Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Home Theater Fred's (hopefully) excellent HT adventure

Perfect for the new "standing office" format that seems to be gaining popularity at my work, at least.

Fred, do what they do in the auto finishing industry; block sand, start @ 13 min... the area. You'll need a dead flat/straight board (a hand rail works well) just under the length of your screen area and a roll of ~2" wide sand paper - at most auto body supply stores you can get PSA backed sand paper in a variety of grits. Thinner is better for the mud applications - you can get get quick setting mud, only mix what you need. Once a layer is dry you can spray a guide coat of black sandable primer - just enough to put a light mist on the area - think: one dot every 1/8-1/4". Let dry and start sanding, in an X pattern with your sand paper covered long block. As you hit the high points, you'll see white and the low areas will stay black.
Prep a new batch of mud and fill the low spots (still showing black), and repeat the guide coat long board sanding process. You will eventually end up with a dead flat, all white area. (this is why custom paint jobs are $8k plus - its all labor.

Tempting.

I knew that going in. I've done small bits of mudding before and I've watches pros tape and mud a room in less than 15 minutes.

So, Patrick. Can I come party at your place and watch movies when I get sick of mucking with mud?

You may just be on to something. I happen to have a 4' level. It's rather narrow, but would be enough to identify high spots I can sand down with a regular block. That might just work if I'm careful. Thanks!

Level, level.
Level, level, level.
Level?

Noooooooooooooooo!

I'm guessing you're talking about Candy Crush Saga.

I wish.

Scott. That turned out to be a very good suggestion, even if I havn't used it yet. It turns out a 4' level is all I've needed so far. The paint from the level comes off just enough to mark all the high spots nicely.

Most of the screen is pretty good. The exception is a very high spot center left that I sanded right back to the concrete block in one spot (between 1/8" and 3/16" high.

It took a good 3 hours of sanding and checking the level using 50 grit paper to get it as close to flat as I can. I'm still filling in the hollow above it. The worst of it was probably 1/4" low.

I figure that these two spots were enough to noticeably affect focus, so I have no choice but to fix them.

Those mudders sure know how to hide an uneven spot in the wall.

Holy cow you have patience. Good on ya. That is a messy and tedious job.

Are you going to paint a matte black border around your screen area after?

Once you're in, you're in...

For a border, I figure there are two ways to do this: use adhesive backed velvet tape, or make a border out of 3" molding. Given how much time this last stage has taken, I might just opt for the simpler solution, particularly since I plan to cover the wall with something decorative when the screen is not in use.

Originally I was worried about extra work if/when I move, but I'll have a bit or work with the rest of the wall to blend it in anyway, so a little extra adhesive to remove or cover is not a big deal.