CurtPalme.com Home Theater Forum

[kal]

[kal]

[dvh99]

you could of course have considered having the vent to stick out 3 meters out of the deck so it wouldn`t have bothered you.

the period when you are sitting outside would likely be the period when you are not burning wood inside unless you have planned to make a "serre" outside (don`t know the english word for that).

[kal]

[kal]

[Ile]

[dvh99]

i`m sure you are right but it is not just about efficiency in moderate environments but more about the atmsosphere.
finland can get really cold for a long time and then it is a serious thing to consider.

cheers,

dennis

[Ile]

[kal]

It's amazing how much progress slows down when the design/build company stops and I take over. Other than a few small touch-ups, they are basically done. I don't have a team of people who can work on this 8 hours/day.

Here's the progress over the last 2-3 weeks:

My keg freezer (keezer) will be more visible now that it's going into the brewery so I have it a coat of Rustoleum-type paint in black:



I hung my brewery control panel:



The wall plate I used before was stained to match my old tile. It's now been painted dark grey to match the wall (again using Rustoleum):



Immediately to the right of the control panel is the fan speed control unit. This used to be in a separate little wall-hung box. Now that I'm able to design from scratch I installed it as a regular switch right in the wall. The outlet is hidden up above the vent hood.

I'm going to be using a 24x60" stainless steel commercial table for the brew stand instead of the wood one I built previously, so I painted the pump stand to match:



We've started to move in the Jaymar home theater seating that we had before as well as the speakers (Paradigm Signature series):





The bathroom vanity lighting, mirror, and shower tower were installed:







A couple of vapour proof pot lights were installed in the sauna, same ones that are used in the shower:



Sauna heater running (it needs to run for a good hour or two to burn off any oily residues from the manufacturing process):



I installed the VintageView wine racks:



They come in 1, 2, and 3 bottle deep varieties. We went with the 2-bottle deep version:



We moved the movies on to the storage shelves:



The temporary white light switches were replaced with black switches and Lutron DIVA DVCL-153 dimmers. There are a couple of special Lutron Spacer SPS-600 IR dimmers for the home theater:



I like these Lutron dimmers because they look exactly like regular Decora style switches and the dimmer slider is tiny & off to the side. People will simply hit them to turn them on and off instead of messing with the dimmer settings.

The IR dimmers have a clear back so that they can be blasted by an IR blaster that will be installed later. I pulled a CAT5 line into the 4-gang box before the drywall went up. The idea is to have a single IR receiver above the screen that then "blasts" the various home theater devices and these two dimmers. This way you don't have to point your remote in the right direction. Just point at the screen and everything (including the equipment that is out of the line of sight) receives the signal.

Both styles of dimmers also support CFL and LED lighting in case we want to upgrade in the future. LED is still insanely priced today so it's definitely for future use. We may put a couple in the wine rack just to avoid excess heat but other than that we'll probably stick with the halogen lighting that's already been installed.

Kal

[kal]

It's amazing how much progress slows down when the design/build company stops and I take over. Other than a few small touch-ups, they are basically done. I don't have a team of people who can work on this 8 hours/day.

Here's the progress over the last 2-3 weeks:

My keg freezer (keezer) will be more visible now that it's going into the brewery so I have it a coat of Rustoleum-type paint in black:



I hung my brewery control panel:



The wall plate I used before was stained to match my old tile. It's now been painted dark grey to match the wall (again using Rustoleum):



Immediately to the right of the control panel is the fan speed control unit. This used to be in a separate little wall-hung box. Now that I'm able to design from scratch I installed it as a regular switch right in the wall. The outlet is hidden up above the vent hood.

