Basement HT, framing next week, any advice?

[Yamaman]

You may want to check code if PVC is allowed in wall. It may need to be that grey conduit. That may also be PVC, I don't know .

It must be allowed, that's what the drain lines are made of (at least here in Canada). No issues with fire. Also, I'll be running the conduit along boxed ducts at the ceiling where there is plenty of interstitial space. Vertical lines will come in my furnace room and a closet where walls will be unfinished. Also, my perimeter walls are 2.5" metal studs and the partition walls are 3.5"- nice and solid and plenty of room to run conduit. I figure, the larger the diameter, the easier it is to fish new cables.

The only drawback is the sound transmission to the rest of the house. But, it may not be a problem in your case. Late night watching and kids sleeping maybe or not a problem. Drapes can block light only.

Yes, we'll just close the basement door. Kid's rooms are on the second floor two flights up, so it shouldn't be a problem. I'm not too worried about sound insulation in the basement. If it was on the main floor, then yes, I would definately do it.

"Basement HT, framing next week, any advice?"

Planning is key. I used a technical drawing program to draw out the layout. I prefer metal studs at they are lighter, easier to work with (just need metal snips), provide perfectly straight walls and are resistant to mold, mildew, termites and fire. Use wood studs for door framing however (that's where metal studs don't really cut it). If you plan to frame yourself and don't have a whole lot of experience, then you really need to imagine how the frames will take form. Walls must be square to each other and studs must be plumb. Framing is very important because its the foundation for how your walls will look in the end. Personally, I hired a professional- got a good price and his workmanship is top-notch.

 

[mtrycrafts]

It must be allowed, that's what the drain lines are made of (at least here in Canada). No issues with fire. Also, I'll be running the conduit along boxed ducts at the ceiling where there is plenty of interstitial space. Vertical lines will come in my furnace room and a closet where walls will be unfinished. Also, my perimeter walls are 2.5" metal studs and the partition walls are 3.5"- nice and solid and plenty of room to run conduit. I figure, the larger the diameter, the easier it is to fish new cables.




Yes, we'll just close the basement door. Kid's rooms are on the second floor two flights up, so it shouldn't be a problem. I'm not too worried about sound insulation in the basement. If it was on the main floor, then yes, I would definately do it.



Planning is key. I used a technical drawing program to draw out the layout. I prefer metal studs at they are lighter, easier to work with (just need metal snips), provide perfectly straight walls and are resistant to mold, mildew, termites and fire. Use wood studs for door framing however (that's where metal studs don't really cut it). If you plan to frame yourself and don't have a whole lot of experience, then you really need to imagine how the frames will take form. Walls must be square to each other and studs must be plumb. Framing is very important because its the foundation for how your walls will look in the end. Personally, I hired a professional- got a good price and his workmanship is top-notch.

Looks like you have done pre-planning. That is what I tell friends. You plan now or remodel later, real soon

PVC may emit toxic fumes if there is a fire? We have that 4 letter pipe here, too many to remember for long

Yep, lager dia pipe is real easy to pull through.

 

[lzk4]

Conduit and cabinet

Yamaman,
I think my basement is very similar to yours. I have a soffit boxing the HVAC duct running across the basement, and the electrician is putting in a PVC conduit from the cabinet to projector (HDMI + component). I'll have to double check the size.

I too have 2 close columns just as you come down the staircase, which are getting boxed into a rectangular column, and I could have put in equip there, but I have 2 little kids and my son's friends come over too. Too dangerous, hence the cabinet in the side wall.

My electrician is very impressed by the amount of planning I put into the HT wiring (thanks to this forum!).. he's a bit clueless about electronics. I had approached Tweeter to do the pre-wiring, but they gave me an outrageous price (incl equip). I just used powerpoint to draw the layout, I used to use CAD (i used to be a structural engineer), but have no time now.

 

[Yamaman]

Hey Izk4,

We should trade notes- haha; at the foot of the stairs, the two posts are off to the side, about 4 feet apart. As I mentioned before, it's a double sided cabinet- one side will be a display case (on the "stair side") and the other side will be the A/V case. I'm still figuring out how to make the back panel of the display case such that it can be easily removed to expose the back of all my A/V components (receiver, DVD player, etc). A conduit will also feed into the access space (speaker wires, A/V cables).

My kids are 7 and 4 and they know not to touch my stuff ....I hope.

Just finished framing this cabinet last night. It was rather intricate- took the framer about 3 hours to do it. He said most contractors would quote this separately cause it takes a fair amount of studs and labor. I'm really happy with it though- he did an amazing job!

Goes to show, if you get the right person (people) to renovate your house, it can actually be a very positive experience.