Hidden Track Studios

Hi guys, remember me?! Well I havent posted here in over a year, as Ive been hard at work in my new studio. Sorry this has taken a year for me to do, but enjoy! Its been an incredible year, the studio is more successful than i could of imagined, and I really am indebted to this fora for learning so much info, and for kicking my a$$ when things werent happening! I thought Id finally (after a year of being finished) Id put up a sort of construction diary of start to finish. Now, as the construction was done so long a go, a few details will be missed, and as contractors were building the studio, things happened at a fast pace. If anyone wants any specifics, feel free to ask! You can read all the trials and tribulations I went through to get to the construction phase here... http://www.johnlsayers.com/phpBB2/viewt ... highlight= This is a rough idea of the layout by John....

This is what the space looked like the first time I saw it (pretty rough eh?!)....

So the first step was to dig out the old concrete slab, and replace with something thicker and of a different mix. Once that was done, all the walls were tarred and damp-proofed. While this stage was been completed, the small kitchen and toilet (off of the CR) were finished.

Once the new concrete was down and the walls tarred, the ceiling was seriously beefed up. We tried to short the two leaves (flooring/sub flooring - joist - plasterboard) with rigid fiberglass so we could still work with a 2 leaf system. All in all 5 layers of plasterboard was hung from the ceiling joists. We needed maximum mass as directly above the LR theres a shop, so we needed the best TL we could achieve. Along with the plasterboard on the ceiling, we boxed in the support pole with some fiberglass and 2 layers of plasterboard (fire regs apparently, but not sure it needed to be so big?!) In this pic, you can see the new floor, tarred walls and boxed in pole and support joist.

The next step was to start the 2 floating floors for the LR and CR. The materials were spec'ed by a studio company, but it basically rubber strips with multiple layers of subfloor (of differing densities) on top. Between the 2" or so rubber, insulation was layed to damped any resonance etc. Not great pics, but if you look closely, you can see the gap around the edges of the floating floor with insulation poking out. Also note how low the ceiling sits in relation to the support joist now. Thats what 5 layers looks like lol!

Next step was framing. All 2x4 seprate shells for the two rooms, with ceilings on top. In a couple of pics you can see some temporary bracing between rooms. Dont worry, these didnt stay long!

more framing...

Once the framing was completed, Rockwool was stuffed between all the studs and noggins. Unfortunately I didnt get a chance to get any pics before the plasterboard layers went up. All in all, 3 layers of 15mm plasterboard was used on the internal studio walls. The different layers were offset and rotated to insure no joints of different boards lined up. Plasterboard pics are pretty boring, and to be honest, I only saw the studio twice between the start and finish of the plasterboarding. Here are a few pics to show the stage...

Somewhere around the time of plasterboarding and insulating, the hardwood window frames went in....

looking marvelous ozz!

Cheers Ro! :) Forgot to put up pics of the ventilation going in. This was done after framing. Again, any qs, feel free to ask, as Im not gonna go into specifics on all areas as it would take forever plus I have probably forgotten half of it! lol

plastering. 6mm skim over all walls. Pretty crappy pics, but you can see all the layers of the wall in one of them!

Doors going in! Also, you can see the gap between the windows have been boxed in. A 10-15mm gap was left between everything, and the same between the airspace between the doors. When the rooms were plastered, the gaps were left (and checked, double checked etc). And once the plaster had dried, caulk (and in places backer-rod) was used to seal the gap without shorting any leaves). The doors were prehung presealed units that were custom made, rediculously expensive and even more rediculously heavy! One of the builders said he used to install security doors in bookies (betting shops), and this was the heaviest doors he ever felt! The door to the CR took 4 men to lift. In one pic, you can see that the door has shims holding it in to the wall. Obviously the doors shouldve been installed before plasterboard, but nothings perfect! We filled the space with perpendicular pieces of plasterboard, caulk, and then plastered over the gaps for a smooth finish.

here you can see the boxing in of the gaps between the rooms, and between the CR and outer wall. That gap ran all the way round the box, and was caulkd before covered in foam.

After all the paster was dry, caulk added etc, the walls were given their first coat of paint. Its amazing how much bigger and more comfortable it felt once the undercoat went on. After a few coats, the framing for the acoutic false walls/ helmholtz, broadband absorbers etc went in.

Once the framing was completed and caulked, the laminate flooring was layed, then imediately covered up in most areas with mats and dust sheets, so no pics were taken. The only one I did take was the gaps between the two rooms which i thought was rather neat.

The acoustic frames were then stuffed with insulation (stuff looked like and sized up to OC703. even the absorbtion coiffitients were pretty much identical!)

The helmholtz wall was then covered in a single layer of fire retardant black fine muslin. Was pretty disapointed with how much the yellow of the insulation came through. Decided to do 2 layers on all the broadband stuff (see later). Didnt bother with the helmholtz tho, as the gaps between slats were gonna be so small.

The the slats went on. The two traps were tuned to // 82htz, and \\ 164htz. Notice the strip lighting now up, as well as the ventilation grates and smoke alarms.

Around the same time, the glass finally turned up. It was installed, the gaps lined with foam and the hardwood varnished.

Then the panels going infront of the broadband treatment were finished and installed. This was done with a 2x1" frame and 2 layers of the black muslin cloth. The front of the CR was done in 3 panels, and I think looks particluarly sexy :lol: Also you can see the bench at the back of the CR with the 2 corner broadband traps on it. Also, note the trunking for the elec sockets going in.

Ok so once the rooms were finished up being decorated, having all the fittings finished and having a bloody good clean, they were measured. They were primarily measured for STC as the acoustics werent completed, although the RTC 60 was measured, but not really relavant. This is how it faired. CR to LR; STC - 55dB TL - 40dB LR to shop (the most important!) STC - 91dB TL - 75dB CR to shop same as above CR to street unmeasurable above ambient noise Service Noise NR10 8) Pretty happy with those! I wired the multicore, then the desk, monitors and (rediculously heavy) racks went in.

So heres how it ended up with all the other bits in.....

Really happy overall :lol: Thanks so much to everyone here who helped me along the way, namely John, Sharward, Rod, and Knightfly. Few little things I wanna change that Ill discuss at a later date, but overall, madeup, and so are my clients! Please check out my website here for pics other pics and audio from the studio. www.hiddentrackstudios.co.uk Cheers! Oz Craggs

WOW, it really looks awesome. Good job and great pix :) How long did it take for you to actually BUILD the darn thing? cheers