Cheap studio construction

A

adamski

New member
Hello people,

I would like some advice if I may on how far to go in terms of construction work and cost for a studio myself and a friend want to build.

We've just moved into a warehouse, with a view to building a studio in one corner, in fact 2 rooms one on top of the other to save floor space (we have a very tall ceiling). We were going to go all out and do a two floating rooms with proper sound proofing + ventilation... but with a couple of problems - we dont own the lease, we are subletting the place from another guy, so any investment we make does not have any legal backup. Also, the building work done so far as well as what we plan is against the lease (mezzanine floors have been built already) .. however the landlord turns a blind eye to such things.

Anyway, I would still like to investigate cheaper options than room in a room type construction, which would still be soundproofed enough so we could produce at reasonably low volume - we wont do much recording, so we wont need to make much loud noise. I just want a studio space outside my bedroom!

Any advice much appreciated!

Cheers
 
adamski said:
Anyway, I would still like to investigate cheaper options than room in a room type construction, which would still be soundproofed enough so we could produce at reasonably low volume - we wont do much recording, so we wont need to make much loud noise. I just want a studio space outside my bedroom!
Click to expand...

You need to define the term "reasonably low volume" more clearly.

What kind of decibel levels are we talking here?

Rod
 
Rod Gervais said:
You need to define the term "reasonably low volume" more clearly.

What kind of decibel levels are we talking here?

Rod
Click to expand...

I cant tell you what dB levels i'm talking about, but the room I just moved out of had no soundproofing, and the girl who lived in the room next to me complained maybe once or twice, and I was producing on my monitors most nights. I generally do my production at low volumes, and pump it up once in a while to check how it sounds loud.
 
Michael Jones said:
Why would you pour money into something that you could never own and is clearly against all regulations of the lease?
Click to expand...

Yes that is a valid point, basically if we can do it cheaply enough (i.e. say about £1000-£1500) then I wont have a problem with it... we will fund the building through putting on a party, and given that most commercial studio space costs min £400 a month, after a few of months it will be worth the cost even if we end up moving out or something else going wrong.
 
Below us is a small factory of some kind, above is the sky ... if that answers your question. And yes, it is the 1st floor.
 
adamski said:
Below us is a small factory of some kind, above is the sky ... if that answers your question. And yes, it is the 1st floor.
Click to expand...

Now "cheap" just ran away.

What you're talking about doing is loading 2 floors onto the existing floor (floating floor 1 and the associated wall assemblies - plus floating floor 2 and the related assemblies and additional live loads).

You should not do this without taking the entire design through a professional structural engineer.

Someone needs to determine that the existing structure is capable of handling the added dead and live loads that will be introduced to it.

Prior to all of that taking place - we really can't help you here.

I'm not certain about your locale - but in the US - recording studios (and their associated spaces) require live loads of roughly 100 psf (pounds per square foot) and doubling that up might not be safe depending on the existing floor design. That plus all of the additional dead loads you are talking about might just collapse the deck.

Rod
 
Well, on one side of the space we already have 2 floors, with an extended mezzanine built on metal girders. In fact most of the other units here have 2 floors that have been bulit in since they became residential. So I think we should be ok ... however it might be a good idea to get the opinion of a structural engineer.

My question was more in terms of what kind of soundproofing we can expect from a minimum of floating ... we're currently thinking of using breeze blocks for the shell and floating the floors on rubber u-boats, and doing as much sound proofing to the interior as is practical and affordable. Also the total area will be about 2.4 x 3 metres.
 
Rod Gervais said:
Now "cheap" just ran away.

What you're talking about doing is loading 2 floors onto the existing floor (floating floor 1 and the associated wall assemblies - plus floating floor 2 and the related assemblies and additional live loads).

You should not do this without taking the entire design through a professional structural engineer.

Someone needs to determine that the existing structure is capable of handling the added dead and live loads that will be introduced to it.

Prior to all of that taking place - we really can't help you here.

I'm not certain about your locale - but in the US - recording studios (and their associated spaces) require live loads of roughly 100 psf (pounds per square foot) and doubling that up might not be safe depending on the existing floor design. That plus all of the additional dead loads you are talking about might just collapse the deck.

Rod
Click to expand...


How old is the building? Anything beyond 1980 (not exactly sure of dates here) should be built to at least 80 psf live load minimum for just about any commercial use per IBC. If it's older than that, or residential - you could have problems. That said - yes, you should check. I certainly don't want to be responsible for the skulls of the folks under you!

Also, hate to disagree with Rod again, but standard engineering practice includes a heavy emphasis on "worst case" live loads (i.e. heavy loading in one spot). 80 psf should be fine UNLESS you actually go worst case (lots of loading in very little area)
 
oops, I missed the "room on top of a room" thing in the original post.

It still might be fine, but that makes it a lot more questionable.
 
KevinDrummer said:
How old is the building? Anything beyond 1980 (not exactly sure of dates here) should be built to at least 80 psf live load minimum for just about any commercial use per IBC. If it's older than that, or residential - you could have problems. That said - yes, you should check. I certainly don't want to be responsible for the skulls of the folks under you!

Also, hate to disagree with Rod again, but standard engineering practice includes a heavy emphasis on "worst case" live loads (i.e. heavy loading in one spot). 80 psf should be fine UNLESS you actually go worst case (lots of loading in very little area)
Click to expand...

