Walls, floors and ceilings
This section gathers forum discussion on framing and assembling the walls, floors, and ceilings of a decoupled recording studio. A recurring theme is leaf design: threads compare double-leaf and triple-leaf wall construction, including cost trade-offs and construction details for corners where multiple leaves meet. Members also discuss the air gap between leaves — whether insulation should fill it, how wide it needs to be, and how it affects STC ratings — along with insulation choices such as fiberglass density inside stud cavities. Floating floors receive extensive debate: several threads question whether a floating floor is actually necessary for isolation, particularly on concrete slabs, and weigh alternatives such as cutting or isolating the slab, or using a smaller floating drum riser instead of floating an entire room. Practical construction questions round out the topic, including the sequence for hanging and caulking drywall on a framed leaf. Full studio build logs, from rural New England to a garage bonus room, show these framing, insulation, and decoupling choices being worked out in real projects.
Introduction drafted with AI assistance from forum posts.
- Start heredouble leaf effect cost more than triple in most situations.
- Start hereIs a Floating Floor Right For You? Answer: Probably NOT.
- Start hereHow to drywall and caulk? Step Sequence....
- Start hereAir Cavity??
- Start hereCorner framing detail
- Studio Design for New England area
- Drum riser: poor man's floating floor? *DONE! WITH PHOTO!*
- The infamous Floating floor Thread
- Choosing fiberglass
- Studio above garage in bonus room- early planning
- Rooster studio - new space in existing basement
- The infamous Floating floor Thread
- air gap or more insulation?
- Nails protruding through Subfloor from Tile and other areas.
- Best options if NOT Floating a floor-Updated
- Words of Wisdom, or "How NOT to do it"...
- Jam Room
- Construction Details
- Experiment time ( or fun with rubber )
- Concrete perimeter wall
- green glue really necessary
- Mason Industries' FSN Floating Floor Concrete Slab Test Data
- Studio Above Garage
- mineral wool floating floor construction and MSM calculation
- Acoustic sealant mess needs help
- Ok, building my home studio from scratch - help appreciated!
- Littlewater Studio - Norway (Europe)
- Professional studio in Greece
- Live room in the garage. Design phase.
- Framing walls to existing drywalled ceiling
- New Music Room in UK south
- PatStudio - Groundfloor extension - design stage
- CONSTRUCTION DETAILS. PLEASE HELP
- Gluing and screwing :)
- FLOOR/CEILING/WALL CONSTRUCTION SEQUENCE
- Ground-up studio build in Perth
- New plans need help
- Rogue wall using SIPs
- Basement studio in Illinois: I'm on the 10 year plan
- Mystery Machine studios - 3-Room basement studio project
- Basement Studio in Illinois.....
- Design Studio in Basement
- soundproofing.org says foam tape better than RC! huh?
- concrete room with window/air gap to be isolated/insulated
- Floating Floor Question
- 40 kg/m3 and 70kg/m3 rockwool for floating floor
- Floor & ceiling construction
- "Inside out" wall construction
- Please help with my studio design.
- rehearsal space in existing tin shed
- What's my best choice?
- Can't afford Green Glue.
- Inside Out wall frame
- Treatment for Porl and Patrick
- Making-Do Townhouse Basement (Pictures)
- Framing Questions
- Drum room: Isolation improvement?
- Research. Metal building condensation help
- Starting Fresh and Obeying the Laws of Physics
- Quiet Solution
- Temporary Garage Studio: Let's start with the Floor?
- Basement Two Room Studio
- Pure L's Detached Garage Studio
- Attaching drywall between joists
- Studio design in a barn
- Drywall moves 7/8" OFF O.C. w each layer of drywall?
- Starting to worry - your thoughts guys
- Soundproofing a Home Teaching Studio
- Anti-Vandal Mixing Room
- Stucco as mass?
- Can someone translate what this means in STC or other
- Drum/vocal booth
- Simple, limited resources, thorough Basement Studio design!
- Control Room Surface
- Decoupled Floor and other studio building questions
- Laminate Flooring
- 6 feet (!!!) ceiling therapy
- Garage studio in South African township
- New Guy with 24'x10'x7½' Garage with very close neighbours
- upper floor load limit
- Basement Studio - Control Room Anatomy
- Basement Studio Plans in NJ
- Steel Buildings
- Planning rehearsal space - floor slab sanity check?
- What can we do to improve our layout?
- How to fix insulation between studs?
- Walls-Walls & More Walls
- LRRecords New Studio 2011 - Planning & Design
- Terrace basement: drywall riddle...
