A/V Room Construction

Just started this after restructuring the support wall, but here's the first shot of the new wall I've created for the A/V room. After I put this one in place, I'll remove the existing wall that framed in the utility room next to it.

So, here's the new wall in place, and the old wall that framed in the utility room removed. I installed the wall similar to all the other walls in the basement. I used construction adhesive and concrete screws to secure to the floor and used a combo of 16d and 10d common nails to secure it in place. I made the 2nd full wall about a 1/8" shorter than the shortest point to the ceiling and then used shims to secure it in place (The ceiling had a difference of almost 3/4" from the shortest to tallest point).

Utility room has some more breathing room now.

A/V room all done! (Just need to create a door opening).

Making sure the future drywall had enough studs to attach to (where the walls/ceiling meets) was tricky, and framing in the ceiling especially, as I had to create a frame around the ductwork. In the end I was quite proud of what I created, as it worked out really well and was uber solid.

I used 2x4s as the "ceiling joists."

Closer look at the joints.

For the ceiling joists I notched out the 2x4s so that they would fit around the 2x4 wall studs (cutting out a 3 1/2" x 1 1/2" section). I then added horizontal supports for extra support for those joists, and to ensure that the drywall had something to attach to. Took a while to think through the best way to create the support, but I think it worked out really well.

A look at how the ceiling joists attached to the other side.

On the other side I just used a 2x2 to nail the joists into, then nailed that into the beam of the wall. To get it all in place I used my handy Irwin plastic clamps to hold it into place while I nailed them in securely.

Wall restructuring

As part of creating the new theater room, I need to fill in what used to be a large closet door opening and restructure the wall studs to allow for speakers, tv, etc to fit properly in the walls. As part of this, I'll also be creating a new A/V room to house all the theater room equipment and to serve as the main hub for all the network equipment, cable, etc for the house.
So, here's a look at the opening from inside the theater room.

before.

And, after...

Doesn't look like much from that side, but I had to restructure the entire span of the studs in the wall. In the center of the span of the wall, there was a main support for the beam made up of four studs, two each nailed together, and a horizontal stud to bind them all together. Since that support would mess up my plans to place a center channel speaker right in the middle of the wall, I created two similar supports on either side of this main support and also repositioned all the stud-work to be 24" on center across the whole wall. All the electric work was weaving its way through that main support too, so I moved some of it and completely removed most of it.

Main support is there in the middle where the light is.

You can see I've already filled in the opening here.

Wall completely reworked. You can see the footprint of the new A/V room here too.

Delayed Update

Well, with the colder temps and holiday season, I feel like I've done next to nothing on the house. Have started back up though and have a few updates... so here's the scoop.
The exercise room is all done. Finished painting all the moulding and the door so it's 100% complete now, minus some possible mirrors I may install.

Pull up bar takes up a lot of space, so may have to rethink that.

Look in through the finished door.

Besides one completed room, I've just be tearing walls down and fixing up little things here and there to prepare for attacking the main "theater room." Took a few pictures of that, so here's a look at the theater room space as it is today.

Shows door opening from stairs. 

And... panning right.

From the theater room, it goes straight into a storage/utility room, which I'm going to frame into a audio/video closet, utility room, and expand the adjacent room. Here's a few photos of that taking shape.

Was storing all my tools and equipment in the space.

Then, took out the wall that divided it from the adjacent bedroom. 

View from the bedroom. 

So... I'll push the wall farther out from where it was.

Next up is framing up where the new walls will be to create the a/v closet and bigger room. Before I do that I've got a few little things to do like insulate the ductwork now as it's more accessible. More to follow soon...