John Sayers' Recording Studio Design Forum

Actually it's the other way around. 25 AWG is the light weight steel. 20 AWG is a structural steel.

Just thought I'd bump this to the front page. It was half way down the 2nd page.

Here's an update. Haven't done anything new the last couple weeks since the party. Been too broke to move forward. Had to raid the change jar as it is.

Getting ready to run some additional conduits, etc for additional wiring throughout the house as well as running new alarm wires for the studio. My contract w/ my current alarm company expires this summer, so I've got another company coming in this evening to give me the run down of their prices and what they offer. Also, the company I work for, we've just started dealing w/ camera's, etc., so I may plan to prewire for that ability as well around the property.

Well, that's the latest news here...

I have been looking through these pages and pics about your project, and I'm very curious about a couple things (as, of course, it relates to my in-progress project):

Now I understand you used 'makeshift' isolation brackets for (some of?) the top plates.
So, the frames of the walls will be isolated from the above joists.

But how will you achieve an air seal for the space between the above floor and your ceiling?

In other words, how do you put up the sheetrock of the outer leaf walls to BOTH get this air space sealed AND to maintain contact isolation of the whole outer-leaf wall from the joists and floor above?

(See the attached picture below to see what I mean)

The same sort of question I have with any connections between outer-leaf stud walls and concrete basement walls.
If you isolate the frame of the stud walls from the concrete, how do you maintain the between leaf air space seal and keep the drywall isolated from it?

Also, if you were NOT floating your floor, would 'float' the bottom plates of either the inner- or outer-leaf walls?
Would this just be an isolation from direct contact (much like the isolation brackets used between the top plates and floor joists), or does this set up some 'big' sort of mathematical resonance situation?

Maybe I'm just being dumb about all this stuff, but I have not found a concise answer to this question (even after looking through Rod's book)....

Anyone can help me out here?

thanx,
K

There can (and should) be a firm connection between the outer leaf wall and the outer leaf ceiling. The decoupling should occur between inner and outer leaves. There is no need to decouple one outer leaf assembly from another outer leaf assembly... Just as there is no need to decouple one inner leaf assembly from another inner leaf assembly. Remember, the goal is to prevent sound energy from following a structural path from the noisy place through the inner leaf along a firm connection to the outer leaf and into the quiet place.

--Keith

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"Converting a garage into living space requires a city permit . . . homeowners insurance won't cover a structure that's been changed without a building permit . . ." --Sacramento Bee, May 27, 2006

Although, a direct connection would not apply to where the layers of sheet rock meet at the corner intersections, right?
So, I connect a top plate directly to the above floor joists?

I don't think a 'direct' connection to the floor joists is the best, but rather a connection through a resilient material (in order to allow deflection of the joists under load, and not have floor pressures on the basement stud wall).
Should I use Celotex or something for that?

My idea for the outer-leaf wall was to:
1.) use isolation brackets on the top plates
2.) have the outer-leaf sheet rock extend up alongside the joist, but spaced about 1/2 inch away from the surface of the joist
3.) fill the gap with rock wool, firestop latex, and acoustic sealant (or just the Boss 816 which might serve both the firestop and acoustic purposes ?)

(see pic below)

Then again, I'm thinking that this seal might not hold under deflection of the floor joists.... hmmm....

Thanx for the help... I wish I could see what you are thinking in pictures...
Is there any way you could direct me to such?

Remember, I'm not floating any floor, but just using the concrete floor as both the inner and outer leaf.... yet the walls and ceiling will be true double-wall, double-leaf construction....

K

Luftweg (k),

I don't know if you've read the whole thread yet, but here's a couple direct links to pictures as to what I've done.

The control room floor is floating. The walls for the outer shell sit on the floating floor and the top plate is decoupled from the above floor joists w/ the custom brackets.
http://www.johnlsayers.com/phpBB2/viewt ... &start=209

Click here: http://www.johnlsayers.com/phpBB2/viewt ... &start=255

to get more of a feeling for what I had done. Basically I hung the ceiling last. (In typical construction, ceiling would gone on first). I attached RC to the bottom of the joists, then attached the drywall to the RC, being very careful not to short out screws into the joists. Only into the RC. I suspended 2 layers of 5/8" drywall on the ceiling. Caulked and sealed between each layer. I even added some additional insulation so it would touch the drywall for dampening. Granted, this isn't THE best way for isolation, but provides enough for my use, since I have a low ceiling in the basement, I had to keep as much as I could.

All right. Got a few more things done this weekend amidst the spring ritual of mowing the lawn again.

Started working on the frame work for the 703 in the first sound lock (going into the Control Room). I must admit, if there's one place I F**ked up on in construction, is was the tight quarters (or corners rather) of the Sound lock. Didn't quite give myself enough room, but I managed to make it work. Tight squeeze...and a slightly out of square wall...Doh! Fortunately, it's the only one I really screwed up, but once the 703 and fabric's up, you won't even notice. I guess that's why they call it rough construction and then trim out.

I'll post a few pix later...

Dude, I just read this whole thread. My eyes are tired.

I really wanna get started on building my own studio, but I guess I first have to find out where to put it Donations?

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http://www.threedaysindarkness.com

[warning: pun ahead] There's a lot of people who might wanna tell you where you could put it....

But seriously, how can you even think of building a studio unless you already have some (or are intending on having some) real estate somewhere to use?

Then again, if you're starting from scratch (as it seems), and have the required funding (sorry, I don't consider studio-construction a registerable charity), why not build a new building?

Anyway, sounds like you need more planning, and I probably have more questions than answers for you....

good luck on your venture...
K

Yeah I know. But I wasn't really asking for help
And I am intending to have some real estate, the question is as usually when it'll happen.

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http://www.threedaysindarkness.com

OK, here's some of the pix I've neglected to post recently...

Here's some of the framing for the sound lock 703 panels...

And talk about makin' a mess...good thing I'm doing this outside...

I've mostly been busy on a little side project building an SSL Clone compressor this past week, but yesterday I managed to hang some 703 in the sound lock and fabric...