- Building rehearsal / mixroom
- If no floating floor....
- Hatchannels and drop ceiling systems, in combination?
- Small Atmos Studio
- Home Studio in Saudi Arabia , Vocal Booth and CR Design
- Yet another question to clarify 2, 3, etc leaf walls
- concrete floor
- pole barn studio
- Residential recording studio project in Loire valley
- Garage studio - questions
- New Rehearsal Studio Advice Please
- How to avoid flanking in between leaves?
- Basment Studio 24'x20' w/Large Budget
- My first rehearsal room is next to finish...(new pics)
- need general help.
- Soffit Wall Construction
- UK Garage Mix Room Design, right track?
- basement music room
- Updated design
- Wall construction clarifications
- building studio (slab on grade), request info on floor.
- The wall separating CR and LIVE room!?
- Rehearsal+Recording space
- Correction for an uneven basement floor
- Building a studio - Codename Calvin - Got questions too
- Soundproofing Recessed Lighting Fixtures in Ceilings
- beginner question about flooring... why use wood?
- walls for the poor!! - your comments appreciated.
- Alan's rehersal space, recording studio and home theater
- "sound proofing" a common or shared wall
- Studio design in Fremantle, Western Australia.
- It's Time to Start My Basement Studio
- Chris Garage Studio - Design Phase
- New studio in Brazil
- New rehearsal room/studio Transylvania
- recording studio in germany - need some advice
- Making your own quietrock?
- John, ever do studios in a prefab metal building?
- Multiple Reheasal spaces/Studio
- Mobile Recording Truck Design
- New plans, any help appreciated. rough sketch included
- Stud spacing
- Small room for tracking and mixing [G-Sun, no]
- mass loaded vinyl "curtains"
- Why cavities filled w absorbent under floor?
- Flanking noise when treating common party wall.
- blown cellulose insulation & air cavity between double w
- optimizing ceiling height?? Help!!
- support beams in the attic.
- One leaf composite question
- Live room Flooring
- Different concrete for different rooms?
- Gyproc joints - best practice
- no rcic on walls in basement?
- Inside out walls?
- RC?
- Little help on Closet Vocal Booth
- get R30 + sound absorption w/ 2x12” exposed ceiling joists?
- Signs of Success! (Was: Resilient Channel In Ceiling?)
- inside-out ceiling, pre-built modules or layer by layer
- Sound coming thru double layer brick wall. how? why?
- Backer rods, caulking and finishing the room for painting.
- Hello all --- building my studio... need help / advice
- WIC isolation clip (sway brace) installation spec
- Cellar soundproofing project
- Tying Together Walls & Ceilings
- Steel Stud and RC framing question..
- Side-by-side 'sistering' of joists?
- Second Storey Floating Floor on Joists
- 100qm Studio in Erfurt/Germany
- groundwork (drawings inside)
- "I can't stand the rain..."
- Metal Studs?
- help building studio
- Soundproofing question
- Can someone 'in the know' read this article?
- Has anyone had great isolation on a floating concrete slab??
- "Inside Out" Wall Question
- Flooring Suggestions
- Before I Move On: Am I Doing This Duct-Sofit Correctly?
- Studio flooring
- Attaching a New Studio to An Existing House
- Garage home studio - walls
- Will she hold, captain?!
- Low ceiling basement studio plan
- New Studio Business Please take a look
- drum room in basement
- vapor barrier question
- Exterior wall, width limited. What do you think?
- Project home studio
- Wall design using a propietary polymer layer . .
- Deaf Ear Studio Move (planning phase)
- existing buildings external wall question
- Advice for my basement studio plans
- Here's my Home Studio Plans
- Air gap or Insulation?
- Studio in My New House
- Wall insulation proyect... advice is welcome!
- Photo question - your help would be appreciated
- Building new Studio in Baskeland.
- newbie design
- Seeking advice on separation wall
- New House and New Studio from scratch. Help!
- nailing sole plate to concrete floor
- read the rules, read the book, got some plans... Help.
- Isolation Vs. Resonance in floating floors
- French drainage system in Basement, how to handle?
- wall construction question
- Should I float these walls?
- Studio Building with cement sheeting please help!
- what's wrong with this picture?
- Neoprene rubber under bottom plate
- Straw Bale Studio
- Filling concrete blocks with sand
- Quay Cuts Studio : Pics update
- Resilient Channel & Green Glue vs. M-A-M wall?
- Advice needed on a quick question
- 2 Basic Things
- Contruction Started (updated Mar 15, 2005)
- sand in walls
- Block walls.....to fill or not to fill?
