Finally some pics of my finished home theater that I promised...

[Pappy]

Fantastic results, Steve. Wish I had the room to build a theater room.

[steveg]

Thanks all, for the very kind comments! I stressed over this project big time, because what I wanted, in the end, was to end up with something that didn't look like an amateur did the work. I think I came close enough to that goal to be satisfied.

All Thumbs -- first movie, was "Despicable Me," as it was a "family movie night" with wife, daughter, and her grandma! First movie for me, when I have it to myself, will probably be the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy -- but have several other goodies, too...I want to watch "The Patriot" real soon, as well. I also enjoyed watching my Steelers beat the Giants!

wbsettle -- oh NO! I saw your post, and thought "what in the world is a 'Harmony'?" Then I checked your link...OH NO! First off, I had to laugh out loud, because you obviously saw the four remotes in one of my pictures! Anyway, I didn't know anything about universal remotes, aside from that they exist. But checking out the link, I can easily see why one of those is going to become necessary, in short order. Here I thought I was DONE spending money on this room -- for a little while, anyway! Guess not...

Black wallnut -- very true!

JimD -- yep...I'm going to need some more storage for DVDs/BluRays... Fortunately, many of those are "kids movies" that will be able to be swapped out as my daughter gets older...

atgcpaul -- no radiused wall around the back seating; it must be my horrible photography that gave you that impression...

Thanks for the kind words everyone!

Steve

[atgcpaul]

atgcpaul -- no radiused wall around the back seating; it must be my horrible photography that gave you that impression...

OK, I see it now. It's the way the light shines down from above that gives me the illusion the walls are curved.

I also just caught that this in your attic. Sorry if you posted it before, but was it already kind of finished or bare trusses/rafters?

[steveg]

atgcpaul --

It was initially to be just "bare rafters," though I did specify in my contract with the builder that he would install the engineered I-beam joists (as opposed to the typical 2x6 or 2x8 rafters) such that a floor could be applied in the future. After that, though, I changed the plan -- and did ask the framers to go ahead and install the floor (I decided that I didn't want to have to drag sheets of 1 1/4" plywood up the stairwell!), and to go ahead and rough-frame the walls. So that's what I expected to be starting with, a floor, and some rough framing.

However, when I was ready to start the project, my ideas for the floor plan changed in my mind a little bit, such that the framing I asked them to do was not totally what I wanted. So, I ended up tearing out a little of framing and re-doing some walls; I added roughly 50 sq. ft which was to become the kitchenette and an adjacent "equipment closet" (which is directly behind my "equipment rack," so I can go it there and connect/disconnect wiring from the back of the components), and then I also added another 25 sq. ft. closet. In each of these "additions" (the kitchenette/equipment closet and the other closet), I was dealing with just bare rafters. But, overall, in the majority of the space, the floor and the framing were already there when I got started; aside from those few framing additions/changes, I was for the most part beginning the project at the insulation and drywall stage.

One final note -- I also "cheated" a bit in one other area; I had the builder stack enough sheets of drywall in my attic to finish the job, so that I would not have to drag THOSE sheets up the stairs, either. Hauling all that drywall and plywood up the stairs would have been a huge chore, and would definitely have damaged the walls in the stairway (it's a finished stairwell, as we have a bedroom, bathroom, and bonus room on the upstairs floor). So at least I thought ahead enough to ask the builder to take care of those issues while the house was being built.

Anyway, I hope that answers your questions. Are you thinking about an attic addition yourself?

Steve

[BigguyZ]

Anyone else having issues with the pics loading?

[steveg]

BigguyZ -- I am not having any trouble; I just tried it in another browser just to verify, and the pics are showing up fine.

Would you mind re-trying, and then tell me if you still can't load the images? Reason I say that is, my pictures are being hosted on a friend's server, and if there is indeed a problem of some sort, as opposed to just a temporary glitch, I need to let him know about it...

Steve

[atgcpaul]

Anyway, I hope that answers your questions. Are you thinking about an attic addition yourself?

A+ for planning ahead.

My dad finished the attic in their house when I was in college. Luckily there were stairs leading up to it and not just an access door. Of course, we did all the heavy lifting in the summer. He didn't pipe the AC in there until we finished--sometime next spring. I lost a lot of weight that summer.

I've been thinking about doing mine. We, too, have a walk up attic. My neighbor finished off her attic (same builder, but built one year after ours). Her daughter lived up there through college. Nice space. Separate AC and full bath. She has a gabled roof and I have a hipped roof, though, so it seems I have less overall square footage up there. The exhaust pipe for the basement furnace runs straight up through the middle of our house. When you get into the attic, the first thing you're met by is this big metal exhaust pipe. Haven't put too much thought into how to move it. Boxing it in would take away a lot of space.

Anyway, don't want to steal from your post. Looks like a great hangout.

Paul

[steveg]

Paul --

No problem "stealing" from my post -- not at all!

I hear you on the gabled vs. hip roof...our home is gabled, and thus TONS of attic space; our prior home was a hip roof, though, and yes -- MUCH less space. But, even in that hip-roofed home, we were still able to have the builder do a smaller "bonus room" in the upstairs of that home. It can be done, just not as large of a space.

I would not give up on your idea; I would guess there are some options for you, just that it may take some creativity. On thing, for example, that can "buy" you some square footage is to allow sloped ceilings, down to say 6'. Thus, instead of requiring 8' tall walls within the sloping roof line, you have 6' walls that slope up to 8'. That buys you quite a bit of additional floor space.

You obviously have that "hauling stuff up the stairs" thing down pat! Unless you have some extra weight to lose, though, you might consider not doing it in the summertime, eh?

Steve

[Turaj]

Good job Steve, looks like a good place to relax and enjoy a good movie.

My thought exactly! Nice job Steve.

[steveg]

Thanks much, Turaj!

Steve

[Big Daddy]

Great job! No need to go out to the movies.

[steveg]

Thanks, Big Daddy!

Here's a screen shot of one of my daughter's favorite movies...



Lots of fun!

Steve

[Rslaugh]

WowWowWow-very nice!

[steveg]

Rslaugh -- thanks for the kind words!

Steve

[Two Much]

Fantastic! How big is the screen?