Converting a garage to a home Cinema
mop
Any body been through this process, and advise on anything. Where to
place speakers, what kind of screen to buy. Sound
installation........... Costs. Builders contracts, Photos of
conversions (ESPECIALLY PICS).
I bet this would make a good book.
Iain Miller
news:a6949b1c.01052...@posting.google.com...
Assuming this is not a garage that's built into the house (i.e. with
bedrooms over the top etc!) the first thing I'd look at is the construction
of the Garage itself - If you have single skin brickwork/blockwork then you
are really going to need to do some fairly hefty work just to make it warm
enough. Similarly, how is the roof constructed?
Do you have central heating in there? If not things will get cold &
damp.....
Point is you could be on for a whole lot of money just to get the building
into a state where you can kit it out as a Home Cinema. It may, oddly enough
even end up being cheaper to knock the whole thing down and start again.
If the Garage is integral to the house then you'll need to brick up the door
way & probably put in a suspended floor of some kind (which may cause
acoustic issues you'd need to deal with) - & you'll still need to heat it &
possibly put additional windows in to comply with building regs etc.
alex.cotgreave
the following:
firstly I lowered the ceiling to allow for dramatic lighting and to allow
cabling to run over without being seen, then I put in a false floor for
warmth, following this I put up insulated studwork on the walls with
plasterboard covering. All this was completed in 2-3 days at a very cheap
cost. Dont be dis-heartened you can do it if you want. As for the garage
door just plasterboard over it, it is really very very simple, just dont
forget to allow loads of room for cable runs and also for piping for
radiators etc. My room was 30' x 20' and cost me about £500 in total
excluding the carpet which was £300. Then all you have to worry about is the
boss and what colour she wants it!!
Good Luck mate
Alex
"Iain Miller" <Do...@spam.me> wrote in message
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Gary Lightfoot
> Any body been through this process, and advise on anything. Where to
> place speakers, what kind of screen to buy. Sound
> installation........... Costs. Builders contracts, Photos of
> conversions (ESPECIALLY PICS).
Try www.avsforum.com
There is a specific home theater construction forum, and the search
function should yield lots of info. You can do most of this stuff
yourself, provided you can use a drill and have a little diy in you.
:O)
Most of all, it's a lot of fun. I'm currently in the process of
converting my loft, and I got all my info from the forum for
soundproofing (2x4 walls with insulation and two layers of 1/2 inch
plasterboard etc) from there. Read lots, then ask questions.
I think someone is currently converting a room with a large window at
one end, so some stuff there will be similar. It may also depend on
whether or not you intend on keeping the garage door or removing it
and bricking it up. I've seen both methods on the forum, and had a
demo of my current projector in converted garage with door still
intact. You may need planning permission if you brick up the door.
Have fun, and post lots of your own pics on a wbsite so we can see
before, during and after. :O) I'm hoping to do the same...
--
please remove 'nosmeg' from e-mail addy to reply.
Nigel Ince
">
> If the Garage is integral to the house then you'll need to brick up the
door
> way & probably put in a suspended floor of some kind (which may cause
> acoustic issues you'd need to deal with) - & you'll still need to heat it
&
> possibly put additional windows in to comply with building regs etc.
I am buying a brand new 4 bed detached, this is something i am considering.
My main worry is the roof (beds upstairs etc) any suggestions of how to
deaden noise etc ?
Any tips would be greatly received
Nige
Gary Lightfoot
"Nigel Ince" <nigel.in...@btinternet.com> wrote in message
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> I am buying a brand new 4 bed detached, this is something i am
> considering.
> My main worry is the roof (beds upstairs etc) any suggestions of how
> to deaden noise etc ?
Hi Nige,
A floating ceiling is the best method.
To soundproof a room you would build new 4 x 2 walls withing the
existing walls (with an inch gap), and fill that with 2ins of
insulation. Then put on two layers of plasterboard. The board is the
mass you need to stop bass sounds, and the insulation stops the higher
frequencies.
You then build a roof on top of the walls without it touching the
ceiling above, and fill with insulation/plasterboard like the walls.
If height is a problem, you can remove the existing plaster ceiling,
and fit your new ceiling joists in between the existing joists
(staggered). Just make sure they don't touch.
To really isolate the room, you can build a new floor first using
rubber blocks or similar to isloate it from the existing floor, then
build the walls onto that.
If room is an issue (each new wall will cost you 6ins of width, so two
will reduce your garage by a foot), you may get away with just putting
another layer of plasterboard on the existing ceiling, and laying in
insulation from the room above.
