Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Drapes of Gold.....

This is topic Drapes of Gold..... in forum Ground Level at Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE.

To visit this topic, use this URL:
https://ft-forum.com/ft/cgi-bin/ubb/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=5;t=000786

Posted by Ray Bernardi (Member # 1615) on 04-14-2003, 05:50 AM:

All -

I just got a quote to re-drape my walls. I have a 95 seat theatre. it's not huge. Maybe a 40 by 30 foot room. The guy came in at over 10K to drape the walls. You have got to be kidding me!!!! There must be a cheaper way that looks good and meets fire code. God please help me find it guys. 10K is too much. Way too much. Ideas please???? Sell me your old drapes??

What about carpeting on the walls, anybody done this? Is it a good alternative?

Posted by Brad Miller (Member # 2) on 04-14-2003, 05:58 AM:

10K is way overpriced.

Consider what many theaters do. Put wall carpet several feet from the baseboard up to curtains that hang from the ceiling. You can see this at most UA and Cinemark locations. I also did it in my screening room. There are plenty of examples in the Picture Warehouse.

Posted by Ray Bernardi (Member # 1615) on 04-14-2003, 07:10 AM:

Brad -

Thank you for confirming my suspicion. I think I am going to do the carpet on the lower walls and just let the drapes hang about 6 inches over it. I think the existing drapes will work fine and all I need to do is install the carpet. The existing drapes go floor to ceiling so I'll need someone to come in and cut/hem them I guess. The carpet should be cheap enough. I'll check out the pictures.

Man, when he said 10K I almost choked!

Posted by John Pytlak (Member # 331) on 04-14-2003, 10:37 AM:

Whatever material you choose, be sure it meets fire code for flammability. [Roll Eyes]

You may want to run a "burn test" on a sample yourself -- I recall that one theatre owner on BigScreenBiz noted that some supposed "fire retardant" drapes they bought failed a burn test run by the local fire marshall. The fabric burned so quickly that there was no question that they would be a hazard.

Posted by Greg Pauley (Member # 503) on 04-14-2003, 11:03 AM:

Ray,
The guy must have been planning on using real gold somewhere in the curtains. Figure about 2500.00/3000.00 for an average auditorium using good material. If you are looking to save money, you could buy the material and hang the curtains yourself. It's not that hard to do.

Posted by Ray Bernardi (Member # 1615) on 04-14-2003, 12:39 PM:

I think I'm going to keep the drapes I have believe it or not. The plan right now is to wainscot about 5 feet up and carpet that area. All flame proof material. I'm going to have someone come in and apply new flame retardant to the drapes that are kept.

For the new curtains up front around the screen I'm going to hang synthetic stuff that is IFR (inherently flame retardant) and will not need to be treated every three or four years. Yes, fire has been a constant consideration as I've looked at materials. I have talked to the local FD and they are more than willing to work with me and examine samples before I invest in any material. You can't be too careful in this area at all as far as I'm concerned.

I’ve even installed a new exit in the auditorium because I didn’t like having only two. Before I did that, the only way out was the way you came in or the fire exit near the screen on the right. Now we have two fire exits, one on the left one on the right, and of course the way you came in. In the event of an emergency we should be able to empty that place in a hurry.

Next step is a panic button for the booth. I’d like to have one big red button. You hit that puppy and everything goes to all stop and the house lights come on full instantly.

There’s an awful lot to think about isn’t there? I used to think it was just pushing a button and taking the money to the bank. How wrong could I have been!

Posted by Brad Miller (Member # 2) on 04-14-2003, 04:08 PM:

Want a cheaper solution to bringing in someone to tidy up the curtain ends that I personally think looks better? Do what I did and install a "trim rail" as a separator between the curtains and carpet. Just get yourself a heavy duty staple gun and fold the curtains back and forth to form pleats, then mount the board over the scissor cut edges. [Wink]

Posted by Jack Ondracek (Member # 1466) on 04-15-2003, 01:22 PM:

Don't use gold drapes... way too distracting around the screen!

To add to Brad's solution: One of the chains here... AMC/ex-GCC, I think, uses the carpet method up to a certain level. Above that, it looks like they've just painted their sheetrock black & then put up some kind of carpet-covered acoustic wallboard rectangles every few feet from front to back. The surrounds are mounted between these wallboards.

I don't quite get why these chains can't get dark tiles put up on their drop ceilings. Those standard white tiles are [bs]

Posted by Daryl C. W. O'Shea (Member # 1303) on 04-15-2003, 01:58 PM:

White tiles! That's insane. I've never even seen a projection booth with white tiles.

Posted by John Scott (Member # 520) on 04-15-2003, 09:37 PM:

Heh, I used to manage a theatre, built in the 70's where in the auditorium the soundfold was drapes of gold fabric with the trim rail down to the floor being dark chocolate brown paneling, chocolate brown seats, and yellow flood lights that shined on the screen.

You were almost blinded when the wall and screenlights came up with this warm gold glow.

Ah the style of the 70's. EEEK! [Eek!]

Posted by Phil Hill (Member # 371) on 04-15-2003, 09:48 PM:

So John, did they have pink shag carpeting too.... I'm sure Rachel would enjoy it! [Big Grin]

>>> Phil

Posted by Paul G. Thompson (Member # 655) on 04-15-2003, 10:10 PM:

I have seen an idea that someone tried that didn't work worth a damn. It was full-length draperies clear to the floor. That in itself wasn't too bad, but they were affixed to the junction of the floor and wall with carpet tack strips without a cap of some sort. The slightest jerk by a customer pulled them free tearing up the drapery material to the point where the material was rendered practically useless.

That was a TOTAL disaster.

I would suggest using what Brad has posted in his picture. In my opinion, it is the way to go. [beer]

Take a sample to the fire department for testing. I am sure most fire departments will be more than happy to make a burn test. Incidently, be sure to have the fire code document handy on the specific material used. The fire inspection people will probably ask you for that document. If you don't have it, they may not sign the site off ready for occupation by the public. We ran afoul with something like this in a theatre almost 19 years ago.

In addition to what Jack said, gold color draperies show stains and dirt like a sore thumb, even after they are cleaned. Red is much better, as well as some other dark colors. I personally like a nice deep dark green. But that's just me.

Posted by Mike Pennell (Member # 1692) on 04-15-2003, 11:17 PM:

I've got a similar problem. What's the easiest way to clean drapery? If not we're also considering removing the drapes and drywalling the exposed brick and putting up accoustic panels. But we've had concerns the echo and reverb in the theater would be horrific even with the panels. Any ideas?

Posted by John Scott (Member # 520) on 04-16-2003, 02:03 AM:

Phil> No Pink Shag carpeting. The carpeting was a checkerboard pattern design that was baby sh*t brown, tan, and orange.

Lobby had orange formica for the vending stand and box office, with white globes that dropped down from the ceiling for light.
Wallpaper was tan with baby sh*t brown diamonds.

It was seriously the PERFECT place to see Boogie Nights back in 97.

Posted by Walter Fay (Member # 1477) on 04-18-2003, 03:21 PM:

Sounds like they were trying to gouge you Ray. My company sells and installs wall drapery amongst other things and I would guesstimate that at most the cost should have been half of that number or the drapes were in fact to be made of gold. I do like what brad did though maybe I'll make him a job offer [Smile]