so close to the 16x16 grill cover I think it will be nasty loud for people outside the theater. I adjusted the gain screw on the speed controller and I can slow the unit down to a dull roar but I don't know if it will be enough to move enough air through the theater and sound lock. I do plan on having another one of these units installed in a slightly smaller chamber at the other end of the theater in my mechanical room. The one pictured above is the supply side and the mechanical room one will be the return side.

...if you have made it this far, the question is finally coming.... Should I just leave the fan where it is, knowing that I can get to it for service and accept the loud noise, or should I move it further into the baffle to try and quiet the fan knowing that I will have to rip the 3 layers of drywall off the box to service the fan if it fails?

Should I attach 8" flex to the fan's output and snake it through to the supply duct in the wall or will lining the chamber with the 2" cotton be just as good?

I'd like to get this right before I close it up. If I need to rip down the 2x2's and start over, I will so any advice how to make this more effective would be most appreciated.
 
#151 ·
Fan is much better

I'll post some pictures another time, but I just wanted to update you guys on the fan. After some trial and error, I came up with a configuration that works well for me.

In my original configuration, the fan was unacceptably loud, even at the slowest speed. I have changed the configuration and built the structure and I am happy to report that even on the highest speed, the noise level outside the theater is acceptable. When on high speed, in the room above (kitchen) you can barely hear the fan and it's not objectionable at all. If the fridge comes on, you can't hear it at all.

Needless to say, I am very happy that I spent some time messing with the fan layout to achieve these results. Oh, and even though my theater doors don't have jambs or seals of any sort, I can close the doors while the fan is on high and I cannot hear any fan noise or wind noise even with my ear right up at the supply vent.
 
#155 · (Edited)
Supply Baffle

Here's a picture of the supply baffle that I built:



12" flex is bigger than you think! I messed around with different configurations and for me, it seems that I needed to have several feet of flex before the fan to significantly reduce noise. Unfortunately, to do so, I had to relocate the fan higher above where the register is going to be. IOW, I will not be able to access the unit. I know this is bad, but right now, having it quiet is more important to me. When it needs to be accessed, I will swear at myself for not making it accessible and will at that time put in a access door. I didn't want to do that now, because I figured it would be hard to seal an access door for good soundproofing.

Here's a picture with pink stuff installed:



I hung 2 layers of DW with GG for the baffle partitions and 3 layers of DW with GG around the box itself. I originally planned on making a 16"x16" opening for the intake grill but I ended up going with a 12"x12" grill because I heard no whistling noises with the smaller opening with the grill installed.

I'm currently mudding the wall (especially the corner) and hope to paint this baffle along with the rest of the room on Saturday or so. I will post a final pic when done.

Hope everybody had a good Turkey Day!
 
#158 · (Edited)
Gottcha,

Between yourself and Ted I got my answers in the DIY soundproofing thread. thanks again.

BTW - Keep up the good work Tom. Like another poster previously commented... your taking your time and building the room right. I'm enjoying your thread and am excited to see your end product and how it performs. It's threads like this that are so educational to the masses.
 
#160 ·
BTW - Keep up the good work Tom. Like another poster previously commented... your taking your time and building the room right. I'm enjoying your thread and am excited to see your end product and how it performs. It's threads like this that are so educational to the masses.
Thanks uncle. Sorry I haven't replied sooner, I just noticed your post today. I'm sure I'm not doing everything right but the help here has kept me from making some major mistakes. :D I am currently finishing the rest of the basement and then I will get back to theater building. Hopefully in the next few weeks, which probably means 1 month..remember, I'm slow!
 
#159 ·
No problem at all. That's why we're here. Get everyone to really understand the design side of things.

Tom - make sure you fill the empty space around the flex duct with additional insulation.

Bryan
 
#162 ·
Dude, that is some serious sound isolation work. 3 layers of GG 5/8? I guess that what it takes to ensure marital bliss :) Keep on trucking Tom!! I just painted my HT and installed some outlets, etc. It is really a huge motivation boost as it actually kind of looks like a theater now.
 
#163 ·
Dude, that is some serious sound isolation work. 3 layers of GG 5/8? I guess that what it takes to ensure marital bliss :) Keep on trucking Tom!!
My last house and theater had no isolation other than a "Safe -N- Sound" door which of course did next to nothing since there was no other isolation anywhere and my two DIY 18" subs drove my wife and the neighbors crazy so I am trying to preserve my marriage and a little civility between the neighbors and myself. :D You mentioned the GG, I started with six 5 gallon pails and the count is up to 11 pails now. I think this will be it. I may have to buy a few tubes to finish up but we'll see. I should have bought the 55 gallon drum of the stuff. Who knew?

