Buying a new house - building a studio

espskully

espskully

New member
So I am planning on doing it right with our next house, which we are looking to buy pretty soon. I want to build an iso room big enough to fit a drum kit and sound proof it. Is the room within a room the way to go? I take it I'd want the iso room to have it's own ceiling. Any estimates on what it would cost to build a soundproof room big enough for an average drum kit? Also, I will need electrical, how do you do that? Do you get a power conditioner and cut a hole in the wall for that?

Any ideas/feedback appreciated.

I'm very excited!

Here's a house we are looking at:

http://www.mls.ca/PropertyDetails.aspx?PropertyID=4439549

Notice the basement is finished and has hardwood floors. Is hardwood better than carpet for a studio?

Cheers.
 
What level of isolation are you hoping to achieve? Do you hope to make rest of the house oblivious to the drumming going on or can there be some bleed through?

To be totally isolated may require not just it's own ceiling but it's own floated floor as well.

Cost is relative. once you know the design you can do a materials list and spec out the cost.
 
chris-from-ky said:
What level of isolation are you hoping to achieve? Do you hope to make rest of the house oblivious to the drumming going on or can there be some bleed through?

To be totally isolated may require not just it's own ceiling but it's own floated floor as well.

Cost is relative. once you know the design you can do a materials list and spec out the cost.
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I would like to be able to crank my Mesa and not disturb the wife and baby upstairs. A little bleed is OK. Is this stuff difficult to do? Should I hire a pro? I'm not a handy guy but I have relatives who are.
 
That basement room looks like it has potential.

Hardwood is good.

For isolation, room within room can work very well, but is expensive and takes up space. Another approach is the redo the existing wall and ceilings used a rated assembly. That is you'd tear off the drywall, fill the cavity with insulation, hang resilient channel from the studs, and attach a layer or two of drywall to the RC. There are details to worry about, but that's the basics, and it minimizes construction.

Also you'll probably need to replace the existing doors with weatherstripped, solid-core exterior doors.

I wouldn't worry too much about power. It's nice to have the control room run off a single 20 amp circuit, with lights on a separate circuit. Live room power is less critical, just make sure there are enough outlets and circuits for your needs.

Don't build in conditioners or voltage regulators (if needed), just leave 'em in the rack.
 
espskully said:
Thanks fellas - some good info here. It sounds complicated though.
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It really isn't--if you can find a good tradesman, the drywall work is easy for them, they could do it in two days (one to hang, tape, & mud, one to sand). But they have to appreciate the importance of the construction!!! Attention to details is critical. And a carpenter can bang out a few partition walls in a day, and hang the doors in another. And you'd barely need two hours of an electrician's time.

Trust me, it never works out that way :p
 
mshilarious said:
It really isn't--if you can find a good tradesman, the drywall work is easy for them, they could do it in two days (one to hang, tape, & mud, one to sand). But they have to appreciate the importance of the construction!!! Attention to details is critical. And a carpenter can bang out a few partition walls in a day, and hang the doors in another. And you'd barely need two hours of an electrician's time.

Trust me, it never works out that way :p
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So I should look into finding someone who has done it before and have them do it...maybe I should ask around at the local music stores.
 
That basement looks great. You could build in some diffusors and absorbers on that upper wall shelf. Just shovel a bunch of snow up against the basement walls during the winter to help with isolation :p
 
TexRoadkill said:
That basement looks great. You could build in some diffusors and absorbers on that upper wall shelf. Just shovel a bunch of snow up against the basement walls during the winter to help with isolation :p
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Doesn't it though? We are going to look at it this weekend.

Would the diffusors and absorbers cut down on the sound throughout the house? I am mostly concerned about soundproofing the iso room, but if I can cut down on the sound coming from the open area (faux control room) that would rock.

Snow? Never seen the stuff.
 
espskully said:
Doesn't it though? We are going to look at it this weekend.

Would the diffusors and absorbers cut down on the sound throughout the house? I am mostly concerned about soundproofing the iso room, but if I can cut down on the sound coming from the open area (faux control room) that would rock.
Click to expand...

Not really. You'll have to address the construction of the walls and especially ceiling to deal with that.
 
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