EVERETT, MA Studio Design

Hi guys, My name is Jim and I'm looking for some advice/direction with building my studio. This forum is an amazing resource and I plan to take full advantage of all the great knowledge/experience here. This post may be a little premature, as I haven't signed the lease just yet. But then I thought it might be wiser to see if any of the experts here may find any major issues/concerns before I pull the trigger on this space. LOCATION: Everett, MA (5 miles outside of Boston) SPACE DETAILS: The space is 500 sq ft in an old factory building. The inside dimensions are approximately 23ft(l) X 23ft(w) X 25ft(h). Almost a perfect cube. It's ground level. Concrete floors. Roof above. Nothing below. Neighboring units on 2 of the 4 walls (more about that later). The existing walls are standard studs 16oc/drywall with typical fiberglass blanket insulation. This space currently has no HVAC installed yet, but the owner says they would install an industrial gas heater (ceiling mounted). I know very little about the electrical set-up right now. GOAL: It's my goal to make this space into a standard 2 room design (control & live) with ideally a small iso booth as well. I know this space is on the smaller side, but I need to be able to record (loud) drummers, and maybe even entire rock bands. I made a quick Sketchup of the space layout and the neighboring units (attached). Although it's all rough/crude dimensions, it shows my initial idea for this studios layout. I'm still figuring out Sketchup, so please try to envision that each wall would be on studs and not paper thin (as it looks in the example). Aside from a couple super chunks in the CR, there isn't any acoustic treatment shown in the sketch, but I do plan to treat the rooms properly. I understand the live room isn't very big, but it is important that I have a comfortable-sized control room, as that's where about 85% of time is spent. ISOLATION: I am planning to make these room-within-room(s) for the most isolation possible. I own Rod Gervais' book and have been lurking this forum for a couple years - working towards the day when I could build my own place. I'm not too concerned with neighbors at this space, as the building is pretty remote (not residential) and my direct neighbors are 1) a contractors storage spot (I'm told "he's never here, he picks his tools up in the morning and drops them off at the end of the day" and 2) an appliance repair warehouse ("which wouldn't have any issues"). With that said, the more the isolation, the better. BUILDING: I am allowed to build whatever I want in this space. I anticipate hiring HVAC & electrical help. I'm capable of framing, drywall & painting (and running cable/soldering). I however know almost nothing about firecode and permits etc, so I'm thinking that hiring a contractor to go over the plans and get me started (maybe the framing) might be smartest. BUDGET: I'm hoping to complete this build for $10-15k. This includes any in-wall snakes/cabling. I already have my recording gear covered. I'm a DIY kinda guy and have no problem doing the dirty work if it'll save some money. The name of my game is low-overhead :wink: INITIAL QUESTIONS: Does anything jump out as a "red flag" with this space? Can anyone suggest a smarter/more efficient layout than what I'm proposing in my sketch? I'm open to all ideas! Any suggestions for the most effective (yet cheapest) HVAC solution to this space? Are there any ideal ratios for control room height? I don't think I'd need to go all the way up to 25ft, not to mention it would raise my material/labor costs greatly. In the live room, more height makes more sense. But even there, should I be going as high as I can? Is there a specific room ratio that would work best (acoustically)? Those are my first batch of questions. If I move forward on this space, I'm sure I'll have a million more. Thanks in advance! -Jim ***SKETCHUP NOTE: please note that the white hallway and white area to the left of my control room is inside the building. The open white space to the left is basically the end of a driveway path through the middle of the building for trucks to pull in and load if needed. The hallway that ends where the roof ends, goes outside to the front of the building.

Perhaps you could incorporate a corner control room like the below thread http://www.johnlsayers.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=11508

Thanks for the link, Leon. My first thought was to put the Control Room into a corner, but because this space is small and square, it would result in a square CR and a narrow boomerang-shaped Live Room (or more like a hallway). I really need a 3-person couch in the back of my CR. I might still try a Sketchup with a corner-position CR. I definitely want to consider all things with this plan.

you don't need such a large gap between rooms and you can just have one long straight wall in each then angle the back wall with the couch.

Hi Glenn, I really appreciate you taking the time to put that sketch together for me. It is a better/tighter use of space. If we made the CR width a little more narrow by maybe 2-4 feet, in an attempt to add those feet (width) to the live room, would that mess things up much (acoustically) in the CR? Is there is a certain ratio to 'proper' control room dimensions? I always assumed there was. I was also under the impression that control rooms should fire the long way, but this CR plan seems nearly square. Am I wrong or just being too picky? Also, I'm still curious what ideal heights should be for each room? And should they be slanted at all? Thanks again! -Jim

the CR could be narrower. the ceiling height - 11' in the CR, 14' in the LR and booth (if possible). you can angle the ceilings in all rooms - in the CR about 9-12 degrees low in front high in back. in the LR and booth, you could do 2 angles to really change up the room response. remember to factor in HVAC...

Going up to 14' would be no problem in this space. The ceilings are allegedly 25' (although they look a little less to me) but even still it'll be plenty. HVAC is my biggest question mark. I know very little about it, so I'd hire a pro to install. This space goes right up to the roof and I'll have at least 10 feet (height) of hidden area above this control room, which I assume may allow for more options? Can anyone suggest an affordable system that does both heat and ac? Does that even exist? :oops: PS - Glenn, does my budget seem realistic? Thanks!

In general, your budget is low but if it's what yo have then it's what you have. If you're doing the majority of work yourself and consider lower ceilings (less materials) then you may be able to build out the CR but it will be tough. From an HVAC, consider a concealed duct unit hung above the rooms and baffle boxes to isolate the duct penetrations into each room.