I just painted my HT and installed some outlets, etc. It is really a huge motivation boost as it actually kind of looks like a theater now.
Yes, a little paint makes you feel like you are getting somewhere. I painted my ceiling way too early but it did feel good at the time. I will have to re-do it since I bumped into it several times and now I have decided to paint the soffits the same color as the ceiling instead of trimming them out with wood. MDF and drywall is heavier than wood so function over beauty...
 
#165 ·
I've been working on the rest of the basement and I'm almost done. I have:

  • Converted a back room into an exercise room by removing a shop light, adding a couple of cans on a dimmer, a couple of coats of paint and added a flat panel LCD/DVD combo. I also removed the drop ceiling tiles and replaced them with the better ones that were above where the theater is now.
  • Repaired the drywall where plumbing and doors were moved, swapped out ceiling tiles and painted the utility room and little nook outside the HVAC room.
  • Put 2 layers of drywall and GG on the walls in the HVAC room and "nook" room that are the walls opposite the theater.
  • Demoed the "arcade" room removing the stucco type ceiling covering the HVAC ducts that were lower than the drop ceiling and re-did the entire ceiling at the same height. Put up the wall (3 layers of rock and GG) that divides the arcade and theater and added single 1/2" drywall for the remainder of the room...that was so easy btw.:bigsmile: Painted and did the baseboard thing.
  • Patched up the bathroom wall/door that was modified when the bathroom layout was flipped so that guests can walk from the arcade right into the bathroom without having to go thru the laundry room and "nook" room just to pee. :D Installed new baseboard.
  • Put down 20 ceramic tiles (including pieces) in the arcade, utility room and bathroom which were bare due to large closet demo and door and wall moving.
  • Started working on the other deadvent in the HVAC room.


Do you really want pics of this stuff? It's pretty boring, but if anyone is interested I'll post some.

On a slightly more exciting note, I am to pick up six 4-bulb poster lightboxes tomorrow as well as the marquee lightbox. I know it may not seem like the most logical order to buy lightboxes now but since the arcade is nearly finished, I thought it would be nice to install the 3 lightboxes and slap a few posters up. Hopefully that will get me motivated again!

After I get the 3 lightboxes up, I will snap some pictures and post them. After that, I plan on finishing the return deadvent in the HVAC room, finish the return ductboard corner that goes through the theater wall into that deadvent in the HVAC room and add the mdf. Once that is all done I can put up the GG and drywall over the mdf soffits and install some can lights finally!

Once the soffits are totally complete, I guess I'll work on the IB sub chamber next to get rid of the last of the drywall!!
 
#173 ·
Poster Lightboxes

In my previous theater I had your standard flip open aluminum frames for movie posters that hung on my wall. I always said that if I ever build another theater, I would insist on having backlit movie posters. I was floored when I found out how much these things costs...until I found River City Theaters. They are also on eBay as River City Theater Lightboxes

NOTE: See disclaimer at bottom.

I ended up buying 6 of his basic movie poster lightboxes with the 4 bulb upgrade and am very glad I did because they light the posters up very evenly. The boxes are made from wood not extruded aluminum but they are made well and look good. I also got a 5"x25" mylar lightbox that I use over the entrance to my lobby which has to be passed through to get to the theater. He sells larger marquee units but I didn't have the headroom for that so I asked him to scale down the marquee prints that he sells to fit a 5"x25" mylar lightbox.

From what I understand, he doesn't stock units, but custom builds each one at time of order. River City Theaters is located in my area but does not have a brick and mortar location but ships most of his orders from a shipping store a couple of miles from my house so he delivered them there and I picked them up at my convenience. It took about 2 weeks for me to get my units and they were packed very well.

I knew these things would be big, but I did underestimate their size with the packing materials included. The 6 movie poster boxes filled the back of the now infamous "******* Ranger".

Here's a picture of the 6 cartons in my basement:



I think UPS or FedEx would have a hard time damaging these units. The only other item I have ever purchased that was packed as well was a Stewart Filmscreen. I felt like Ralphie's dad in "A Christmas Story" opening up a "major award". The carton's didn't say "Fra...geal..E" on them but here's what the box looks like after you removed the outer cardboard box:



I should have posted this before but here's the wall in the arcade area before I put the 3 layers of drywall and GG on it:



Notice that I put 2 backer boxes in the wall for the power to the lightboxes. The boxes can be configured with a standard wall plug, an internal wall plug or like in my case, he just left the ballast wires bare so that I could hardwire them. I got a little lazy with the backer boxes and only made them out of 1 layer of 3/4" mdf but since these boxes are between the arcade and theater wall and no penetrations are made to the actual theater wall, I figure I will be ok.

