Home Studio Construction Advice. Help Needed!

[BigHighLonesome]

Hello All,

Ok, now it’s my turn to build a home studio and I need some expert advice. I will be moving into my new house Feb 26TH!!! I have attached a crude plan which shows L * W * H of the control room and jam room. It is not exactly to scale, but should work. I have placed doors and the load balancing poles in the diagram as well, and marked the walls which face outside..

Use: Home project studio. Not “really “ for commercial use (I may record the odd demo here for friends bands and stuff, but I am not going to be recording Dark Side of the Moon or Let it be 

This will be a fun studio for friends to come by, jam, and record demos. I am willing to put up with a few sacrifices since this is not going to be a pro studio. I just don’t have “pro” funds …

Design goals:

Ok, I am not prepared to build a room inside of a room and go gangbusters here, but I want to build the best room I can. What I am looking for is the most sound proofed room I can build without building a double wall, which as we all know, becomes “double expensive”. I want to be able to play drums (I play soft music, so the drummer doesn’t really smash the drums to bits) and have a small band jam without the sound affecting the top floor of the house where the bedrooms are. I know this may be impossible, but I need to be able to come as close as I can. If the noise can be low enough to be drowned out by a pedestal fan in the bedroom on the 2nd floor, then that’s good enough (but no noise would be perfect). Also, I have no adjoining walls to neighbors or other bedrooms. All walls either face back into the basement or outside. I want to be able to play music loud down there and need some advice as to how to trap the sound. I have found this sound and fire insulation batting that may be a good fit for insulation.

The house itself is built very solid and since it is a custom home, there is no skimping anywhere in the design. The floor directly above the studio will be solid maple.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

BTW - I am located in Ottawa Canada

 

[mshilarious]

You should start by quantifying the problem. If "no noise" is 0dB in the upstairs bedrooms, then prepare for disappointment. But if 20 dB is OK, that should be achievable if you are two floors away.

If you don't want double walls, OK, but at least isolate that mechanical room with double walls. You don't want noise coming into your studio. And then just concentrate on the ceiling--two layers of drywall, resilient channel, filled with insulation, joints caulked . . . you can use the same construction on walls for a pretty good benefit too. Use solid-core exterior doors with weatherstripping.

 

[BigHighLonesome]

Thanks for the quick reply and for the advice. It's greatly appreciated.
To quantify the problem, I would say that I want to make the room as quiet as possible and I fully understand
that 0db is out of the question. I never assumed I would get 0 but 15- 30db's is looking like the realistic goal.
The place we jam in now is terrible sound wise and my girlfreind has no real problems as it is.
I just want to be able to make things as quiet as possible. Also, in my old place neighbors were a
HUGE factor. I had them beside me
and on the second floor. I play piano based music so it is pretty easy on the ears, and the neighbors
liked the music. I would also only have band jams fri 7-11 and would respect thier right to a quiet house. In my new place the noisy nights will only be on Fridays, during the week I will be mixing and doing beds.

I guess I dont really have an idea what the equivalent of 20db's would be. Is there an example
of what 20db would sound like? Also, does the entire ceiling have to be double dry walled or just the jam room?
I have about 3000 - 5000 (TOPS) to spend in construction. My studio is roughly 410sq/f, that means on the ceiling
alone I am looking at 800 sq/f . I dont mind , but my pocket book might. I realize you have to pay to play here
and nothing is cheap, I just hope I find a good sale on Drywall. I am also batting the walls with rock wool firbreglass
and will have several bass traps and corner traps installed.
.

I forgot to mention tha the control room walls will be 2 * 8. If I decide to do the whole studio with 2*8, will this
be the same as a double wall (If I create a separation at 4") ?

 

[RICK FITZPATRICK]

Hello BigHighLonesome and welcome to the board. Ok, before I can tell you much, you need to tell us more. Your plan shows what I assume is the interior dimensions of the actual house walls, not what you plan on building in addition to these, is that correct? Is this wall between the studio and the control room existing or is it part of the "to be built" plan? Ok here are some others.

