My Basement HT...Starts Here!

ollyitfc

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So we have just purchased a house with a basement. It is however technically a terrace house. The first stage was to carefully dismantle the Electric/Water cupboard (As Pictured). I'm then planning on taking down the ceiling as it sounds like a drum, to fit some Rockwool and floating ceiling, whilst I'm at it I can run some speaker cable through for the ceiling speakers. From anyone's experience, would it be a good idea to also strip the plasterboard from the side walls (connected to neighbours) and fill them whilst I'm at it? I'm building a fabric tracked wall on top of it anyway, but it would enable me to separate the plasterboard from the studs with resilient channels, then build the second wall with no plasterboard, just Rockwool and a Fabric Track system? Any advice appreciated, I'll keep the link updated when I receive the PJ next week.
 

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Pics so far
 

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Looks like a great room to convert. Have you looked at green glue? If not, do a search here, that will give you some good ideas.
 
Looks like a great room to convert. Have you looked at green glue? If not, do a search here, that will give you some good ideas.
Yep, I was going to use a perm flex adhesive between plasterboards and under base plates etc. Just looked into ceiling, and its prb got 30mm of fibreglass insulation thrown up there. It's all T&G Oak flooring above, so will have to rip out plasterboard, and fit 100mm Rockwool, and do a better job of the floating ceiling for sound.
 
Work has started...Ceiling down, but stupidly put a dartboard up in the next room yesterday...permanent distraction. Skip arrives in the morning, then the walls will come down!

I've pictured a few weak points..electrics, gas shut off, door...anyone got any ideas how to soundproof them whilst still having them accessible?
 

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Day2 - Walls down, Packed up for the weekend, and beer in hand!
 

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Not much done this week so far. Tied the metal studs to the joists. Reused old insulation. Looks like 50mm rockwool. Pushed into joists. Wired 7 out of the 8 surround/atmos speakers... ran out of cable from a 100m spool...over generous so exact placement is not an issue. Ordered neoprene joist isolating strips today and CLS timber to build walls. decided on 15mm plaster to attach to res bars, with Red Glue (green glue equivalent from eq acoustics), then double tapped with 19mm plank plasterboard.
 

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Started the week with a nice cuppa. Had my wood, isolators and sofa delivered. Decided to keep the sofas in the room BEFORE building the doorway...just in case! Built two walls (one with a doorway) on the 6mm neoprene isolators... Decided to move the AV equipment into the void in the gap between the two doorways...So have to rerun the speaker/mains cable accordingly. Ran out of wood, so off I popped in the Smart car! Currently Running 2 Sky coax feeds from outside with the Cable reels that Sky kindly left me.

Also, picked up my poweramp to run the extra two atmos channels, and ordered all speakers and reciever.

My current conundrum involves the lights. I can either go with recessed lights, that will compromise my soundproofing. I could make MDF backboxes, but am worried about heat build up, or just simply install surface mounted downlights or some nice spotlights, making sure to seal the wires that I pop through the p/board..... any suggestions?
 

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Last edited:
Great looking space you have there, I'm looking forward to seeing the finished product, whats your time frame?
 
Today's work includes...Running power cable to newly created void for AV equipment and important beer fridge. I also moved the telephone socket from next to the fuse box to the same void. This way I can keep router, NAS and gadgets all networked directly to the router. Then went to work on the problem of the fuse box itself. Moving it is out of the question...soundproofing it was always going to be a tough ask. I'll be honest, I had not planned how to combat the problem, so just thought I'd give it a go and see what I could come up with. I decided to build a wall around the problem area. This way I can soundproof from the outside. I put a strong door frame in, so I can build a heavy door opening if need be. I'll build the door at the same time as building the main door, using the same principles, and hope it keeps the sound out! The problem now is that the Projector is late to arrive, and I cant build the front wall without my screen size/projector location, as I don't want the studs to get in the way.

On the speaker front, I'm using 3 Monitor Audio CP-WT 380IDC 's across the front...should I mount the center speaker horizontally, with the Left and right positioned vertically...or just have them all vertically placed? Also should they be fitted at listening height? Which with my sofa is 110cm. If I then centre them to my screen it will only leave 45cm or so from the bottom. If I raise the screen...should I raise the speakers? Any help appreciated! Olly
 

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Originally mid December...but then I decided to take it back to bricks! Maybe Mid Jan, depends if money runs out!

Good luck with it mate, i speak from experience when i say you will have good days and bad days when tackling a project like this on your own, when i was sorting out our extension a couple of years ago i too did all the work myself and sometimes its hard to get motivated when you have done a full days work to come home and start again. stick with it it will be worth it I wouldnt be without our mancave now :smashin:
 
Good luck with it mate, i speak from experience when i say you will have good days and bad days when tackling a project like this on your own, when i was sorting out our extension a couple of years ago i too did all the work myself and sometimes its hard to get motivated when you have done a full days work to come home and start again. stick with it it will be worth it I wouldnt be without our mancave now :smashin:

Had a bad day today!! Itchy as anything from working around exposed insulation, cut through my skillsaw cable, and miscalculated my MDF boxes! Oh well..the end result will make these days well worth it!!
 
