How To Build an Outdoor Cinema

How To Build an Outdoor Cinema

“What movie are we watching tonight?”

Movie night has been a pandemic staple at our house. In fact we’ve been watching them outside for so long we first started with hat and mittens to get through the 2 hours. Now with summer here we are finally doing it right!

Since most aren’t going to the theatre these days this backyard build has been perfect for breathing new life into movie night, making staying a home a real treat. Plus it’s a great way to have another family over and still keep your distance.

START BY CUTTING THE PIPES

Start by cutting your larger 2” ABS pipes 4 inches taller than your flower pot. In our case, the flower pot measured 22” so we cut our pipes to 26”.

ADD THEM TO YOUR PLANTERS

Hold the pipe flush against the bottom of the flower pot and fill it with gravel or limestone screenings about 2/3rds of the way up your pot, so your ABS pipe stays nice and sturdy.

Fill the rest of the flower pot with potting soil and transplant some flowers. This will disguise your pipe. Put the 2” ABS cap on the pipe when you’re not using your screen.  No one will ever know your flower pot is pulling double duty!

MAKE THE FRAME FOR YOUR SCREEN

Next cut your 2 smaller 1.5 “pipes to 36” and insert them into the larger 2” pipes hidden in your flower pots. Add the tee fittings on top. Cut another 2 – 1.5″ ABS pipes to the width you’d like your screen.  Make your width about 1 inch longer on each side that the tarp you’re using for your screen.  In our case, the tarp measured 8 feet by 10 feet when folded in half, so we cut our pipe to 8’ 1”.

With the tee fittings parallel, insert the larger 1.5 inch x 8’ 1” foot ABS pipe to make the bottom horizontal strapping of your screen.

FINISH THE FRAME

Next decide the height you’d like your screen to be, based this on your tarp size.

We wanted to be able to fold our tarp 8×10 foot tarp in half and wrap it around the top and bottom pipe, so we cut our side pipes to 49”.  Remember 36” of the screen legs are going to be inserted inside the larger 2” pipe, so be sure to account for that measurement along with your tee and elbow fittings when cutting your top side pipes.

In our case, we cut the 1.5” pipes to 49”. Add the elbows to the top of your side pipes and insert your last  8’1” horizontal pipe across the top.

Presto! That’s your screen frame.