Tells us about EVERYTHING as far as the existing construction. You say "basement". Does that mean the exterior walls are concrete? Or is this just an unfinished first floor interior that the floor is at grade level? THAT is the key here. UNFINISHED!!! I'll tell you why. But fill us in on EXACTLY what is going to be there when you move in, as it is extremely important. For instance, IF this basement is to be drywalled BEFORE you move in, STOP THEM NOW!!!
fitZ

 

[mshilarious]

I guess I dont really have an idea what the equivalent of 20db's would be. Is there an example
of what 20db would sound like?

http://www.coolmath.com/decibels1.htm

If you have central air, when that is running, it's probably 30dB in a bedroom or so. Actually that's pretty good masking noise, but it gives you the added problems of dealing with the hum from the furnace, which may transmit through the floor into your studio.

If you are just jamming & not recording, I'd recommend running the furnace fan, it makes your soundproofing goal lower and thus more attainable.

 

[knightfly]

Rick is absolutely right - if this space is still open to framing, thank your lucky stars and STOP the builder in his tracks - if you want ANY isolation of drums, etc, to your upper floors, you MUST have all inner wall surfaces DE-COUPLED in some way (there are a few options) from the MAIN STRUCTURE. PERIOD.

Mistakes in isolation are MUCH easier to correct BEFORE they're built - in some cases, the difference in cost is minimal if you don't have to tear anything out first... Steve

 

[BigHighLonesome]

Wow guys, thank you very much for the advice. I can really use it. I thought I knew a lot about this stuff until I started doing research and decided that I need "A LOT" of help here to do this right. One wrong move in the construction or one oversight can compromise everything, and that scares the S&&^ out of me

Best thing for me to do is head out there with the digi this week end and take lots of shots for you. It will save me soooo much typing.

But, the ball can still be rolling here.
Ok, to answer your questions.


Question 1: Your plan shows what I assume is the interior dimensions of the actual house walls

Yes and no. The studio takes up half the basement. The right side of the jam room all the way down to the control room is an outside wall. The rear wall of the control room is an outside wall too. But the far left wall that runs all the way up from the control room to the bottom of the jam room isnt. Neither is the bottom wall of the jam room. The top door goes out to a small lounge , eating area and bathroom. I designed the house with the washer and dryer upstairs to get all the noise wayyy up. I also have a very well built and installed HVAC system, which is air quiet. It will still be a focal point for sure.

Question 2: IF this basement is to be drywalled BEFORE you move in, STOP THEM NOW!!!

I think were good here. Well almost. Only the 2 outside walls have sheet rock on them. Actually it doesnt go ALL the way to the floor, by code they have to insulate and drywall the perimiter of the basement, and they can leave 1/2 a foot open. SO I still have work to do in regards to this 1/2 foot of open studding that goess around these 2 walls. Under the sheet rock is a vapor barrier then r40 pink. I know it is "above" our building code standard and is extra thick. All the other walls I am having the builder frame, the electrician wire, and leave alone.

Electrical:

I have 3 breakers going to the jam room (Bass, Guitar, whatever) and 2 going to the control room (No idea what to do with two individual sources here, help..) So a total of 5 breakers can be used in this event.

 

[RICK FITZPATRICK]

Hello BigHighLonesome.

Question 1: Your plan shows what I assume is the interior dimensions of the actual house walls

Yes and no.

Thats why we need an "as built" plan AND a "proposed" studio/control room plan. And please use accurate interior dimensions. You will see why later.

The right side of the jam room all the way down to the control room is an outside wall. The rear wall of the control room is an outside wall too.

With no North arrow, I don't know which is up or down. According to your "plan", at least on my screen, the control room is ABOVE the studio, so how could the "jam" room wall run "down" to the control room. See what I mean.

