[Dr Force]

OK Guys here we go

The Forums have inspired me to take my HC experience to another level and having purchased all my previous kit via recommendations and help from members, i decided to go the whole hog and have a dedicated room built.

I have most of my kit but will buy a new 1080p pj along with motorised screen and BR player.I will go into more detail of the layout of the room as we go along.

The Justification

We discussed moving early in 2006 to a 3 bed detached but the costs were in the region of an extra 50k and we love our village and so are very happy where we are.
Its a 60's type semi with not much charachter but its set in a wonderful village and so decided to add more room and charachter whilst enjoying our favourite hobby and creating far more space in making a more "sociable" kitchen area.
We have also decided not to have children and so the house is a perfect size for us to enjoy.The other concern was the noise and consideration to our lovely neighbours when we watch movies, especially when you consider the properties are on floating floors.So moving it to the far side in a soundproof room on a screeded floor lets us relax when its lound.

The Plans

We could not afford a two storey exstension so the build is single storey with a gable end, incorporating a storm porch with an arched entrance.

The HC Romm will have internal dimensions of 2.3m x 4.4m, not huge by any means but great for a PJ and screen.

The kitchen will obtain the same size with the back door being knocked through, widened and created into another arch.We will also recess a small flat screen TV in this room and put in a medium size dinning table.

I will also rip out the old kitchen and add a more modern affair over time once we are a bit more liquid again.

Ok so here are some pics to get us going and I will update regularly as the build progresses.

[Streetrod]

Hi Dr Force, nice to hear the project is on the go. Could you do us a favour, the pics have come up very small and cant be seen properly. can you make them bigger?

[Dr Force]

Originally Posted by Streetrod

Hi Dr Force, nice to hear the project is on the go. Could you do us a favour, the pics have come up very small and cant be seen properly. can you make them bigger?

Hi Streetrod

I'll upload them again.i have not posted any pics before so may take a bit of getting use to re-sizing but I'll sort it out.

[Shockabuku]

If you're having problems with uploading pics, I'm happy to host them if u wanna email them over.

[Dr Force]

Originally Posted by Shockabuku

If you're having problems with uploading pics, I'm happy to host them if u wanna email them over.

Thanks Shockabu

i'll give them a try later as I have got to go back to work so see if I can do it, otherwise I may just take you up on the offer

Foundations dug today and concrete being poured this afternoon, so a few more pics and details later.

the builder did go through our water main (plastic) and unfortunately the council had tarmaced over the stop cock on the pavement so it took over 3 hours to cut off.This was at 6:30 last night so had no water for the evening

Oh well the joys of building

Doc

[Shockabuku]

Looks like a great project, you must be well excited

[Dr Force]

Originally Posted by Shockabuku

Looks like a great project, you must be well excited

we are very excited.the plans were done in Nov 06 and we obtained planning permission in Feb 07.We saved during 07 and now it becomes a reality.

Anyway try to get bigger pics

You can see in the last picture where the builder cut through the water.

All the guttering and fascias are also all being replaced and 20 ton of hardcore is being put on the front in preperation for some block paving and gravel.

The concrete was poured in today so i will try and update pics asap.the builders are working at a real pace and have been very impressive so far

[icemandave]

hey dave looking good mate jim told me about your new hc room. should be some great cod4 night in there.

[Dr Force]

Originally Posted by icemandave

hey dave looking good mate jim told me about your new hc room. should be some great cod4 night in there.

Hey Dave

Nice to hear from you matey.Sorry I have been a bit elusive recently, i have had alot going on with Business, finding a job and the house so apologies and I am realy looking forward to getting back online with you all.

When the PJ's up and running and its all done,I'll invite you both over for a beer fest of gaming and movies.

Cheers

Dave

[icemandave]

that sounds great al bring some hd dvds and blu-rays lol

[Dr Force]

Originally Posted by icemandave

that sounds great al bring some hd dvds and blu-rays lol

Its OK I have 50 redundant HD DVD's on the shelf

Just bring the BR discs as I am waiting for them to come down a tad before I go buying another 50 discs

Make sure you keep coming back matey and I will speak with you soon

[MarkP80]

Hi Dave,

The Forums have inspired me to take my HC experience to another level ..., i decided to go the whole hog and have a dedicated room built.