Fill all gaps with heavy modulus silicon rubber. Wherever air can
travel, so can sound, so you need to try and block all holes.
Go to www.avsforum.com and checkout the home theater construction
forumfor info, and use the search facility. You'll find plenty of pics
of people who've built rooms within rooms, and Dennis Erskine is the
resident expert (he builds theaters for a living), so take his word as
gospel. :O)
Gary.
Nigel Ince
Nige
"Gary Lightfoot" <g.lig...@btnosmeginternet.com> wrote in message
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mop
Im still a bit perplexed about the room within a room for sound
insulation.
So build a wall that has a 2inch -sound insulation wool filled - gap.
And use 2 plaster boards. Thats all I need to stop the wife from
hearing my amp at the loudest setting while she sleeps in the room
above?
I live in a detached house, Its a new house so timber and block
construction mainly.
Nivek Edrof
> Great answers thanks.
>
> Im still a bit perplexed about the room within a room for sound
> insulation.
>
> So build a wall that has a 2inch -sound insulation wool filled - gap.
> And use 2 plaster boards. Thats all I need to stop the wife from
> hearing my amp at the loudest setting while she sleeps in the room
> above?
>
In your dreams (or hers).
...You _won't_ be able to get an air-tight/soundproof room. The suggestions
made will give good 'sound insulation' but there _will_ be sound-leakage.
Probably still too much to sleep directly above a 'loud-movie-filled' room.
-Kevin.
Gary Lightfoot
> Great answers thanks.
> So build a wall that has a 2inch -sound insulation wool filled -
> gap.
> And use 2 plaster boards. Thats all I need to stop the wife from
> hearing my amp at the loudest setting while she sleeps in the room
> above?
That's about it really. Bass tends to travel through anything it
touches, so trying to isolate walls/floor/ceiling is a good thing.
Wickes do a 30mm high density slab insulation that can be used as a
floor isolation to build on. It describes how to do it on the packing.
If you wanted to do a cheaper, less wide solution, you could just get
some ordinary stud timber (about 36mm x 63mm) and build a stud wall
about half inch from the existing walls, and use the 30mm slabs fitted
snugly in the frame. Then fit the two layers of plasterboard and seal
all gaps with silicon. Probably not as effective as the 4 x 2 walls,
but it should help.
> I live in a detached house, Its a new house so timber and block
> construction mainly.
If you're only worried about sound travelling through one wall, the
you only need to build your false wall in front of that wall.
Ceckout www.avsforum.com for more info. There's a home theater
construction forum that has discussed this in great detail in the
past, so the search function should yield lots of info.
Good luck.
Gary Lightfoot
> So build a wall that has a 2inch -sound insulation wool filled -
> gap. And use 2 plaster boards. Thats all I need to stop the
> wife from hearing my amp at the loudest setting while she
> sleeps in the room above?
Oops - just re-read your post, and realised I'd missed the bit about
'the room above'.
Building new walls won't reduce the sound travelling to the room
above. To do that, you'll have to build a floating ceiling on top of
the new walls, ensuring that the new ceiling joists aren't touching
the existing ceiling. If height is an issue, you can remove the
existing ceiling plaster, and fit the new ceiling joists in-between
the existing ones, then insulate and fit two layers of plasterboard.
Always ensure you seal all edges etc with high modulus silicon rubber.
Wherever air can go, so can sound.
This is the only way to relly reduce sound transfer. Ideally you'll
want to build the new walls on a floating floor, so that you have
isolated the new room from the existing room that you've built it in.
This will probably need a new door fitted in the new room so that no
part of the new room is physically touching the old room.
Bass is the hardest thing to stop, and mass is a good blocker, along
with good isolation. The two layers of plaster help contain the bass,
and the insulation the higher frequencies. Preventing surfaces from
touching stops sound transfer through the construction materials.
The 'room within a room' idea is the only way to properly isolate the
sounds from the rest of the house, but it is a very expensive and time
consuming way of doing it. It is very effective however.
A cheaper, less effective method would be to rip up all the
floorboards upstairs and fit insualation between the floor joists.
Refit the boards and seal all floorboard gaps with silicon rubber, and
all edges of the room at the skirting boards. Then fit another layer
of plasterboard on the ceiling below, and silicon the edges ogf the
room. Plaster to finish.
HTH.
Jules
With the money you save buy her a dress or something and everyone will be
happy
"Gary Lightfoot" <g.lig...@btnosmeginternet.com> wrote in message
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