The rear wall of the control room is an outside wall too. But the far left wall that runs all the way up from the control room to the bottom of the jam room isnt. Neither is the bottom wall of the jam room. The top door goes out to a small lounge , eating area and bathroom

Again, since you don't have a plan showing a engineering position, I have no way of telling WHICH is the rear wall. Understand? BTW, is the "recording room" the same thing as the "jam" room?

But the far left wall that runs all the way up from the control room to the bottom of the jam room isnt.

Ditto above.

Neither is the bottom wall of the jam room.

I designed the house with the washer and dryer upstairs to get all the noise wayyy up. I also have a very well built and installed HVAC system, which is air quiet. It will still be a focal point for sure.

Yes, it will. The unit may be quiet but the ducting can act as flanking paths to other rooms if not installed correctly. Have ducts been installed to the control room/studio yet? And if so, are they in the joist cavities in the ceiling? Have these ceilings been drywalled yet? Hope not.

Question 2: IF this basement is to be drywalled BEFORE you move in, STOP THEM NOW!!!
I think were good here. Well almost. Only the 2 outside walls have sheet rock on them. Actually it doesnt go ALL the way to the floor, by code they have to insulate and drywall the perimiter of the basement, and they can leave 1/2 a foot open. SO I still have work to do in regards to this 1/2 foot of open studding that goess around these 2 walls. Under the sheet rock is a vapor barrier then r40 pink. I know it is "above" our building code standard and is extra thick. All the other walls I am having the builder frame, the electrician wire, and leave alone.

Ok. Are these sheetrocked walls finished, as far as texturing or is it just taped and mudded? And is this foot or so at the top or at the floor?
The reason I ask is this. I know you want the best bang for buck isolation you can afford. Budgets always determine the level of isolation. I know you can't afford to build a room in a room, few of us can. However, if your intent is simply adding mass to the walls and ceiling, you will not significantly improve the sound transmission loss, as the added mass is still coupled to the existing framing. This is why I am asking about the drywall, as there are a few extra things you can do to REALLY improve it, but must be done PRIOR to drywalling though. That is why I asked. So, what "were" your intentions, or did you want us to tell you what you should do at this point? This is always the hard part. People come here all the time asking for help, BUT, they already made up their minds what they wanted to do, REGARDLESS what we tell them. Otherwise they wouldn't tell us HOW they want to do it. Understand? So, to keep from wasting a bunch of time, please tell us where and what and to what extent you want to keep noise out, and music from transmitting to not only the rest of the house, but the outside world too.
You see, isolation is truly in the ear of the beholder. Your "barely hear it upstairs" may be a person whose trying to sleep "its louder than hell!!)...get my drift First off, drums by nature are the hardest to contain, even played reasonably soft, as they creat impact sounds and low frequency to boot. You could add lots of mass, to contain airborn sound, but structural transmission is another animal. We'll discuss that later. BTW, the control room and studio floors are a slab I assume. I hope so but IF not, hmmmmmmmmm. Whole nuther ballgame.


Ok, for now I won't go any further with this till we know some stuff. Ok?
Later
fitZ

 

[knightfly]

My point was, if you have ANY sheet rock on the frames in your studio area, it will very likely have to COME OFF - because unless it's been RESILIENTLY MOUNTED (unlikely at this point) then it will cause FLANKING NOISE through your house framing, which can (and will) pop up in any room it feels like, by traveling through the hard connections between framing members, then re-radiating back into other rooms on ALL LEVELS, thru the sheet rock in those rooms.

The ONLY way to stop this without building double framed walls, is to mount the sheet rock on either Resilient Channel or on Hat Track which is in turn mounted on RSIC clips (rubber mounted special clips) -

You also do NOT want to put these resilient mounts on OVER EXISTING sheet rock, because this makes the wall into a 3-leaf partition; any form of that will worsen your isolation at lower frequencies, which are the hardest to control in the first place.

