Studio Build Documentation

CoolCat said:
Why s that? in lamens terms..this high ceiling thing seems so important.
Reading the BRadly brothers studio they ripped out the first floor of the house so the basement ceiling was then the 2nd floor,,,,seems like a lot of unused space.
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As The Cat said, "Big is better" and the floor to ceiling dimension can often be the smallest in a room. Standard UK rooms are around 8.5ft and older, victorian properties around 11ft. You would not want a room 8 foot by 11 if you could avoid it!

Curved or vaulted ceiling can be problematic. The Albert hall had notoriously bad acoustics with 'lens effects' from the cupola. The fix was the 'flying saucers', done in my lifetime and now RAH is one of THE most sought after concert venues in the world I understand?

So, not wasted space because you can hang absorbent material in it and it does not impinge!

Dave.
 
CoolCat said:
Why s that? in lamens terms..this high ceiling thing seems so important.
Reading the BRadly brothers studio they ripped out the first floor of the house so the basement ceiling was then the 2nd floor,,,,seems like a lot of unused space.
Click to expand...

It's about volume...as in cubic feet.

People get all hung up on LxW dimensions, and having some perfect numbers, etc...but if you have huge volume, the LxW dimensions and numbers become less and less important, and it's much easier to treat a larger room than a smaller one....often, diffusion becomes the better option with more minimal absorption.
With a smaller room, you need massive absorption.

My volume is close to 10,000 cubic feet.
When you get past 8,000, it makes a significant difference how much less work you need to do to treat a room...and you get to retain a more live sounding space, without the heavy penalty a smaller live room causes.
 
DAY 68


I haven't posted anything new in the past week, but even though we had the holiday in the middle of the week, some addition work has been done since last Sunday. Some more of the plumbing was run for the bathroom and the baseboard heat...and the shower lines and valve were connected. All my bathroom fixtures arrived, and they get the shower basin set temporarily to line up the drain.

I've also completed running all my network lines and phone line, 4 of each, two per each of the long walls, which is more than enough. I could have gone with just two of each, but I figured a couple extra lines are easy to run now. I only need to tack down the lines in a few spots, and today I hope to run my TV line, which shouldn't be too involved.

The electrician is here today doing some more sorting out of the old wiring and tying it in with the new, since I had a few 3-way switches, and some of them were cut off during the initial demo work on the old space.
The big thing for today was that about 90% of the siding is now finished. The only thing left is the areas around the front/rear doors, which have to wait for the doors to be installed...and also the 4th, missing window needs to be installed and then the siding completed around and past the window to the end of the wall...about 10' worth.

I was told the insulation sub-contractor would be here toward the end of this coming week...and then following that will be the drywall. We met with the drywall sub a couple of days ago, so he did all his measuring, and I'm expecting the drywall to be done by the end of the month or sooner. Also my HVAC guy should be back as soon as the drywall is done...and by then the electric and plumbing should be done too...so I think end of the month the construction will be about 90% finished, with only the doors to be installed and the foyer/bathroom floor tiled.
My flooring guy is already set to be back about mid-Feb so we can install the hardwood floor. It will need a good two weeks to acclimate once the heat is turned on before it can be installed.

There is glimmer of light growing at the end of this construction tunnel. All the guys working or OK...but I want them all to leave so I can have my house and my life back!!! :D



Day68A.jpg
 
bluesfordan said:
wow, that is looking really good. How long has it been since they broke ground?
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Even though that's the front side of the whole house...it's more like the backside of the studio section...so the studio section looks better from the back of the house, where it has some more windows...but they didn't quite finish the siding there yet due to the missing window.
All the guys working said they really like the vertical board & batten & siding...it's not a common choice, with most people going with the typical horizontal siding.

Yesterday was day 68 since we broke ground.
 
