Nothing wows your customers like providing a killer home theater. But be warned: there are ways to really bomb on the silver screen.

It has been said countless times that you never get a second chance to make first a first impression. And when it comes to making a great first impression with a new house, nothing does the trick like a dedicated home theater.

Ask just about any custom builder, and the room that they will tell you earns a homeowner more bragging rights than any other is the theater room. Hey, it better, when you consider the cost of adding one to the floor plan.

Just like homeowners, home theaters come in all shapes and sizes. They also come with just about any price tag you can think of, though a builder should figure at least $100,000 to really do one right. Make that $200,000 to $300,000 if you want it to give your customer the ability to really leave the neighbors speechless. If you want it to be worthy of inviting actual movie stars to the new showcase theater, you can push that price tag upwards to a cool $1,000,000.

But often times, the one who is left standing with mouth wide open is the builder, when they discover the theater room they have so diligently worked on providing to their customer doesn't meet the local building codes.

"Builders most often screw up when they try to add a home theater room that wasn't in the plans properly," explains Jeff Smith, CEO of First Impressions, a luxury home theater manufacturer and installer based in North Miami, Fla. "Many builders confuse a media room with a home theater. They label it a media room on the plans, try to construct it as a theater, and suddenly they aren't meeting code."

What's the difference? Plenty. Rooms that are clearly intended to be theaters, regardless of where they are constructed, are often required to have two means of access. A simple multi-purpose room or media room doesn't necessarily meet the criteria, says Smith.

Theaters also generally have code requiring ceiling height, risers and seating platforms, safety and emergency lighting, wall construction, sound-proofing, and restrictions on insulation materials.

"You really need to consult with a specialist that does this every day," Smith advises builders. "Embrace us as part of the loop, and we'll make money together."

How much money? Lots, but Smith might not be the best person to ask. The reason is simply that his clients are far from ordinary.

"I only have two kinds of customers-millionaires, and multi-millionaires," Smith says. "I am definitely a theater installer for people of means."

Smith, who has been in business for 15 years, builds home theaters for celebrities, sports celebrities, industry notables and corporate owners, he says. His company constructs and installs approximately 30 to 40 theaters per year, all over the United States as well as abroad, at an average price tag of $250,000.

And while Smith has a broad resume of successful theater installs, he also has his share of industry war stories on what can go wrong when builders work with theater installers.

Besides code violation issues, other prime problem areas can include windows, doors, plumbing or wiring in the walls, and improper measurements for the theater design.

"Everything we do is designed to dove-tail with the builder's plans," says Smith. "Our rooms are designed to be rooms to slide into rooms." Translation: First Impressions doesn't construct the home theater room on site. They measure your allotted space, and then construct the actual theater room at the company's warehouse in North Miami. The theater is built as modular sections, designed to be de-constructed when finished, shipped to the actual house site, and then reconstructed.

The advantages of building theater rooms this way are many. First Impressions has access to its full staff and materials on site, has a clean environmentally-safe place to work, and avoids being underfoot at the builder's job site during the process. The disadvantage comes with any changes at the job site that aren't communicated properly.

When it comes to advice to builders, Smith says the first thing is for the builder to clearly ask the customer what the room is intended to do. This lets the installer know if they are building a room for "mass approach," as Smith calls it, or studio grade.

The differences here determine the height of the room, the size of the room, the thickness of the walls and insulating materials, the type of insulation materials used, and other factors. It also determines whether the room needs real sound-proofing, or just sound suppression, Smith says.

But as long as the builder and theater installer are working from the same script, there should be no problems, Smith says. When that happens, the builder can achieve true star power in the eyes of the homeowner.