So, again I say, STOP - it sounds like you've ALREADY gone too far... Steve

 

[BigHighLonesome]

Ok,

I just re read my above post where I was trying to describe the room and made myself seasick.
Really sorry for the crude analogy, I thought I had it down. As mentioned earlier, I need help here.. I am
a player , not a structural engineer, by far . I may think I know loads about parametric eq, sound waves , standing waves ect,
but I just dont. I know what sounds great, I just dont know how to get it. I am hoping my own studio will help the learning curve.

I have created and ATTACHED a better, colour coded diagram to help understand the basic layout, before the digi pictures arrive early next week.
KEY:

RED WALLS - These walls are outside walls. That is, the side that doesnt face the studio is an outside
foundtation wall buried underground. These walls currently have unfinished drywal on them, drywalled and
taped with r40 pink underneath. Its the bottom of these walls that is left open. Approximately the first foot is just studs. Then the wall starts.
Wait for the pics it will make much more sense here. Baiscally the wall runs all the way down until 1 ft before the floor then it ends with just the
framing going to the floor. I could cut the drywal tape and uncrew the sheets off the wall, add resilliant channels and they pop em back
up if thats what we need to do here. Its only too late if you dont have the balls to go back and make it right

GREEN WALLS - About to be framed and wired in the next couple weeks.

BLUE - Windows. The two along the studio are tiny , maybe 1 ft in height and 2 ft long (your average basement low profile window). The control
room window can be anything, I have no idea. Is there a way to make a sort of "window Plug"? I dont want to perminantely cover my window.


ORANGE - Doors.

Yellow Circles - Load Balance poles.

I have 2 register vents that run over top of the studio. One over top the control room, one over
top the jam room (Pics coming). They feed registeres that are located on the first floor dining room. No vents that travel anywhere close to the studio
go to the second floor. They are designed to stay AWAY from my area. I couldnt do much with those 2 vents though, its just the way ots going to have to be.
If it costs me an extra couple db, then thats my loss. I am not going without heat on my 1st floor and the work that was done is SOLID.

The floors are unfinished POURED concrete, they are just a little thicker than code. Any ideas for flooring are welcome. I was just oing to slap
some laminate down over top a floor insulation. You cannot use concrete slabs as flooring in Canada (Ontario). Our building codes are beyond
strict and I HAD to have these foundation walls framed/drywalled in to get my 1st draw from the bank. I dont live near this house and couldnt get off that week. Therefore I couldn't go put up the proper resilliant
channel in. I had em do what they had to do so the bank would give me money... long breath... Too many details to expalin why the basement is currently like it is, it's all code related.

Believe me if you think you can just move a buch of wiring / structural supports and this and that around at will, think again. It was quite frustrating. You should have seen all the crap I went through to get this house to jump through al the hoops of the building code. The f'in toilet had to have an extra 1" of clearance and that meant my bathroom cabinet was smaller and that actually affected the layout of the doors ect ect. Anyhow, enough wining. They are very strict up here.

Most of this HAS to be done after I am issued and occupancy permit by the city. I am a HUGE believer in the building code and I have followed it to a T.

I really appreciate all your patience here and your advice is awesome. Thansk again !

 

[BigHighLonesome]

Bump...

I cant get out to the site until Tuesday... This will have to do until then. The dimensions of the room are the "inside wall" dimensions, not total space. Hopefully the colour coded diagram will help.

Any design tips are greatly appreciated

 

[BigHighLonesome]

Hey Guys,

By using the search feature for the last week I am pretty sure I can be my own boss here. But WOW... there are loads of conflicting posts. I have ordered a whack of 703 among other building materials, and that will bedelivered to the site on Tues. One post I read stated its better to have many 3" thick traps as opposed to very few 6" traps. I am going with that approach. I am also going to be able to afford to float the floor in the recording room. This is beyond what I expected I could afford but with building materia prices and lumber being at a low, I have been able to go a little further with the studio. Had I built my house in Sept 04, my lumber invoice would have been 6000$ more than it was. I just need to find more advice on installing the reslilliant channel on the ceiling as most posts simple point to the quiet rock site. I hammered together a couple of rolling bass traps as well as designed swing out baffles in the recording room. Sorry if my terminology is off..