- Exterior walls?
- Please help me with my walls and ceiling. Urgent.
- 2 Bedroom Studio. Sound Isolation input needed
- Knightfly Instructions: Securing a 2nd layer of drywall!!!
- Turning my barn into a studio: obviously not the first here.
- Broken Toe Studio Location 2 picture updates!
- Cables through walls
- basic fastener question - screws
- Update studio : new ceiling
- adding wood paneling
- *Concrete guys here NOW need question answered ASAP
- new studio search for a concrete advice
- Another wall thread 2 leaf
- Floating Floor on top of Second Floor (wood joist) - Help!
- Another Moon Studios
- Brick Inner Leaf. Advantages and Disadvantages?
- Effectiveness of single inside-out wall
- Basement home studio - concrete, flanking and door selection
- Floating Walls??
- Piano room over slab
- Tiny room advice.
- Help with proper weight and compression of floated floor
- wood or metal?
- A little drum room of my very own
- Single room home studio for tracking and mixing
- My home studio over a garage.
- Studio built of straw
- Studio re-design in Seattle Wa
- Can I plasterboard the other side of my walls?
- Hanging Walls Because of Expansive Soils
- The Aural Phoenix Atelier - The making of
- probably some old questions...
- Project Studio in Phoenix, AZ
- brick wall options...which one?
- 200 mm concrete block with 2 layers of gypsium STC
- New Studio Design - Comments Please!
- we are VERTIGO
- Steel Studs---16" or 24" OC
- What type of floor?
- floating timber floors
- MISSION ABORTED!!
- Move My Studio Out of the Upstairs Bedroom
- Bushido Audio Productions, version 2
- Critique my ceiling design please...
- My first project--Your advice and input needed!
- Visqueen between walls?
- Will this work?
- What's my best option
- new room within room design - advise please
- whoops! insulation not in contact with 1st layer
- garage to studio conversion
- brick - insulation - brick. What next?
- Metal Building - Inner Room Construction
- New Studio - Blank Palette (long ramble w/many ???)
- Adding mass to a brickwall
- Studio floor isolation (help needed)
- New to Studio Construction, Can anyone pls help.
- Log Cabin into studio conversion
- Best way to float a drumkit on a 2nd floor?
- ideas for these pics
- Studio in Cowshed
- Questions regarding a wall
- Ceiling, frame joints and rockwool....
- isolating a room with windows
- Swiss Home Studio in Addition for a Canadian
- Need help fixing a 3 leaf and isolation problem, please.
- Just one last inside out wall design question
- Anyone used Auralex U-boats?
- Place to compose music in Poland
- Effectively decoupled or not?
- block wall-sealing mortar and blocks- advise
- Basement Studio
- Phone Books For Soundproofing?
- RC2-> Ceillings / Madson Isolator Clips-> Walls
- Before I goof......I have a ?uestion
- Suspended Ceiling Soundproofing?
- Home-Made Sway-Braces...
- Neighbor downstairs
- Is recomended building a floating floor? with no neigborgs?
- seeking guidance- studio/practice room
- Double Sheetrock Wall STC Rating
- Wall Construction Info
- airplane noise
- Floating floor material question
- New Studio
- Quick question about water line noise...
- Effectiveness of RC and how to hang drywall on it
- Stringers needed or not ?
- Trying to beef up outer leaf, 2 questions
- New garage studio planning
- Finalising dimensions of mixing and drum rooms
- MLV or NOT
- Mountain Studio in Colorado - Design and Layout
- Mounting stuff on 'floated' walls & ceiling
- Need feedback on possible ceiling designs
- Last minute jitters re:Cellouse insulation
- insulation thickness for walls and ceiling
- Roof decisions??
- Ceiling Joist Loads
- New London Studio, the work begins in sketch up
- Digging down for head room. Am I crazy?
- Building a control room - Room mode treatment
- Sealing an Inside-out Wall
- Drywall...... One layer or Two layers ????
- If I could only float one....
- How much sand to use for floating floor?
- Floorboard isolation: Sylomer versus spring?
- Garage - Practice Room (low budget)
- New Room in Industrial Stip Center Questions
- Basement Project Studio, With an Eye for Resale/Flexibility
- Final advice before I take the $50,000 plunge?!
- Drum room in a room
- Could use some rod gervais on this one!lol!
- Spray Insulation
- inside out + standard wall sequence
- Small studio/rehearsal space in RV Garage?
- future garage studio, anywhere close
- My New Project Studio
- curved walls/ceilings
- Building a Floating Floor
- [G-Sun] Is this wall good enough?
