Day 31 - For the Benefit of Mr. Kite....

There will be a show tonight!
Okay, not really - the seats haven't arrived yet!

Well, here we are...a few shots of the theatre
and an idea of how the new TV looks.
Animation is the best way to show off a TV
and "Shark Tale" was on while shooting!
~~~

We can't wait until the seats arrive!
~~~

Just another picture with the overheads on.
~~~

This is the rack in the studio with all the theatre
and studio components installed.
~~~

WOW! This looks like a mess but Dave says
this is really a great installation.
What do I know?
~~~

Missing seats!

~~~

It's hard to leave!
~~~

Okay, go upstairs!
~~~

NOW!
~~~

This is the 43" plasma we installed in the Master Bedroom.
Told you the cord and telephones would disappear!
It's like having your own personal drive-in.
Keep your minds out of the gutter!
~~~

Day 30 - Free As A Bird...

We continue in the selected Tweeter theme
and free - at least for us - Tweeter paid the bill!

We are back to nice, perfect wall because it was
Justin, Wes and Custom Home Improvements to the
rescue. In less than one day, they erased all signs
of yesterdays error.

~~~

Look at that gorgeous color!

~~~

Up close and you can't tell at all!
Beautiful job!
The next pictures you see should be of the
completed audio/video installation with the
TV where it is supposed to be...

~~~

Day 29 - She Said, She Said...

Ah, where to begin. Before you start looking at the pictures, let us set the scene for this day. Before we even touch on the Tweeter installation, let's focus on the rack we bought for the studio. We needed to get shelves for the rack - shelves that would support all the components for the theatre. We ordered from a company called ProFormance. After many, many problems which we do not have the time or the space or the patience to enumerate here, Dave was able to order the shelves last Wednesday from SamAsh.com but, due to the problems with ProFormance, we were running out of time. SamAsh.com said no problem, they would ship second day, we would receive the shelves on Friday (last week) which was in plenty of time for Tweeter's Monday start for installation. Friday came and we found out they did not ship when they promised and they should arrive on Monday. SamAsh.com offered to refund all our shipping charges for the error which was more than acceptable to us since Tweeter had the upstairs installation to do so they could focus on that first.

Fast forward to today! FedEx arrives and the box contains only 2 of the 10 shelves. YIKES! Several phone calls later, and we have Dave running to Sam Ash in Lombard (by the way, we learned that SamAsh.com and Sam Ash are really not related - business-wise) to pick up the shelves on a store credit arranged by Cynthia at SamAsh.com. This started out as a nightmare and ended up pretty positive. Now, on to the Tweeter story...

This is our really cool looking remote control which Tweeter is in the process of programming. This looks fairly harmless, though it does seem that it just might lift-off at any moment.
~~~

Now, not wanting to be outdone by Custom Home Improvement (you recall the bumps in our construction road), Tweeter did their darndest to make us forget those problems and give us something new to focus on. They exceeded their target! See the wall with the six "holes" and a larger rectangular "hole" to the left? Well, those are located more than a foot to the left of where they should be. This occurred after Dave and our Sound Design Architect, Keith, went over the instructions with the installation team this morning. It was clear - the 61" Pioneer Elite plasma TV was to be centered on the wall between the door to the studio and the wall on the right. How this changed to being centered on the entire width of the room from wall to wall was beyond us. The TV is now completely off-center for the seating, not to mention the holes that will be visible once the TV mount is moved to where it needs to be.

A call to Tweeter and we got the same response as we received from
Custom Home Improvement when we had a major problem.
(Did they coordinate this entire scenario in advance?)
All necessary managers descended on our home to inspect and decide how to handle.

RESOLVED - tomorrow (Tuesday) Custom Home Improvement comes in first thing in the morning to repair the wall at Tweeter's expense. This includes the five -yes -count them - FIVE - coats of paint required to get this color to cover completely. Then Tweeter comes in to reinstall in the correct location. We decided that neither of us has a weak heart or this project would have killed us by now!
~~~

Stepping away from the theatre so as not to focus on the problems, let's look at the rack. This is now a mass of connections which are quickly pulling this theatre installation together.
~~~

And, from the front, this looks really nice.
Some of that empty space will be replaced shortly
by Dave's studio equipment.
~~~

Speakers - rear and side - look really cool!
And, the sound is unbelieveable!
~~~

One last look - front speakers, center speaker (on the table) and the subwoofer in the corner.
Just try not to look at the holes in the wall. We can almost hear Obi-Wan chanting,
"This is not the installation you were hoping for!"
~~~

A quick look upstairs. The master bedroom installation is nearly complete. Ignore the three telephones and pay no attention to the electrical cord...these will likely disappear tomorrow.
(NOTE - the TV commercial features a luge team, so Winter-Oly-esque!)
~~~

Day 28 - And Your Bird Can Sing...

Okay, well, there is no bird but we were visited by a Tweeter!


That's right...Tweeter came to deliver everything that
they will be installing over the next two days.
The theatre...that "thing" with the ugly beach
towels draped over it is the TV. The boxes are
various speakers, components, etc.

~~~

The "permanent residents" for Dave's studio
are starting to move in!

~~~

Hopefully the next time you see his Raxxess,
it will be filled in with shelves and components
from the theatre and the studio!

~~~



Now, we haven't included pictures from anywhere
else in the house but, part of this project is
upgrading the TV and associated equipment in
the master bedroom. This is our upstairs hallway
which is the "holding area" for a new plasma TV
and all its associated goodies!