I have a "consultant" coming on site for the first week. Its funny though because there are some posts here where people got loads of advice and provided half the info that I did. One post someone even redid the diagram to scale and did a freakin auto cad. Thats kind. Not a big deal at all for me though. I'll tough it out. I wasnt looking for someone to do all the legwork, just provide some advice and high level suggestions to my provided diagram.

Thanks for all the ... ummm "assistance"...


I'll post some pictures if I get some time, but things are really busy and I have to get to work. The next time I get out to the place I will be working on the studio, not taking pics and waiting for my post to fade away again (tongue in cheek ). Sorry I couldnt provide the photos I was hoping to get some insight from my diagram in the meantime to help.

Thanks again

 

[DDev]

Its funny though because there are some posts here where people got loads of advice and provided half the info that I did. One post someone even redid the diagram to scale and did a freakin auto cad. Thats kind. Not a big deal at all for me though. I'll tough it out. I wasnt looking for someone to do all the legwork, just provide some advice and high level suggestions to my provided diagram.

Thanks for all the ... ummm "assistance"...

Yeah, we are not very consistent in those regards I think it all just depends on whether we catch the vision of what someone thinks they want, or maybe what the weather is like outside.

And, in all fairness, all your questions were about how to soundproof the room as much as possible, not about floorplan/layout (at least what I gleaned by going back through the entire post). Anyway, that aside, we can throw out some ideas for you based on your space.

Check back later and I'll post my idea for the control room, at least.

Darryl.....

 

[BigHighLonesome]

Your right, my main concern was soundproofing. However I certainly will accept layout suggestions because that goes hand in hand with sound control/ease of use. I can tell you the dimensions on my diagram are the "EXACT" inside wall measurments taken right off the blue prints.

Thank you very much for the design favor. You never know, in a couple months you may see a photo of your sketch in action

 

[DDev]

Well, as promised, here is my concept for the control room. It is pretty straightforward. Splayed walls from the front as far back as the doorway. Soffited speakers located on an equilateral triangle with the mix position. For treatment, there are a number of ways to do it but I would probably use the soffit area beneath the speakers for space for bass trap hangars; put some absorption on the side walls; and some absorption on the back wall (possibly spaced off the wall to provide some bass trapping as well). Hopefully Steve or one of the real experts can provide better details on this aspect, but I think it is pretty close.

Good luck,
Darryl.....

 

[BigHighLonesome]

Thats AWESOME.

Thanks you so much, my design isnt half as functional as that. I still want to preserve a window that looks out into the recording room, and this will allow that. Cool Keep it comin'

 

[RICK FITZPATRICK]

I have a "consultant" coming on site for the first week. Its funny though because there are some posts here where people got loads of advice and provided half the info that I did. One post someone even redid the diagram to scale and did a freakin auto cad. Thats kind. Not a big deal at all for me though. I'll tough it out. I wasnt looking for someone to do all the legwork, just provide some advice and high level suggestions to my provided diagram.

Hello BigHighLonesome. I beg your pardon, but lets get some facts straight here. First off, we addressed EVERY single concern that you posted and then some. Mostly because of this:

This will be a fun studio for friends to come by, jam, and record demos. I am willing to put up with a few sacrifices since this is not going to be a pro studio. I just don’t have “pro” funds …
Design goals:

Ok, I am not prepared to build a room inside of a room and go gangbusters here, but I want to build the best room I can. What I am looking for is the most sound proofed room I can build without building a double wall,

With this in mind, I proceeded to try and get your plan straightend out so "I" could suggest some things BASED ON YOUR CRITERIA. In the meantime, both I and Steve recognized, that to stay in the financial ballpark by utilizing existing walls, the NEXT bit of important criteria reinforced the only logical solution, as YOU said NO DOUBLE WALLS!

