John Sayers' Recording Studio Design Forum

Well I have been building like crazy! I will try to post some picture soon. I am getting to the point that I need to figure out how to hook up my HVAC. I have a heat pump that is heating and cooling the up stairs and I am planing on tapping into it to it for the studio. I'm planing on running flexible duct to each room and running returns back to the unit. The runs will be done in the ceiling. Will I get good isolation by simply putting 3 or 4 90 degree turns in the duct? Do I need to build insulation lined isolation boxes like the ones I have seen on some of the studios under construction? Is there a particular kind of flexible duct or vents that I should use?

Thanks,
Lief

Check out this page -

http://www.johnlsayers.com/phpBB2/viewt ... 1&start=15

Beyond that, I'm a HVAC idiot; you might try PM-ing Rod Gervais to see if he will comment. I know he doesn't like flex duct (with some good arguments) but he won't pull any punches so whatever you get will be REAL... Steve

Hello gang it's been a long while since I have posted anything. I have been hard at work on the studio. I have sheet rocked and insulated the outer frame of the building which took forever. I ran all of the ducting and am now about 85% done with the framing. I went with steel studs and it seems to be going well. I'll try to post some pictures of my progress soon.

I have a question regarding doors. I bought some solid core interior doors and am planing to attach 5/8 OSB to both sides. What is the best way to attach it? Wood glue, liquid nails, screws?

The doors have a ProCore interior and I'm planing to use drop seals and a good closer.

Thanks,
Lief Stevens

Well all of the framing is finished and I'm almost ready for insulation and Sheetrock. I have a bunch of big projects approaching so I'm getting very motivated to be finished. Here are a few pictures.

so.... after 2 years you decided it was time to actually do some framing eh. haha, looks good man.

Keep up the progress and keep sending them pix!

Looking great!

Hey, I'm sorry we all missed your "how do I beef up my doors?" question. If it's not too late, and for the benefit of others, use screws. Also, OSB may not be your best bet: plywood would be better. In addition, Green Glue would be recommended as a constrained dampening layer. Finally, double seals is best. See Stick's thread for photos of this concept.

--Keith

_________________
"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

lol no I have been working on it on and off but I haven't been posting much. I'll try to make up for it by posting a bunch of pictures now. I read the forum a lot I just don't post a whole lot.

I have already bought the OSB so it will have to work. That Green Glue looks like an interesting product. I'm going to order some for the doors as well as the ceiling. I don't think I can afford to use it on all of the walls. Are you ordering it from www.greengluecompany.com ?

Here are some pictures of me beefing up my outer leaf. I put 2 layers of sheet rock between the studs/joists on the walls and ceiling. I caulked around each layer and sealed all of the protrusions in the walls and ceiling. I spent a long time making sure the outer shell of my studio is completely sealed. I have used a ridicules about of acoustical caulk! On the ceiling I attached a layer of insulation over the sheet rock.

I just think plywood will look a thousand times better, even if you paint over it. OSB is going to look funky.


Yes. It's expensive but worth it in many situations. In the case of doors I think it makes the most sense.

Note that you will need to buy full cases (12 tubes per case).

If you end up with leftovers, I'm sure there's no shortage of folks here willing to buy your extras. I declare "dibs."

Yes, greengluecompany.com is the place from which to buy. Most likely you'll deal with Ted who's a stellar fellow.

Keep those pictures coming! We don't actually believe you did as much as you said you did -- we need photographic evidence!

--Keith

_________________
"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

So my electrical is finally in! Seemed like it took forever. I had my electricians install a star grounding system. I had them install outlets for my 5.1 system and outlets for 2 speakers in my live room. I had them wire switches for the soffit mounted speakers since I wont be able to the switches on the speakers. My studio is going to be primarily used for post production so I wired all of my rooms to have LCD TVs. My head phone monitoring system uses cat5e so I have a ton of that running to each room. I also ran cat5e for internet and phone to each room.

It's tricky trying to think of everything you might need for each room. Plus who knows what the future will bring with technology changes. So I ran PVC conduit to each room for passing my audio cable and any thing I haven't thought of. I used a rubber connector between each room to decouple the conduit.

Here are some more pictures.

Here are a few more pictures showing my studio windows, sound lock, and my studio 2 room. Studio 2 has double sliding glass doors and double outside windows. It's looking like instead of being a dead room like I thought it might end up being an Avid editing room.

Lief

_________________
"Time is an illusion. Lunchtime doubly so."

Lief Stevens
Gleeman Productions
www.OrangeKrushBand.com

Nice job with the putty packs.

But... ...Ermmm, you shouldn't (can't?) use regular PVC plumbing fittings for wiring conduit...

See "Kathy's Barn Conversion" thread, page 2 for discussion on this. She made the same mistake and corrected it before she got too far along in her build.

See also fender1973's "Mic Cable Conduit Help" thread.

And absolutely don't miss andy_eade's "Warning - Audio Cable runs also subject to code / inspection" thread.

--Keith

_________________
"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

Ack another lovely mistake. Well neither my inspector nor my electrician commented on it so I might be alright. For my short runs I don't have any 90 bends and my long run has 1 90 bend. I pulled 2 8 channel snakes through the long run and didn't have any problems. Maybe I could just replace the 90 bend or should replace the whole thing?

_________________
"Time is an illusion. Lunchtime doubly so."

Lief Stevens
Gleeman Productions
www.OrangeKrushBand.com

An inspector's failure to notice or recognize a code violation doesn't excuse the violation, technically.

Personally, I would redo it, because you may have to rerun or add cables in the future, at which point you might really regret not taking advantage of this opportunity.

--Keith

_________________
"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

Well it's time to start figuring out my HVAC. I have a heat pump installed that is heating and cooling the upstairs of my house. I'm planing on using the same system for the studio. I have run flex duct sends and returns to all 5 rooms. I know flex duct isn't the top choice but it seemed like the best option with the amount of space I have to work with.

I plan to make silencer boxes where the flex duct meets the ceiling. I want to limit sound traveling through the duct and keep my isolation at the ceiling. I'm thinking of making a box from JM Superduct covered with 2 layers of gypsum. It will have a staggered gypsum connection to the ceiling. Let me know what you guys think.

_________________
"Time is an illusion. Lunchtime doubly so."

Lief Stevens
Gleeman Productions
www.OrangeKrushBand.com

Regular PVC tubes is alright to run low-voltage wires like mic cables and such. As long you don't put power-supply wire (110/220/380 volts) through them.
(Although they're prolly fireproof like the PVC piping used here in the Netherlands. But not up to code)