Studio Build Documentation

[miroslav]

DAY 47

Yesterday they got most of the sheeting done...there's just about 3-4 sheets left to go on...and three of my windows were installed, 2 on the side and my awning window which is on the end. The fourth window came in the wrong size (some miscommunication between the vendor and my contractor)...I should have the replacement in a couple of weeks, hopefully before the holidays, so until then it will get some plywood.
Also, half of the hurricane clips were installed for the rafters.

I also locked into my AC system today, and they should start roughing it in next week...a 22k BTUh 2-ton system. The rep said an 18k would have been OK, but I told him I have quite a bit of gear that will generate some heat, and that I wanted the room have good cooling...so he pushed it up to the next level.
The heat pump in the unit will warm down to -5 degrees...which is good enough for this area, especially considering that I will also have some hot water baseboard in the room. There was a -15 degrees option, but kinda overkill.

Today is a rain day...but I'm going to be out there running some drainage pipe for the gutters and also a French drain...it's going to probably be the last chance to do it now before the ground start to freeze since the temps will be in the upper 40s...then we have a long cold spell coming after.

Tomorrow and Monday the siding should get started on the fascia and soffits and so on...plus the Building Inspector is due on Monday to sign off on the framing/sheeting phase...then the electric and plumbing should start once the structure is kinda sealed, and we can run some portable heat in there.
I also need to start running my audio power line, networking, phone...so I'm looking forward to there being some heat in there...kinda hard working with wire when your hands are frozen.

Oh...my front & back doors have been ordered. I still need to pick out my studio door...probably just a solid 6-panel door, wood & fiberglass (like an exterior door), but a thicker one...1-3/4"...and there's also the bathroom door, but that will be just like the doors I installed this summer in the rest of my house, just solid wood, 6-panel, and then I'll paint it....well, I'm going to be painting all the doors.

[Chili]

This is getting exciting.

Do you plan to record other people or bands? Or will be just for yourself?

Wonder how a drum set will record in the space when it's done.

[miroslav]

This is getting exciting.

Do you plan to record other people or bands? Or will be just for yourself?

Wonder how a drum set will record in the space when it's done.

The studio was/is primarily for my use...something I thought about many times over the years, about my options to build-out or to reassign the existing space in my house that was next to my current studio, in order to have more room. Doing this build-out was always the ideal way to go, and I envisioned many different ways to do it. I wish I had this opportunity 10 or better yet, 20 years ago...but it just wasn't possible, and this year it became possible, mainly do to the fact the my immediate family, my mother, father and sister are all gone.

I never got into it here too much on the forums before, but I'll give you the backstory now.

Before my dad passed away 15 years ago, he and my mother would spend their summers with me, winters in Florida. Then after my dad passed away, my mom continued. Also, my sister and her husband use to come visit often, and the room that was demolished to make way for this new studio, was a guest room that they would use. Then my sister passed away in 2016, she was ill for several years, and slowly faded away...but my mom was still doing the NY/FL thing. I was actually planning to create a comfortable one-story space for her to live here permanently (instead of building the studio), because she was getting to the point of needing more care and being alone in a condo in FL was not good.

Just as we were making plans to get her up here permanently, she was going to do one more winter in FL and then move for good up here... then last summer her health went downhill. She still went back, for one last time, but two weeks later I was on a plane heading to FL to bring her back. She ended up in the hospital and was not going to survive alone. I needed to act quick to bring back so I could take care of her.
I had to pack her up and move her in 10 days time. Got her back up here, she was OK for a few months, and then by Dec last year, she just got worse, lots of trips to the doctors, nothing...she had chronic COPD issues, and a pacemaker...last January after they did a second PET scan, it was clear that here lungs were going.
She spent her last 6 weeks in bed, with me taking care of her along with some hospice visits...and the she passed away at the end of February.
That was a really hard thing...watching her go day by day, and being the only one dealing with it 24/7, but I always told her I would not stick her in some home...and that I would stay with her and be her caregiver. I just didn't think she was going to go for at least another 2-3 years.

So the plan I had to build a space for her was no longer needed, and I toyed with the idea of selling the house and moving, now that my entire immediate family was gone...but then decided that I liked where I was, and this place was home, and the "ghosts" of my family are still here with me, and I didn't want to leave them behind. Not trying to sound weird...but the memories of my family are tied to this place, and I wanted to keep them close.
At that point I decided to go for the studio build...and I might as well now have my longtime dream come to life...rather then move and try to start it all over again at some different place.

That's how I got here to this build...but to answer the rest of your question......I do plan to and would very much like to have people over to record...and that has always been part of my thought process in planning this and getting it built. I just wasn't going to do a formal commercial type of studio build, because the one big open space is what I prefer...and yes, there will be drums set up (I think they will sound great in the big room)...my amps and guitars, of course...and I'm probably going to try to get either a baby grand or full grand piano in there, and leave my smaller studio upright down where it is, in the room which will become my new bedroom. That way I can have a place to flush out ideas without always going into the studio.

The studio will have all the necessaries to handle a 5-6 person recording session when it's all finished and set up. I will most likely be building a bunch of gobos this summer, so that I can create partially isolated spaces, and make the most out of the big open room.
I am also going to wire in my adjoining foyer, which has a 12' vaulted ceiling, and it will have a tile floor with extended hallway...so I think it could possibly have an interesting live sound...or just toss some rugs on the tile, and deaden it up. That way I will have to possibility of one additional space isolated from the big room...but I live the single room approach, always have.

[miroslav]

DAY 48

Today it rained on/off most of the day, but I was out there in the rain and well into the night putting in some drainage pipes along the far end of the building.
I put in two pipes...one is a solid pipe for the two gutters (yet to be installed) to drain into, and the second, outer pipe has holes on the bottom, to act as a French drain, since that end of the building has the high slope near it (the new driveway where I will need a retaining wall come spring).
It made sense to put some initial drainage now, before they come to install my mini-split AC unit, which will go on the on corner on a pad...and I wouldn't want to have to dig under it later in the spring. There will probably be another drain pipe on the driveway side of the retaining wall when it goes in.

It was a warmer day (though pretty wet)...so possibly the last opportunity to dig before the ground starts to freeze. This way when the install my gutters they can immediately connect them to the drain pipe...and those uphill sides of the building will stay dry.
I probably should have put in the pipes when they were backfilling...but at the time, the contractor said with a slab, it wasn't required by code to have footing drains and all that...so I made the mistake of going with that thought...DUH!...and then as soon as they backfilled, I saw that the top of the slab was almost at grade, so I knew I would end up putting in the drains...but now it's basically done.

I still have to drop in another 30' of pipe along my front wall, but I may let that go until the spring, since I already dug out along the wall and filled it all with stones...so it will drain pretty good as-is...but I want to add the French drain pipe, and tie it into the other one at the corner.
If it stays warmer for a couple of days, I may run to Home Depot and just grab some more pipe and do it now...but the next two days they will be starting the siding, so I don't want to get in their way.

[Chili]

Thanks for the backstory. It is nice to see the commitment to family. Don't see that too much anymore. Sorry, for your losses over the years, but cool to see you trying to do the best you can for your Ma.

I think the recording space will sound great. If I could swing it, I'd bring my band up to record. Hope to hear some great music come from that room some day.

[miroslav]

My family was always good to me...we were all close. It's a bit weird now being the only one to carry all the memories, but I know they would expect me to move forward. When my sister took ill, I asked her once if there was anything she wanted from me, anything I could do for her...she said, "Live your life".

Hey...when the studio is ready, if you ever take a ride to NY, you're welcome to stop by.