John Sayers' Recording Studio Design Forum

Hi,
First off, I read all the posting rules, and hereby promise to follow all of them I can remember at any given time!!!

My story:

My name is James Smith from South Louisiana, just outside Baton Rouge.

I am primarily a vocalist.
I got into recording first of all out of curiosity. Then last year, as a favor for a friend, I bought a serious rig (described below) and did 2 live 24 track recordings of his Swamp Pop band, and a 24 track church recording. After fighting tooth and nail and wasting countless hours and CD's mixing in my storage room, I've decided to build a studio.

I've been reading this forum and others for over a year now, while making negotiations with my bride to build this room. I finally have all necessary approvals and am ready to proceed. Here's what I'm thinking about. I'll attempt to upload a sketchup file of my proposal.

I live on 3 acres in the country, nearest neighbor is ~300' away.
I live about 350' off a major hwy with heavy truck noises, outside db can reach 65! (I will post a survey tomorrow with my Radio Shack meter)

First off Budget: $25K, hopefully less of course.

My plan is to add a 20'w x 20-25'd x 9'h addition to my home. (The width is fixed, depth is negotiable!)

My plan is to record live bands, and do voice-over recording.

I'd like a control room, live room, vocal booth, and a drum booth if room allows.

I record totally "in the box" with a Sonicalabs HUSH2RPC, running Cubase 4, with a 24 channel Presonus interface. I monitor with a set of Mackie HR824's, and a set of Alesis Monitor 1's.

I'll be adding onto my carport storage room. Its outside dimensions are 20'w x 7'd x 9'h. It has Brick-vaneer exterior, single stud wall, and 1/2 drywall interior walls & ceiling. NO INSULATION. This is my curent mix area, and it's killing me! The room has a walk in door on the carport side, and a 3'x3' window on the outside.

I'd like to utilize half the room as storage and the other half as a restroom. I'd envisioned removing the window in the center of the outside wall, and installing an entry door to the studio area.

NOTE: MY IDEAS ARE TOTALLY NEGOTIABLE!!! I'm on mind overload with all the options available, that's why I'm coming to the forum to hopefully settle on something simple, yet effective.

The roof is a hip roof, with a bell all around, 36" overhangs, shingles.
(I'll try to snap & upload a pic tomorrow)

The exterior will be brick-vaneer to tie in to the existing room.

After reading Rod's book and this forum, I think I have a general understanding of proper wall & window construction.

I also plan to hire a local draftsman to create a set of plans to scale so I can accurately calculate and price materials and know what I'm getting into material cost wise.

I plan to hire out the concrete forming/finishing, (No floating floor) and the wall/roof/ceiling framing and roofing. I'll have help to finish up everything else.

A friend is providing labor for installing the HVAC for studio time. He is allowing me to buy the equipment at his cost, which should save some $$$.

I can do all necessary electrical/lighting/plumbing work.

I plan to build all my acoustical treatment myself.

Will go with finished concrete flooring.

Requests:

1. Based off my drawing I'd like suggestions for a workable floor plan, utilizing my existing storage room as suggested above. If possible please include a SIMPLE ceiling design. I'd also like an entry from the patio side of the studio as well, to bring in gear and such.

2. Should I soffit mount the HR-824's only, and use the Alesis M1's as nearfields, or soffit mount them both?

3. I'd like to flush mount my electrical boxes, but I see where some say only surface mount.

4.Brick-vaneer exterior, double stud wall. Outside wall:
Brick - vapor barrier - ?????????? - 2x4 studs w/fiberglass between. What's best between the studs and the vapor barrior?
Also, is the 1"-2" gap between the Brick and the vapor barrior creating a 3rd leaf, and if so, how do I correct that?

5.If sliding glass doors are used, what brand/model should I use, and would they need to be doubled, or is there special "acoustic specific" sliding doors available?

6. I assume the inner walls must be double as well for isolation purposes. When soffit mounting and building in bass traps, does that all need 2x4 construction, or can that be framed in say in 1x2 or 2x2 material?

