Ready to complete my Basement Studio

Sending pics of completed Demo. Also attaching finished control room design. I am ready to get started on the control room :D , just want to make sure the design is correct. On top of my block wall and sill plate are 22" floor truses designed to span 30' without support. I have the lower half of the cavity filled with therma-fiber sound attenuation batts and two layers of drywall. On top of the floor trusses I have 5/8" T&G OSB, and laminate flooring. I am thinking about building my 2x4 walls with a 93" hieght including floor and top plate. This will leave me 9 inches from existing ceiling drywall to top plate. Now for the question: Will I get better isolation by building an inside out ceiling? or should I put the drywall on the under side of new ceiling?

looking good. the window opening - either you will need to extend the isolation walls in to the treatment wall to place a window there, or putting both windows on the isolation walls, then consider a lighter weight window for the treatment wall. something like the RPG Clearsorber might be useful. http://www.rpginc.com/products/clearsorberf/index.htm or http://www.rpginc.com/products/clearsorberd/index.htm

Glenn, Not realy sure what you mean by extending the isolation wall into the treatment wall. You are suggesting that I install the windows in both isolation walls then use one of the products from rpg on the treatment wall correct? Could I just install the windows in the treatment wall? Which will give the best isolation? Gonzo

if you install the window in the treatment wall, you need to extend the isolation out to that window. otherwise you simply have a 3'x5' hole in the isolation wall! otherwise, put the massive windows in the isolation walls and use a lighter weight clear panel to preserve the angles and view. the RPG products are just an example where the clear panel also has absorption properties.

Got it! Thanks, Glenn

I am attaching a sketchup file of my existing ceiling in my basement. I will be installing another ceiling on my new inner leaf walls. My question is: should I go ahead and remove the drywall from the existing ceiling for better isolation and more ceiling height?

in the SU it looks like a double layer and if that is providing enough isolation there, i'd leave it. if not, then, yes remove and may be re-use it to beef up the upper floor and then build either a new isolation ceiling with the joists interlaced with the existing ones and supported on the isolation walls, or suspend it using isolation mounts.

Stuart, I do have two layers of drywal on the ceiling. But I can hear footsteps. If I leave the drywall and then install another ceiling on my inner-leaf wall will I be creating a third leaf? will this give me less isolation than removing drywall? Gonzo

Sir, when you started this thread you had painted concrete block and no ceiling panels installed...at this point you have unpainted concrete block and sheetrock installed. Which one is it :) ?

Brien, On my first post I stated that there was drywall on my perimeter walls. I stated this because the pictures I had posted did not show the drywall. I never stated that I had no drywall on my ceiling. Not sure why you say I have umpainted block walls either. My block walls and concrete floor were covered with a basement sealing product. Since my first post I have removed all drywall except the ceiling, perimeter walls and floor. I am now down to concrete floor, block walls. I have done all this demolition because I want to build my studio correctly. I am looking to this forum to get advice on a great design, and constructing that design correctly. Gonzo

Stuart, I do have two layers of drywal on the ceiling. But I can hear footsteps. If I leave the drywall and then install another ceiling on my inner-leaf wall will I be creating a third leaf? will this give me less isolation than removing drywall?

I'm trying to get a clear picture of what you actually have up there. Can you get a photo that shows exactly how that part is built right now, or an accurate SketchUp, showing all the layers, from the floor above on down? If you can clearly hear footsteps on the floor above, then obviously something is not decoupled. Whatever that "something" is needs to be traced and fixed. - Stuart -

Stuart, There is a ceiling detail on an earlier post. From top down: Laminate flooring 5/8" T&G 22" floor Truss 2" ThermaFiber 2 layers of drywall

you have a direct connection from the floor to the ceiling. you'll need to (at least) decouple the lower drywall and also better to add mass on the upper floor (underneath adding 2x-3x 5/8" drywall, sealed and held in place with cleats) and dampen the cavity below (R32 batts). then suspend the lower ceiling or if the structure is not suitable a new ceiling supported off the isolation walls below. check with a structural engineer to assess what additional load can be added. 22" trusses (depending on the span) seem like a decent candidate for suspending the ceiling.

Glen, Thank you for all your patience and knowledge. My plan is to remove the existing drywall beef up upper floor with 2 layers of drywall, and install new ceiling on new perimeter walls with joist interleaved between existing ceiling joist. Hope to have demolition complete this weekend. Gonzo

My plan is to remove the existing drywall beef up upper floor with 2 layers of drywall, and install new ceiling on new perimeter walls with joist interleaved between existing ceiling joist.

That makes sense. The reason you hear footsteps at present is most likely because of the lack of mass and the flanking path through the joists. - Stuart -

I am attaching my final design. Hope to start construction this weekend.

nice work!

Back to the Design phase. The weekend I was going to start building I found water seeping through my block walls. Had a bit of water in the basement So I contacted a contractor to take a look at my problem. Contractor suggested a sump pump with a perimeter drain. I realy do not want a sump pump in my control room and deal with having to move a lot of equipment to get to the pump. Now I am trying to design the studio with the LR/Drum room in that area of the basement. Just can't seem to make it work. having access issues. Pics of sump pump going in.

I have turned the control room 180 deg. to make sure I have access to the sump pump. will I still have the isolation I need at the rear of the control room?

You'll still have the isolation, but those "cut out" shapes at the rear are not helping you at all. I'd try to figure out another way to do that: Maybe just slide the entire control room forwards 18" and straighten out the rear wall again, to give you access to the pump. Plus, I don't see your outer leaf on the right side of the studio. Did you leave that out for clarity? It would be good to see it in there, to make sure that everything is OK. - Stuart -

Check out what was done in the RJHollins thread to box out the sump area symmetrically. You could put it into the corner of the CR where the levels are likely lower so the isolation in the live room has the least number of penetrations.

If I can provide any assistance through the viewing of my thread .... Located here: viewtopic.php?f=1&t=14794 I've asked a ba-jillion questions in my quest to learn & understand :) RJHollins

Stuart, I did leave out the rest of the design for clarity and file size. I plan on using the live room and iso booth design that Glenn came up with. I have attached 3 control room designs to get around the sump pump. Leaning towards CR 1. Has the most floor space. Open to any suggestions. gonzo

To be honest, 1 and 3 aren't very appealing, since they have your room narrowing down at the back, which generally isn't a good idea, and all three designs eat up the space that you should really be using for bass trapping. Is there any reason why you can't slide the entire room over a few inches, and leave the back wall straight? As long as you leave yourself enough space to get through behind the room, and figure out how to put an access panel in your outer leaf (which you haven't shown yet), you should be fine. - Stuart -

as shown 1:1.4:1.9