External Cladding

Hi, I am planning to build (or have someone build) a music room/studio in my back garden. This will be built on an old garage base which has recently been re-buit by my builder. I have been reading Rod Gervais' book and plan to follow his methods as closely as possible. I have been planning to build the structure from 100mm/4 inch concrete blocks (with piers) with a flat roof and then inside that build a room within a room out of 4 x 2 timber/rockwool/plasterboard (2 sheets). The building will be approximately 10ft x 15ft and is around 20ft from neighbouring properties. We are concerned about the visual impact on the garden and so I have been planning to batten the outside of the concrete structure and then clad it in 12mm cedar cladding. It has, just occurred to me however, that by doing this, I might be adding a third leaf. Is the addition of the external cladding going to compromise soundproofing? I suppose the alternative will be to render and paint the outside of the building but my wife is not so keen on this option. I am a drummer (based in the UK) so am mostly concerned with keeping the sound in the building rather than external noise. I will be using a small set of drums with a 16" bass drum which should be quieter that a full size kit. I hope that I have provided sufficient information and that someone will be able to help regards

jdh wrote:

We are concerned about the visual impact on the garden and so I have been planning to batten the outside of the concrete structure and then clad it in 12mm cedar cladding. It has, just occurred to me however, that by doing this, I might be adding a third leaf. Is the addition of the external cladding going to compromise soundproofing? I suppose the alternative will be to render and paint the outside of the building but my wife is not so keen on this option.

jdh, it's not a problem as long as you add material so that the work outside becomes a part of the whole.... in other words - add your battens - then, in between them, install some rigid foam insulation the same thickness as the battens - then when you install your sheathing over that (prior to installing your siding) the bricks/batten/sheathing/siding will be one leaf........ the foam is inexpensive (relatively speaking) and will also lower your energy costs due to it's insulation value - which means this is a win/win/win solution to your problem. The wife is happy (very VERY important) you save money on heating cooling and you add some mass that increases the TL values of the wall assembly.......... Rod