[nathsea]

Hi all

I hope you can help I`m new to all this but just convinced the girlfriend that the old brick built workshop could be turned in to a theatre

The shed is 7` x 14` and is single brick. I want to purchase a cheap second hand crt projector and start from there slowly building my kit up as and when i have spare cash, obviously i`m on a budget but is there anything you suggest i should do?
I intend on putting plasterboard on the walls and running all of the cables behind this and I will also plasterboard the ceiling

All ideas appreciated



Nathan!!!

[ReTrO]

You'll want to loose a bit of the length of the room a 2:1 ratio is not good. How high is this room?

Ideally you want 2:3:5 ratio for height : width : depth.

[ReTrO]

Also wire etc. for anything you think you may want later, or at least have cable pulls in conduit or similar for extra speakers etc.

[nathsea]

thanks for your reply,

I was thinking about putting a desk at one end and having the seating position further forward, would this make any difference or is it the actual dimensions of the room the room is about 7.5` high

Many Thanks for your help

[ReTrO]

Providing the desk and sofa are fairly substaintial I'm sure that would help.

I'll let others comment before adding anything else for now. Get some others ideas.

You could always bring out the screen wall such that you can have the speakers level with/behind the csreen.

[menalaus]

nathsea, read my reply to gallus23's thread 'to cool or not to cool' cause the same will probably apply to your project.

[nathsea]

menalaus,
Your absoloutely correct hadn`t even thought about that, is there anyway around could you put a damp-proof membrane down first? How could I stop the damp creeping up the walls.

Blimey all these things to think about and I haven`t even started yet!!

I think I might be asking for lots of help if you lot don`t mind

Many Thanks

Nathan

[menalaus]

i guess you could lay a membrane on the existing surface and put down a skim onto that. you would have to be careful to leave a gap inbetween the wall and the new surface to prevent and ground moisture from under the floor being draw up the walls (rather like a wick effect) , and also that the skim dose not come above the damp proof course in the wall. air bricks in the walls may not be a bad idea.
in my limited experience houses, especialy older properties need to breath (for want of a better description) in order to prevent damp build up. most problems i have come across in owning and living in older houses have been caused by previous owners not taking this into account.
it is very difficult to be of any practical use without seeing the problems first hand so dont take any advice as soild fact for your indiviual situation.having said that dont always trust a 'proffessional' who spends 5 minutes waveing round a damp meter then trys to flogg you £3k damp proof system e.g a damp internal wall may be caused by nothing more sinister than lose guttering.
if your going to do the job theres nothing to say you couldnt get quotes from builders etc see what they say then do the job yourself.
jobs like this do take time to do properly i.e not just a weekend so my advice would be dont start if you cant finish it to the level you want, you dont want to be on the next run of DIY SOS!

[WBC]

I've been thinking of doing something similar with my garage. Was thinking more of a games room than a theatre setup.

I have spoken to quite a few people (friends) in the building trade and they have nearly all said the easiest solution is to paint all of the wall surfaces and concrete floor with a weatherproofing paint (bituman type??).

This will stop the moisture getting into the building.

I had planned to paint the floor and walls with the bituman and then lay concrete floor tiles and then batten and plasterboard the walls.


Anyone got any reason why this wouldn't work???

Thanks
Stace

[menalaus]

yes this may work very well in the short (to medium) term however the moisture will still be there and depending on whether the garage is part of the original build or a later extension there may or may not be a damp proof course on the internal wall of the garage. this may lead to a wick affect occuring and over time damp appearing on the internal wall of the house.

the following is in no way ment to cause offense to any builders out there but you must remember that thay are not the ones who will be living in your house in 5/10 years time and quick solutions can cause long term hassal. in my experience of living and renovating old houses alot of problems are caused by people not thinking through what thay do and how it may impact on other areas.

i may well err on the side of caution but to me there is no job more annoying than having to re do a job that you should have done properly the first time around.

[WBC]

menalaus

In my case the garage is external and detached from the house.

I did ask the questions about where the moisture goes (it has to go somewhere!!) and the answer was that is would basically escape on the outer side of the brickwork!!???????

As the outside walls were rendered, the brickwork could still 'breathe'. This in theory would stop damp inside the room.

Does that sound about right???


Stace

The best way to ensure you have no damp problems is to use a cavity wall. This could be either blocks or a timber frame (with a DPM) with wall ties used to hold onto your external bricks. A further damp proof membrane would be needed on the floor which would then idealy be insulated and chipboard flooring laid.
As menalaus says, it is far better to make a decent job the first time than suffer later.
Check out my website here to see the work I had to do converting my carport into a room, building regs were needed for my work which meant more expense.

>>How could I stop the damp creeping up the walls.<<

Assuming that this out building was built with no form of 'damp course' at all, you could hire the kit to do a DIY chemical injection.
There may also be an issue with dampness being forced through the single course of brick during sustained inclement weather.
If you allow anything to form a bridge by contact with a damp surface, you can bet your bottom dollar that eventually the damp will penetrate. The trouble with bitumin type paint is that to be any bit effective you have to form an unbroken layer. This is difficult on anything other than a nice flat surface. I know, i've tried.

I'd consider some form of weatherproofing the outside of the building too. Sustained inclement weather can drive dampness (as opposed to rising damp) well into a single course of some types of bricks depending on their design, condition and of course the overall build quality.

[Jonny1973]

Originally posted by Zig

Check out my website here to see the work I had to do converting my carport into a room, building regs were needed for my work which meant more expense.

Very nice job, Zig!!!!

Originally posted by Jonny1973
Very nice job, Zig!!!!

Thanks Jonny, it sure beats sitting in the living room with the woman

[Babylon]

Would putting a false floor down work,i.e-something like 4 by 2 beams, then MDF or chipboard sheets and some air bricks in the wall below this.