Home Build - Dedicated Garden Room Cinema

daverichards

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Hi All

Firstly a massive thanks for the forum for a lot of inspiration over the years. Whilst I am not an overly active participant in discussion I am an avid lurker and have been for many years. I have spent countless hours admiring peoples home cinemas and how they evolve over time. I moved into a victorian semi about 5 years ago and it meant any dream of home cinema was likely never to come to fruition. I even had a 50" TV when we moved in that immediately got downgraded to a 32" to not look ridiculous in our living room. In many ways it was the perfect decision because now our living room looks lovely, however, it meant I never really enjoyed films like I used to on my large (ish) screen and relatively budget friendly 5.1 that I had in my old flat. It just felt so flat and lacked any immersion. Needless to say it meant that my film viewing dropped considerably unless it was at the cinema.

Fast forward 5 years and what was a wasted space at the bottom of my garden (circa 100ft) became the dream site for a home cinema. It really started as a dream and I never thought it would become a reality, I really didn't. I talked about it a fair amount with one of my best friends and one day he said 'you know what, lets just do it' and the rest is history. We started in the late summer on odd days and afternoons here and there and overall it took about 3 months to finish. If we had done it full time we could have probably done it in a couple of weeks. Materials were sometimes hard to source during covid with supply constraints but with some help from Travis Perkins they sorted us out.

Worth noting that I have barely done anything more than put a shelf up before so to say this feels like an epic achievement would be an understatement. I have learnt a LOT. I am extremely lucky to have my friend Rob as he's been the mastermind behind all of the structural pieces and with a combo of great DIY skills and a mind for this sort of thing (plus a fair amount of Youtube videos) we managed it. I basically just did what I was told...and inhaled an incredible amount of Celotex dust!

The real sad note is that Rob is still yet to experience the cinema in all its glory since he is unable to visit due to covid restrictions. Hopefully soon we can enjoy a movie and a beer together to culminate this amazing project.

Kit list:
115" Cinemascope screen
JVC X5900 projector (calibrated)
Marantz 7010
KEF R100 L/R
KEF R200C Centre
BK Subwoofer
KEF in ceiling and in wall rears for surround and atmos
Panasonic 820 Blu Ray player
Apple TV
Hard wired ethernet and router for wifi

Room size (int) 4.8m x 3.1m

Paint - all from Lick and I highly recommend it. So lovely to use. Black on the screen wall and green grey on the walls

For anyone who is interested, the total build cost a tad over £7k including plastering, electrics, paint and carpet. The kit and sofa etc are on top of that of course but for anyone wanting to have a go I thought it might be a useful especially when you can pay £20k+ for someone else to build it for you!

I feel like pictures can do most of the talking - but thanks to everyone I've DM'd or asked for help from on their own posts - you've all been ace and you helped me get to where we are today. I plan to enjoy this for a very long time and the viewing experience is every bit as sweet as I imagined it might be

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Looks awesome mate congratulations, what a wonderful achievement.

What colour did you decide on for the ceiling in the end?
 
Thanks buddy. Appreciate it. Certainly sitting in there watching a film makes it feel epic indeed.

It's called dark greeny grey from Lick paints. It's the same paint used on the walls
 
Well done mate this looks lovely. I was looking to do the same this year but COVID messed up the plans as I had builders planned.
hopefully I might star this March fingers crossed.
 
Thanks buddy. Yeah do it. It's a real event 'going down to the cinema' as well now. Really quite fun. Also love that we don't have to worry about annoying anyone as it's quite far from anyone's house and you have to be standing pretty close to hear it
 
Fantastic. Great little room for such a modest budget, built in good time too.

The sofa shape seems like an unusual choice?
 
Another garden cinema, really can’t recommend an outbuilding enough. I’m listening at reference level and not a care in the world about disturbing anyone!!

congrats Mate, you’ll love it for many years!
 
Looks absolutely awesome. :thumbsup: :thumbsup:
 
Nice work! Must really be a dream come true. In the world we are currently in a private space to play movies like in the theater is a real treat. Especially when you can play at reference levels!
 
Fantastic room well done
 
Well done mate this looks lovely. I was looking to do the same this year but COVID messed up the plans as I had builders planned.
hopefully I might star this March fingers crossed.

Well it looks like you'll have plenty of time in 2021 as well :). Thanks for the kind words
 
Nice work! Must really be a dream come true. In the world we are currently in a private space to play movies like in the theater is a real treat. Especially when you can play at reference levels!

Thank you! Agreed, right now the timing could not have been better. Sitting down there without fear of annoying anyone is really lovely and a first for me
 
Fantastic. Great little room for such a modest budget, built in good time too.

The sofa shape seems like an unusual choice?

We wanted a corner sofa. It's only my wife and I and she loves to lounge and doesn't care about audio etc. She enjoys it all but I sit in the middle (the right of the sofa in that pic) so I am right in the action
 
Great looking job, well done. Oh for a flat garden.

Do you mind if I comment as an R200C owner. If you bring the speaker forward on top of the cabinet and have it sitting proud of the front edge by around 25mm it will make a difference to the sound. Made a difference when I made the same adjustment several years ago.
 
Great looking job, well done. Oh for a flat garden.

Do you mind if I comment as an R200C owner. If you bring the speaker forward on top of the cabinet and have it sitting proud of the front edge by around 25mm it will make a difference to the sound. Made a difference when I made the same adjustment several years ago.

Thank you. Haha yeah a flat garden was a dream quite frankly!

Oh really? That's interesting. You think it wasn't interacting well with the surface below? I'll try that! I also want to get it a bit higher so will probably buy a higher base for it
 
Thank you. Haha yeah a flat garden was a dream quite frankly!

Oh really? That's interesting. You think it wasn't interacting well with the surface below? I'll try that! I also want to get it a bit higher so will probably buy a higher base for it
Yes certainly. My cabinet is higher than yours, I also have R300s sitting on there as well. I usual Fisual isolation feet under all of the speakers. All the speakers are sitting proud of the front edge. Living room set up. No flat garden when you live on the side of a mountain.:(
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That looks fantastic, well done. Can I ask what system you used to rest the floor frame on?
 
That looks fantastic, well done. Can I ask what system you used to rest the floor frame on?

I was just about to ask the same thing.

My current one has a useless insulated slab, but I'm eager to start another with a raised floor
 
That looks absolutely fantastic. I'm jealous, and I already have a dedicated cinema room. Certainly food for thought for the future!

Can I ask what you've done about security, and heating?
 
Yes certainly. My cabinet is higher than yours, I also have R300s sitting on there as well. I usual Fisual isolation feet under all of the speakers. All the speakers are sitting proud of the front edge. Living room set up. No flat garden when you live on the side of a mountain.:(
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Top tip thank you. What are the upfiring speakers? How are they working out for you?
 
That looks absolutely fantastic. I'm jealous, and I already have a dedicated cinema room. Certainly food for thought for the future!

Can I ask what you've done about security, and heating?

Ha ha, thanks. It really has been a joy.

Security is still TBD. I was unsure of what to do, simple YALE system or camera. I have PIR lights a a pretty decent locking system on the doors but I figure its covered by my home insurance as well

Heating is electric and I have a 1.2kw wifi enabled heater which works well and I can control it remotely of course
 

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