beelzerob
Senior Member
Since I've determined that the garage is no longer big enough for my woodworking passions (such as they are), I decided to make some use of our basement, since it is hardly being used at all right now. It gives me lots of room in a relatively year-round friendly environment.
Here is the basement as it currently is being used:
The blue dots are metal columns.
Clearly there's a lot of room to use. But we've had some plans for parts of this basement already, though they are a long way off. Some things are unmoveable, such as where the bathroom roughin is (because of pipes sticking up through the floor) and where the bedroom will go (because of the 1 window). The other thing oft dreamed about (by me) is a theather, and there seemed a natural "notch" in the back wall of the basement to fit one in, free of any columns.
I have no idea what a "standard" theater size is. I guess if we expected to entertain maybe 6 adults at most (or equivalent in kids).
This is the layout we had kind of always envisioned having. Then I took the area left over near the walkout door and made that my woodworking shop.
There's some problems I see right off the bat. First, my wife had wanted a wetbar down there, with a very small counter and a sink. That sink would have to be on the same wall as the bathroom sink, as that's where the drain is. Second, the workshop seems worryingly small to me, especially given the doors and the need to keep that an open walkway. I can put all my tools on wheels, but that still seems a small area for table saw, drill press, bandsaw, router table and any future tools. I also have a very heavy and useful table 8' X 3' on wheels that would probably be hard pressed to fit in that area too.
So we played around with things a bit more and came up with this:
The size of the woodworking shop is arbitrary...I could move that wall out as far as I want. But I like the idea of leaving an area open for various uses or general crafting.
The bathroom gets some more room and now there's room for a wetbar and cabinets in the corner outside the bathroom door. The theater shrinks about 2 ft, and now there's a support post (the blue circle) in the room. I don't know how that will affect where the projector can go...I'd guess it would have to go in front of that, which puts it that much closer to the wall. I haven't checked specs to see the ratio of distance from wall/screen size.
So that's what we've considered so far. I'd be happy to have any input you can give on things I might be forgetting, or on your experiences/thoughts about threater size. And from the woodworkers, is that a decent size (either plan)?
Thanks for any suggestions!
Here is the basement as it currently is being used:
The blue dots are metal columns.
Clearly there's a lot of room to use. But we've had some plans for parts of this basement already, though they are a long way off. Some things are unmoveable, such as where the bathroom roughin is (because of pipes sticking up through the floor) and where the bedroom will go (because of the 1 window). The other thing oft dreamed about (by me) is a theather, and there seemed a natural "notch" in the back wall of the basement to fit one in, free of any columns.
I have no idea what a "standard" theater size is. I guess if we expected to entertain maybe 6 adults at most (or equivalent in kids).
This is the layout we had kind of always envisioned having. Then I took the area left over near the walkout door and made that my woodworking shop.
There's some problems I see right off the bat. First, my wife had wanted a wetbar down there, with a very small counter and a sink. That sink would have to be on the same wall as the bathroom sink, as that's where the drain is. Second, the workshop seems worryingly small to me, especially given the doors and the need to keep that an open walkway. I can put all my tools on wheels, but that still seems a small area for table saw, drill press, bandsaw, router table and any future tools. I also have a very heavy and useful table 8' X 3' on wheels that would probably be hard pressed to fit in that area too.
So we played around with things a bit more and came up with this:
The size of the woodworking shop is arbitrary...I could move that wall out as far as I want. But I like the idea of leaving an area open for various uses or general crafting.
The bathroom gets some more room and now there's room for a wetbar and cabinets in the corner outside the bathroom door. The theater shrinks about 2 ft, and now there's a support post (the blue circle) in the room. I don't know how that will affect where the projector can go...I'd guess it would have to go in front of that, which puts it that much closer to the wall. I haven't checked specs to see the ratio of distance from wall/screen size.
So that's what we've considered so far. I'd be happy to have any input you can give on things I might be forgetting, or on your experiences/thoughts about threater size. And from the woodworkers, is that a decent size (either plan)?
Thanks for any suggestions!
Keep in mind, concrete walls are awful for acoustics (they reflect everything, allowing nothing to "pass through" and/or absorb. You'll need 3x or more of the amount of accoustical treatment the basement than you would in your great room.
