Basement layout/design/costs... ?

[lindmar]

OK..

I am by no means any type of artists or construction guy but I did my best to mock up my basement and what were planning.

I am in a townhome. We have attached neighbors on our south side and our other wall is an outer wall. We want to build a nice L-shaped room. Budget is a factor. We did the math and I figure about 544 Square Feet in total but maybe someone else can tell me I'm wrong.

I'm trying to think of the following.

1) The logical place to mount the TV and place a couch. The original thoughts would be... The TV would go on the outer wall at the back. The couch would sit to the right of the basement stairs.

So when you see the measurements by the staircase, those aren't walls just showing the area the TV, couch, setup would sit in. But essentially the whole L would be OPEN.

Is this making sense?

2) What is the order I need to have things done? Drawall, electricity, hookups, mounts.

3) The equipment I have to hook up and make use of is as follows.

• One 46" 780p, 1080i Samsung LCD TV
• Samsung Home Theatre in a box HT-X50
• Xbox 360 Elite
• Nintendo Wii
• The 5 Speakers that come with the Home Theatre in a Box

4) Need to think budget in terms of total finishing. Not furnishing. But getting it to the point, the TV is mounted on the wall and all is running, drywall, flooring, trim, electrical, ceiling etc..

5) I imagine the DVD, XBox would be hooked up HDMI, the wii through components. Still would need an area below the TV for the goodies to be stored. Everything is still open so I should be able to have the wires easily run wherever.

6) Another option is to cut the room off at the stairs and go strait across to the north wall. So the room would essentially be 25X14.5 The reason we decided this area for the TV and not another wall is just north of the stairs is a beam which the building inspector says needs to stay! LOL

Anyways, feel free to make any suggestions, pointers, etc. This is really new to us and we've got this TV and system sitting here waiting to go.

The "Doors" to the basement I drew in, are unfinished. Those would be added to add access to the remainder of the basement. So as you can see, the basement is totally unfinished now.

[willise]

There is nothing more enjoyable than designing a home theatre with a blank canvas.

I, personally, would go with the layout of extending the wall as you outlined in #6. One suggestion I would make is, although you are on a budget, put in all the wiring you can now. And don't put in enough to accomodate what you have now - you will likely get more. Get the 12 guage speaker wire from Home Depot (yellow color) made for in wall installations. It is cheaper that the bronze coloured regular speaker wire, but serves the same purpose. As well, check out www.monoprice.com for things like cables (component, HDMI, etc) wall mounts for rear speakers, HDMI switches, etc. You will not find a better price anywhere.

I don't know if I can post it here, but www.avsforum.com has a very good forum on home theatre design and pictures of what others have done. IT is very similar to this forum, but too much information is never a bad thing. Think about the future - if you really want a dedicated home theatre, look at a front projector with a 92"-106" screen. They are cheaper than LCD or plasma's, but they do require some planning. Think about internet feeds, in case you get an HD DVD player which has an ethernet connection for updates.

Don't forget esthetic things like potlights, accent lighting, outlets for subwoofers. and things like that. I am sure others will offer other suggestions and your head will be swimming soon with ideas!

Good Luck!

PS, I just looked at you HTIB, and just so you know, it doesn't have an HDMI input that I can see. So to hook up the XBOX via HDMI, it will have to go directly to the TV. OR you can purchase an HDMI switcher if your TV only has one HDMI input.

[lindmar]

Thanks for the great reply..

Just to add. The TV has three HDMI inputs and the HTIB does have one. I've got it hooked up already. Good call on the speaker wire. I've got to think a little about where everything will go but I am pretty sure the TV will go where I was saying.

Another concern is the speaker placement but I'll figure that out. Also, I would most likely wire up for ethernet regardless.

As for the screen/projector... Yeah, that will be in the next house. This is our starter home and this project is largely becuase I won all the gear and we have no where to put it. I could sell it, get rid of it but we figure a nice little family room might work well anyways.

Thanks for the tips! Keep em comin.

[Kaoru]

Hi,

If I ever learned anything, it would be that planning is absolutely key. Your quick layout diagram is a start but it's hard to read. Spend some time doing your floor plan laying out where the stud walls would be, any beams/posts are, and other details. This gives an idea of the space (a before picture would help as well). With this in hand, apply the following recipe:

1) Inventory the perimeter of the space noting the inplace studs, insulation, etc. Note that builders do the bare minimum (ie. use 2x3s 24" on centre) for such framing. This is ok for outer walls that will not support anything (ie. shelves, cabinets, whatever); no good for anything else (including sound transmission/proofing).

2) Decide on the features that are important to you in terms of a theater. This may include lighting, risers, proscenium, etc. Take into account your future needs like will you go with a projector/larger screen, theater seating/loungers, bar/munchie area, equipment rack, etc.

3) Draft the plan... This takes time and little bit of vision. At the same time do a quick budget for all the materials like:
- lumber, gasket, nails, tapcons.
- insulation, tar paper (moisture barrier), and vapour barrier
- J-boxes, light fixtures, dimmers. (I assume that any electrical work done by electrician; getting a quote would be wise.)
- speaker/AV cabling, conduit for future proofing.

4) Profit! Couldn't resist...

For the actual construction/framing, post your draft layout for comment and I sure you will get plenty of replies. See my thread for other ideas/info, since I'm already far along in the process and have learned alot.

Cheers,
Kaoru