Here's a picture of one of the boxes propped open with the included little piece of wood that is hanging on a string:



When open, the springs do have a bit of tension on them, so the included piece of wood on a string is very useful. The boxes I ordered are finished in a nicely textured black coating. I'm not sure if it's paint or not but I like the look of it. You should be careful when opening the side to insert the poster into the frame if the box is mounted flush to the wall because you can scrape either the wall or the lightbox. By the time I installed the 2nd box, I noticed I could pull the hinged portion out from the wall a little when opening it and it didn't scuff my wall. You will need enough room on either side of the lightbox to insert your poster which will be sandwiched between two 1/8" pieces of acrylic. I would imagine that if you have enough ceiling height, he can make the bottom/top side hinged instead.

Here's a picture showing how bright the T8 lighting is:



I was pleased to see the boxes came with four 36" 25watt T8 bulbs instead of the standard T12 shop light bulbs. I was initially afraid that 4 bulbs would be too much light but by the time you put the diffuser over the bulbs which is just a piece of 1/8" white acrylic, followed by your double sided poster and then another sheet of clear 1/8" acrylic, the poster looks great. The pictures don't show it well, but the posters really stand out, especially the orange and yellows.



Once again, the posters look a lot nicer in person and the camera flash really makes the small wrinkles in my posters appear much worse than they really are. I insert the posters from the left side of the left lightbox and the right side of the right poster box.





Here's the 3rd poster box near the entrance to the lobby:



Here's the marquee over the lobby entrance which is at the bottom of my stairs:



The door and trim are not painted since it is my only entrance into the theater and it is sure to get banged up some more before I'm finished. This door as well as the other 2 doors (communicating) are on spring loaded hinges. The five 4" hinges do close the solid core door that is laminated with a 3/4" sheet of MDF fine but the problem is that when the door is closed the hinge springs are unloaded so the door doesn't make a good seal. If you look around the edges of the door you can see where I put some neodymium magnets that mate with the same magnets in the door jamb. Works well. Naturally, I will paint over these when I'm done.

Overall, I'm very happy with my purchase but there is one small item that I feel wasn't resolved to my satisfaction. He sells theater marquees for use with the smaller lightboxes and I asked him to change the text at the bottom and re-arrange the logos at the bottom. I told him that I would welcome a proof before printing it just to make sure I was being clear as to what I wanted. He didn't send a proof and the wording came back incorrect. The only thing missing was the word "AND" between the DTS and DD logos at the bottom of the marquee. It's not a show stopper but I think he should have reprinted it for me. He said that he could not since I wasn't clear that the word "AND" should be there. I disagree, but like I said, it's not a show stopper. Also, I knew his theater marquees look familiar and when it arrived at the house, I knew why...he doesn't design or print the marquees himself, he has an arrangement with a large MAME marquee printer on the 'Net that I had already bookmarked for when I want to decorate my cocktail arcade cabinet you saw in the pictures above and the stand up MAME cabinet I plan to build. When I contacted him, about the error, he was never rude and was always quick to reply to my emails. He first told me that he couldn't add text in areas that didn't have text in the original design but I found that odd since he was able to delete 2 logos in the design and re-arrange the other 2. I asked his vendor if he could print it the way I wanted to and he said sure but unfortunately, he forgot to change one block of text. He has agreed to re-print it free of charge but I haven't received it yet.

Anyway, I am happy with my lightboxes and can't wait to get the lobby done so that I can add the other 3 lightboxes. I would not hesitate to purchase more lightboxes from River City Theater Lightboxes in the future. I'll just leave the marquee printing to someone else.

Disclaimer: I am not being paid to write this review nor do I get anything if this review generates sales to River City Theater Lightboxes but the owner did promise to give me 10 free posters if I posted a review of his product. I planned on writing a little review anyway so I agreed. I feel that I posted an honest review but it is ultimately up to you to decide whether these lightboxes will be suitable to you. YMMV, some settling of contents will occur during shipping and nobody but you is responsible if you stick your finger in the bulb socket and turn the power on. :cunning:
 