~~~

Tweeter starts work tomorrow!

Day 25 - Men of Their Word

Custom Home Improvements completed everything on the punchlist except the carpeting which will be addressed at 8AM on Saturday. This is amazing!

Day 22 - Every Little Thing...

Well, we have nearly come to the end of the
Custom Home Improvement portion of this project.
These pictures give you an idea of where we are
and we'll explain some of the things that
Justin's folks still have to address.
~~~

Let's head on down the stairs - this really looks nice.
~~~

This is so very different from what we started out with!
~~~

This is the theatre - the unusal "things" near the base of the
wall are cables and connections for Tweeter's work
which starts on Monday, February 13th.
~~~

This just looks amazing.
~~~

We are in the studio - the equipment rack is here.
If you look back into the theatre, you can get a
glimpse of the lighting that runs under the lip of the step
or the elevated area for the second row of theatre seating.
~~~

Same room from another angle.

~~~

The studio really looks nice and Dave is very anxious
to start moving things in!
~~~

Again, a look at the lights under the step.
Custom had some major corrections
to make as far as this installation.
Also, it is hard to see but they need to make
a repair to the wall on the left.
There is a slight gap between the baseboard and the
wall so light shines through. This needs to be sealed.
We also have an intermitent problem with a light.
What is nice about Custom Home Improvement is their
TWO YEAR WARRANTY!
~~~

Same view but the lights are dimmed.
This does give you:
A) A better feel for the color.
B) A better look at the lights.
~~~

You are unable to see the other problem in the room from any
of these angles. They had to touch up damage caused by the
carpet installers along the baseboards and on the doors.
Baseboards and doors have a semigloss paint.
They also adjusted the level of some of the outlets so that required
them to touch up the wall paint...the FLAT wall paint...
which they touched up with SEMIGLOSS!
So, it looks like they have to sand off the gloss and then
repaint the wall. We are now on a tight timeframe since
Tweeter is here on Monday and the wall
has to be painted before the speakers are installed.
~~~

This is gorgeous! It is small but we are so happy to be able to
have a powder room in the basement. And wait until
you see the really great "extra" toilet paper storage
Dave found. It may be one of his favorite features.
By the way, one quick, funny story!
While in the basement looking over the workmanship,
Barb had to go to the bathroom. She ran upstairs and
went into the first floor powder room just as she
remembered that she had walked past a bathroom downstairs!
Guess we all have to get used to this new convenience!
~~~

One last look into the theatre!
~~~

Okay, now the last look into the theatre!
~~~

There are a couple additional problems.
A) Repair to the carpet on the edge of the stairs
and a small snag in front of the powder room.
B) The light in the large storage area off the
theatre is "hanging by a thread."
In order to correct the installation of the rope lights
under the step in the theatre, they had to install
another outlet box in the storage area. They
disconnected the light and forgot to reconnect.

So, we are relying on Custom Home Improvements
to make all the final adjustments by Monday when
it is Tweeter's turn to dig into this project.
All in all, they did a pretty amazing job.

Theoretically, the next pictures you see
here will be the Tweeter installation process.
~~~

Day 19 - Tell Me Why...

No picture - just a question. Today Custom Home Improvements came in to address the initial pink post-it notes and install the lights under the theatre riser. Most of the notes were not addressed and we dare not comment on the light installation for fear of what we might say. Needless to say, we need the General Contractor & Foreman here to look at this.

On a happier note, the equipment rack arrived today in perfect condition. It was a bit of a hassle getting it down the stairs, as Dave thought it arrived in pieces to be built. Nope. One piece.

81.5"H x 22"W x 22"D. Just made it down the stairs.

There will be pictures on Monday's posting. And, maybe the punch list will have been addressed by then, too!

Day 17 - Oh. My. God.

We have carpet - it looks very dark - did we pick this out?

Come down stairs...let's see what it looks like now!
~~~


Pay no attention to the shocking pink post-it notes.
They are not a part of the actual decor - they simply mark
scuffs or chips and other small items needing
attention before we sign off on the project.
~~~

Now - the carpet looks very grey in this picture but from other angles it is more brown.

Advantage - hopefully spills won't show!

~~~

God, what happened to the old basement?

~~~

Open up those theatre doors and step inside!
~~~

You really have to see the color in person - it is not this pink.
We are using the digital camera and flash we use for
Liverpool Legends shows;
it has a 40 ft. range making it a bit strong for down here!
~~~

Soon, you'll get to see it with the audio/video equipment...and no post-it notes!

~~~

Okay, ignore the speaker wire - imagine the great dipole side and rear speakers mounted above the luxurious theatre seating.
~~~

This crew was very creative with the doors to the storage area.
It is really well done and the access is great.
~~~

The studio - cables will disappear when the rack and rack shelves
arrive and Tweeter can get in here to install all the fun stuff!
~~~

It is nice and bright and Dave is really looking forward to moving in all the equipment.
~~~

Ah, the powder room. Ignore the box...and the towels will go on the towel bar to the left but there is a scuff on the wall that the towels hide if they are hanging.

~~~

So back out to the hallway. We would love to stay longer but we think we are getting a bit of a buzz from the carpet fumes.
Hurry, I think the post-it notes are chasing us!
~~~