- Bizarre Wall Sandwich w/Pics: Quick advise needed
- backyard shed walls
- Moseskill Studio
- Brick outer leaf / drywall inner leaf.
- My Cieling Dilemma
- Rebuilding a basement studio
- Basement studio/drum room advice needed
- Green Glue walls, and glass thickness
- Deviding Basementroom to make Controlroom, advice needed
- Advice needed on reducing external rumble entering studio.
- Hard floor over carpet?
- is floating floor a must......?
- Brick walls
- Planning Container(-ish) studio
- Wood floor decision.
- Where to put faced insulation?
- New Roof Design
- Hi Newbie looking for some top advice
- Putting in a floating floor in the basement.
- to RC or not to RC
- Drywall between joists below sub-floor (Rod???)
- MDF or Caneite (Homasote) in the Sandwich?
- Yet another detached garage practice room thread
- RC Channel
- Angled walls,acoustic treatment or base structure- insideout
- Wall & Floating floor question with Picture...
- room within a room question
- PLEASE HELP** can someone review my const. plans?
- PVC Pipes?
- USG manual - corner construction - clarification?
- Blow In insulation only choice!
- Fastening Drywall
- ceiling isolation
- Isolated Slab vs. Floated Floors vs. Both??? Please Help Me
- Boral Holy grail (australia)
- false ceiling construction?
- Ceiling Soundproofing Question
- mic/guitar booth on the move...
- GG then new wall or vice versa
- Updated Wall and Ceiling design - comments please
- Trying to understand ceiling gap (photo)
- floating floor alternative - Soundblok?
- Room Within A Room Framing Detail
- Hockey anyone?
- Quietrock?
- Fridge Buzz gets into Iso Room
- How to 'seal' outer-leaf stud wall to concrete wall ?
- RC 1 installation method for sloped ceiling
- New Project Studio in the Czech Countryside
- More problems with EPDM rubber...
- Air Space?
- Home Rehearsal Studio Design & Planning
- Plaster on ceilings ...(updated new pics)
- Studio Planning Stage
- Studs on both sides of "inside-out wall"?
- Adding sheetrock to an existing ceiling
- Best way to finish a poorly begun project
- Studio in Honduras, help with the design!
- Stuart? Are you receiving my PM's ?
- Vocal Booth
- Mr John plz help
- community studio + rehearsal room, crazy insulation idea
- ceiling in my room within a room
- Layout of a combination room
- laminate flooring question
- Designing Drum Room / Studio
- Canadian small studio design help - can it be done?
- Suspended Ceiling + Free Standing walls question
- Rockwool and multi layer Gyproc questions
- Can steel studs hold a ceiling?
- Trying to make a low ceiling as invisible as possible
- Wall details, airspace, clarification please!
- Sealing gaps in exterior structure with caulk or ?
- Drywall Finish at corner of wall and ceiling
- RC-8 Resilient channel or hat channels with sound clips
- Basement ceiling question
- Studio Ceiling advice needed...
- Source Side to Receiving Side Performance
- Cable Troughs - Cut Existing Concrete?
- New and need Help!
- need help soundproofing an existing ceiling
- Minimum Ceiling Height in a Wee Basement
- CR in long+narrow apt bldg (built 1685), neighbours up+down.
- Benefits to insulating in a wall beyond isolation?
- Control room and "live" room on adjoining joists
- Is a wood floor necessary for dampening or only isolation?
- Wall construction
- existing building - new ceiling conundrum.
- Bellyacres - Basement Studio Design
- Quick Ceiling question for Steve
- Why shouldn't I screw plasterboard to the OSB3 between studs
- Home studio above garage - Listening, practice, vocals
- Walls: which way to go from here?
- office studio, one room, droptile ceiling, need help!
- How much is too much? and overbuilding...
- Building a vocal booth -step by step
- I need help w/ my basement floor! Not floating.....
- Massachusetts Single Room Basement Project Studio
- Green glue in the beef up between studs method
- timber stud or metal stud (thin rails like placostil)?
- 3 leaf consiquences or too high expectations?
- Time To Give back, Thanks John & Friends
- Coupling effects of Guitar Hangers, Shelves, etc.
- Finishing out a mini space, would love some advice...
- AAC core of STC 60 wall-THREE LEAF
- 1" QuietRock 500 vs 1-1/4" Standard Gypsum and Green Glue.
- Adjacent walls
- Double Leaf ceiling?
- Low Budget Home Studio, inner wall insulation
- LOW FREQUENCY IMPACT NOISE