Moving studio. Need advice.

Hi, I'm moving my commercial facility from a lease space to my home. I currently have a building on my property which is 16'x24'. The sidewalls are 10' and the peak is 13'. I've attached a drawing of the current structure wall components along with a section of the proposed interior wall construction. I have been studying Rod Gervais' book and believe I'm setting up a three leaf situation. This is obviously not good. Please look over my drawing and let me know if I'm headed for trouble and if so, point me in the right direction. This location is within a neighborhood so sound transmission either direction is an issue. Thank you, Earl

I guess this is the wrong forum. Sorry.

I guess you are rather impatient! Sorry... that nobody was able to drop everything they are doing, and rush right over to answer your question in a matter of hours. I guess we just aren't fast enough for your standards. Too bad. - Stuart -

Soundman2020 wrote:

I guess you are rather impatient! Sorry... that nobody was able to drop everything they are doing, and rush right over to answer your question in a matter of hours. I guess we just aren't fast enough for your standards. Too bad. - Stuart -

Um...ok. I apologize again. I certainly didn't mean to ruffle your or this forum's feathers. My original post required (or so I thought) a fairly simple response. When one wasn't given, I assumed that perhaps I had posted in an inappropriate forum or that somehow I had violated the posting guidelines. But now, thanks to your getting me straightened out, I'm very well aware of my gaff. It was an honest mistake, and I promise you kind sir, you won't be bothered by me again. Cheers, Earl

pdlstl wrote:

I guess this is the wrong forum.

no it's the right one but sometimes the folks who can best answer are busy with day jobs and/or are in different time zones. it might not be a problem since the back of the new interior wall is all open and the mass you're going to put inside will likely be significantly higher than the OSB and thin outer sheathing. you can find Eric Desart's MSM calculator spreadsheet on this site or at studiotips and work out the resonant frequencies for yourself. you might find adding another (3x) layer and/or greenglue could improve things. you might also think about adding insulation into the space behind the OSB so that cavity is damped. edit: I don't disagree with Brien's following post - i think we could both agree you need to do some research and analysis...

pdlstl wrote:

I've attached a drawing of the current structure wall components along with a section of the proposed interior wall construction. I have been studying Rod Gervais' book and believe I'm setting up a three leaf situation. This is obviously not good. Please look over my drawing and let me know if I'm headed for trouble and if so, point me in the right direction. This location is within a neighborhood so sound transmission either direction is an issue. Thank you, Earl

Earl, You have been here a long time as gauged by your location so you should understand how things work ;) The metal building has no exterior mass to speak of but it is a leaf in your proposed wall assembly. Then it has the OSB on the interior and when you add your interior walls you develop, stop me if you have heard this before, a three leaf wall assembly. Multiple air cavities produce multiple resonance which reduce your low frequency isolation abilities. Since you are in a hot/humid climate the engineering of this wall assembly suggests that the VDR (Vapor Diffusion Retarder) is on the exterior of the building as represented by the 3" insulation with plastic facing. But the interior OSB would need to come off to remove the additional air space, and that could only be achieved after consultation with a qualified person in your specific area to determine if the structures ability to withstand the elements or resist racking would be altered adversely by the removal of the OSB. Even if the OSB can be removed you will risk code violation due to the plastic facing [flammable material] and simply building an interior wall may not satisfy the requirement. I suspect your overhead ceiling looks somewhat similar to this process, or maybe just has faced insulation with no OSB, is that about right?

Glenn and Brien, Thank you both for your very informative posts! @Glenn - The OSB was added long after the building was erected. For a bit of side information, the steel framework is more like you see in a much larger building. 8' C and Z purling throughout and I-beam (1/2" steel) corner columns with I-beam (1/2" steel) beams from column tops to roof peak. The OSB is not a factor in the rigidity of the building. In addition there are X cables in one long wall and one short wall. Removing the OSB will be no problem whatsoever. I'm currently checking with Mueller, building manufacturer) to find out flammability specs of the insulation. Now, if removal of the OSB is no issue and the insulation is no issue, I could then feel comfortable with the proposed interior wall construction as shown in my original drawing? And if so, should I maintain a small gap between the steel superstructure and the new inner wall so they don't touch? Thank you very much. Earl

yeah if removing the OSB is feasible you should be good to go.

Thank you so much Glenn! Construction begins next week! Earl