DAY 70

Last night I was finishing up the last of my cable work...got all the holes drilled for the last bit, the TV cables, just need to get up into my attic to pull them.
I also started applying the putty caulk to the back of the outlets before they install the insulation. The putty seals the outlets and deadens any sound getting into them from the room.
Today I should finish up the rest of the outlets. It's a bit of PITA...the putty comes in small brick. It goes into the microwave for 30 seconds to soften it a bit...then I take an old dough roller pin, and stick the putty between a couple of sheets of heavier plastic and roll the brick into a sheet...cut it in half, and each piece is enough for one outlet.

You can buy ready-made sheets of fire-proofing putty pads...but they ain't cheap, and I was in a hurry because I forgot to order them (nothing local)...so I went with these duct sealing putty pads from Home Depot...and they're a fraction of the cost of the fire-proofing putty pads.



Day70A.jpg
 
Out of interest, do the guys doing the building work see your audio tricks and wonder what it's all about. The little things you probably get them NOT to do, or ask them to do differently. On one of my old studio projects I ended up making up reasons for things having to be different, because the real reasons were just too strange for the builders to grasp. Their usual standards on gaps and nails rather than screws in some areas were just ignored. My current studio roof had to be replaced and the debris from the old one is sitting on the inside of the inner skin and I often think I can hear strange vibrations or noises that could be the isolation between the in and out failing where old board fragments are touching both. I'll never know.
 
rob aylestone said:
Out of interest, do the guys doing the building work see your audio tricks and wonder what it's all about.
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The general contractor and I spent about 6 months talking about the build before it ever began due to the permit/variance process and all that.
So while he wondered about my need for some things and/or preference for doing certain things a little different...he understood my goals, which were basic...I wanted to make the structure fairly soundproof, and then with wiring and some other areas, I needed things that went beyond the usual "bedroom addition" type of build.
It's coming along well enough...and also, I was never trying to build a full-tilt commercial facility...so certain methods and building techniques one would use for a higher level commercial studio, simply would have been overkill here and unnecessary.
 
At one of our past houses, it was a new build and I wanted the garage built without any up and over door, or windows. I knew this would be a struggle with the very old fashioned builder, so I said it was to be a dark room. He seemed to get the idea and built exactly what I wanted. One of the builders asked if I needed them to fit the board? Board? They thought they were building a Dart Room - as in the British game where you throw arrows at a board!
 
rob aylestone said:
At one of our past houses, it was a new build and I wanted the garage built without any up and over door, or windows. I knew this would be a struggle with the very old fashioned builder, so I said it was to be a dark room. He seemed to get the idea and built exactly what I wanted. One of the builders asked if I needed them to fit the board? Board? They thought they were building a Dart Room - as in the British game where you throw arrows at a board!
Click to expand...

EVERY stoodio should have a dart board! An Smegg full of beer.

Dave.
 
Here in the states it's hard to build a windowless residential structure...you have to get past some of the building codes.

I have 3 casement windows on one side of the new studio...and an awning window on the far end, up high. The architect was trying to say that I needed to meet both egress and natural light requirements. I proved that in a non-bedroom space, egress was not required...but they do have a certain percentage of natural light requirement. So for a complete windowless room, I would need to probably do more paperwork with the building department...though I always wanted the windows, I just didn't care if the opened or not. I only wanted the awning window to open for some air on occasion.

Originally I wanted just some very tall and narrow fixed windows on the side....like no more than 12" wide and 4' long...but after awhile, I just opted to go with a more standard window, so I picked the 2'x4' casement, which is the exact size of most traps and ridged fiberglass sheets...so that way I can make some "plugs" for the window cavity when I need more sound control...but TBH I don't expect that will be needed...plus, I like to have the view into my yard and have the natural light in the studio.
 
DAY 74

In the last few days all the insulation was installed throughout...and some prep work done in the foyer, in anticipation of the tile flooring, but on Mon/Tue there will be some cement pouring in the foyer to create a new front door landing and to do the final floor leveling for the tile.
On Wednesday the drywall installation begins...and that should probably run to the end of the following week. After the two drywall layers go on, the plumber will be hooking up the baseboard heat so that the room can be brought up to temp for the taping & spackling.
The temps this weekend are in the low 60s...which is unusual for January, but then it's been a pretty agreeable winter for construction work (we dodged a bullet)...but it's going to get more seasonably colder by the end of next week so they need the heat for the drywall work.

