Basement recording studio. Any suggestions?

i'd suggest laying it out with masking (painters) tape to be sure it will actually work though.

I'm going to do that this weekend. Would you still be willing to help me with designing the studio? I have an idea! What do you think about this It would eliminate the use of a couch and I could get a couple smaller comfortable chairs instead. This would extend the vocal/drum room to be bigger.

Oh esco - you've been here for 52 posts and Glenn has offered you a wonderful design and you come back with bkletch!! some people never learn.

Esco wrote:

It would eliminate the use of a couch and I could get a couple smaller comfortable chairs instead. This would extend the vocal/drum room to be bigger.

extending the booth would make that side very narrow to get in and out of. that was one of the reasons i opted for the smaller booth - getting in and out will be easier. that said, if you did extend it, nothing prevents you have having the door on the outside wall since that space will be open in your basement. then you only have an entry door on the CR plus the access door to the sump.

John Sayers wrote:

Oh esco - you've been here for 52 posts and Glenn has offered you a wonderful design and you come back with bkletch!! some people never learn.

Hey John, first off I love the website. It is by far the best one on the web and i will continually talk nothing but good things about this community. My issue hasn't been Glenn's designs. He is amazing at what he does. My issue is that I don't have quite as much money as I thought I did to build. So please don't think I'm being ungreatfull, I just was trying to see if I have any other options... And it looks like I don't. So I would like to apologize to both Glenn and John for being so back and forth. I am quite a newb at all of this as you can tell.... It looks like if I want a studio design that will allow a drum kit I will have to build the extra area for it. So it looks like My best bet is to go with the bigger design and build until I run out of money and then just build as more funds come in. I had the mindset that I should build it all at one time but honestly, I would rather make the best use of my space and even if it takes me 2 years to build I will be much happier in the long run. So thank you Glenn for all of your hard work and knowledge! So I will run with this design. Taping it off tonight and taking pictures.

Ok so Glenn. Will I be taping just the boarders of the rooms for now? Will I measure out the 2x4 walling?

measure it all out so you can actually get a feel for the actual size inside and make sure the doors, etc can all actually fit plus the vent alteration, water meter / sump access, etc.

Ok I have a possible good deal on wood studs. I just need to know: Will I use both 2x6 and 2x4 to build the walls?

I'm thinking 2x4 but if you get a deal on the 2x6 that fits your budget they can certainly be used with a bit of adjustment to the dimensions.

Ok, I'll pick up some 2x4's and see what kind of deal I can get on 2x6's.

Ok so I finally got my furnace installed and am working on elimination clutter so that I can tape everything off. My budget has changed from $1,500.00 to $2,000.00 so I have another $500.00 to play around with. I'm pretty excited. Glenn, I do see a pretty big problem with the furnace duct running across the CR area. If I run it along that wall (at the bottom of your design with the drum/vocal booth) It will run into the sump pump pipeing..... My question is can I get a flexi vent and run it over my ceiling? I have seen this with other studio designs on this website here's an example: viewtopic.php?f=2&t=14136&start=45

i was thinking it would run overhead not on the ground. and would be a soffit along the back of the CR to keep things isolated.

Ok, yeah the sump pump piping at the ceiling is what Im talking about. It would be right in the way of the air duct. We will cross that bridge when we get to it and i post pictures of it soon.

depending on the pipe the vent may be angling up past that point anyways...

Ok so I am currently lokoing to buy 2x4 lumbar. Should I look for a paticular grade of wood or can I get the cheap stuff. Also for the walls how fax apart should the studs be? I'm just trying to get an idea on how much wood to buy.

before buying building materials - let's review the design and make sure it's all ready... when you do buy, buy straight, decent quality but low cost lumber. i spend sometimes hours picking through piles to find the best ones for the price. otherwise if you leave it to the yard or just haphazardly pick them, it will make life harder later because of warps, knots in just the wrong place, warping, etc. this is where having a friend with experience in picking the materials will be very helpful.

I have a friend who is helping me build when ready and he finishes basements so I think he's the perfect candidate. I'm still working on clearing out the area so that I can tape it up. It's taking a long time though. We will be working on it this week. Is there any other info I can give to assist while we are clearing out the area?

i think once it's cleared out, let's redo the measurements of everything so we know exactly where everything is and then i can refine the design a bit more before you try to lay it out.

Ok, will do!

Video of my basement area coming soon!

Hey Glen. Here's a video of my area. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2xIlYgbQgLM I bought the 2" tape today. So just to clarify... I am going to tape the borders of the measured area right?

it would be helpful to have a simple 2d drawing (by hand if need be) with the dimensions of the space down to 1/4" with dotted lines to indicate overhead bits to worry about... then i'll check to see if the design will fit or needs to be tweaked and then you can do the tape layout...

Ok I'll do that tonight!

Ok, I drew it up tonight. i hope this works. I had to take a picture of it though because I don't have a scanner. Glenn, If you have a personal email i can send it top I will be happy to! :D

see if this works.