Kevin,

1st go to college - then spend some time as an apprentice...... then take the test and actually become an engineer.......... then come back and talk to me.

NO engineer designs for "worst case" live loads. Live loads are a uniform loading proscribed by codes. For example - Places of Assembly are designed for 100 psf for the ENTIRE floor area except for storage rooms over 100 sf which are designed for 125 psf for the entier floor area.

Business use would be 50psf except for means of egress corridors which would be 100 psf.

We design for actual dead loads, superimposed dead loads, long term loading, wind loads, seismic loads, (either seismic or wind end up proscribing design) - we usually do not design for the unity of the member (Say .93 vrs 1.0 - which builds a little bit of slop into the design) and the live loads proscribed by code - which vary from 12 psf to 125 psf depending on location.

Sometimes we even have to analyze a design for short term additional loading (such as is the case for loading docks).

2nd, anyone who would even consider suggesting to someone sight unseen - OVER THE FRIGGEN INTERNET - that unless they exceed 80 psf live load ontop of an existing floor - and this knowing that they are also talking about a complete floating structure and the dead load that adds to the structue as well - is either a complete friggen moron or sufferes from such low self esteem that it's one of the only ways in which he can make himself feel important.

I wonder seriously about which group you actually belong to.

Oh - by the way moron - in case you didn't notice - in case you missed it because you were in such a rush to try to get a dig in on me - the gentleman is located outside of the US - the UK would be my guess seeing as the money he referenced was by the pound.

It proably doesn't mean much there what you think the IBC means.

Rod
 
Rod Gervais said:
Oh - by the way moron - in case you didn't notice - in case you missed it because you were in such a rush to try to get a dig in on me - the gentleman is located outside of the US - the UK would be my guess seeing as the money he referenced was by the pound.

It proably doesn't mean much there what you think the IBC means.

Rod
Click to expand...

Dude,

You've gone too far. You are right in some ways - that's fine, and wrong more.

I knew he was in Europe by his post. I'm no expert in what the UK uses, but my guess is that it's not far from the IBC, which is used here in NC (amended in a few small ways). Perhaps you where thinking of the UBC?

After all is said and done, the code will get most commercial structures up to 80 psf, and more likely 100.

Perhaps I suggest you take a long walk down a short pier OVER THE FRIGGEN INTERENET(!)

It's an internet forum - an exchange of ideas, asshole - not an engineering or code review.
 
OKay peeps,

I just came here for some friendly advice, which is appreciated from all sides ...

And yes, location is London, UK.
The building was orinigally an industrial warehouse, dont know when it was built but could find out from the landlord ... there used to be a big metal crane in our unit, and a clothes factory, so I guess the building was constructed to take big weights, but even so its better be cautious.

Aside from the weight issue, I just wanted to hear peoples experiences of soundproofing without doing a full floating room in a room, maybe just float the floors on rubber U-boats and leave the walls with just some deadsheet / foam treatment ... the studio will be in the opposite side to our sleeping area, so we have the advantage of distance. Basically keeping costs down is very important, as we dont want to invest in a place we dont even hold a lease on.

Thanks for your insights so far.
 
KevinDrummer said:
I knew he was in Europe by his post. I'm no expert in what the UK uses, but my guess is that it's not far from the IBC, which is used here in NC (amended in a few small ways). Perhaps you where thinking of the UBC?
Click to expand...

Nope I was definetely thinking of the IBC - seeing as that's what you referenced.

In England and Wales they use the The Building Act 1984" as modified over the various years and by The Building (Local Authority Charges) Regulations 1998 . There are also yearly updates that are enacted by Parliment.

Rod
 
Rod Gervais said:
You said it perfectly Kevin,

An exchange of ideas, not the rantings and fantasies of some wanna be engineer..........

Rod
Click to expand...

wrong again. I like some engineering problems, but def not something I "wanna be".

I like a little more diversity in my work. Not putting engineers down - just different strokes.
 
frederic said:
And in the left corner, in the blue and white trunks... we have...


Ding!
Click to expand...

In the 4th grade, it seemed that those that I started out in major fights with ended up being my best friends. Those were physical fights - wouldn't want to do that now! Anyone else have that experience?

Oh well, ever the optimist!
:)
 
adamski said:
OKay peeps,

I just came here for some friendly advice, which is appreciated from all sides ...

And yes, location is London, UK.
The building was orinigally an industrial warehouse, dont know when it was built but could find out from the landlord ... there used to be a big metal crane in our unit, and a clothes factory, so I guess the building was constructed to take big weights, but even so its better be cautious.

Aside from the weight issue, I just wanted to hear peoples experiences of soundproofing without doing a full floating room in a room, maybe just float the floors on rubber U-boats and leave the walls with just some deadsheet / foam treatment ... the studio will be in the opposite side to our sleeping area, so we have the advantage of distance. Basically keeping costs down is very important, as we dont want to invest in a place we dont even hold a lease on.

Thanks for your insights so far.
Click to expand...

I don't know what your budget is, but you might want to look into some "demountable" or "prefab" mezzanine type structures. That way, you have something you can resell or take with you to another space. There are a few good manufacturers, but it's not exactly cheap. Here's an example from Silhill, a UK company.

http://www.silhill.co.uk/images/pageimages/mezza2.jpg
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top