Basement from scratch

jake the snake

New member
Hey everybody, It's been many years since I visited this forum. I've moved a couple times the last few years so I have not been settled enough to do any real recording.

But I am happy to say in a few months I will have a brand new basement space all my own to do whatever the hell I want with! Which means studio space/ man cave!

I've been out of the game and I'm feeling a bit rusty. Anybody have a good thread or guide they could share with me to help me plan my space. I wanna get this right.

Heres a pic of the blueprints if anyone wants to throw out any suggestions for space usage. 21'-4" by 31'-4" with a staircase roughly 8' by 8' as pictured.

I'd like to have a rehearsal space, engineer room, and a vocal booth... and if theres any room left a place to drink and sleep... just in case:thumbs up:

Basement.jpg
 
You don't have enough room for all that. Instead, make the main space (where the sump pit, lally column are) as the main music room. What's the projection on the left - bulkhead stairs? That'll give you a 20'x14' space. You'll need rockwool traps, superchunks. Are the walls finished or bare concrete?
You can leave the smaller space at bottom left for a couch, tv, beer fridge, etc.
 
The projection on the left is a set of walk down steps with a bilco door. Once we're moved in I may do something different with the bilco door. The walls are all bare poured concrete.

I guess I'm most interested in how to go about sound proofing and finishing the space accordingly. How-to info on the rockwool, wall and flooring materials etc

I agree with you mjbphotos on using the larger upper area for the main music room, I don't really need a separate vocal booth.
 
'Soundproof' - ohoh! Do you mean from the house above? If so, ,what is the ceiling height? Concrete (baement) works pretty well in keeping the sound from going outside (you'l need to fill up window wells whht MASS, though).
 
'Soundproof' - ohoh! Do you mean from the house above? If so, ,what is the ceiling height? Concrete (baement) works pretty well in keeping the sound from going outside (you'l need to fill up window wells whht MASS, though).

Well maybe not soundPROOF.. but yeah, I want to do a reasonably good job of keeping sound from the house above, and from outside. I play drums. And for many years now I've had to live with only playing on my Roland ekit. My dums have had to live in their bags. I want to bust em out and play whenever I want without bothering the whole world.:)

I'll check the ceiling height but I think its only 8'. No window wells. I had the plumbing/electric/hvac tucked up into the floor joists to save all the head room I could. I know that doesnt leave me enough room for complete soundproofing, but theres gotta be something I can do to help?

I'd like to finish the basement all the way. Walls, ceiling, floor... the whole 9. I have construction skills, but I need to find out how to help with the sound.
 
To make a room soundproof, you have to isolate it - meaning no vibrations (i.e. sound) get transmitted out. Mass is needed - that's why concrete is good. But the minute you put stud walls in, the vibrations can travel along the wood, and up into the ceiling joist (first floor floor joist) above. So you need to make a 'room within a room, that is only attached to the rest of the house with vibration-absorbing pads (rubber, usually). With a concrete floor, you can get away with not having to put a 'floating floor' in place, but you would need to have a ceiling joist system resting on the stud walls, not attached to the existing joists, this is going to knock your height down by at least 8.5" - 8" joists + sheetrock layer. If you've only got an 8ft ceiling youre going to have a lower-than-ideal ceiling in our room, AND you will not be able to get to any of the utilities currently in that basement ceiling, either.
 
How about something like this for the floor joists above?

RX-DK-DIY366011_hat-channels-With-Labels_s4x3.jpg.rend.hgtvcom.1280.960.jpeg

Stud framing for the walls, leaving a gap between the walls and the poured concrete walls, with rubber pads between the walls and the floor joists. Sound absorbing insulation in the walls, and drywall. Vinyl plank floors.
 
It won't be 'soundproof', but will be better. They'll still hear/feel the bass and kick upstairs. Remember that you will need acoustic treatment (bass traps) IN the room, too.
 
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