Home Theater: July 2005 Archives

I completed the stage this weekend. Wow - what a job that was. I had been dreading it all week - I knew it would be a monster job... I cut the final facing for the subwoofers, cut the 2nd layer for the top of the stage, built the cabinet that will hold the audio equipment (and amps), and did a little more bracing work to the stage. I can safely say that at this point, the stage is 90% done.

As you can also see, the drywall is almost done. Once done, we can start painting, then we'll hang the doors, install the carpet, and do the trim work. We're in the home stretch now. :-)

Oh, and here's a picture of our pal, Lump-Lump. He's the sweetest bird ever.

I'm covered in sawdust, so it's time for a shower.

We moved the drywall from the garage to the basement on Tuesday night (thanks again to Brian and Karl - I owe you guys big time!), while dodging rain... We moved 38 pieces of 5/8" 4x8 sheets and 15 pieces of 1/2" 4x12 sheets (I was paranoid I didn't have enough from the initial order so I bought more earlier this week)... I think we're all still sore, 2 days later.

Now, for the good news- the drywall is going up, as we speak:

With any luck, I'll get my cabinet finished over the weekend, and will be ready to start painting by early next week. Say, Brian and Karl - what are you guys doing next week? Got any paint brushes? :-D

The theater is coming along nicely... I'm a *tad* behind, but not much - I'll make up the difference by Wednesday night, so things should be on schedule again.

Here's the progress so far:

That's looking "into" the theater from where the outer-most 2nd row seat will be. 2nd row seats will be on a 10" riser.

Sitting on the stage, looking "out" of the theater. In hindsight, I made the stage way too tall, but the thing is so solid (I'm convinced it could survive a direct mortar hit), I can't even contemplate making it shorter...

Looking at the new closet, the theater main entry, and the door to upstairs.

Looking into the closet, which measures 6'x5'. It'll have a 24" door to maximize the room inside of it.

We'll be hanging drywall by Thursday. With any luck, drywall and tape will be done by next Thursday, at which point, I can start painting...

All that's left:

- Build component rack (in stage; face is done, need to build shelves)
- Drywall & tape/mud
- Prime/paint
- Install carpet
- Install doors
- Install trim
- Finish wiring (install sockets on outlets)
- Install projector, screen, and audio components
- Install seating
- Enjoy movies

In other news, I blew my diet tonight... Amy helped me with the insulation this afternoon, and we didn't finish until around 7pm, so we were both starving, and neither of us were in the mood to make any food, so we ordered Pizza Pro... ugh. Good thing I only ate an entire medium bacon pizza...

Now I'm off to take a shower (so I can get this itchy fiberglass off me) and hit the bed. My back is killing me, and 6:30am will roll around all too early...

I came home from work today to discover FedEx had left 4 packages on my front step. The packages were large and heavy, so that could only mean one thing: SUBWOOFERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Look at these bad boys:

I set the crock pot next to it for comparison... that's a 6qt crock.

18" of Ascendent Audio Avalanche goodness. I can't wait to hear these monsters rumbling. They weigh about 50lbs each (each box was 59lbs), and are absolute animals. I'm tempted to hook them up right now and listen to them free air... EEEEEK!

Ok... must calm down...

Nah, to heck with it! I'm going to go unpack the other three and just stare at them for a few hours... while drooling... and smiling...

On Sunday, I took delivery of phase II of the materials necessary to finish the home theater. The Lowes truck delivered:

30 sheets of 4x8x5/8" drywall
12 sheets of 4x12x5/8" drywall
5 sheets of MDF
5 sheets of 7-ply baltic birch
2 sheets of 23/32" OSB
16 rolls of insulation
30 2x4x12 lumber
6 2x4x16 treated lumber
A bunch of painting supplies
A bunch of drywalling supplies
A Bosch 2.25HP plunge router and 4 bits
A Dewalt drywall screw gun
And a few other miscellaneous tidbits (ceiling fan, etc)

I spent this weekend running speaker wire (300 feet of 12/2 in-wall THX certified wire), and trying to run my video cable (only to realize it was too short by about 5 feet...).

I also bought our couch, which will be delivered sometime in August.

I hope to have the stage framed by next weekend, at which point I'll insulate and then it's drywall time... eeek!

Hope everyone had a good 4th of July. I mowed the lawn today and worked on the basement.