I'm going to be using a 24x60" stainless steel commercial table for the brew stand instead of the wood one I built previously, so I painted the pump stand to match:



We've started to move in the Jaymar home theater seating that we had before as well as the speakers (Paradigm Signature series):





The bathroom vanity lighting, mirror, and shower tower were installed:







A couple of vapour proof pot lights were installed in the sauna, same ones that are used in the shower:



Sauna heater running (it needs to run for a good hour or two to burn off any oily residues from the manufacturing process):



I installed the VintageView wine racks:



They come in 1, 2, and 3 bottle deep varieties. We went with the 2-bottle deep version:



We moved the movies on to the storage shelves:



The temporary white light switches were replaced with black switches and Lutron DIVA DVCL-153 dimmers. There are a couple of special Lutron Spacer SPS-600 IR dimmers for the home theater:



I like these Lutron dimmers because they look exactly like regular Decora style switches and the dimmer slider is tiny & off to the side. People will simply hit them to turn them on and off instead of messing with the dimmer settings.

The IR dimmers have a clear back so that they can be blasted by an IR blaster that will be installed later. I pulled a CAT5 line into the 4-gang box before the drywall went up. The idea is to have a single IR receiver above the screen that then "blasts" the various home theater devices and these two dimmers. This way you don't have to point your remote in the right direction. Just point at the screen and everything (including the equipment that is out of the line of sight) receives the signal.

Both styles of dimmers also support CFL and LED lighting in case we want to upgrade in the future. LED is still insanely priced today so it's definitely for future use. We may put a couple in the wine rack just to avoid excess heat but other than that we'll probably stick with the halogen lighting that's already been installed.

Kal

[Nashou66]

Super super super nice Kal!!!!!


Nashou

[kal]

Wow, looking at these now I realize my camera sensor needs a good cleaning! Lots of dots/spots ...

Kal

[kal]

Wow, looking at these now I realize my camera sensor needs a good cleaning! Lots of dots/spots ...

Kal

[HK-Steve]

Agree, Looks not just great, Looks Fantastic.

Also agree, clean your lens, ha ha.


Cheers

[AnalogRocks]

[AnalogRocks]

[ecrabb]

Damn, how'd you get your sensor so filthy? Were you changing lenses while the drywall guys were finishing?

[kal]

[kal]

[ecrabb]

[kal]

[kal]

[kal]

The two stainless NSF prep tables I ordered arrived so I was able to move more things into the brewery. The table under the kettles is 24x60" while the one along the side wall is 24x96" with a backsplash.





View from the bar:



The three Portland bar stools arrived along with the four Barcelona chairs. Unfortunately 3 of the 4 chairs sent were white (we ordered black) so back they go.



I started working on the HDMI switching/distribution for the home theater as well:



We have 2 sources (for now):

- HD PVR for satellite/TV content. This HDMI signal is split and sent to a family room TV over ethernet.
- A PS3 for DVD/Blu-ray games.

The empty spot on the left will be for a Lumagen Radiance video processor for doing 125 point greyscale/colour/gamma auto-calibration (among other things) to perfectly tune the picture before it is sent to the projector. What many people don't know about projectors and TVs in general is that they require calibration in order to produce a close to accurate representation of the video signal being displayed. Most displays do a horrible job at displaying what the director intended.

I always tell people to properly calibrate their display before they think of upgrading. Most will be shocked when they see what they've been missing. For more information see my free GREYSCALE & COLOUR CALIBRATION FOR DUMMIES guide.

Kal

[kal]

The two stainless NSF prep tables I ordered arrived so I was able to move more things into the brewery. The table under the kettles is 24x60" while the one along the side wall is 24x96" with a backsplash.





View from the bar:



The three Portland bar stools arrived along with the four Barcelona chairs. Unfortunately 3 of the 4 chairs sent were white (we ordered black) so back they go.



I started working on the HDMI switching/distribution for the home theater as well:



We have 2 sources (for now):

- HD PVR for satellite/TV content. This HDMI signal is split and sent to a family room TV over ethernet.
- A PS3 for DVD/Blu-ray games.

The empty spot on the left will be for a Lumagen Radiance video processor for doing 125 point greyscale/colour/gamma auto-calibration (among other things) to perfectly tune the picture before it is sent to the projector. What many people don't know about projectors and TVs in general is that they require calibration in order to produce a close to accurate representation of the video signal being displayed. Most displays do a horrible job at displaying what the director intended.