#179 ·
10 Months to kill a de-humidifier and an unscientific isolation test

I bought a de-humidifier for my basement last April. It will eventually end up in the mechanical room where the return baffle/muffler dumps the theater air but currently it is in the theater which as you know, is very much a work in progress. I usually have enough sense to shut it off when mudding drywall or cutting mdf with the router but apparently I didn't shut it off enough because it quit working the other day. It doesn't come on much this time of year but the other day the fan came on but it never would shut off because it couldn't pull any moisture out of the air to reach its humidity setting. The air filter was recently cleaned out but I figured some dust made it past the filter so I took it apart and was amazed how both coils were covered in fine sheetrock dust on both surfaces of each coil. I blew it out and it filled the room with dust. I put it back together thinking that fixed it but no joy. I took it apart again and put my hand on the compressor when I turned it on and sure enough the compressor is not coming on. I found no in-line fuses or circuit breakers to reset. I unplugged it overnite and tried it again this morning. No dice. It's under warranty so hopefully I can get it fixed and I will keep it outside the theater area until I am ready to turn on the return baffle/muffler.

Here's the cool part albeit very unscientific. To blow the dehumidifier out, I brought in my 6 gallon Bostitch pancake compressor which is subjectively very loud. While it was filling up, I closed the two communicating doors to the theater and the one door that leaves the lobby/soundlock area to the rest of the basement. Note that none of these doors are totally sealed yet. The two communicating doors to the theater have no jambs whatsoever and the one door in the lobby/soundlock is sealed on 3 sides, I just didn't install a threshold yet and of course there's no carpet so there's a pretty big gap under the door. The ventilation ducts including both the supply and return baffles/mufflers are finished and all have at least 3/4" mdf on them and most of them have the additional layer of 5/8" drywall and GG but it's not totally complete.

Anywho, with the doors all shut, I walked to the back of the basement which means the compressor was only 10 feet from me but in the enclosed theater and I could just barely hear it....remember this is very unscientific. It was quiet enough that I couldn't tell if I was hearing it through the walls/ceiling or through the unsealed doors at the other end of the basement. I put my ear directly up against the return baffle/muffler and the sound wasn't any louder so I'm thinking (and hoping!) that it is from the unfinished doors. I then walked upstairs (stairs start directly in front of the lobby/soundlock door) and asked my wife if she heard anything, she said "no". I could barely hear the compressor but was pleased at how little made it upstairs with the unsealed doors.

I know this is a very limited test and only a small range of frequencies were tested and I know bass will travel through my isolation efforts much easier than noise made from a compressor, but I was pleased and it made me think that maybe all these isolation efforts are going to be worth it!

BTW, I just opened my 12th 5 gallon pail of GG and I have 1 sheet of 5/8" drywall left out of the 200+, which includes the non-theater portion of the basement remodel. Looks like I'm gonna be short 12-14 sheets which I will most likely carry down the basement myself because I don't think it will be worth paying delivery charges for such a small order.

Oh, my four Fi IB3-18's should be here Tuesday.
 
#180 ·
Subs have been rescheduled for delivery on the 15th and regarding the dehumidifer, I called the local Frigidaire Service Center and they said I should return it to the retailer since it was still under warranty. I found that hard to believe but after talking to 2 people at the Lowes return desk, they took it back without the manual or box. I had my receipt so they credited the full amount back to my credit card. That was WAY too easy. They have no new units in stock since it's not exactly dehumidifier season now. I'll buy a new one come spring.

I still don't have any real exciting pictures, but here's a picture of the finished supply baffle/dead vent:



I'm standing at the bottom of the basement stairs and to the left of the dead vent is the arcade. Just to the right of the supply baffle is the wall dividing the arcade and lobby.

Here's the nasty box I had to build to connect the horizontal return duct (left side of the theater) to the opening in the wall to get to the vertical slot into the return baffle/dead vent which I put in my small mechanical room:



The ductboard cap in not on in this photo so you can see the double layer mdf insert I made to go through the 2 walls. I didn't want sound to escape up into the walls when going between the 2 rooms. The stud wall on the right is the IB chamber wall.

Here's a filthy room with me standing at the doorway in the rear right corner of the theater with the nasty return box in the front left of the theater:



The reason the box ended up being so big was due to connecting the horizontal and vertical ducts. I couldn't go horizontally into the mechanical room because I would have been half in the mechanical room and half in the little "nook" area where I have my chest freezer and the water heater. I'm so glad when we moved the water heater we put it outside the mechanical room instead of inside or I couldn't have built the return deadvent at all. I didn't want to move the theater return exit any further behind the screen because I would have been in the IB chamber so this was the best I could do. Fortunately, the nasty box will be behind the screen and it will be treated with 2" OC703 or equivalent.

In the foreground of the photo is the large projector box. It is large since I have a Panamorph UH480 with the power sled so I wanted to make sure I have plenty of room to slide in and out of the light path.

