From beginning to end - wet to dry!

DaddyR

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This is the cellar in our wonderful house. It was very badly tanked so after the 3rd time that heavy rain caused impromptu paddling pools to form we bit the bullet and invested in a very expensive, but incredibly worthwhile non-permeable membrane that allowed us to install what we've always desired, a home cinema. The work took ages, partly because of Covid preventing our wonderful builder from accessing the building for months. But it's been in place for a few months now and has withstood torrential rain and is just wonderful. We have an Optoma UHD51 projector beaming onto a 91 inch Spitfire fixed screen. A Denon 3700 amp controls the A/V and there is a 5.1.4 speaker setup with Q Acoustic Concept fronts, center and rears, Q Acoustic ceiling speakers for Atmos and a Klipsch subwoofer. The range of AV kit looks like cable hell, but it's hidden behind the sliding doors. The only "in hindsight" change I would make would be to use darker paint, we thought we would use the room for other reasons, but it's clear it will only ever be a cinema. But that's relatively easy to sort.

Here's a sequence of photos showing all of the stages. I'm happy to answer any questions but can't promise to be able to answer them all!
 

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And here's the second (prettier) set of photos.
 

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Congrats.

The only "in hindsight" change I would make would be to use darker paint, we thought we would use the room for other reasons, but it's clear it will only ever be a cinema. But that's relatively easy to sort.
Or, use black material instead of a darker paint, to get the best image.

What size is the room?
 
Congrats.


Or, use black material instead of a darker paint, to get the best image.

What size is the room?
It's 3.15m projector to screen and 3.75m door to sliding cupboard doors. Like most rooms we've compromised - we had to create storage space in the house hence turning the far wall into cupboards, but that also meant we could hide the AV kit and cables in that same space.

What black material were you thinking?
 
It's 3.15m projector to screen and 3.75m door to sliding cupboard doors.
Ah that's quite compact. It's usually better to have the screen on the thinner wall, but I imagine your sliding cupboard doors prevent that now.


What black material were you thinking?
There are quite a lot to choose from. The problem with paint is that it's reflective. Even Matt paint is a bit reflective, and it also marks super easily. Of course you may not want a black room, but it does lead to the best screen image, so many of us with a dedicated room like yours, choose black.

Have a search across the forum for discussions on black material, and also check out some example builds. I'll post some links if I find them.

Here's one:
 
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Hi I always wonder with these types of basements, is there some sort of alarm to alert you should the sump pump fail and is the pump easy to get at to replace it if needs be?
 
Hi I always wonder with these types of basements, is there some sort of alarm to alert you should the sump pump fail and is the pump easy to get at to replace it if needs be?
Mine had an alarm if the water level got too high in the sump (and hence the pump not working).
It only ever went off once, when a pipe from the pump disconnected and the pump was working but was obviously just pumping the water back into the sump. Fortunately i was in the house at the time and heard it so could take action by reconnecting the pipe.
For my conversion i could access the sump/pump in few minutes and a little hassle but was doable.
 
Mine had an alarm if the water level got too high in the sump (and hence the pump not working).
It only ever went off once, when a pipe from the pump disconnected and the pump was working but was obviously just pumping the water back into the sump. Fortunately i was in the house at the time and heard it so could take action by reconnecting the pipe.
For my conversion i could access the sump/pump in few minutes and a little hassle but was doable.
Likewise - it's get an alarm and also requires an annual check up. Similarly, the sump is accessible relatively easily, the builder put a "manhole" cover / hatch into the wooden floor, with sized insulation and then the sump has a fitted cover over it. To get in I would have to move the sofa slightly, roll the rug back, unscrew the two screws, pry the hatch open (that's the hard bit as it is understandably fitted well and heavy) and then use the levers on the lid to get to the pump / sump. It's been in about a year and no need to access it (other than for curiosity after a very heavy rainfall).
 
Ah that's quite compact. It's usually better to have the screen on the thinner wall, but I imagine your sliding cupboard doors prevent that now.



There are quite a lot to choose from. The problem with paint is that it's reflective. Even Matt paint is a bit reflective, and it also marks super easily. Of course you may not want a black room, but it does lead to the best screen image, so many of us with a dedicated room like yours, choose black.

Have a search across the forum for discussions on black material, and also check out some example builds. I'll post some links if I find them.

Here's one:
It was a combination of reasons we went narrower - the need for storage was one (they are about 80cm deep), but the doorway position (opposite the sliding doors) would have meant the sofa was some way into the room anyway so you would have lost most of the distance you'd gained. There is also a steel lintel running the length of the room (that was an unexpected but hugely important cost, caused by the previous owner enthusiastically removing an internal wall in the cellar, but prevents the kitchen falling in!) which would have made things more awkward for hanging the screen and projector. We're aware that the way we've got it is suboptimal for audio (the 4 ceiling speakers are probably overkill, in hindsight 2 would have been fine) but we're very happy with the compromise we've made.

Thanks for the dark material info. We thought we would have space in the room for other purposes (at one point, space for an office desk), hence the lighter shade for now. During it's life, it will need a repaint, so that will be the time to make it darker. Because of the non-permeable membrane, we've got to be very careful about what gets hung on the wall so as not to pierce it (the pictures are held up with sticky Velcro strips, the shelves are attached to specifically placed batons), so painting rather than hanging will always be easier.
 

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