| DIY Home Theater March 2005
 Hammer Time
Having planned your home theater, it’s time to
get down to the hard work of putting up walls. There’s nothing tricky about this
construction project, but having a helper will make things go more quickly and be easier
on you. There are two phases to putting up a wall: framing and drywalling. In this
installment, I discuss framing.
Framing involves putting up the studs to which you’ll
nail the drywall. In order to get started, you should have all the lumber you need, a nail
gun and nails, as well as a saw, level, plumb line, chalk line, framing square, and tape
measure.
There are two ways you can frame your new wall. One is to
construct the frame on the floor and lift it into place. This is a more comfortable way to
work because it doesn’t involve so much overhead nailing, but it will require at
least one other person to help you lift the heavy, unwieldy frame into place. It also
requires a lot of open floor space. The second way, which I describe here, involves
framing the wall in place. This is easy enough to accomplish on your own and, if
you’re doing this in a basement, may be the best option because of the limited
clearance you’re likely to have.
Getting started
I’ll assume that you’re building your home
theater in your basement, and that one end of the new wall will meet an existing outside
wall. Start by measuring exactly where you want the wall to be placed. Once you have the
endpoint of the wall, mark the floor, then pull out your chalk line and snap a line along
the floor. Once the chalk line is in place, mark which side of the line the wall will
actually be on so that you don’t forget later.
You now need to pay attention to the ceiling, so that
you’ll know where to put the top plate. If you’re lucky, the wall will run in
the opposite direction of the joists. If it does, then you’ll be able to attach the
top plate to the joists along the length of your new wall. Then you’ll just need to
measure from some convenient point to ensure that the top plate will be directly above the
bottom plate, and snap a chalk line. You can check this by using your plumb line. If the
joists run parallel to your new wall, then you’ll need to add blocks of 2" x
4" lumber between the joists every 2’ so that you can attach the top plate.
Once your placement of the wall is marked and ready, you
can prepare the studs that you’ll use for the top and bottom plates. If you bring
your measurements to your local home center when you buy the lumber, they’ll likely
cut it to your specifications; if not, you’ll need to have a saw to cut it yourself.
Once the studs are cut, lay the two plates next to each other on the floor and make sure
they’re lined up flush at each end. You’re now ready to mark where each stud
will go. The studs should be spaced 16" apart, on center. Using your measuring tape,
make marks on each plate every 16" (use your framing square as a straight edge) so
that you’ll know where each stud will go. By doing this with the plates next to each
other, you ensure that the markings will line up once you’ve attached the plates.
Hammers and nails
You’re now ready to attach the plates to the floor and
ceiling. Using your nail gun or hammer, attach the top plate with nails wherever the top
plate intersects with a ceiling joist or with the 2" x 4" blocks you added. Once
the top plate is in place, you can double-check that your original chalk line on the floor
is in the right place; if necessary, shift it to compensate for the newly installed top
plate. Because you’re working in the basement, I’ll assume that the floor is
concrete. If it is, you can use a powder-actuated stud driver to put masonry nails through
the bottom plate and into the concrete. You can rent one of these at your home center;
essentially, they use a gunpowder charge to force the nail into the concrete. If
you’re looking to get a really good workout, you can do this by hand using a special
hammer, but it will take more time.
Now that the plates are in place, you can start to attach
the studs. To ensure a tight fit, take each stud to the plates and mark on the stud where
it will need to be cut. I’d advise against having the home center cut these for you.
You want the fit to be tight, so doing it on-site and marking each stud for its own
location will ensure this. Using the marks on the plates you made before installing them,
position each stud into its location and attach it with nails to the top and bottom
plates. Most of the advice I got said to use two nails on one side and one on the other at
both the top and bottom. Repeat this process for the remaining studs. Depending on local
codes, that may complete your framing process, but in most cases you’ll still have
one step to go. Attach 2" x 4" blocking between the studs about 4’ off the
ground. (This helps in the case of fire.)
You’ll probably need to add at least one door
somewhere in your project. The easiest way to do this is to buy a pre-hung door at your
local home center. They’ll likely have many different styles on hand, and you’ll
be able to special-order whatever they don’t have. A pre-hung door comes with casing
attached on the hinge side and prepared casing for the other side. Measure how big the
door opening needs to be, and place studs to either side of where the doorframe will go so
that you can nail the door casing right into those studs. For the top of the door, place a
horizontal block along what will be the top of the door and vertical blocks between the
top of that horizontal piece and the top plate, where studs would have gone had you not
put a door there. Put the door in place and, using a level, make sure that it’s
plumb. It’s likely that you’ll need to use shims to make it truly plumb. Once
the door is plumb, hammer nails through the shims and into the framing to keep everything
in place. You can then cut the shims so that they’re flush with the framing. Keep the
trim pieces in a safe place until the drywall is done and you’re ready to install
them.
Rest.
Wiring
Once the walls are framed, you can start on your electrical
work and your audio/video wiring. The time it will take to wire your home theater will
depend on how many walls you install and how long they are. I’m leaving the
electrical work to a professional, but I’ll be doing the audio/video wiring myself. I
discussed this with the electrician, and she helped me determine where the audio/video
wiring should be run in relation to the electrical wires.
Running the wires is easy work, but you’ll have some
decisions to make. The most important is whether you’ll need to change the wires once
they’re in place. This may seem unlikely for speaker wires, but video cables might be
a different story. For speaker wires, I suggest getting the best-quality in-wall cables
you can buy and being happy with them. Don’t fall into the audiophile trap of wanting
to upgrade your cables once they’ve been closed up in the wall. When you’ve
chosen your speaker cables, you can drill holes through the appropriate studs so that the
cables can get to their final destinations.
With video cables, however, the interface you use between
your video sources and projector or television may change. You might be using component
cables now, but in coming years you might want to change to DVI or whatever other new
connection comes down the pike. One way to future-proof your in-wall connections is to lay
PVC pipe in the wall to run the cable through. This will allow you to easily pull the
cable through if you ever need to change it. It will, however, take more time to set up.
You’ll need to have a drill bit that will cut a hole through the center of the studs
where the PVC pipe will be placed. With careful planning you can figure out just where the
pipe should go so that it enters and exits the wall just where you want it to be. Your
home center will have PVC pipe in many diameters for you to choose from. PVC can be cut
with a PVC saw or a hacksaw.
With your electrical and audio/video wiring complete,
you’re probably ready for your local municipality to inspect your work. After the
inspection, your next step will be to put up drywall and begin painting the room.
I’ll discuss those steps next time.
My favorite home-theater accessory
This past holiday season my wife got me my favorite
home-theater accessory. It’s something that I hadn’t considered for our theater,
but I now use it every day. It’s a StairMaster.
I don’t use the StairMaster when watching movies for
the first time or when I’m trying to relax, but it’s a fantastic way to get some
exercise without leaving the house. It’s perfect for watching DVD sets of television
shows or listening to commentary tracks on my favorite films. I’ve had it for about a
month now, and I can’t imagine being without it. Watching movies is a great joy, but
one that does little for my physical well-being.
You might work a StairMaster or exercise bicycle into your
home-theater budget. Not only might it increase the time you spend in your theater, it
will also help your physical and mental health.
...Eric Hetherington
erich@hometheatersound.com
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