I want to be able to play drums

Well, even to somewhat "isolate" drums, and do it on a budget, also reinforced the only logical solution, which is what we told you. RESILIANT CHANNEL on EXISTING walls. However, in order to make RC work, as we told you, you would have to remove the sheetrock. Now, here is the next confusing statement.

"(I play soft music, so the drummer doesn’t really smash the drums to bits)" ........

"I want to be able to play music loud down there and need some advice as to how to trap the sound.

So, that brings us to EXACTLY what mshilarious told you as well. Then, you post another plan and some explanations to clear things up and tell us you will be back with pictures.

Now, I don't know about anyone else, but a few pics are worth a thousand words, so I've been waiting to see them before posting any further advice. I've read everything you've posted, but as you did, other confusing details kept poppin up. First it was....."I will be moving into my new house Feb 26TH!!!"....... which led me to believe you wanted to do this stuff BEFORE then! but then I read......."Most of this HAS to be done after I am issued and occupancy permit by the city. I am a HUGE believer in the building code and I have followed it to a T." Ok, thats cool, but then what are you telling us? That you are waiting to get an occupancy permit, and THEN get a new permit to REMODEL the basement? Hmmmmm, comes
..."I really appreciate all your patience here and your advice is awesome. "

and then........
......"Thanks for all the ... ummm "assistance"...



AND THEN, Darryl posts a design with.....DOUBLE WALLS and your all beside yourself over a design, which YOU negated right from the getgo. I don't get it. If you wanted design help at the outset, you should have said so. But you EXPLICITLY set the criteria yourself, and then bitch cause no one is jumping though hoops, WHILE they wait for YOUR pics GIVE ME A BREAK.
fitZ

PS.

Yeah, we are not very consistent in those regards I think it all just depends on whether we catch the vision of what someone thinks they want, or maybe what the weather is like outside.

Darryl, you are absolutely correct. However, I go to great lengths to try and feel out a persons limits, and exactly what they REALLY want. However, sometimes it gets really frustrating just seperating ambiguous statements. Thats when I just sit back and see who figures it out first. Usually, its done by trial and error Sometimes I just plain give up, ESPECIALLY when you spend days trying to help someone, only to read a post one day, they've went ahead and done it THEIR way, when you know damn good and well it will either isolate NOTHING, or absorb all highs and zero lows, or the diffuser is ABSOLUTELY USELESS, or the HOLLOW CORE Door is pure shit, or the "floating floor" will end up totally connected to the concrete below, or the "vocal booth" might as well be made of cardboard..........fuck. How much can you take before you go.........fuck it. In this case, I bet he slaps up the RC, BEFORE beefing up the floor above with drywall "between joists", or sets up flanking with no "sway bars" or any number of 1000 details that need to be worked out BEFORE the 27th!!!

 

[BigHighLonesome]

duplicate (EDIT)

 

[BigHighLonesome]

Hey,

Rick, I think you should go back to bed and try getting up on the other side and doing this over...

I realize what you are saying and when i read through my posts I can understand your point of view and accept it. I aplogize for making you fly off the handle here, it wasnt my intention.

Most of this HAS to be done after I am issued and occupancy permit by the city. I am a HUGE believer in the building code and I have followed it to a T.

As this clearly indicated, I am waiting for my occupancy permit, moving in, and starting studio construction. I do not need another permit to build a home studio up here.

AND THEN, Darryl posts a design with.....DOUBLE WALLS and your all beside yourself over a design, which YOU negated right from the getgo.

That was my original point of view and it still stands tru for the recording room (single wall). As I have clearly stated multiple times, I know next to nothing about studio design and I am open to all suggestions. The control room design appears to be conservative enough for my budget. Speaking of, I also clearly stated in the previous post I have some extra funds available to me. So, when you add in the fact that I do not know a lot about design, add some extra money, and then a solid control room design, you shouldnt be surprised that I chopped at the bit here. At first I was hesitant to place the entire 400+ sq/f in a double wall. Given the extra funds available I may float the floor and put a double wall in the control room. Its not like a design to change plans in the concept phase now, is it?

