The Planning Stages!

  • Thread starter Thread starter lunatic
  • Start date Start date
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lunatic

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I'm finally to the point where I can plan out my space... Woo Hoo!

The Details:
  • The room is 23' 4" long by 11' 6" wide by 9' 9" tall.
  • There is already electrical and the walls are insulated and covered with 1/2" drywall.
  • There is one steel external door allowing access from the outside and a pair of double-doors inside the room that open into a garage.
  • There are two 3' by 3' windows each 4' off of the ground.
  • This space and the garage are in a single building that is detached from the house.
Initial thoughts:
  1. Float floor. Run 3 dedicated audio circuits and audio wiring in floor.
  2. Install Pergo.
  3. Retexture walls (original texture job sucks).
  4. Paint, etc
  5. Install baseboard heat.
  6. Treat room acoustically[/list=1]
    Initial Concers:
    1. If I float the floor how do I accomodate the steel external door that swings inward? Do I build a ramp? Do I raise the door?
    2. Would a floating floor be even worth it without floating walls, etc?
    3. How the heck do I vent this space? Fresh air would be nice.[/list=1]

      The goal is to be able to track and mix in this space. Most of the time the tracking would be just me but I have had interest from solo artists to record so, I would say, if I could track 3 people max at a time that would be great. 3 may be pushing it though. I'm guessing the space is too small to partition effectively. Maybe some gobos or something?

      Another thought my wife and I had was to finish the garage in such a way that we could track in there. Only problem is, it has to be able to be used for cars as well. The idea being that when we need to track we simply remove the cars.

      Hopefully some of you will have some thoughts and input. Any advice or direction is greatly appreciated.

      Here is a link to a page with 2 versions of the room. One version is a bitmap (.bmp) and the other is a SmartDraw (.sdr):
      Studio Dimensions

      Peace,
      Brad
 
Okay. After working with John a bit and posting on his forum this idea was born.

Please take a look and provide any feedback, suggestions, criticisms, etc.

FinalFloorPlan.jpg



Thanks!
Brad
 
Hmm... no interest. That' sokay. I'll just continue thread :D

In speaking with the County we discovered that we'll have to have a 1 hour fire rated wall between the studio and garage. I will also have to file an appeal to run this as a business under the misellaneous zoning - but that's a different story.

So to make life easier, and save a little money, we've decided to convert the *entire* garage into a studio and just build a carport to keep the snow off the cars ;)

I'm working on a completely new floor plan incorporating the "Control Room" ala Mr. Sayers, but with 1 iso room and a large live area.

Any ideas on how to use the space are welcome.


Peace,
Brad
 
Brad - i've been thinking about your problem - the registering a biz one will be required either way but have you considered that a steel stud wall with a double layer of 5/8" drywall would probably be what is required for sound isolation AND for a 1 hr fire wall??

cheers
john
 
Hey John!

Yes you are correct. That wall design is the basic one that almost always qualifies. However, anything put into that wall also has to qualify. The doors would have to also be rated for an hour and I'm guessing that the doors will be pricey.

The windows are another matter. The County hinted at needing fire rated windows but the guy I'll be using for the studio glass said that was BS. I'll have to get clarification on that Monday.

Since I doubt the sliders are fire rated to an hour that would mean we would need to change the door design to having a regular door between the control room and garage and double doors from the garage to the tracking room.

That equates to 6 fire rated doors. If these doors are $300 a piece then that is $1800 that could be better spent on something else.

It's not that we don't want to use the whole garage for the studio. My wife just wanted a place to store tools and keep the snow off the car.

Personally, I think we can build a nice carport just out side where the garage door is for less than $1800 and I can incorporate a tool/storage closet into the new studio design.

So you see this is really a good thing. I can now have a good sized control room, iso room and a large live space and the wife's all for it :D

The problem is not registering the biz, it's the zoning involved. My County Zoning Department has a "miscellaneous business" designation that would apply to us *if* the studio was run inside the house.

Since it is outside the home I have to get an exception to run a business under the micellaneous zoning. That involves $250, me filling out an application, and them sending a letter to my neighbors explaining what we will be doing. The neighbors then have 10 days to question/protest/whatever.

I don't anticipate a problem getting the zoning it's just a matter of waiting. They are 6 - 7 weeks out on approvals.

Anyway, this post is already too long. My apologies to everyone.

John, thank you yet again for being so kind and dedicating your time and expertise to my situation. I imagine at some point in all this I'll utilize your phone service just to make sure I'm on track before construction starts. But we can deal with that offline I guess.

I'm off to rework my floor plan!

Peace,
Brad
 
Lunatic, this is off topic from your orignal thread, but where are you from? I didn't know there was that much involved in building a studio in your home. When you say you spoke with the county, which department(s)?


Vice
 
I live in Evergreen, Colorado which is in Jefferson County.

For the fire information we spoke with the Building and Planning department and the business zoning was handled... well... through the Zoning department :D

Now, it is important to note that I have to get the zoning exception becasue I am starting a business in a structure seperate from my house which, in my case, is a detached garage.

If we we're just going to take over the basement and remodel it to be a studio this wouldn't be an issue.
 
I went throught the same thing in my city because my studio is detached from the main house.
Of course I had to permit the project, and have it inspected at various stages of construction as well.

Zoning is handled by the city in my case, and residential zoning doesn't allow for commercial endevours. I was able to proceed with the project because this studio isn't open to the general public per se.

It is a private studio and available by appointment only. Likewise, anyone that comes to record, whether they pay or not, is considered an "invited guest".

The idea against that use is not to have a bunch of people coming and going with no place to park. Keeping it private or by appointment only resolved that issue.
 
Yup. We'll have to do the permits as well. No biggie really. It's actually a good thing. It makes we're safe and keeps your homeowners insurance vaild ;)

So, as a private studio can you still register with the State as a business and operate as such? Just wondering how that works out. It may be a route we can take as well.

Also the reason I have to do all my permits at the county level is due to the fact that we live in an unincorporated city of the county so the county gets jurisdiction.
 
Thanks guys for the information. It will give me something to consider in the future...



Vice
 
I'm not sure I know what you mean by "register with the State"?
Here, that implies that you're available to bid on State Contracts.

The business is registered at the county level as either a DBA (Doing Business As) or as a corporation of one type or another.

You are right, it is a good thing to go through the permit and inspection process.
It keeps everything up to code, and keeps it safe!

Don't know if you've seen my layout.
There's a floor plan here:
https://homerecording.com/bbs/attachment.php?postid=559296

Most of the interior framing is done, and I should have a roof on it this week.
I want it weathered in real bad.
 
My apologies. I guess I just meant register as a business.

I'm going to look into this "private studio" idea. It'll save me 7 weeks of waiting, an actual zoning board hearing, annoying letters to my neighbors, and $250!

Thanks for that Michael. If you're ever in Colorado... I owe you one.

You're floor plan looks great! I wish I had just a little extra space but beggers cannot be choosers. As it originally was I didn't even have the entire garage! But that has changed and I am a happy man ;)

When are we going to see some more photos??
 
lunatic said:

When are we going to see some more photos??
Click to expand...
I'm having the trusses installed and the roof put on... well, it was supposed to happen today, but the contractor hasn't showed up. It IS kinda damp and drizzel-y today, I suppose thats why. :rolleyes:
But, as soon as thats done, it'll be a major milestone in construction, and I'll document that and all previous phases of construction on John's site.
So, some new pic's should be comming out real soon!
 
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