I've got windows open to let some fresh air in the space (and my whole house)...and it's actually warmer outside than it was in the new space...so the insulation was doing it's job, holding in the temp. Last night I turned on the heater in there for like 10 minutes so I could do some clean-up...and it got too warm, I had to shut if off. :D


Day74A.jpg
 
The room is looking good. Its quite a difference from the first shots of the excavation and slab pouring.

I know what you're saying about the weather. Here in the midwest, we woke up to mid 60s this morning, but a front arrived around 10, bringing storms and rain. Temps are supposed to be warm until Friday. Heck, the weeds are sprouting in the front yard!
 
TalismanRich said:
The room is looking good. Its quite a difference from the first shots of the excavation and slab pouring.
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Yeah...I was thinking about, and looking back at, the start and the construction evolution...and it's nice that I'm finally in the last stages. There were days when I couldn't see this far...it felt like it would take forever, but now it's close. I expect to start moving in my gear end of Feb. I want to get past the final inspection and get my C-of-O before I move gear in there.
 
DAY 78

To day the drywall arrived in the morning...and by 4PM, most of the walls already had the double layer of drywall. Man these guys are fast! :)
They were going to start with the ceiling, which is the usual approach with flat ceiling...but because these are at about a 45 degree angle, it was easier to start at the walls, especially since there is a double layer...so at the wall/ceiling line, they create like a step with the two wall layers, then the two ceiling layers will lock into them.

Also, my main contractor wanted them to glue the first layer of ceiling drywall to the studs, along with the screws...he just felt it would more secure, that way the second layer will have a solid surface...though the drywall crew said they've done double 5/8" drywall on ceilings before, and never had a need to glue it, but no problem...they just didn't b ring glue today, so tomorrow they will have it.

They expect to have it hung by the end of the day on Friday...and will start the tape/spackle either Sat or Mon (we might have some snow on Sat). It will take the rest of next week to tape and spackle, since they do three layers of spackle. Our biggest concern is that starting this Friday, the mild Jan temps are going to drop quite a bit...and there is still no heat in the room...so for the spackling, we'll need to run some electric heaters, because the spackle can't be allowed to freeze overnight, or it will just crack and fall off. The room needs to be at least in the 50-60 degree range so it can dry well and quickly enough between the three layers of spackle.



Day78A.jpg




Day78B.jpg
 
Miroslav, totally threw me with "spackle"!
Since found out it is a crack filler similar to our Polyfilla. The latter is said to be superior because it is cellulose based and does not shrink or crack.

Dave.
 
Spackle doesn't normally shrink or crack...the important thing was about not letting it freeze before it can thoroughly dry...that's when it can shrink/crack.
 
Polyfilla is actually the same thing...Spackling paste, which is the old brand name for it, but it became the common name, then the more generic name "joint compound" became the more "correct" name, unless of course you were talking about the Spackle brand of joint compound. ;)

I think just like "Sheetrock". Over the years, it became the common name...then at some point it became more politically correct to call it drywall. :D

Spackling paste - Wikipedia
 
miroslav said:
Polyfilla is actually the same thing...Spackling paste, which is the old brand name for it, but it became the common name, then the more generic name "joint compound" became the more "correct" name, unless of course you were talking about the Spackle brand of joint compound. ;)

I think just like "Sheetrock". Over the years, it became the common name...then at some point it became more politically correct to call it drywall. :D

Spackling paste - Wikipedia
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We call it 'Plasterboard' which is I think properly descriptive? I tend to resist the 'Americanization' of our language but then as an old retired "Valve" amp tech you might expect that!

Cracking job by the way.

Dave.
 
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