FRESH OIL STUDIO - Journal

NOTE: IGNORE THE ISO BOOTH IN THE MIDDLE, WE’RE NOT DOING IT I have a contractor building my studio. He has Rod's book and is very detailed in his approach. He's not like the typical contractor who ignores the advice of seasoned studio designers like Rod, John, Steve, etc... and just wants to get the darn thing up and move to another project. (no offense) I'll be the liason between him and this forum if we have any questions...He's not as computer saavy :) Fresh Oil Studio - Here's the details...... Basement Studio, roughly 500 sq ft Wall construction: 1 5/8” dw, Steel studs, with R19 insulation… except the wall between the control room and live room, which will be double wall construction 2 5/8” dw, steel stud, r19 insulation, AIR, r19, steel stud, 2 5/8” dw Ceiling: Ceiling height will be roughly 7'8". Here's the ceiling design: 2 5/8” dw with green glue sandwiched between, dwfc on RSIC-1 clips, r30 insulation between joists, AIR Electrical: I’m not an electrician, but from what I understand we’re using Romex and are putting lights on a different breaker than the outlets in both the control room and live room....sconces and track lights for lighting.......we are doing an earth ground to eliminate interference....hope this makes since Floor - laminate on the concrete floor Doors and windows : Double doors (exterior steel doors with the weatherstriping) constructed from the info on SAEcollege site.....windows....constructed from the info on SAEcollege site http://www.saecollege.de/reference_material/index.html

Here's the basement studio area.... 1st pic is control room, 2nd pic is live room....

HVAC pic..........MATERIALS........

Framing has begun......

Making progress....

more....

Looks like you have a great space. Is there any risk in your area for flooding? And do you have systems in place to prevent this? I see iso clips there and in your intro - do you have utility like plumbing that would be thicker than the space of the clips and furing channel? Putty pads should wrap all electrical outlets.

Thanks Cram! Your space is looking great too!!! Flooding isn't an issue in my area. My house is new construction (18 months) and we've had some pretty bad rains here in Chicago. But you can never be too safe. We're purchasing a backup generator for our sump pump. My contractor will be finished framing this weekend and will be starting on the ceiling. 8) I don't believe we have any utility plumbing that's thicker than the space of the clips and furring channel. I'm not at home now.....but if we do, do you have any suggestions?

Some concerns - 1st - your isolation is as good as it's weakest link - in this case it's the walls with only 1 layer of drywall. That will be your effective isolation - the extra drywall on the party wall to the control room and main room is not going to help you. The reason is because all of the walls with one layer will eventually intersect and pass that control room wall - and at that point you will have just the single layer as your isolation. So add the 2nd layer to the remaining walls - or don't bother with the rest. 2 - the ceiling has the same issue - you have walls up - BUT - unless your ceiling runs all the way to the concrete wall - and you caulk it at that perimiter - you will short circuit through the edge and into the room above - and that will effectively determine your true isolation - the same goes (in that case) - with the use of green glue on the ceiling - even if you add the 2nd sheet to your walls - if you don't add green glue - they will be the deciding factor. 3. I wish you had posted this while you were determining your construction methods - because you threw away a lot of LF isolation going the route you did - and the LF transmission is the hardest to deal with. You're using light guage (25ga) steel studs - which are the same as 2x4 wood studs with resilient channel on them - great for frequencies in the upper to middle range - but lousy (in comparison with wood by itself) with low frequency transmissions - which are the true enemy. Sorry to have to be the bearer and all that......... Rod

Thanks Rod..... :shock: Is there anything we can do at this point to address the LF isolation issue? I don't want to hear the Kick drum upstairs. Fresh_oil

fresh_oil_2003 wrote:

I don't believe we have any utility plumbing that's thicker than the space of the clips and furring channel. I'm not at home now.....but if we do, do you have any suggestions?

Some may have better ways, but I used longer screws to set the iso clips and a shim in between the joist and clip -

Thanks Cram, that's a great idea, I may not have to do it though....any ideas on addressing the potential LF issue Rod mentioned above?

Great news...I was able to buy a control room/live room window from a gentleman who closed his studio. It's 7'x3', 3 layers of glass with 1/2" air gap between each window, and it's vaccum sealed. It's a $1500 window, and I paid $500!!!!! This allows me almost a panoramic view of the live room. We have to make adjustments to fit this window in the wall. I'm glad we found the window before starting the drywall!!!! I was also able to get a great deal on used Aurelex foam that was stapled, not glued, to the wall in his studio. So it looks brand new. I have enough at least for my live room. All of these were true blessings!

3 layers of glass, eh :twisted: ... Do some study on the Auralex stuff to see what's the best idea of using is. Else itsa waste o' money.

New updates: 1.) I have extra RSIC-1 clips, so we're going to use them on the control room side of the window wall w/ 2 layers of 5/8" drywall, with insulation between the joists. We're also going to use them on the "stairwell" wall in my control room to ensure no sound leaks thru the stairwell into the house. 2.) We'll start the electrical stuff Monday...(I'm not an electrician, so bear with me...) My contractor is doing an "earth ground" for the studio. The lighting will be on a different breaker than the electrical outlets. The switches and dimmers will have isolated grounds (i think that's what he said :?: ) LIGHTING: In the LIVE room, we're doing 3 scances and six 4" recessed lights that have housing and can come in contact with insulation. These recessed lights will go by the window wall behind the ducts. The ceiling height in that area is roughly 7ft :?: I need advice...even though the recessed lighting has housing, should we create additional housing similar to this: http://www.cascadeaudio.com/commercial_ ... osures.htm In the CONTROL room, we're doing track lighting.

Hi Fresh_Oil - Not sure where in the world you are? (Neither is anyone else at the moment! :wink: ) In reference to your enclosure question: From personal experience and U.K. Building Regs at least, your recessed light housings need to be FIREPROOF and not come into contact with insulation. Moreover, they need to have a small vent hole which will not only allow your electrical cable access to the bulb, but also provide a passage for heat generated above the bulb to dissipate naturally. In short, IMHO, this needs to be done correctly or you have a potential fire hazard on your hands! Hope this helps dude - Great space btw and a real tidy worker too! :D Good luck with the rest of the project! :wink: Regards, Lou. 8)

Thanks Lou.... I really appreciate your input. Chi-town (Chicago) is my home :D . Here's the link to the recessed lights I might purchase: http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs/sto ... 075+501111 Any concerns with this unit? I don't want ANY fire hazards.

No worries - That link is unavailable at the moment. :roll: Will try again later. :wink: Regards, Lou. 8)

mr. oil. please follow the stickies and read some more forum topics. Don't forget to check "studio windows" topics... really.

Hey fresh oil - can lights can be IC or non IC (in contact) concerninng the insulation. In the U.S. IC cans are usually silver and non IC are white - IF your insulation is in contact with the lighting can use IC cans

With so many concerns about isolation, I wonder why people use can lights anyway, I mean , in a basement? Just seems like track lighting or even free-standing is a better alternative. Not to mention cans need cavity room and air and all that.

oh, can it X ! ;) But I'm with you on that. I'm currently (still) designing my space(s) and will prolly have all my electrical stuff (lines, light, outlets etc) set ON the wall instead of IN the wall. It may look a bit less funky, but it will noise inside my room. And that's what I'm after. gheh.

INSULATION!!! We're steadily making progress......

Bradjacob did an excellent job framing in his duct. .....question..... :?: Is it necessary to use the rsic-1 clips (or isomax clips in his case) when framing the duct? Can I use steel studs to box in the duct (not touching it of course) and fasten 2 layers of 5/8" drywall?

more updates....