“Do-it-yourself” theaters are often not do-it-yourself at all. In fact, many enlist the help of a builder to frame out the room, a plumber for adjacent bathrooms, an electrician, and even an A/V consultant, yet still proudly call it a DIY theater. Not so in the case of Jerrod Shook’s converted basement in Cary, North Carolina. Shook did everything from the plumbing, to the electricity, to framing the room, to selecting and setting up the equipment. 

He was motivated because when the home theater bug bit him, it bit him hard. “I am a guy, so I like speakers and movies and music and video games, and I am a musician as well. I have always been into music,” says Shook. The first obstacle between him and his home theater dream was finding a house with a basement. “I’m from up north, but down here they don’t have many basements. I wanted to buy a house with a basement so that I could put in a big-screen TV. Later, I discovered the AVS Forum and magazines like Electronic House. My wife said that this discovery was the worst thing that could have happened because I realized I could put in a projector and a screen twice the size of a TV for the same amount of money. Then I got interested in theater seats, soundproofing, and other aspects of creating a perfect home theater, and the rest is history.”

As soon as they found the house they were looking for, Shook was so excited, he went down to the basement and spray-painted a rectangle on the wall to indicate where the display would go. At the time, the basement was just raw space. “I started by drawing out plans for the basement, and my wife and I figured out what we wanted to do in what area,” says Shook. The plans included a bar and kitchen area, a large sanctuary for parties, a playroom for the kids that Shook calls the “Kids Movie Theater,” and a full bathroom. Then, Shook sat down and tried to come up with a budget, which he “woefully underestimated on.”

While the budget was challenging, the construction proved to be straightforward. “My dad was a Tim Allen-type do-it-yourself guy so I was always helping out around the house. Additionally, I used to do a ton of remodeling work during the summer throughout college. I was doing it for minimum wage, but that experience was invaluable,” says Shook. Shook used his construction chops to do all the custom woodworking, the wiring, cabling, install the ceiling speakers, install the doors, molding, drywall (in the theater only), and lights. The only thing he hadn’t had experience with in the past was plumbing, and—that’s right—he did that too. Shook did get help with laying the carpet, installing the HVAC and drywalling the rest of the basement. Working nights and weekends, the Shooks moved in at end of June 2004, started the project in May of 2005 and were done with the basement in January 2007.  “I was down in the basement all the time. I didn’t come close to divorce, but some days it felt like it,” says Shook. 

One of the biggest challenges for Shook was having patience. “I was a one-man show finishing more than 1,800 square feet,” says Shook. “I wanted to focus only on the 14 x 20-foot theater, but I had to work simultaneously on the rest of the basement to get the appropriate permits. It drove me crazy.” In fact, as soon as Shook got the Panasonic AE900U projector and Carada 120-in. Precision Series screen, he put them up anyway, even though the room was still unfinished. “The projector sat on a step ladder, and we had friends over and watched Cars with some folks sitting on lawn chairs,” says Shook. “There was no carpet and I didn’t have the bead-board or fabric on the walls, so I didn’t care about the kids throwing popcorn around and making a mess.”

Shook also faced challenges when he chose the screen size, figured out where to sit, configured some of the acoustics, and placed the speakers. “My biggest concern was soundproofing. I didn’t want sound to escape. I didn’t want to worry about waking the kids up,” says Shook. He read that you should treat your theater like an aquarium: If there is a crack, sound will leak out. Therefore he focused on perfecting every seam of drywall, acoustically caulking every place where wires came in or out, and trimming the solid wood exterior door with weather stripping. He didn’t use recess lighting because he didn’t want to cut holes in the ceiling where sound can escape. He also used two layers of drywall, staggered stud walls and RSIC clips for sound isolation. And, according to Shook it worked. 

And while there is a lot to be happy about in this basement remodel, when asked what Shook is most proud of about his theater, he replies, “That I built it myself.”

Quick Hits:
Year Completed: 2007
Room Size: 14 x 20 feet
Length of Project: 1.5 years construction for entire basement
Total Cost: $50,000 for entire basement remodel