Re: AV & Media Room Design

["Robert Green" <ROBERT_GREEN1963@xxxxxxxxx>]

"Bill Kearney" <wkearney-99@hot-mail-com> wrote in message
news:8KadnWtf6vche-rbnZ2dnUVZ_q-vnZ2d@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> > Try something like this.  Find a house that has a room with a large
> > closet, with the closet on a wall that is shared with a room that would
> > be an acceptable room for watching TV.
>
> Or, since drywall and 2x4s are relatively cheap, just look for a space
that
> won't be terribly expensive to remodel to suit your actual needs.  Always
> factor in repainting the place, this will make drywalling less painful
too.

I had been planning to build an shelving rack on 2x4's dropped from the
basement ceiling joists but learned that some local codes frown on tying
floors together like that.  I can make a free standing unit, but that might
cause problems with the powerchair.  If I brace the basement joists I could
probably get around any issues tying the floors together by just "hanging"
the AV racks from the ceiling with nothing on the floor.  That could end up
transmitting too much vibration from the floor above to the equipment since
there's a turntable involved.  Not many of Dad's favorite records from the
50's ever made it to CD format.  (-:

> All too often a great deal of time and money gets wasted trying to
shoehorn
> the wrong stuff into the wrong spaces.  Like not rearranging a wall and
> jamming expensive gear into a tiny closet and having it get wrecked by
> overheating.  Or trying to reuse existing gear not well suited for the new
> installation.

The tendency when making things accessible is to cram everything into the
"sweet zone" from about 36 to 48" off the ground.  I've alread had cooling
problems as a result and have added small cooling fans to heat generators
like receivers and recorders. The problem with that is even cooling fans
won't help of there's no way to vent the heat build-up.  The fans just end
up pushing around super-heated air.

On the positive side, providing sufficient manuevering room for a powerchair
usually means there's more than sufficient air flow.  Hopefully I can find
some metal grillwork that I can use to make equipment shelves, perhaps by
making "frames" out of 1" square hardwood and the metal grillework if I
can't find something pre-made that doesn't cost a fortune.  Having fully
ventilated shelves will hopefully keep "hot pockets" from forming when
equipment gets stacked up.


--
Bobby G.