The Demolition of Our Prop Room & Birth of a Mega Den

We have a two story house and we mostly hang out in the Bonus Room on the second floor.

Kitt (my wife) has arthritis and fibromyalgia so going up and down the stairs all day long is too much for her

About a year ago I realized we would have to renovate the first floor. We decided to replace the Star Wars Room and Dining Room with a new 14 x 24 Theater Room and move the Dining Room to the seldom used Living Room.

Kitt was not very happy about this, but soon realized it would be the best solution for our situation.

The Bonus Room will become a Guest Bedroom and our house will finally have 3 Bedrooms which should help if when we decide to sell in our twilight years


I have been selling off a lot of the collection and finally started the demolition today.

It comes down a lot faster then it goes up, this took about an hour









Most of what was saved for the final display cabinets which will be in our new Theater Room.






This will probably be gutted by the end of the week.

I would have a lot more done but I'm working 10 hours a day at my job and I'm finishing up a kitchen for some friends.

If it wasn't for the rain I wouldn't have gotten anything done on this project.

ManfromNaboo said:

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You mean "Boba Villa", right?
And was that a riff on Tim Taylor?!

BD, I am always amazed how fast renovations and changing and adding rooms to houses is made in the U.S. Way more flexible than over here.

Looks good so far, and good decision to switch rooms. It´s always amazing what a little rethinking and can create.

Michael

The garage is actually quite messing in that picture, I'm just finishing up a kitchen project and I need to do a total wipe down and re-org.


As for the skills needed, between the internet and cable there are so many resources that can teach you how to do this, all you have to do is be willing to give it a try.


My professional education in renovation is limited to a 9th grade wood shop class.

Wes R said:

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How can a garage look that clean? lol. I wish we had some of your skills here, there's a ton of improving to do. I can't wait to see what it looks like finished.

I decided to incorporate home automation into the Theater Room and after very little research I went with Z-wave products.

I hit Ebay and bought the following for less then $700

• Monster Universal Home Theater & Lighting Remote - $75
• 2 GIG Wireless Alarm & Home Automation System - $250
• 2 Gig Radio Thermostat - $99
• Additional 2 GIG Key FOB - $19
• Four GE Dimmer Switches - $110
• Four Intermatic Outlets - $100

This a a great start but I'm going to buy a second thermostat and some smoke/fire detectors once I get the system running.

The best part is that it's easy to add on to this system, I can buy dimmers and outlets as needed to expand our "mesh network"

My only issue is that no one makes an inexpensive way to turn on fans, the switch for just the motor is $130 then you have to have a second switch for the lights. I don’t mind paying the price but I don’t have the room for 2 switches. You would think a company would make a Z-wave remote box that fit inside the fan housing but I guess they're still on the drawing board.

I have been working a lot of overtime and finishing up a kitchen for a friend so I haven't made much progress since my last post

I moved a window and reinsulated the entire room with a product that is more efficient and has sound deadening properties.

I built the stub walls that will eventually be the backs for Kitts "Prettys" display cabinets.

All of the wiring is done and that was very time consuming. I didn't do much to the electrical wiring but I did have to install cable and telephone everywhere. I also ran speaker wires for a 8.2 system, currently we have a 7.2 system but I wired up the rear center channel for future expansion.

I also installed an alarm system and a lot of home automation Z-wave products.

I just finished hanging the drywall and I'll start taping it tomorrow.

It' hard to photograph the room but here are a couple shots

Here are some invaluable dry wall tools that you need to pick up (unless you already have them)

• Stanley "Panel Carry" Assistants $7 each
• Senco Duraspin Belf Feed Screw Gun $100 at Lowes
• Warner 20" Work Platform. I bought 4 of these on Black Friday for $20 each at Lowes.

Our room isn't large enough for a projector, we only have a 12' viewing distance.

Instead we have a 60" LG Plasma TV, which is enough for us.

Weequay said:

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Boba, are you going for a projector/screen setup in the new theatre room? or sticking with a TV?

I just bought a projector and built a screen and the 'feel' it gives you is amazing!!

Weequay