Basment Home Theater - Help me get started

[jamesg5000]

Hello for Toronto Canada,

I always wanted to finish my basement so I could put in a home theater system. I know I can afford to have a state-of-the-art setup but I want to get a decent projector and a good sound setup.

My basement is unfinished. The space i want to finish is about 700 square feet. Ceiling hieght is not bad but the ducts will be an issue in a few places. I want a decent level of finishing with pot lights and a few nice doors. Maybe some wood trim. No kitchen or bathrooms.

I only got one quote so far and it was for 28K! Sounds way to high to me as I know others who had theirs done with a nice bathroom for a lot less. At least they gave me a nice floor plan for free.

A few questions...

1. Anyone out there finish their own basements who only has basic tool skills like me? how did it go?
2. Know anyone in the area of Toronto ( I am in Whitby) who has done good work for you or friends?
3. What is a decent cost per square foot to have someone finish a basement. My last quote worked to $40/foot

 

[BMXTRIX]

You didn't really cover the details of what is included in that work.

Keep in mind a good theater can easily run $10,000 (USD) for just the equipment - very easily. The room itself, with really good woodwork, custom buildouts, etc. can be prohibitively expensive.

If you are thinking of DIY work... Well, drywall can be a pain. I personally have considered it myself, but would leave the drywall to pros. I would also need an electrician to pull a few extra circuits to my basement so I would have power.

That means that after the circuits are there, I would need to run wiring for a bunch of recessed lights, I would need to wire for the home theater behind the walls. I would need to build the framing for all the walls and ceiling, and drywall work. I would need to insulate. I probably would build and research for some level of soundproofing and acoustical work.

Then finally let the guys come in and do their drywall magic.

That leaves a lot of work left to do afterwards, and if it involves a good bit of nice woodwork, then pricing will reflect that... and I probably wouldn't attempt it myself.

There are just way to many considerations for me to believe you are getting hosed on price. Plus, some places operate at a much higher standard than others do. So, when it comes time to get a quote from another company, go back to the FIRST company and ask what it is that is setting them apart from the competition when they are charging $XXX.XX more for what appears to be similar work. That may help you understand what value they are adding to the setup.

I've had people not choose to work with our company because the copetition charged $10,000 less... Only to find they were getting a projector that cost half as much, had half as much cabling in place, no video switcher, and no control system... Not a better deal, just a cheaper setup. So, get quotes then ask to honestly compare the differences before making any decisions.

 

[jamesg5000]

Thanks for the reply. Just to be clear I am only talking about the finishing of the basement not the home theater equipment. I will have to buy that seperatly and will add to it over time. I dont have the budget to get it all at once. I do realize I will need to plan out what I want and where I want it so I can rough in the wiring.

Thanks for the advice. I am leaning towards doing all I can by myself and bringing in people as needed. I am sure I can do framing and run wires.

 

[westcott]

Hello for Toronto Canada,

I always wanted to finish my basement so I could put in a home theater system. I know I can afford to have a state-of-the-art setup but I want to get a decent projector and a good sound setup.

My basement is unfinished. The space i want to finish is about 700 square feet. Ceiling hieght is not bad but the ducts will be an issue in a few places. I want a decent level of finishing with pot lights and a few nice doors. Maybe some wood trim. No kitchen or bathrooms.

I only got one quote so far and it was for 28K! Sounds way to high to me as I know others who had theirs done with a nice bathroom for a lot less. At least they gave me a nice floor plan for free.

A few questions...

1. Anyone out there finish their own basements who only has basic tool skills like me? how did it go?
2. Know anyone in the area of Toronto ( I am in Whitby) who has done good work for you or friends?
3. What is a decent cost per square foot to have someone finish a basement. My last quote worked to $40/foot

For $28,000, I think I would take some sheet rock classes at Home Depot or Lowes. Run the wiring yourself and have an electrician make the final terminations if that makes you feel more comfortable. I think you could do it for half that if you do it yourself and wind up with something you could truely be proud of.

Happy Holidays!

 

[aspaceintime]

I have general knowledge and I was able to complete my project. Here are my tips to you...Treat it like a large project - it is.
Plan plan plan and then plan some more. Those that fail to plan, plan to fail! Think about your requirements BEFORE starting. Decide what you want where. Make a drawing to give you a better idea of the layout and to help estimate your materials. Take your time!

 

[mtrycrafts]

I have general knowledge and I was able to complete my project. Here are my tips to you...Treat it like a large project - it is.
Plan plan plan and then plan some more. Those that fail to plan, plan to fail! Think about your requirements BEFORE starting. Decide what you want where. Make a drawing to give you a better idea of the layout and to help estimate your materials. Take your time!

