How to Mount Theatre Chairs for Free-Standing Installation

Typically for home theaters this type of chair is bolted directly to a concrete floor or to a larger wooden platform, but this instructable allows for greater flexibility for use in a multipurpose room.  The first time that I mounted these chairs I installed them all together on a single MDF deck cut from a 4'x8' sheet, but this time I chose to use stock, pre-cut birch veneer plywood so that the chairs could now be separated and moved around the room individually.  Like my previous install, I mounted the chairs at a slight angle to the deck base.

Step 1: What You Will Need.

Materials:

     - 3/4" x 2' x 2' birch veneer plywood (1 per chair)
     - 1/4"x 1" bolts (4 per chair)
     - 1/4" x 1" washers (4 per chair)
     - 1/4" lock nuts (4 per chair)

     - smaller 1/4" washers (optionally used as spacers)

    (I started with bolts of various lengths because that's what I had at hand and used a
     hacksaw to cut the bolts flush once installed, but the 1" lengths worked without needing
     a trim.)

Tools:

     - electric drill
     - 1/4" wood drill bit
     - 1" wood drill bit and black electrical tape (see image note)
     -  7/16" socket and wrench
     - pencil
     - saw horses

Step 2: Decide on Placement, Mark and Drill Holes.

Decide on placement and mark.  Once you have decided on the position of the chair, mark your holes with a pencil.  I tried to keep 1/2"+ from the edge and chose to mount the chairs at an angle to the base.  You might want to mark the wood where the front of the chair will be so that it's easy to line up the holes when you are ready to mount.

Drill holes.  First drill the 1/4" holes and then turn the board over to the bottom of the base to drill the 1" holes to the depth that you marked on the drill bit.

Step 3: Attach Chair to Base.

Put the base on saw horses (or two bar stools like I did) and line up the mounting holes on the chair with your 1/4" drilled holes in your base.  Your 1" holes should be accessible from the bottom.  With your holes aligned, push the 1/4" x 1" bolt into the hole and put the 1" washer and 1/4" nut on the underside using the socket and wrench to tighten.

Fire up the popcorn popper and silence your cell phone...you're ready for movie night!