In DFW, how important is 1st floor media room? (Howe: houses, theater)

[pinipig523]

Looking to build the house.... how important is it to have the media room in the 1st floor? Is this the new trend and will it help with resale?

[Big G]

A media room ANYWHERE will boost resale. Above a certain price point, no media room is a deal-breaker for many. I don't think 1st floor location will make much EXTRA resale impact. I do think it's a better location for the room.

The 1st floor media room is a new trend - you're typically giving up a living area for the media room. That's a great trade, since the second living area is a useless museum for most houses. It makes the media room more accessible for parties - less of a man cave, more of a public theater. My neighbor has a 1st floor media room, and I think it's brilliant.

[EDS_]

Originally Posted by pinipig523

Looking to build the house.... how important is it to have the media room in the 1st floor? Is this the new trend and will it help with resale?

If you are going to build I think a first floor location is somewhat preferable. Lots of add on media spaces are worked into second floor rooms because its far more easy to run power and audio wires most times.

Folks who are big time into audio will prefer a first floor location assuming a slab floor.

Where ever you decide be sure and run CAT5 or 6, dedicated power runs, maybe three for audio one or a TV and an overhead for a projector. Also block for or go ahead and install a ceiling fan tight to the ceiling and include a smaller AC return if feasible. Media rooms get hot. Consider a dummy switch plate or two and route pull strings so you can easily add controllers later if you wish. Make sure a few wall receptacles are switched so that you can easily power down sub woofers, lamps or what not.

Decide early if you want in wall speakers or not or a combo of in wall and on floor speakers. IMO in wall/in ceiling speakers never sound as good regular box speakers. However, if you are into HT and not so much music this does not matter as much and without question you can save a lot of space going in wall.


Good luck building a house can be lots of fun.

[stephwin]

I've only seen a few on the first floor, and they were typically in homes $500k+. But again, I've only seen 3 or 4. I think it would be a perk to most.

Ours is on the 2nd floor above the garage, which I think is fairly common. It is hot in there during the summer, even with the fan on and dropping the A/C to keep it running non-stop while we are in there. During the summer it's a good 5+ degrees warmer than the rest of the upstairs, although we do need to put some insulation on our garage door. The side of our media faces west as well and the house next door doesn't block the sun, so we have a lot of things going against us. But yeah, once you have 10+ people in there it gets warm really quick.

[Big G]

The problem with media rooms is - air goes in, but it doesn't go out. No windows, closed door. Also, lots of bodies to generate warmth. Cranking up the AC only does so much.

The better solution is putting in a return, as EDS_ said. That introduces problems of air flow, in particular making sure you don't have a dust-filled air path going right THROUGH your projector light path.

[pinipig523]

Thanks guys... Sounds good. I think I'll have in wall speakers for ht and then build a 2 channel system of true speakers in there somewhere.

And yeah, I think a ceiling fan is a good idea.

[dallasboi]

Originally Posted by EDS_

If you are going to build I think a first floor location is somewhat preferable. Lots of add on media spaces are worked into second floor rooms because its far more easy to run power and audio wires most times.

Folks who are big time into audio will prefer a first floor location assuming a slab floor.

Where ever you decide be sure and run CAT5 or 6, dedicated power runs, maybe three for audio one or a TV and an overhead for a projector. Also block for or go ahead and install a ceiling fan tight to the ceiling and include a smaller AC return if feasible. Media rooms get hot. Consider a dummy switch plate or two and route pull strings so you can easily add controllers later if you wish. Make sure a few wall receptacles are switched so that you can easily power down sub woofers, lamps or what not.

Decide early if you want in wall speakers or not or a combo of in wall and on floor speakers. IMO in wall/in ceiling speakers never sound as good regular box speakers. However, if you are into HT and not so much music this does not matter as much and without question you can save a lot of space going in wall.


Good luck building a house can be lots of fun.

Man you sure know your stuff...I almost felt like I was watching a TV show about media rooms or something......Very informative! +1

[EDS_]

Originally Posted by dallasboi

Man you sure know your stuff...I almost felt like I was watching a TV show about media rooms or something......Very informative! +1

We are on our fourth media room; I've made every possible related mistake at least once.

[GreyDay]

Depends on the size of the home. If you've got a smaller home and you're giving up a living room on a say 3000 sq ft. home it may be an issue. However if you've got a 5000 sq ft. home, you definitely want a media room/playroom/flex room.

Many homes seem to be getting away from the classic center hall plan with a formal living and dining room that most people just stare at and keep pretty.

Our media room is more a flex room but it also has seperate a/c controls but we did do in wall surround sound except the sub (keeps kids from running into your speakers and such).

[pinipig523]

Originally Posted by EDS_

We are on our fourth media room; I've made every possible related mistake at least once.

Why the cat5 runs?