I apprecaite and fully understand you were under the assumption I wanted to keep all existing walls, I do, just not inthe control room anymore.

"(I play soft music, so the drummer doesn’t really smash the drums to bits)" ........

"I want to be able to play music loud down there and need some advice as to how to trap the sound.

Ok, here is where my lack of knowlege in sound comes into play.

1) I play drums moderatly loud and it shakes my buddys house

2) We throw on a CD LOUD and it doesnt affect the structure of the house quite the same. The music I write is soft the music I listen to is loud.

Get it? I meant "Playback" or listen to a CD at high volume.

Anyhow, thats a moot point when I say my goal is the highest sound proofing and absorbtion I can afford.

However, sometimes it gets really frustrating just seperating ambiguous statements. Thats when I just sit back and see who figures it out first. Usually, its done by trial and error Sometimes I just plain give up, ESPECIALLY when you spend days trying to help someone, only to read a post one day, they've went ahead and done it THEIR way, when you know damn good and well it will either isolate NOTHING, or absorb all highs and zero lows, or the diffuser is ABSOLUTELY USELESS, or the HOLLOW CORE Door is pure shit, or the "floating floor" will end up totally connected to the concrete below, or the "vocal booth" might as well be made of cardboard..........fuck. How much can you take before you go.........fuck it. In this case, I bet he slaps up the RC, BEFORE beefing up the floor above with drywall "between joists", or sets up flanking with no "sway bars" or any number of 1000 details that need to be worked out BEFORE the 27th!!!
Yesterday 16:31

This is where your shifting into a high gear. Relax.
You just gave me more to think about in your little "fuck this idiot" statement than you have in this entire thread. Makes me wonder. I am sure to make a few mistakes, but its not because I didnt try to get help.

I am not an expert at design, layout and getting all my ideas across in text. I am not complaining either as I have found a lot of informative posts. Speaking of, when I go back into the history of this tboard, no offence, but your usually the first person to tell a newbie like me to bsaically "get your shit staight, get lost and come back when you know what your doing.
Well, thats a catch 22. If I knew EXACTLY what I wanted, EXACTLY how to describe it, EXACTLY the steps needed for proper construction, answer me this one: What would I be doing on a web board frantically searching construction posts at 8:53am est on a Sat morning? I should be back in bed!

Once again I apologize, but given my lack of knowlege in this area, I dont think I deservethe rant. I am a newbie, what did you expect...

I will post some pictures for the hell of it, and when I do, if you choose not to help, thats ok I appreciate your attempts so far. But please dont hold back helping me so you can chime in everytime you see something wrong.

Now back to my "1000 details that need to be worked out BEFORE the 27th!!!"

Geez I just got finished designing and building a house from scratch which started last JULY. You dont think I know about details !!!!!!!!!

Thanks again for the help Rick

 

[RICK FITZPATRICK]

This is very simple. You gave us your criteria, we gave you a solution. You change the criteria and expected an expanded solution within a short time frame. When none appeared, you bitched. Darryl offers an expanded solution. I
got offended when you implied that you were not recieving the same level of help that others recieve with less info on their part, especially when it was within a day or two of your last post. And BTW, I AM the Autocad person who TAKES the time to offer design help, WHEN I see that it is required to illustrate options. I saw NO options prior to your budget increase.
It is VERY clear from the outset, there was no DESIGN OPTION available as you nipped it in the bud. Therefore, the ONLY solution was to treat existing walls with a decoupling device. As your budget increased, your options increased, however, these options require THOUROGH analysis of existing conditions, of which, the pics would have offered mucho information. However, since you now have access to a "consultant", I suggest you let HIM decipher your intent, design and DETAIL the construction, analyse the legal ramifications as it pertains to code, and calculate the required mass/decoupling to acheive the STL to offset a somewhat ambiguous DB profile. In other words, I'm outta here. Good luck.