The Home Ownership Thread

[otc]



Most home theaters are build in the basement on the front side of the house which is under grade. Storage, cellar or HT are pretty much the only ways to use that space.

well, you could argue that above grade expansions/luxuries are required make that space usable for a home theater. Once you have upstairs laundry rooms, giant closets (no need to rotate seasonal wardrobes), oversized 3 car garages, etc. then you start looking for ways to fill the extra basement space. Not to mention, expanded floor plans also create expanded basements.

 

[SirReveller]

Great stuff. Thanks flvinny & otc.

Sidenote: I'm doin a ridic juvenile mancave which I'll post a pix of later.

 

[jbarwick]

I dislike man caves and huge basements. I made sure my kitchen and area I spend most of my time were on the same floor of the house. The whole man cave thing....damnit I bought this thing, I will sit in the living room and watch tv!

 

[SirReveller]

How bout "masturbatorium"?

 

[Numbernine]

I take a sizable workshop over mancaves,ht,or party rooms any day

 

[Krish the Fish]

I don't want a man cave but I do want a separated portion of the house in which I can smoke cigars and entertain, and not expose any future children to smoke, etc. permeating throughout the house. My gf is fully down with this idea. I was thinking a small room or a finished garage or something, but she suggested for our next house having a separate HVAC system for the basement with a wet bar, entertainment area with TVs and table games, etc. with an exhaust system and fresh air intake for the cigars. One of the many signs I knew she's a keeper

 

[Piobaire]

I'll take my home gym, my music room, and my bar over a man cave.

I have considered moving my music room out to the guest suite but throttle that as I don't want to have my guitar exposed to guests that may have kids.

 

[SirReveller]

I got a woodworking room adjoining the "mancave"? Have to relearn the circular saw and build a spice rack I guess, lol. The room itself is more of a decrepit limestone walled anomaly that demands to be filled with something and used since it's pretty big. So; vinyl, hifi, old flatscreen, guns, flags, posters, gaming PC, beer fridge etc. All the sophomoric **** one wouldn't put in a proper living room. Aka all the fun stuff

 

[emptym]

We had a B&W TV when I was a kid. Flipper, Lassie, Three Stooges, Lone Ranger, Little Rascals.... Pong.

Yesterday afternoon, while we were at work, the contractor came in with a bobcat and scraped the backyard clean, removing gravel, a couple strips of riprap we had for drainage, and pushed our boulders aside too. Where the pool/spa is going is cleaned and read for excavation. Might have it dug out as early as end of next week.

Do you get flash floods? If so, will the drainage be good?

Friend has asked me to build a bench/shoestorage thing for her front porch I'll post pics when its done.
Here is a grain shot of a scrap I used to set my saw

Amazing.

Most home theaters are build in the basement on the front side of the house which is under grade. Storage, cellar or HT are pretty much the only ways to use that space.

+1 My sister and her family have a HT in the basement and I'm a little jealous. It has a huge couch that overflow guests could sleep on, and it also functioned as her son's playroom.

I take a sizable workshop over mancaves,ht,or party rooms any day

One treat of the year we spent looking at houses was seeing old workshops guys had cobbled together. Reminded me of my dad's. I wonder how many guys ages 20-50 would want a workshop. I would, but I wouldn't use it nearly as much as my dad's generation did.

 

[texas_jack]



What part of that is door and what part installation?
Cutting it kind of close there, aren't you?

I guess I didn't negotiate like that. Just cost for everything. Weather King door and sidelights, a MI outfit.

 

[flvinny521]

The room that will be converted to my theater has served as a play room for my twins, and will continue to do so for another 2-4 years, I'd imagine. It's a large second floor loft. Once the kids are a bit older, they won't need that much room to spread out their belongings, so we decided a home theater was something the entire family can enjoy. I like to think that our boys' and their friends will use it, I imagine it will be a popular Super Bowl/World Series/NBA Finals etc destination, and even just hanging out on lazy Saturdays with the family.

The only other reasonable option for my floor plan would be to convert it into a second bedroom suite as a guest room, but to be honest, we don't like guests to be SO comfortable that they decide to stick around longer than planned.

 

[Ataturk]



I guess I didn't negotiate like that. Just cost for everything. Weather King door and sidelights, a MI outfit.

Makes a big difference, though, doesn't it? Pre-hung doors are not hard to install. Last time I replaced a steel door it cost me about $150--for the door and jamb. It took me a couple hours to put it up, most of which was caulking and painting. Just basic carpentry skills required. I'm sure the fancy entry doors with sidelites and storm doors are more expensive, but how much more?

Maybe I should quit this law gig and start installing doors for a living.

 

[brokencycle]

Makes a big difference, though, doesn't it? Pre-hung doors are not hard to install. Last time I replaced a steel door it cost me about $150--for the door and jamb. It took me a couple hours to put it up, most of which was caulking and painting. Just basic carpentry skills required. I'm sure the fancy entry doors with sidelites and storm doors are more expensive, but how much more?

Maybe I should quit this law gig and start installing doors for a living.

I don't know, when I had my doors and window installed, it took three guys, who install doors and windows for a living, 5 hours to do the job. The house is 60 years old, nothing is quite square, and the previous owner believed in measuring once cutting twice, so his work didn't help the matter. The window, as an example was a size too small, and was installed with about 3" of spray foam all the way around the window.

 

[Medwed]

Bathroom before

during

after

 

[lordsuperb]

good job.