7. Should innerwall bottom plates be bolted down, or should they be green glued & nailed down?

8. Given #4 is answered, should the inner walls & ceilings be as follow's:
2x4 stud w/glass inslationbetween - resilient channel - 5/8 drywall screwed to channel - 1/2"drywall glued to 5/8 drywall

9.Isolation wise, what would you suggest for roof decking. Will I need drywall between the rafters under the decking, or just insulation?

Well..it's late here, and I had a 4AM wake up call today, so I'll submit this, and try adn upload my Horrible drawing. A Skethcup wizard I am not!!!

Thank you in advance for your insight.

James

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James Smith
JK Recording

My first attempt to upload a drawing...here goes!

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James Smith
JK Recording

Second attempt this time in 2D

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James Smith
JK Recording

I'm about to get my project off the ground and, having been building up to this moment over the last five or six years amassing over 80K€ of gear and instruments, there is one piece of advice I can offer at this point:

Permission has a shelf life. It is far easier to seek forgiveness than maintain permission while it sits on the shelf.

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Honor is a debt you owe to those that see it in you.

can you alter the height? since you're adding on, if its possible to go with taller rooms you'll be better off.

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Glenn

[quote="gullfo"]can you alter the height? since you're adding on, if its possible to go with taller rooms you'll be better off.[/quote]

I guess I could, but I'd have to change the roof line, which will be a challenge. The roof is a "hip style" with what's called a bell. Let me see if I can get a Picture uploaded.

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James Smith
JK Recording

maybe if you make it with 14' high ceilings and overlap the roofs, you could make it a "transitional" design home

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Glenn

...to continue on what Glenn said, maybe if you make the higher walls it will allow the new roof line to intersect above the bell cast overhang. This would give you the freedom to have your builder erect using conventional methods.

If you could have that drawn up, the existing bell overhang with a room cut into it, you may be able to envision if this is the way to go.

With all other things considered, any time a bathroom is part of a remodel your costs go up. Brick and the size alone of the build, on slab, thats a lot of room your trying to squeeze out of 25K.


Just my thinking here.

[quote="xSpace"]...to continue on what Glenn said, maybe if you make the higher walls it will allow the new roof line to intersect above the bell cast overhang. This would give you the freedom to have your builder erect using conventional methods.[/quote]

Maybe the picture will help explain...my house is about as normal as can be!! I'll shoot a picture in the morning..It was dark by the time I found the camera!!

[/quote] If you could have that drawn up, the existing bell overhang with a room cut into it, you may be able to envision if this is the way to go.[/quote]

I'd love to see a drawing of what you guys are talking about!!

[/quote]With all other things considered, any time a bathroom is part of a remodel your costs go up. Brick and the size alone of the build, on slab, thats a lot of room your trying to squeeze out of 25K.[/quote]

The Bathroom will consist of a Toilet and sink, located in my existing room, using "through the wall" plumbing. My cost would be simple water and sewer piping and the 2 fixtures..should not be too bad. I also have acces to free trenchers as well! I also plan to remove and save the bricks off of one wall for re-use, and I have a complete bundle left over from when the house was built. The brick expense will be the labor!

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James Smith
JK Recording

[quote="gullfo"]maybe if you make it with 14' high ceilings and overlap the roofs, you could make it a "transitional" design home ;-)[/quote]

That's a thought...I was really trying to keep to the original roof design of the house. I may be able to gain 6"-12" by going lower with the slab. When I built the home originally, I raised the foundation about 2' with fill clay.

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James Smith
JK Recording

This shot shows the wall where the room is to be attatched, and gives a good roof profile.

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James Smith
JK Recording

Here's a side view looking south with a room outline, also shows my nearest neighbor.

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James Smith
JK Recording

Here's a larger East view..finally got the hang of re-sizing pictures!!! Cloudy, foggy and overcast this morning!

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James Smith
JK Recording

Does that translate to "It is easier to seek and find forgiveness then permission"?

As a boy I did a lot of seeking forgiveness :) Come to think of it, I still do that. I guess "easy" is just a way of living for most :)

are you considering carrying over the hip roof ridge line (off the main part) onto the new section? how were you planning on doing the room? if its possible to carry it over, you might be able to cathedral the ceiling or at least a portion of it.

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Glenn