Today was a b!tch! Working with MDF is horid! and all the insulation has made me itchy in places I didn't know could itch!

I tried to put it off, but have to stop building whilst I await the Projector, which will be here on Tuesday!

First I did a big cut for the cupboard, fixed it with flexible grab/sealant, and a few screws, then procrastinated some more before putting a strip light and socket in the new cupboard.

Then I knocked up my speaker rear box plans. They will be in wall, but enclosed. They are about 30db quieter than the standard in walls, but I thought I'd make some back boxes to make sure out of 18mm MDF. I cut through my saw cable, which meant I had to continue with a rubbish jigsaw. Nothing is straight, but I'm thinking I will be using sealant inside and out, so hopefully wont be too concerning. Also didn't think through the measurements to factor the extra 18mm! They are funny looking, but I'll be buggered if I'm doing them again! Fixed two with glue and screws (which require pilot holes). 2 down, 9 to go!
 

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So half of my AV equipment has arrived from Richer Sounds (who have been brilliant), and seeing as I decided upon an 80cm doorway, I got the sofas out of the room so its not so claustrophobic! Moved the old sofas from the lounge, and put them there as a temporary measure. They don't work, but I can measure ear height etc! I couldn't resist giving the gadgets a little run for their money. I don't yet have my fronts, so popped three surrounds on the front wall, and used the ceiling speakers for the surrounds and rears. Gave Oblivion, Top Gun and Saving Private Ryan a go with the odd scene...WOW! Defo needs the Sub, but sounded great...Sub, PJ and fronts to arrive this week! Really motivated to push this forward over the next fortnight!
 

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Can I ask where the sofa is from, I'm looking for something very similar for my room...

John
 
Can I ask where the sofa is from, I'm looking for something very similar for my room...

John
It's from Made.com it's called the Mortimer. I too looked everywhere as wanted a low back sofa, so I could hear the speakers properly. It's 3.25m when put together, but it's also segmented. It was very reasonable as far as sofas go too. It comes with one otterman, but we have ordered an extra as you can buy the separates. It's quite firm, and not the sort of sofa you flump into, but I quite like that for movies. We didn't know what to really expect when ordering online, but am really happy with it. If you like natural fibre/ pocket sprung sofas, this maybe not the one, but I think it ticks loads of boxes for us! Good luck!
 
Picked up the Sub and Projector today...finally. Looks as if a 145" 2.35 screen will work perfectly. Oblivion looked great...Top Gun not so good, but that was more to do with the age of the film. I did notice the Sub managed to vibrate the PJ when at about -17db, I think it might have to do with the mount being my workbench! Ordered my plasterboard (15mm and 19mm), will finish wiring tomorrow and build the final wall now I have a seating position, and final speaker placement after settling on screen size. I'm really impressed with it so far, better than I expected!
 

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That screen. Wow.
Thanks mate, well chuffed. I've got to make a acoustic transparent screen once the walls are all up etc. I've seen people do it with Lycra/Spandex, also Filmex, not sure if they are the same thing under different names?
 
Filmex is a stretchable fabric which has excellent AT properties, far ahead of standard spandex or lycra. Perfect for your space. The room is looking good. Do you think you'll do done for Xmas?

Jag
I doubt I'll be completely done by Xmas, as I'm away a this weekend and a couple of days next week. What is Filmex made from? What widths does it come in? The screen will be 2.35:1 and 3.4m wide. Cheers, Olly
 
I doubt I'll be completely done by Xmas, as I'm away a this weekend and a couple of days next week. What is Filmex made from? What widths does it come in? The screen will be 2.35:1 and 3.4m wide. Cheers, Olly

A mix of fibres. Not simply spandex. Stretchable to a limit. Gain of around 1.2 when two layers applied. Any questions please feel free to pm. If you'd like to see it in action, do feel free to give me a ring.
Width is 1.5m at any length so your desired length is easily achievable at 3.4m in length..

In the alternative, consider a Seymour screen. Again, feel free to pop over if you'd like to see both in action.

Jag
 
A mix of fibres. Not simply spandex. Stretchable to a limit. Gain of around 1.2 when two layers applied. Any questions please feel free to pm. If you'd like to see it in action, do feel free to give me a ring.
Width is 1.5m at any length so your desired length is easily achievable at 3.4m in length..

In the alternative, consider a Seymour screen. Again, feel free to pop over if you'd like to see both in action.

Jag
Thanks pal, I'll call you, as I will need advice on the gain. It will be a pitch black dedicated room. I'll drop you a line today.
 

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