When it comes to DIY projects, one of the more popular ones that people consider is a home theater. It can be as simple as throwing a sheet over a wall and adding a projector for movies. For a college kid, this would be luxury. Adults tend to think bigger and better though. So when it came time for one man to get cracking on his own DIY project, he went big because he was already home! He took his little used basement and turned it into something that almost every single person would pay thousands of dollars to get in their own home. This thing definitely took a lot of time, but it was definitely worth it when you see the end results.
This is the basement in question. The first thing I noticed was the absolutely horrendous carpet. My eyes would hurt every time I went down here.
First he removed the ceiling tiles, closet doors and shelfs contained within the closet.
He removed this closet door as well, and made the whole space wider.
The man is an IT guy, so running all these wires for the different media components was right up his alley.
He widened the closet and put a media center in that will contain all of the high-end video and sound equipment.
He added some soffits to the ceiling to give the room what he called a “more theater ‘y’ feel.”
A home theater isn’t complete without a motorized projector!
More progress made on the soffits for the ceiling.
Here is the man’s son testing out screen sizes. This is a very important detail at this junction of the build.
The insulation in the ceiling will help control the reverberation effect, although it does not do much for sound proofing.
He added this curved procemium and lights to the front of where the screen will go.
Now that all that was done, it was time to add the drywall.
The walls are primed and mud taped. The DIY’er decided to pay someone else to sand down the last coat of mud for a perfectly smooth finish.
On the front wall where the screen will go, he installed some special acoustic material to enhance the sound quality. You can’t have a home theater with crappy sound.
A velvet cover for the proscenium adds a little touch of elegance to the room and absorbs any excess light from the screen.
He decided to build a little stage up by the screen to make thing even more authentic.
The stage is finished. The speakers will sit at ear level behind the screen.
Now onto the frame for the screen!
The screen is installed along with the border. Notice how there is still wood showing though?
That’s what these will fix! He made one for each side.
The form is complete, this thing looks great so far!
Now it’s time to begin the wood work for the ceiling!
He made a set of connected boxes and put crown molding along the inside edges.
This is what it looked like before the install. This thing is absolutely gorgeous.
This is the space it will slide into.
Finally installed! It looks absolutely great!
He decided to add columns along the side of the room.
Obviously they’re going to need a little bit of trim as well.
This one had outlets for almost anything you can think of.
All spaced evenly, they really add a theater feel to the whole room as well as house even more speakers.
He created acoustic panels for around the room by building frames, filling them in insulation and wrapping them in fabric.
I was so worried about that old carpet but thankfully he updated it to something perfectly fitting for a high-end theater.
Finally the finished product!
This place is a far cry from the bland and empty space that was once the basement.
You can’t ask for much more from a home theater than what this guy did. Incredible!
This is one incredible build! No wonder it took this guy over a year and a half to complete this monster of a project. For not having any home building experience, this guy sure did a bang up job when it came to his construction skills. I have a feeling this place is going to get quite a bit of use over the years. His kids are probably ecstatic over being able to watch their movies on what amounts to a theater screen! I’d say after the success of his first project, there should be many more to come in the future!