Best Use of Basement Space

  • Thread starter Thread starter sixfootape
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sixfootape

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Hi All, I'm at the point of putting nail gun to stud and find that after reading numerous threads here regarding low ceiling height and square rooms.... I'm not sure I should even proceed? My situation is a typical cement foundation basement of which the 'Ol Bag o nails has allowed me an 24'x11' section to build a studio. Ceiling (really just the floor of the 1st floor) is presently just over 7' and I'm reading about alot of potential problems with that dimension in particular. As well I desire a room for tracking loud stuff ie: drums, amps, maybe my youngest son??? and a room for mixing... any thoughts? Would I really need to put a floating floor for the tracking room? I should mention that it's primarily for my own use and I'm pretty far from my neighbors so the sound iso issue is more for keeping the peace "in" the house. Thanks to everyone in advance.
Pedro Ape
 
If sound to the neighbours isn't a major problem I wouldn't float a floor with such a low ceiling height... I'd put the effort into the ceiling isolation.

cheers
JOhn
 
Ditto - and with that low a ceiling to start with, I'd try to get away with starting UPSTAIRS. If at all possible, take up whatever carpet is on the upstairs floor, and lay down a layer of 5/8 sheet rock or Homosote, then a layer of 3/4" particle board (MDF), then heavy pad and carpet. The wife will love you for the new carpet, you'll be left with more headroom downstairs, where you can fill the area between the joists with some rockwool and then cover with two layers of sheetrock on Resilient Channel, caulk EVERYTHING with either silicone or butyl non-hardening caulk, etc. the walls will need to be done in a similar manner, or you'll most likely get a lot of flanking noise upstairs... Steve

BTW, just ran your dimensions thru my axial mode spreadsheet and with 7 foot ceilings, having one room 11x13 and the other 11x10 works out really well for modal response. That would leave about a foot for in-between walls, assuming that space is all one rectangle...
 
Thanks guys.... that info really helps a lot. I'll be starting this in a few weeks. I'm not going to be able to do much about the upstairs flooring as it is hard woods over most of the area...... but then again I'm not gonna be playing "Moby Dick" at 4:00 in the morning either. I am wondering about using 1.7/8" strapping for a floating floor, maybe on cut strips of rubber then filling the cavities with sand and covering appropriateley??? stupid??? useless???? just thought putting the walls on something/anything might be better than the concrete but what do you think? Again I really appreciate your input.
 
I would do everything else but the upstairs part, to your ceiling. Are you planning to "fur out" the basement walls, or just paint, or what?

The floor should be as thin as possible and still be level, since you have such limited headroom. If you build full walls they should rest on 1/4" neoprene and be isolated from the ceiling, either with neoprene or by rubber spacers and flex-caulk.

The ceiling is your main problem area, so I wouldn't take any shortcuts there. Don't, however, fall for the "more is better" trap - putting wallboard on the joists and then RC, then more wallboard is a BIG NO-NO. You'll get much better performance with the RC directly on joists, then a DOUBLE layer of wallboard on the RC, being careful not to screw the wallboard to the RC where the joists are... Steve
 
Knightfly... thanks again, I was planning all the applicable treatments per John Sayers manual for the consruction and insulation and sealing and treatment etc.... I must admit I'm not sure what you mean by "furing out" the walls.... do you mean just treating the concrete? I was planning the whole room in a room for each but only considering the floor for the tracking portion. Do you think the sand in the floor cavities is advantageous at all??? I read it somewhere...
Thanks so much,
Pedro
 
"furring out" is a technique where fairly thin strips of wood (called furring strips) are used against an uneven wall, shimmed as necessary and glued with construction adhesive, then paneling is placed over the strips the same as it would be fastened to full size studs.

If you're using John's wall construction ideas, that will be much better for sound control.

I don't think you could get a much more inert floor than concrete on dirt, so unless the floor is uneven I woulnd't waste time or altitude (a rare commodity here for sure) on raising the floor and using sand. Where this works best is when you need a separate drum riser that is partially isolated from the rest of the studio floor to control low freq's from the kick drum and low toms - then a parquet wood floor floated on sand has been done - how well it works I couldn't say, but I would opt for the extra headroom in your case. (You didn't mention how tall you are, but I'm 6'0" and don't do well in less than 8' ceilings, preferring more like 16' if I can get it. Funny, but acoustics books all tend to agree with me - I wonder if all acousticians are over 6' tall...:=)

Just realized, your handle isn't six foot tape, as in carpentry, but six foot APE - Sooo, I guess that even though I'm obviously much more handsome :=) we may be about the same height - Trust me, at that ceiling height fancy wierd stuff isn't worth the loss in room volume.

Also, I wouldn't get too carried away with wall STC's, since the rooms will have a COMMON ceiling which will cause some flanking noise. Probably the double sheet rock each side of metal studs would be plenty... Steve
 
Now I see what you mean about the furring.... I was however going to use the 2"x4" stud wall/frame setup with air space, insolation, fiber board, drywall etc.... then rest a ceiling on top of the walls in each room...and yes I'm 6'1" so the ceiling is a factor for more than sound. If I take the floor out of the equation would you recomend something between the walls bottom plate and the actual concrete floor?
Thanks,
Pedro
 
Yeah, that's where the 1/4" neoprene and caulking comes in. you want an airtight but flexible seal under the walls...
 
Thanks, I'll let you know as it progresses. I should be able to start this weekend but there are so many things to work out first oi!!!!!!!
 
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