Home Theater Construction - Success Is in the Details
I was invited to give a presentation for the design of a luxury home theater room.
I was given only a set of plans and a general budget range to work within from the General Contractor/ Builder.
Beyond that no restrictions or guidelines.
I had no knowledge of who the client was.
Only that he was a successful executive that was retiring.
I surmised this based upon the home plans I was working with.
Nice place.
Two of the larger A/V Companies in SW Florida were also invited to present.
The client desired presentations from all before making a selection.
I was given the number three position to present.
As usual my presentation began with details regarding home theater room design, acoustics and sound proofing.
As the presentation progressed it became clear to me that the client had an understanding and was very interested in what I was saying.
His questions suggested a certain knowledge of sound and acoustics.
I was able to go to a much deeper level of discussion and design principles.
I continued with my presentation pointing out numerous concerns I had regarding the plans.
Some of those concerns I had were (1) the proximity of the theater to other highly utilized rooms in the home.
This would require adequate sound proofing in the theater.
#2, The placement of the entry door was also a concern due to the fact that there was limited space (6") between the frame and room corner.
This would affect our ability to thicken the wall structure and allow room for door trim and molding.
The ceiling height was 14'.
Not unusual for a new luxury home.
But the plan called for non load bearing steel studs for the main wall between the theater and kitchen.
I needed to confer with the steel stud manufacturer regarding load restrictions and twisting factor.
I had to be sure that the studs would support any additional weight load required.
The last thing I wanted was for the wall to start twisting or collapsing under the additional weight load over time.
Not good.
Eventually during the conversation I inquired about his obvious knowledge of sound and acoustic principles.
It was only then he informed me that he was the President, of a Large Industrial Sound Proofing Company.
(for privacy I will not name) He and his lovely wife were in the process of retiring and this was their retirement home.
It is to be a gathering place for children, grandchildren, family and friends.
So the Theater Room design was extremely important to them.
He also informed me after that the two other A/V presenters did not even mention sound proofing, room acoustics and room design in their presentations.
Guess who was chosen.
OK enough pats on the back.
It was time to get to work.
After conferring with the Architect and Engineers we made the necessary changes to ensure the integrity of the wall structure.
Based upon the limited space between the door, adjacent wall and the client's budget we decided on Green Glue.
I presented two options to the client for consideration.
1) was to go with QuietRock QR-545 THX.
The QuietRock was the best performing solution.
But it also was the most expensive.
2) Green Glue sacrificed some performance but was more in line with the budget.
The numbers worked out more to the client's liking with Green Glue.
So Green Glue it was.
Green Glue is a visco elastic material that is applied/spread between two sheets of drywall at a specified rate (58oz per 4'x8' sheet of drywall).
When fully cured it develops in to a barrier between the sheets of drywall.
This results in a significant attenuation of the sound level transmitted from the theater room to the adjoining rooms of the home.
The great thing about Green Glue in this application was that it only added an additional.
75" to the wall thickness.
This left enough room to properly trim out the corner.
Green Glue also gave me a solid performance STC 56 rating or a LTC 24.
5 (Lupo Transmission Class).
Since my main concern are the low frequency bass notes from 250Hz down, I utilize the test data for these frequencies.
The Green Glue solution performs equal to or better than Quiet Rock QR-530 and Kinetics IsoMax resilient channel.
Bottom line is that the success of your project will always be found in the details.
Paying attention will always result in a better overall result.
Perfect Harmony Designs
I was given only a set of plans and a general budget range to work within from the General Contractor/ Builder.
Beyond that no restrictions or guidelines.
I had no knowledge of who the client was.
Only that he was a successful executive that was retiring.
I surmised this based upon the home plans I was working with.
Nice place.
Two of the larger A/V Companies in SW Florida were also invited to present.
The client desired presentations from all before making a selection.
I was given the number three position to present.
As usual my presentation began with details regarding home theater room design, acoustics and sound proofing.
As the presentation progressed it became clear to me that the client had an understanding and was very interested in what I was saying.
His questions suggested a certain knowledge of sound and acoustics.
I was able to go to a much deeper level of discussion and design principles.
I continued with my presentation pointing out numerous concerns I had regarding the plans.
Some of those concerns I had were (1) the proximity of the theater to other highly utilized rooms in the home.
This would require adequate sound proofing in the theater.
#2, The placement of the entry door was also a concern due to the fact that there was limited space (6") between the frame and room corner.
This would affect our ability to thicken the wall structure and allow room for door trim and molding.
The ceiling height was 14'.
Not unusual for a new luxury home.
But the plan called for non load bearing steel studs for the main wall between the theater and kitchen.
I needed to confer with the steel stud manufacturer regarding load restrictions and twisting factor.
I had to be sure that the studs would support any additional weight load required.
The last thing I wanted was for the wall to start twisting or collapsing under the additional weight load over time.
Not good.
Eventually during the conversation I inquired about his obvious knowledge of sound and acoustic principles.
It was only then he informed me that he was the President, of a Large Industrial Sound Proofing Company.
(for privacy I will not name) He and his lovely wife were in the process of retiring and this was their retirement home.
It is to be a gathering place for children, grandchildren, family and friends.
So the Theater Room design was extremely important to them.
He also informed me after that the two other A/V presenters did not even mention sound proofing, room acoustics and room design in their presentations.
Guess who was chosen.
OK enough pats on the back.
It was time to get to work.
After conferring with the Architect and Engineers we made the necessary changes to ensure the integrity of the wall structure.
Based upon the limited space between the door, adjacent wall and the client's budget we decided on Green Glue.
I presented two options to the client for consideration.
1) was to go with QuietRock QR-545 THX.
The QuietRock was the best performing solution.
But it also was the most expensive.
2) Green Glue sacrificed some performance but was more in line with the budget.
The numbers worked out more to the client's liking with Green Glue.
So Green Glue it was.
Green Glue is a visco elastic material that is applied/spread between two sheets of drywall at a specified rate (58oz per 4'x8' sheet of drywall).
When fully cured it develops in to a barrier between the sheets of drywall.
This results in a significant attenuation of the sound level transmitted from the theater room to the adjoining rooms of the home.
The great thing about Green Glue in this application was that it only added an additional.
75" to the wall thickness.
This left enough room to properly trim out the corner.
Green Glue also gave me a solid performance STC 56 rating or a LTC 24.
5 (Lupo Transmission Class).
Since my main concern are the low frequency bass notes from 250Hz down, I utilize the test data for these frequencies.
The Green Glue solution performs equal to or better than Quiet Rock QR-530 and Kinetics IsoMax resilient channel.
Bottom line is that the success of your project will always be found in the details.
Paying attention will always result in a better overall result.
Perfect Harmony Designs