- it was only a matter of time!

Good plans, I'm sure it'll make a big difference. I think your plan to open the kitchen out into the new dining room will be a huge success. From friends with similar setups, this ends up being the most used area in the house. In fact, we're looking to do a similar thing next year hopefully.

Have you thought about lighting yet? I've got a couple of small projects on the go at the moment (does it ever end?) and I've been thinking a lot about this. There are some great effects you can achieve, without too big an impact on wiring. Both your cinema room and dining/kitchen area could really benefit from this, I think. What do you think?

Another thing I didn't do with either the cinema or the bar was put in cat 5e network cable. Don't make the same mistake Dave, it's cheap, and very easy to do at this stage!

We have also decided not to have children and so the house is a perfect size for us to enjoy.

- Opposite to me. Now with wife no.2, so we suddenly found four between us - new house was a must, but budget meant it was one with er, plenty of scope for improvement......

Keep the updates and pics coming.

Cheers,
MarkP

[Dr Force]

Thanks for the input mark.

I could really do with some suggestions with lighting as at the moment the plan is to have GU10's on a dimmer in both the HC room and the new dinning room but I know you can achieve some fantastic results with a bit of planning at this stage so your advice and experience is most welcome.

I am completely unaware of the impact of cat5 runs throughout the new build.I am not sure if you just connect this to the BT master and add secondarys around the place or if I need a special Hub to house the outgoing cables.Again your input is most welcome.

Sorry but i am a bit of a novice when it comes to networking and automation

The kitchen is going to be a huge improvement as its just not sociable for the two of us let alone company, so creating a seating area will give us lots of enjoyment i am sure.

I have to say my good lady is taking all this in her stride whilst i am stressing a bit for some reason.We have 4 builders this morning tearing up the front, a huge grabber lorry taking soil away and there is tons of noise, just not use to it.Once the dirty bit is done though, it should be plain sailing and its defo going to be worth it in the end.

Right, I am off to work, back at lunch time and i'll try and upload some more pics I have taken

Dave

[THE_FORCE]

Glad you got the pic resizing sorted Dr F, this looks like it's gonna be a goodun !
Have you given yourself a time limit (ish) for completion, or are you gonna be doing it as and when ?

[Dr Force]

Originally Posted by THE_FORCE

Glad you got the pic resizing sorted Dr F, this looks like it's gonna be a goodun !
Have you given yourself a time limit (ish) for completion, or are you gonna be doing it as and when ?

Thanks Mr F

The build itself is going to take around 5-6 weeks according to the builder, which is pretty good going IMO considering there is a large front area that he is also sorting for us.

So weather permitting we should be water tight, plastered and complete by the beggining of April.as for the completion of the interior, i will do this in stages along with affordability.we tend to not borrow and have managed to save up the money to pay for the works outright, but things like my 2.5k PJ will have to wait a while as there are other priorities like a new kitchen before hand.

I will be getting my electric screen as this is going in the ceiling, the rest of my kit I already own so that saves alot in the short term so the only things to get are HDMI cables etc which is nothing realy.

I have already purchased all my electrical accessories which includes a 8G
20A DP grid, so I can switch all my kit on by these bank of switches as i walk through the door.

lots to think about but at the moment I just cannot wait for the ground works to be complete and the slab put in to FFL.

More Pics showing more progress.The blockwork is gong in as I type so will bring more to the thread tommorow.The first pic shows the water repair

[THE_FORCE]

Originally Posted by Dr Force

Thanks Mr F

The build itself is going to take around 5-6 weeks according to the builder, which is pretty good going IMO

...........we tend to not borrow and have managed to save up the money to pay for the works outright

That is damn good going ! It's amazing how much further builders and tradespeople go if you form a good relationship with them - i.e Bacon butty's and loadsa cups of char !

I agree with the borrowing money situation too. I know sometimes a loan can't be helped, but it just relieves alot of pressure when you know it's all bought and paid for, and why line the banks/lenders pockets even further ?!

Good luck

[Dr Force]

Originally Posted by THE_FORCE

That is damn good going ! It's amazing how much further builders and tradespeople go if you form a good relationship with them - i.e Bacon butty's and loadsa cups of char !