I always tell people to properly calibrate their display before they think of upgrading. Most will be shocked when they see what they've been missing. For more information see my free GREYSCALE & COLOUR CALIBRATION FOR DUMMIES guide.

Kal

[kal]

I installed the "Dragon's Breath" Metal Wall Art and hung the Dervish 5-Light Pendant Light:



Nice to finally see some colour. Everything so far has been very grey/monochromatic.

I thought that hanging what is essentially 7 separate pictures 1" apart and have them line up straight would be an exercise in frustration but it was actually quite simple. They provide a paper template to make things easier. Tape it level to the wall and then install 7 drywall anchors with screws. I've always liked the self-drilling drywall anchors as they're quick and easy to use and don't make a mess.

Three of the four black leather Barcelona chairs are loaners while we wait for the replacements to be ordered (in case some eagle-eyed readers notice the chairs are slightly different). They sent us white ones by mistake. We now need a table and possibly an area rug underneath to finish off this area.

<rant>

Having to replace things (sometimes many times) before getting the right part or a non-defective part seems to the norm these days.

The extreme example was the bathroom shower tower: We ordered it 3 times before giving up and going with a different brand. The first 3 all arrived damaged during shipping.

The companies have all been good about replacing things it but it seems like a disturbing trend regardless of how much you spend or what quality you expect. Frustrating.

</rant>

Kal

[kal]

I installed the "Dragon's Breath" Metal Wall Art and hung the Dervish 5-Light Pendant Light:



Nice to finally see some colour. Everything so far has been very grey/monochromatic.

I thought that hanging what is essentially 7 separate pictures 1" apart and have them line up straight would be an exercise in frustration but it was actually quite simple. They provide a paper template to make things easier. Tape it level to the wall and then install 7 drywall anchors with screws. I've always liked the self-drilling drywall anchors as they're quick and easy to use and don't make a mess.

Three of the four black leather Barcelona chairs are loaners while we wait for the replacements to be ordered (in case some eagle-eyed readers notice the chairs are slightly different). They sent us white ones by mistake. We now need a table and possibly an area rug underneath to finish off this area.

<rant>

Having to replace things (sometimes many times) before getting the right part or a non-defective part seems to the norm these days.

The extreme example was the bathroom shower tower: We ordered it 3 times before giving up and going with a different brand. The first 3 all arrived damaged during shipping.

The companies have all been good about replacing things it but it seems like a disturbing trend regardless of how much you spend or what quality you expect. Frustrating.

</rant>

Kal

[WTS]

Wow, looking alright there Kal, good job.

[kal]

Does anyone have any recommendations for reasonably accurate sauna thermometers & hygrometers?

I purchased this bucket/ladle set but the included combination thermometer/hygrometer is a piece of junk:



Both the thermometer/hygrometer are bi-metal (a coil that tightens/loosens based on temperature or humidity levels) but both stick like crazy and jump around making them impossible to calibrate let alone use. Turning the calibration screw slowly does nothing and then all of a sudden the needle will jump 180 degrees.

Doesn't necessarily have to be a "sauna" thermometer or hydrometer either. Though the thermometer needs to go to at least 180-200F.

Thanks!

Kal

[kal]

Does anyone have any recommendations for reasonably accurate sauna thermometers & hygrometers?

I purchased this bucket/ladle set but the included combination thermometer/hygrometer is a piece of junk:



Both the thermometer/hygrometer are bi-metal (a coil that tightens/loosens based on temperature or humidity levels) but both stick like crazy and jump around making them impossible to calibrate let alone use. Turning the calibration screw slowly does nothing and then all of a sudden the needle will jump 180 degrees.

Doesn't necessarily have to be a "sauna" thermometer or hydrometer either. Though the thermometer needs to go to at least 180-200F.

Thanks!

Kal

[dvh99]

http://www.ebay.com/itm/VINTAGE-Space-Age-GERMAN-sputnik-atomic-BAROMETER-THERMOMETER-HYGROMETER-/300805841671?pt=AU_Decorative_Arts_Homewares&hash=item46096ce307

pretty cool if you ask me.