New Studio Build in Louisiana

Latest pictures guys...still plugging away!

Insulation pics!

Visqueen Installation.

More to come soon...(hopefully REAL soon!!!)

Looking good James. I have a question about your vapor barrier. Why on the ceiling? I am not familiar with installing a barrier in the ceiling in the region that you and I reside in. I know you have it on good information or you would not have considered it. So I was just wanting access to the information, if it can be reproduced. Thanks and again, looking good, Brien

xSpace wrote:

Looking good James. I have a question about your vapor barrier. Why on the ceiling? I am not familiar with installing a barrier in the ceiling in the region that you and I reside in.

Hey Brian...I want to say Rod told me I wanted to keep all the vapor/moisture INSIDE the rooms so the HVAC could deal with it. I'm totally sealed in the attic, so I shouldn't get any moisture up there. Sheet Rock hung yesterday and today...2 layers of 5/8 w/Green Glue....the hanger's hated it by the end of the day....I've got a lot to clean off the floor....finishers coming in next week!! The sheet rock guys over figured the sheet rock...so I have 3 buckets left over, along with 2 guns...I hope I can return it! James

Wow, u must b right down the road from me. I live on Old Perkins in P'vile and am thinking about adding a room to my storage room. Very similar to ur situation. I'll b watching this thread to see how it comes out. Very nice!

Riff wrote:

Wow, u must b right down the road from me. I live on Old Perkins in P'vile and am thinking about adding a room to my storage room. Very similar to ur situation. I'll b watching this thread to see how it comes out.

I live 5 miles north of Watson, but I work in St. Gabriel...I'd be happy to share any info I have! I must say though...you really need Rod's book to start with, if you plan to do it right! James

Yep, I'm 75% through Rod's book now. Just starting to get some ideas for what I want to do. I'll probably do a combination control room/live room because most of the time I'll be recording by myself. Trying to learn Sketchup now. Once I finish Rod's book, I'll post the drawing here to fine tune it and get more ideas. I'd really appreciate any help u could give me from your experience with your build. Thanks!

I'd be happy to share what I know!!! The jury's still out on how sound proof it will finally be!!! At this point it's as good as I know how to make it!!! Bought primer home yesterday....hope to finish up yard work this week...maybe start painting next weekend! James

Hey James Are you ready for me to come lay down some tracks? I have a 100 watt Marshall head and a Blackface Bassman that I haven't been able to turn up to 10 yet. Let's check out that isolation! No, seriously, what did you do for fresh air? I've been searching the forum but it's not sinking in on how to get fresh air in a sealed room. How did you do it? Or are you doing it like some I've read where the're just opening windows or doors between takes? Marc

James - so Rod's book directed you to line the room with plastic like you've shown in the picture? ( I don't know as he's never given me a copy even though it's promoted every day on this site)

No, seriously, what did you do for fresh air? I've been searching the forum but it's not sinking in on how to get fresh air in a sealed room. How did you do it? Or are you doing it like some I've read where the're just opening windows or doors between takes?

Marc, search the forum for "HVAC", and you'll find plenty on how to do that. HVAC is a rather basic requirement for a studio. - Stuart -

HVAC can be very DIY, in terms that you can install a couple of flex ducts with duct fans, one for fresh air, and other for extraction (fan backwards) , and you could put a separate AC unit inside the room for air cooling/heating. Everything with silencers logically and properly soffit mounted Thats the cheapest and easiest option. The next step is to hire a HACV company to do all the duct instalation for you plus installing those fancy compressors and HVAC machines

So if I only have one combination live/control room, I could put the suction of one fan in the ceiling in between the outside and inside walls? Then run the duct with some bends and end with a silencer in the ceiling inside the studio. Then have another suction somewhere on the ceiling inside the studio with a silencer, duct with bends and exhaust where? Could it exhaust into the attic? I don't have Rod's book in front of me but I think I read that the fans should flow 15 cfm per person. Is all of this close to being correct?

Could it exhaust into the attic?

Probably not a good idea: Do you really want to pump a lot of warm moist air into your attic space?

I don't have Rod's book in front of me but I think I read that the fans should flow 15 cfm per person.