I agree with the borrowing money situation too. I know sometimes a loan can't be helped, but it just relieves alot of pressure when you know it's all bought and paid for, and why line the banks/lenders pockets even further ?!

Good luck

We have a superb relationship with our builder.It helps drawing up a small contract between the two of you, specifiying whats included and excluded in the overall price.This also states the payment arrangements so he's sort of working to small targets to get the chq's

We both sign it and know where we all stand

Unfortunately I cannot keep them in Bacon butty's and tea all day as we both work full time, but we leave them loads of goodies which do tend to go quickly.

I think its important to thank them for the hard work and that goes along way IMO, so i make a point of telling the builder how pleased we are with his efforts.

I do feel lucky that we have the cash to pay for it as more often than not its a re-mortgage and that is something we both wanted to avoid.Its hard earned but will be a decent investment and will give many years of enjoyment

Blocks whent in today and so we have a good feel for the dimensions having stood in the middle of it this evening.Quite compact but just right for what we wanted, the HC room will be a fantastic place to get away without having to worry about neighbours and bringing the film experience to the big screen

Dave

[icemandave]

if you need a civil engineer am only one pm away! going well dave 4-6 weeks thats good time is that with all the inside done aswell?

[Dr Force]

Originally Posted by icemandave

if you need a civil engineer am only one pm away! going well dave 4-6 weeks thats good time is that with all the inside done aswell?

Ok Dave I want a structural report on my desk within the hour

it will be plastered and finished with all the electrics done in that time.As for the kitchen, well thats a sort of get it done when we have saved a bit more.My screen will be in the ceiling so all I'll need is a good 1080p PJ (looking at the mitsubishi HC6000 as its got excellent processing) and a BR player.

Other than that, then yes, it will be complete in that time

By the way there is a good golf course only 2 miles away from my house so when you come down I'll give you a good thrashing at that as well as COD

[icemandave]

mybe jim but am quite good on the golf course use to live next to a golf courses 1st tee GAME ON!!

[Dr Force]

Originally Posted by icemandave

mybe jim but am quite good on the golf course use to live next to a golf courses 1st tee GAME ON!!

oh know what have I done

Errr is it ok if I utilise my 28 handicap.............I feel a golf event coming on, that is something we need to get sorted

Blocks are in so here are the pics.Seems small when you are in it but it always does when its at this level.

I have measured the internal walls which are 2.4m exactly less 100mm for my acoustic board either side it will fit a 92" diagonal screen (80"x40" viewing area) perfectly

[Dr Force]

Well after a bit of a mix up trying to order my screen, I finally made the purchase today via Walter at Direct2uk.

Its a grandview Cyber 1.1 gain, 16:9 ratio, Matt white, 80" x 45" ( 92" diagonal) electric screen.It comes with a free infrared remote and costs £250 delivered.

Delivery is 2 days and is free of charge so I feel its excellent value.Walter has been superb in his advice and patience over the past couple of months and I can thoroughly recommend his business.

I managed to order the wrong screen but he was still available whilst watching the rugby at 4:30 today and sorted it all out there and then........................brilliant IMO

Will update once the concrete is poured for the floor.

[MarkP80]

Hi Dave,

Crikey, this is going along at some pace. At this rate, it'll be built before you get any replies!

Sorry but i am a bit of a novice when it comes to networking and automation

- me too, I just spend far too much time reading all the subfourms here!

I am completely unaware of the impact of cat5 runs throughout the new build.I am not sure if you just connect this to the BT master and add secondarys around the place or if I need a special Hub to house the outgoing cables.

- It does depend on your setup and what you want to achieve. I'm not familiar with the BT system. How does your PC connect to the net, is it an ethernet cable into a modem/router?
All you need is a router at the point of entry of your internet connection, and run a cat 5e cable to this point from all your users. Then, all your network users connect into this router - the router handles all the clever stuff of passing the packets of information to the right place, at the right time.

Say you have a media streamer in the cinema room (More of this later). This will have an ethernet connection back to the router. Your PC also connects to the router. You will then be able to -
access the internet as usual with your pc
access the internet with the streamer
access media on your pc with you streamer (films, music, photos etc)

The cable terminates in a telephone-style backbox, with a simple insertion tool.