Not shown in the pictures, but the theater soffits now have a layer of 5/8" drywall and GG over the 3/4" mdf in this photo. I knew the drywall was going to be a tight fit over the standard sized door leaving the theater. I put the piece up over the door and I couldn't get out of the room. :eek: I had to pull on the door a little and the door scraped a small piece of the drywall paper off closest to the doorway. I was dreading taking the 32" wide solid core door with the 3/4" mdf that I affixed to it off it's 5 hinges to route the top off but it wasn't bad at all. It was much easier than I thought. I routed and sanded about 1/8" off and it is now back up.

After being pleased with how easy it was to modify the door, I think I will change my plans for the soffits in the lobby. If you look back at post #100, I mention that the soffit over the lobby door ended up being a tad lower than the rest of the soffits and I was just going to put up a piece of molding or something. I think I will now add another layer of mdf on the other soffits to match the low soffit before adding the 5/8" drywall and GG. I will have 2 doors to take down and trim but I think I will like that better than the original solution.

Here's the return baffle/dead vent in the mechanical room:



The 8" Fantec fan is on the left and the flex is 12". This deadvent is designed just like the supply deadvent but only has 2 chambers instead of 3 due to space. Also there is the mate to the nasty return box on top of this deadvent.

Here's the deadvent before putting the 3 layers of drywall and GG on it:



To the left of the deadvent is a garden hose that will connect to the dehumidifer and the house A/C condensate line that drains to the sump pump in the laundry room.

Finally, here's the deadvent after completion:



This room is so small I had to stand outside the doorway and take the shot. It's hard to tell from the picture but the little box on top of the deadvent is the mate to the nasty return box in the theater. I put the deadvent's 3 layers of rock on the top and built this box on top of that. It too has 3 layers of 5/8" drywall with GG. I know you're not supposed to put 3 layers on any one surface before completing the other surfaces but I couldn't figure out how to do this for this structure.

Building this box was very, very frustrating and time consuming due to space restrictions. I struggled getting screws in and had to caulk the top box and the right side of the deadvent by applying caulk with my finger because I couldn't get the caulk gun anywhere near the seams.

I will put the dehumidifer in this mechanical room with the return deadvent.

Next up is applying the extra mdf to the lobby soffits and drywalling those and trimming the 2 doors. Then believe it or not, I need 12-14 more sheets of drywall. Yuck! It won't be worth paying to have them delivered so I will have to struggle getting down the basement myself. Can't wait...

After talking with Bryan (bpape), I decided to put 2 layers of 5/8" with GG on both sides of the IB chamber. That will take 12 sheets and I'll probably need 3 or 4 sheets for the lobby soffits. I currently only have 1 full sheet left of the 200+ sheets I had delivered. Must keep going, must keep going...

Once both rooms are completely finished drywalling, I will build a curved front soffit over the screen for the screen lights. It will tie into the soffits. I nixed the idea of building a matching one on the floor due to height restrictions. I'm trying to keep the screen above the IB manifolds and below the curved ceiling soffit and it will be tough but I think it will work.

After the IB wall is done drywall will be complete so I will then mud it all up and paint the soffits and add the trim. I can't wait to do something else other than drywall and GG!!

I have decided to basically do nothing while my wife and I watch the Olympics starting tomorrow. We're not sports fans at all, but for some reason, we enjoy the Olympics.
 
#181 ·
Since I built my HT room by myself also, I found a neat little tool for carrying plywood and dry wall. I don't know what its called but its made out of orange plastic and is about 12" long and has a handle on one end and a hook for carrying 2 pieces of drywall on the other. (2 pieces if your man enough, I wasn't) you can get them at any big box store and it saved my bacon on many occasions.
 
#184 ·
I take it that you're planning on building a screen wall, out from the nasty box!
Is this going to take much out of the length of your room?
Yes, the screen wall will be in front of the "nasty box". My plans were not altered due to the box. I always planned a screen wall before knowing that I would have to build a box that big. I will have to be careful with speaker/IB manifold placement.
 
#185 ·
I remember when my project was at the same stage as yours is now, I was very discouraged. I remember thinking " will I ever be finished? ", It only took me 2 long years.:rolleyesno: Your project is way over the top compared to mine and I enjoy watching your progress, keep up the good work and just know it will all be worth it someday soon:sn: To bad we don't live closer I would come over and help.

PS; the reason I was discouraged was because I was (and am still) building my 3600 sq ft house at the same time pretty much by myself, and thats way to much work for 1 man. I am pretty much finished on the inside and can't wait to get outside and redo the landscaping.
 
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