Dedicated room transformation of built-under garage

"A little bit" of Rockwool for the insulation of the walls, ceiling and floor (there are already 3 packs of 75mm in the ceiling behind the floorboards above). 50mm Rockfloor acoustic 175kg/m3 being used as a resilient layer between the 2 layers of chipboard + tecsound and 100mm of Celotex foam in the bottom of the garage floor.
 

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"A little bit" of Rockwool for the insulation of the walls, ceiling and floor (there are already 3 packs of 75mm in the ceiling behind the floorboards). 50mm Rockfloor acoustic 175kg/m3 being used as a resilient layer between the 2 layers of chipboard + tecsound and 100mm of Celotex foam in the bottom of the garage floor.
Rockwool heaven[emoji106]
 
"A little bit" of Rockwool for the insulation of the walls, ceiling and floor (there are already 3 packs of 75mm in the ceiling behind the floorboards above). 50mm Rockfloor acoustic 175kg/m3 being used as a resilient layer between the 2 layers of chipboard + tecsound and 100mm of Celotex foam in the bottom of the garage floor.

Ah, brings back memories :D
 
Just looking at it makes me itch. Builders are back on Monday, getting the insulation cut and installed is going to be one of their first jobs. Rather them than me.
It's not all that bad and actially isn't that itchy either.

I've just put 150mm of the stuff in the ceiling above my living room.

Nate
 
It's not all that bad and actially isn't that itchy either.

I've just put 150mm of the stuff in the ceiling above my living room.

Nate
I dislike it, but from what I understand it is better than fibreglass of old so mustn't grumble. Worse than the itching, every time I make the mistake of picking up a bale to move it without gloves on I manage to get a tiny metallic splinter in my finger!
 
I dislike it, but from what I understand it is better than fibreglass of old so mustn't grumble. Worse than the itching, every time I make the mistake of picking up a bale to move it without gloves on I manage to get a tiny metallic splinter in my finger!
Ah yes - gloves are a must!
 
Had a few moments to do an update...

Slim backer boxes being made with an 18mm ply frame with a 12.5mm fireline plasterboard back and sides, with a couple of strips of Tecsound just to try and dampen it a little. A couple of strips of RW3 will be laid across the back of it too. The clearance isn't great, though the whole room will sag a couple of mm once the board goes on
Screen Shot 2018-04-25 at 20.35.01.png


These are only 47mm deep internal which with the ceiling makeup will be >just< enough to take the DT ceiling speakers. Internal dims 400x390x47mm.

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Locations put up for up to 4x Ceiling speakers, but we're initially going with 2. Also an 18mm ply plate to give something for the projector mount to attach to.
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Plasterboard ready to start going up on the walls tomorrow. This isn't all of it. 2x15mm to side walls with TS50 in between layers, 2x12.5mm to the ceiling with TS50 between layers, plus an additional layer at the back of the room for a lighting channel. The front of the room will have a fabric panel above the screen.
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Lighting wise, @MultiroomMedia has come up with something really neat, a plastered-in lighting channel which takes a strip of RGB LED tape. We're having a strip of this down each side of the room in the ceiling, pointing at the wall. It has a reflector that directs some light down and some to the walls, which should give a nice diffuse light in the room without any glaring spotlights (or holes to try and fix in the ceiling).

Some piccies of the light channel jury-rigged up with just some black cloth hanging down. The purple square in one of the pics is the actual colour we're going for at the back 2/3 of the room, with the front 1/3 going black.
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In other news Building Control came out for the first time and were quite happy it seems. Only two things they raised were:
  • fire alarm - they want some way for people in the room to know there is a fire, given the soundproofing etc
  • fresh air - which they were quite happy to be in the form of a background ventilator setup (ie passive with no fan).
Neither of these seem too onerous and are both sensible suggestions.
 
Great progress..... I'm crying right now :(
It's taken me this long to get not quite caught up with you, so I'm not doing that brilliantly! And if I'm honest, I might have preferred a more leisurely approach, this has all been a bit quick for someone who likes to procrastinate over everything. I'm looking forward to you starting up again. Is it on the cards?

Do you have a link for those channels? They look AMAZING!
It's this one:
LED-Profilelement: R10-F
I'm excited about it. Unfortunately the room isn't very wide, so it is all a bit close with the AC unit, lighting channel and Atmos speakers; they're all a little compromised. Very hard to visualise it, but I'm sure it will look good.
 
It's taken me this long to get not quite caught up with you, so I'm not doing that brilliantly! And if I'm honest, I might have preferred a more leisurely approach, this has all been a bit quick for someone who likes to procrastinate over everything. I'm looking forward to you starting up again. Is it on the cards?
Well you could spend years researching, debating, and going round in circles - I think you've moved forward pretty quickly considering the challenges you've had to overcome. Don't forget that I'd already converted my garage once, so part of the work had been done.

Hoping to start again soon, with a bit of luck!
 
It's taken me this long to get not quite caught up with you, so I'm not doing that brilliantly! And if I'm honest, I might have preferred a more leisurely approach, this has all been a bit quick for someone who likes to procrastinate over everything. I'm looking forward to you starting up again. Is it on the cards?.

You are both going gang busters compared to my glacial progress!