For specific advice on what you actually need for a BT connection, it's worth having a look on the computers/networking subforum. This really is fairly simple to set up, and there's loads of advice there.

I'll need is a good 1080p PJ (looking at the mitsubishi HC6000 as its got excellent processing)

- don't forget to check the zoom capabilites of any projector you're considering. You don't want to buy one and find you can't fill your screen!

a BR player.

- If I were you, I'd really consider a PS3 for this duty. The great thing about them is they are readily upgraded via firmware updates (via the internet connection), and are reckoned to be one of the best BR players. Competitively priced too. But, they come into their own when you consider media playback too.

How about having all your digital photos on your pc, then using the PS3 to show them as a slideshow on your tv/prjector, streaming them over the network? At the same time, the PS3 will stream music from all those CDs you ripped to MP3 stored on your PC - all displayed on a menu on the screen.

Oh, the PS3 will stream HD media too (there's some long threads on this.)

See why I suggest putting the ethernet cable in? As you may have guessed, I'm already kicking myself.

[MarkP80]

I could really do with some suggestions with lighting as at the moment the plan is to have GU10's on a dimmer in both the HC room and the new dinning room but I know you can achieve some fantastic results with a bit of planning at this stage

- Best bet is to have a look around for some ideas Dave. If you have an array of halogen downlights, you can put them in groups on different circuits. This allows you to have different functions - maybe just one or two on above you dining table for example.

You can put downlights in your screen pelmet (if you have one) which can wash the screen wall when it's not in use. Or drop the coving a few inches and put lights in this to wash onto the ceiling.

I see you've bought an 8G switch grid. As an alternative, you could have gone for something like a Rako controller. With this, you set up "themes", which are preset lighting setups. The panel has say 4 buttons, each programmed to put the lights on in a different way. Say 1 is all lights on, 2 is main lights on at 50%, wall lights at 50% etc. Bit more expensive, but works via fm radio, so no fancy wiring, just a relay in the supply to each set of lights. Depends what you want to achieve really.

Rako

For a few ideas, have a look at these websites, there are some great setups.

LED lights

More demos

And have a look at the home automation and lighting subforum too!

HTH,
MarkP

[Dr Force]

Hi mark

many thanks for an informative and comprehensive couple of posts

I will have a browse around the relevant forums for a bit more detail on the lighting, although I have to admit to sort of wanting to keep it a quite simplistic and certainly cost effective.

I like the idea of having seperate circuits for various area's in the HC room, around the screen and also maybe in cabinets, but its a pretty compact size so I dont want to over complicate matters.A great suggestion and something I will consider nearer the time

CAT5 seems quite easy so I think this is a good idea to have points placed in strategic places around the place, I will also add some more BT secondarys.

The PJ has a longest throw distance of 4.5m from the lens to the screen,My screen will be around 1ft from the wall, the distance to my back wall is 4.3m so by my reckoning I'll have about 1/2m to spare so should be spot on.If this is still too little i may yet ceiling mount.

PS3 is a great call for the BR player, I hear nothing but great things regarding this over at the Hi-def players forum so for £280 i could be purchasing this soon, but need to start collecting some BR discs first

I could do with some more advice.I have Sky HD and want the HD picture on the PJ but just want SD on the plasma in the lounge and a small recessed TV in the new dinning area.The Box will be placed on the rear wall of the HC room (look on the plans), the plasma is in the corner of the lounge (top right as you look) and the small LCD will be directly opposite the Dinning room entrance on the back wall.

Is this very difficult to do with one box and do I need magic eyes etc, any advice on running cables etc is much appreciated.

OK we dropped a bit of a clanger on the builder this morning as we decided to replace the whole of the old pot waste pipe for the new plastic ones ( he had recommended it before the foundations were poured, but I was not listening properly) as its going under the extension and I dont want to risk it cracking and causing hell at a later date.He took it all in his stride but had to dig by hand as the digger was left at the yard and was not anicipating using it.

Hard work but its done and will now fill in the trench and the concrete is booked in to be poured on Wednesday AM

Its going well but its a job keeping everything clean and tidy.