Well, yeah, that's a PART of what he says, but you really should go over the rest of it too, since that isn't the entire issue, by any means. - Stuart -

Ideally you put both in and out fans in the outside world. (separately from each other, so you dont get some kind of "air feedback" or something like that)

" Do you really want to pump a lot of warm moist air into your attic space? " Attics in south Louisiana rarely get below 100 degrees and are probably 120+ degrees from May to September. I'd be pumping dehumidified (by the air conditioning unit), COOL air in there which would help the attic move air out through the ridge vents. I would think, anyway. Am I missing something?

Riff wrote:

" Do you really want to pump a lot of warm moist air into your attic space? " Attics in south Louisiana rarely get below 100 degrees and are probably 120+ degrees from May to September. I'd be pumping dehumidified (by the air conditioning unit), COOL air in there which would help the attic move air out through the ridge vents. I would think, anyway. Am I missing something?

And sometimes 140+ degrees, but pushing it into a residential attic that by design depends on convection to work doesn't increase the ability of the flow of air. You are most likely aware that hot air rises and cool air falls, simple enough right? As the accumulation of hot air gathers in an attic the cooler air is, by vent design, allowed to flow out the eave and the hot air has gable vents to allow it to escape from the expansion. What happens if you push more air into this cavity is that the building materials will take the brunt of the stress, e.g. pressure will be placed on any material that is accessible in the attic, ceiling sheetrock, insulation, the plywood on the roof, etc. The potential to increase the temperature/moisture in the attic, which is a legitimate concern that Stuart brought up, escalates beyond the ability of a simple roof venting system to recover from. "I'm totally sealed in the attic," I still have my own concerns about encasing a room, including the ceiling, with a vapor barrier with an attic space that has no outlet/inlet for air. I understand using a vapor barrier in this fashion does happen, it is after all the ability of the HVAC to extract the moisture from the room. What I don't understand, yet is how do you do that with an air tight attic that will get upwards of 120+ degrees just sitting in the sun so how does the moisture move when the warm air is moving towards the cooler air? My experience? Read paragraph 2 :) Not that this needs to be said, but what you are suggesting is a code violation and I do not even know that for a fact...I just know ;)

Ok. I'll take your word for it. I don't understand how that little fan could cause pressure problems in an open attic, but I'll ask my builder where else to route it. I was trying to avoid cutting through the roof for leaking issues.

It wouldn't be a complicated process to vent out through the roof, much like your overhead venting for a stove. Same thing would work as long as the new vent pipe goes directly to the newly installed vent on the top side of the roof. A properly installed roof vent should not leak.

Riff wrote:

Hey James Are you ready for me to come lay down some tracks? I have a 100 watt Marshall head and a Blackface Bassman that I haven't been able to turn up to 10 yet. Let's check out that isolation!

Not a problem!!! I just need a little more time...it's all not quite finished yet!!!

Riff wrote:

No, seriously, what did you do for fresh air? I've been searching the forum but it's not sinking in on how to get fresh air in a sealed room. How did you do it? Or are you doing it like some I've read where the're just opening windows or doors between takes?

I ran a 3" flex duct out to the eve of my house with a damper, that ties into the return header on the HVAC. For the life of me I can't remember what I set the flow to though. I basically ran the calc's that Rod's spreadsheet gave me, and set the air flow accordingly. I have a bunch of pictures to post, and I'll take one of the vent I made on my soffit.

So you didn't use a vent fan? You tied in a duct so the fan pulls from inside and some outside air at the same time?

Riff wrote:

So you didn't use a vent fan? You tied in a duct so the fan pulls from inside and some outside air at the same time?

That's right...I allow the A/C blower to pull in the needed Fresh air. The 3" duct has a damper so I can control how much air is drawn in. Once I have the 4 "zones" isolated from each other, I plan to get my buddy to bring his flow meter back and check the flow rate on every supply and return grill again, and re-balance if needed.

JK Recording wrote:

Riff wrote:

So you didn't use a vent fan? You tied in a duct so the fan pulls from inside and some outside air at the same time?

That's right...I allow the A/C blower to pull in the needed Fresh air. The 3" duct has a damper so I can control how much air is drawn in. Once I have the 4 "zones" isolated from each other, I plan to get my buddy to bring his flow meter back and check the flow rate on every supply and return grill again, and re-balance if needed.

That sounds like a good idea. Then you don't need 2 seperate vent fans and all the duct work. I wonder if your buddy would let me borrow the flow meter? :)