Basement Finishing - Movie Theater

SnowUtopia

Hey everyone - First all let me say thank you to everyone here who has been helping this project move along with their answers to questions. I have framed out the entire basement and I am waiting for the electrical to be done. Father in law owns an electrical contracting company in Long Island, so it's all free. I will be posting some photos of the project so far and throughout the project. Thanks.

Sir MixAlot

I'm sure you will pay one way or another!............LOL...........

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njchan

looking forward to seeing some pictures! ... post them!

JohnDIY

Any pics yet? I want to see the movie theatre so that I can complain about how I don't have enough space for one!

SnowUtopia

Hey Everyone - sorry for the delay in the photos. I wanted to get the basement done and then upload all the photos.

So it's finally done - It took only 3 months. I worked on this usually over the weekend and at nights. Even took some "sick" days at work to wrap it up.

I'm going to try and upload the photos in the order of the project. The first ones were taken before the project started.

If you have any questions please ask away - I'm more than willing to tell you everything I know about it.

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SnowUtopia

Next are some photos of the framing. Used pressure treated 2x4's for the sill plates (code) and white board for the studs. I used tapcons to secure the walls into the poured concrete floors as well as nailing them to the ceiling. There are two storage areas and a place for a future bathroom as well. The bathroom will be the next project. When we built the house 2 years ago we had them rough the plumbing in so it would be easier in the future.

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SnowUtopia

Here is the insulation in the walls.

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SnowUtopia

Here are some photos of the drywall and finishing. Looking back I wish I would have hired a professional to finish the drywall. I have hung and finished drywall many times before but it really is an art. If you are nervous about finishing the drywall and care about it looking good - HIRE A PRO! The money will be worth it.

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SnowUtopia

Here are the photos from the priming. I actually recruited my wife to help with this part. In these pics you can see the soffits that I built around the HVAC ductwork. I choose to put the soffits in as I didn't want to drywall the ceiling and lose all that headspace. The soffits were brutal to build and install by myself but look great in the end. Definitely have someone help you with holding the soffits in place while building them.

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SnowUtopia

Here are the photos of the painting, installing baseboard and installing the window seats. When doing a home theater with a projector you want the paint to have the least amount of sheen as possible due to the light reflecting. The paint on the walls is a Behr paint from Home Depot. The paint on the wall where the projector shines is a Behr Brilliant white Flat Enamel. I researched the paint kits for projector walls that cost $400.00 and in my opinion this Behr looks just as good as the $400.00 kits. Save some money.

The windows were an issue - They were approx. 18 " deep due to the poured walls and keeping the studs off the wall approx 6". So I had to buy some stair tread boards for the lip of the window seats and then piece them together with some pine to create the depth I needed.

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SnowUtopia

Here is the result of 3 months of work. Carpet was installed by Home Depot. Very nice carpet and installation. I choose a black drop ceiling as they are made for theater type applications. The ceiling is made by Armstrong and the tiles are thicker than traditional white panels for better acoustics. The projector is a brand new Optoma HD65. The size of the hi-def image is about 10 feet diagonal on the wall.

The sound system and DVD player is the Samsung Upconvert 1000 watt system. This thing puts out. I ran all the wires in the ceiling and walls before they were installed to make it easier so there are no wires visible.

I ordered the cables for the Xbox last week and they should be coming this week. Life size Halo!

I work for home so I put my office in the basement as well.

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SnowUtopia

Here are some of the projector shots. Ironman on the screen.

Bought some black out curtains for the basement so the image wouldn't wash out during the day.

Like I said if you have any questions please let me know. If you love movies I definitely recommend this project - it is well worth it.

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Nathan

Awesome! Great job.

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Nathan

"He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose." - Jim Elliot

AtlanticWBConst.

Thanks for documenting the project and posting the pics. Looks like a very nice Home Theater.

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Jeeper1970

Looks good. If you paint the lower section of the white wall with the blue, where the speakers are, it would help to define screen area, and look even better.