Just checked the dates in my photo diary......builders started tearing out the old office in my garage Oct 2015, watched my first movie June 2017 and still some details to finish :)
 
In other news Building Control came out for the first time and were quite happy it seems. Only two things they raised were:
  • fire alarm - they want some way for people in the room to know there is a fire, given the soundproofing etc
I don't know what fire alarm system you already have (if any) in your existing property? The most basic domestic systems normally favour quite a large head detector heads, and usually white in colour. More advance fire alarm systems, are physically smaller and can be coloured (i.e. black), but vastly more expensive.

Would BC allow the head, just outside your entry door, they are quite loud. Be interested in your solution.
 
I had to have wired ceiling mounted smoke / heat detectors installed in each habitable room when I had a loft conversion, so have one in the cinema room. It's white, and has a green led that is permanently on, and a red led that flashes occasionally when it 'communicates' with the other detectors. It was near the door which is towards the front of the room, so have had it moved further back behind the MLP. I'll attempt to paint the case the same colour as the ceiling as well.

It is possible to configure Hue to flash the lights on a trigger, either from another 'smart' smoke detector / fire alarm (do Nest do something?), or using something like IFTTT. Not sure if BC would accept that though.
 
Requirements for smoke alarms vary, dependant on the type of building & use.

In a simple domestic property, a new build would require a minimum to Grade D, Category LD3, which is effectively an alarm in the escape routes, typically hall & landing & possibly kitchen. Of course your BI might have particular views, and the internal layout might introduce anomalies, like a vaulted ceiling.

I'm no expect, and when installing such a simple system, I seek advice from a manufacturer. I use Aico.

I know some more complicated systems use visual alarms (for the hard of hearing for example), but that require some expertise to design. I have no knowledge of the Nest or similar systems.

I wouldn't attempt to paint any head (IMO), as it might prevent the correct operation of the device. I would speak to the manufacturer & seek advice on that.
 
Thanks for the info on smoke alarms. At the moment we just have individual 10 year battery units in each hallway / kitchen. Will have to look into it a bit more.

They've been busy today - 1 layer of PB on and the ceiling Tecsounded (which was a hideous job according to the chaps).

Looking more and more room like...
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I can already barely hear the ghetto blaster in the garage in my boys room above, which is great, given there are leaks everywhere at the mo. I'm pretty hopeful for a good result here. I guess it will get better when all boarded, and then worse once we open up the ceiling speaker locations. I think it is going to be good enough though.
 
What's the time frame estimation on this?
Really starting to take shape.
You must be itching to get kit in and running!

Have you decided on first film to watch? Don't want to be uming and arrhing when the time to 'fire up the quattro' comes!
 
All BC will require is an interlinked alarm in the cinema room with a detector on the means of escape (MoE) outside the door to the cinema. Very unlikely they will require an alarm with inbuilt visual warning as the smoke alarms dB upon activation will be sufficient even at reference levels.
 
All BC will require is an interlinked alarm in the cinema room with a detector on the means of escape (MoE) outside the door to the cinema. Very unlikely they will require an alarm with inbuilt visual warning as the smoke alarms dB upon activation will be sufficient even at reference levels.

A Grade D, Category LD3 system (England & Wales) only requires detectors in escape routes, although BS 5389-6 2013 (I think) recommends LD2 system in most properties. with alarms in high risk areas , such as living rooms & kitchens. A converted garage could be conceived as on of the high risk areas.

The BCI guy seems to think the soundproofing would make the interlinked alarms inaudible, unlikely but its these guys you have to please.

The issue for the OP, is placement of a large white detector head (typical of most domestic systems) in his beautifully decorated cinema room.
 
The BCI guy seems to think the soundproofing would make the interlinked alarms inaudible, unlikely but its these guys you have to please.

The issue for the OP, is placement of a large white detector head (typical of most domestic systems) in his beautifully decorated cinema room.

Placing the detector head above the MLP would reduce the distraction somewhat, and some of the higher-end systems like the Nest are more pleasant to look at than the basic stuff contractors throw up.

The interlinked alarms can be both detector and siren - so it would be audible in the cinema room regardless of the soundproofing or audio levels. The possibility of linking them to other smart home devices means you could even configure the system to power off the AV rack in the event of an alarm.

Nate
 
A Grade D, Category LD3 system (England & Wales) only requires detectors in escape routes, although BS 5389-6 2013 (I think) recommends LD2 system in most properties. with alarms in high risk areas , such as living rooms & kitchens. A converted garage could be conceived as on of the high risk areas.

The BCI guy seems to think the soundproofing would make the interlinked alarms inaudible, unlikely but its these guys you have to please.

The issue for the OP, is placement of a large white detector head (typical of most domestic systems) in his beautifully decorated cinema room.

I agree completely but the interlinked alarms will sound in each room giving early warning to anyone in the cinema room. If the MoE are 30min fire resisting all should be good.
 
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I agree completely but the interlinked alarms will sound in each room giving early warning to anyone in the cinema room. If the MoE are 30min fore resisting all should be good.

Think we might be at cross purposes.

An LD3 system, wouldn't place an alarm normally in a habitable room, just in escape routes. A interlinked detector place within 3m of said habitale room (in the escape route) would be heard in the habitable room; agreed you would have to be profoundly deaf not to hear it.

It appears that the BI view is that the soundproofing of the new cinema room, would prevent the occupants of cinema room being unable to hear such a located detector(s) in the rest of the property sound, unfounded in my experience of such alarms. Therefore the view of the BI, is that a detector should be located in the cinema room room (LD2).
 

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