Great advice all around I have a friend who remodels before he finishes his project because he failed to plan and rushed the job.

The poster should think about any and all possibility for prewiring(possible front projection, up to 7.1 surround, etc) as wire is dirt cheap compared to a remodel job.

 

[garrison]

very true to plan and plan and more planing to see your lay out on paper is a must,i did my basement lighting & electric-insulation paneling, doors, ceiling and drywall with a kitchen, bath, machicial & laundry room in a 1200 sq ft basement real nice for a little over $1200,am now looking to set up the home theater. just to let you know that's material onlyso it works out to $100 a sq ft, no labor has been added but hard work after work

 

[Bryce_H]

Here is my dissertation.

I started this quest about 2 years ago. We were building a new house and got an unfinished basement so I could design and build the dedicated HT myself. I started by subscribing to a bunch of magazines and cruising through old issues I already had. Frankly most were not helpful, maybe once every six months they would have an article about home theater that was NOT product related. These typically dealt with lighting or acoustic treatments, or maybe once and a blue moon something about actual construction. One magazine that was very helpful was Home Theater Builder magazine. I ordered all the back issues and got a 2 year subscription. The magazine is struggling and I believe has gone quarterly, but I would still order the back issues. just google them. I then found this amazing sight called Audioholics The people here have been great in answering questions and providing advice. Another great resource is this thread over at HomeTheaterForums

I would read this thread front to back. It helped to prevent a LOT of problems. Basically the thread is a series of responses of things people wish they had done or things they are glad they did do. It raised a lot of things I never would of thought of, but of course would have realized later. Lastly I copied and modified a spreadsheet I found at sound and vision.

The attached sheet is used to develop the dimensions of the theater and seating distances. Manually enter information in the blue cells, all other cells are automatic calculations. Each blue cell has a comment telling you what to enter and what it will effect.

The first sheet "Room Dimensions" is split in two. The top (above the black line) are the quick and dirty calculations. The bottom (below the black line) are the ideal dimensions. There are no cut and dry answers - it will take some playing with numbers to get it all correct (or as close as possible). You may need to go back and change some numbers afterwards as well (for example screen size).

The second sheet allows you to fine tune your dimensions from the first sheet. Use the first sheet values as your initial values here. Keep playing with them until you get the best numbers you can. These calculations are sensitive enough that an inch or two can make a huge difference.

I can't stress enough the importance of good room design and dimensions. It will prevent an enormous amount of potential problems. Failure to properly design a room will result in very poor sound, requiring lots of effort (and cash) to rectify. Room acoustics are the name of the game.

After I did all my research and drew my schematics for the room I hired a HT designer and installer for a couple of hours ($75 an hour) to come the house and have me walk through everything I had. This was mostly just a sanity check to make sure I wasn't missing something drastic.

http://www.hometheaterbuilder.com/ - Home Theater Builder Magazine - I would order all the back issues (I did) and get a subscription. They may soon be going under, but the content of their magazine is second to none. This is the only magazine that actually focuses on planning, designing, and building home theaters. All the others talk about product reviews. I have/had subscriptions to Home Theater Magazine (my #2 magazine), Sound and Vision, Ultimate A/V, Electronic House, and a couple of others that I can't remember.

I did all the electrical work for my home theater. Here is what I did just for my HT. I have 2" conduit running to all the 7 speaker locations. I also have an insane amount of low-watt wiring terminating in my component closet. Here is the breakdown

- 4 coax in from the main structured wiring panel
- 4 Cat 5e in from the main structured wiring panel
- 4 coax out to potential sub locations (L/R main, right wall 1/3 way back, left wall 2/3 way back)
- 2 coax out to the front screen wall
- 2 Cat 5e out to the front screen wall
- 2 4-conductor shielded 22ga wire out to front screen wall for IR and other future control needs (drop down screen??)
- 2 coax out to front of second row riser
- 2 cat 5e out to front of second row riser
- 2 4-conductor shielded 22ga wire to front of second row riser
- 2 4-conductor shielded 22ga wire to main light switch box

The coax can be used for sub, cable, or sat systems. Cat5e is for networking or control needs. The 22ga shielded is strickly for control needs.

Also don't forget to run some wires to a potential front projector location (electrical and video).

When we had the house built we had structured wiring put in every room (but no audio). Every room has a 4 jack plate with 2 RG6 F-connectors and 2 Cat5e jacks. The office actually has 2 of these. I also got the living room pre-wired for a 5.1 in-ceiling to set up as a second system for casual viewing in the future. Just some ideas of what I have done.

Good luck and keep asking questions.