[MarkP80]

Hi Dave,

The PJ has a longest throw distance of 4.5m from the lens to the screen,My screen will be around 1ft from the wall, the distance to my back wall is 4.3m so by my reckoning I'll have about 1/2m to spare so should be spot on.If this is still too little i may yet ceiling mount.

- I think I might not have made myself clear. My concern isn't throw distance as such, more the size of projected image you can achieve at different throw distances. When you set your projector up at a given distance, you will get an image on the wall of a specific size. You then use the projector zoom to adjust this size to suit your screen. The problem is, the range of this zoom is quite limited, so the projector needs careflu positioning to ensure the image size suits the screen size.

Now, it sounds as if you are at the back distance for your selected projector, so you should get a big enough image, but will it be too big? - You might need to position the projector closer - do you see what I mean? You need to check this for your selected projector. Either go to the manufaturer's website and see if you can check in the operating manual, or I think there's a website called www.projectorcentral.com (or something very like that) that has data for a huge range of projectors.

I like the idea of having seperate circuits for various area's in the HC room, around the screen and also maybe in cabinets, but its a pretty compact size so I dont want to over complicate matters.

- Quite right, it's easy to go over the top. Noodleman sells some interesting LED strips in the lighting powerbuys forum. Worth a look at for maybe washing down from the screen pelmet. The good thing with these is that they operate completely from an RF remote, so very easy to install. Like you say, one to think about.

i could be purchasing this soon, but need to start collecting some BR discs first

- I was about a day away from pulling the trigger on that same Tosh HD-DVD player when the Warner announcement came out.

I could do with some more advice.I have Sky HD and want the HD picture on the PJ but just want SD on the plasma in the lounge and a small recessed TV in the new dinning area.

- Hm, can't help other than to say I think you can do it. I have cable, and you can with that. One important thing is to get good quality cable though. I would go for CT100/PF100 cable rather than just "sat approved" (check on those grades, that's from memory). There's some good advice here -
http://www.satcure.co.uk/tech/split.htm

OK we dropped a bit of a clanger on the builder this morning.....He took it all in his stride but had to dig by hand

- Ooh, I can hear those variation costs adding up by the second......

Cheers,
MarkP

[Dr Force]

Hi mark

Thanks for clearing up the PJ throw etc.

I have looked on the HC6000 manual which is still unclear with regards to distance and zoom and all rather confusing.I suppose the best bet is to think about ceiling mounting rather than have it off a shelf on the back wall.I want to fill the whole screen obviously and so need some assurance that I can acheive a full image from around 4m.

I would rather have it sat on a shelf as it keeps the ceiling "clean" if you know what i mean but its a good call to educate myself with regards to PJ/screen set up

All my AV gear will also be put behind us so I need some sort of infra-red deflector to enable me to point the controls away from them but still work perfectly.

The hardcore, back filling, blue courses and insulation whent in today and the concrete is being poured tomorrow.Its nice now i have a small perimeter course of bricks as you get a much better feel for space.

My screen arrived this morning from Walter at direct2u,ordered Saturday and delivered today

Finally I was thinking of adding an inceiling speaker to give me 6.1 with the surrounds up around 2ft above ear level but on the side walls in line with the ears, and the in ceiling slap back in the middle of the sofa just to add a bit more ambience.

Alot of talk regarding planning what and where but I want to get it right(with everyone else's help)

As for the variations, well so far he has charged us an extra £300 for the new soil pipe etc and £900 to completely dig up the front and put down 20 tons of hardcore in preperation for block paving /gravel.

more pics tomorrow

[Dr Force]

Oh my God

The whole house just shook us out of bed

Thought it was coming down on us, we literally vibrated out, it was unbeleiveable.

looked on here and the news and it was an earthquake, the worst I have ever experienced in the UK

As though we are not stressed enough

[MarkP80]

Oh my God

The whole house just shook us out of bed

- And in the panic you thought "What has the builder done to our foundations!"

Woman texted into the radio and just said "First time in 28 years of marriage" - think about it.....

MarkP

[Shockabuku]

Yeah, been watching it on the news this morning. Look on the bright side, at least your projector wasn't hanging from the ceiling yet