We're drafting the lease up this week, so I feel safe to move on with this design :) First thing I'm going to do when I get in there is remove the inner layer of drywall. I'm going to try to do this as neatly as possible, so I can use it to cut into 16" strips to double-up against the outer leaf (but from the inside between the studs of course). I know Rod's book shows this a bit (with ceilings, but same idea). Can I get away with just caulking the seams, old screw holes, and other wise just pinning them tight in place with ledger board scraps? What are backer rods? And are they very important to this process? There is allegedly blanket insulation inside these walls. Should I put it back in once I double up from the inside? Or should I save it for the rooms-within-rooms? Since they will be directly heated? I suppose I should have insulation in all leafs, but curious if it'll make a huge difference? Thanks! -Jim

the backer rod is a foam rod which you press into the gaps so it reduces the amount of caulk you need and ensures a consistent backing to the caulk. therefore its a really good idea to use it. if your joists are 16" oc, then you need 14 1/2" wide drywall... the amount of cleats/ledgers you use is really about properly supporting the drywall in place. really good job sealing everything is more important.

Is "all-purpose" caulking okay, or should I be using something special for this application? I'm putting together numbers... will 2X6's support 2 layers of 5/8" drywall on my ceilings?

caulk should be a non-hardening 25 year latex or equiv. a popular product is OSI SC-170/175. what span are you working with? you will likely need a minimum of 15lb dead weight support. a 2x6 No.1 Doug Fir is about 12' max and a 2x8 is about 15' max. plus factor in absorbers, clouds, HVAC, lighting, electric, etc in total weight

As for the span direction of the ceiling joists, I was thinking of going east to west (if the cr listening position is facing north). I'm currently trying to find/price doors. For the iso booth, I was thinking of doing 2 solid-core wood doors, but I'd like a window in these doors for a view to the live room, so I'm wondering if I should buy plain wood doors and cut-away a section for glass, or if it'd be better/cheaper to go with something prefab? From what I've read, I understand laminated glass is pretty expensive. Any thoughts on this?

Looking through Rods book i don't see any specific instructions on how to brace the bottom plate of the walls into a concrete floor. Can anyone refer me to it?

screw in or shoot in floor anchors. you could also decouple them, or use isolation brackets top and bottom.

Thanks Glenn, I think I'll go with the shoot-in anchors (split-drive). My next random question is... with ceiling joists, I feel like I've seen some sort of metal-brace brackets propping them straight up. Not a "hanger" exactly, because they aren't really hanging, but they're instead sitting on top of the walls top plates. Anyone know what these are specifically called? Should I use something like them, or maybe just close the ceiling joists at the ends with a couple more 2X6's to basically keep it all snug? or is that even overkill? Would nails alone suffice?

UPDATE: Yesterday I took the lease home for review. They cleaned the space out (was junk storage previously) so I was able to get a better look around. I measured and it's actually a bit wider each way. 24'x24'. I noticed some big chunks/cracks in the concrete floor with signs of moisture. Quite uneven in certain patches. The owner says the moisture was from them working/cleaning in there. He also said the roof above me was just redone (I can see a large new patch in the ceiling) so perhaps some water made its way down. So now I'm wondering what to do about this floor? Fill/smooth holes & cracks or maybe cover it all with a new layer of concrete? Or wood subfloor? Thoughts? Keeping my tight budget in mind, which is cheapest? Also, the plot thickens... I was planning on removing the inner leaf drywall from the existing walls to cut and use to double up between the inside studs against the outer leaf. It was dark when I initially looked at the space (no electric yet) and I thought it was 1 layer of sheetrock simply screwed in/unfinished. Well with some light shed on the subject, it's in fact 2 layers of 5/8's taped and mudded (double drywall on both leaves). I can't imagine demolishing all that drywall. I also heard the owner say 2 layers was firecode for industrial buildings, so I wonder if I would be allowed remove it. :? Sooo... if left and I build room-within-rooms i'd be introducing the dreaded 3rd leaf! I understand that 2-leaf systems have better isolation results than 3-leafs, but with 4 layers of 5/8" (total) on the outer leaf I feel like there could already be some considerable isolation happening. I am more concerned with good isolation between the rooms-within and not the noise reaching neighbors. I may also just be in denial. Any insight/ideas on what to do with this floor and outer leaf?

maybe have the owner fix the floor? this way you're not liable for any mistakes (or alleged mistakes later when its time to get your security deposit back). on the walls - test the isolation and see what you have. you might find that adding 2 more layers on the inside of the overall space meet the need, or adding a single layer on an inner frame after adding the additional mass to the existing wall is effectively a third leaf but the mass differences make the single inner layer act like a low frequency absorber and perhaps some things can be done to reduce the air spring as well. first measure...

Thanks Glenn. Your explanation of the 3rd leaf makes me a feel better about this all. As for the floor, I will ask if the owner will cover it's repair. He was the one who mentioned having his contractor build a sub-floor (he did not mention at who's expense though). Do you think a wood floor (decoupled from the outer walls) would be better than layering some new concrete? The more I think of it, a raised floor is probably a good idea due to the buildings 'industrial' nature. I don't want a neighbor hosing his (and MY) floor down :shock:

So, I got the Ruby housebuilding add-on working. Still haven't figured out the most accurate way to make doors/windows though. And obviously the dimensions aren't exact yet.

are the wall heights correct? in any event, the joists can be support/stabilized with "joist hangers" on the rim joists, if you're talking about "cross bracing" you could use metal ones as well as using 1x3 x-bracing.

Yes, the walls in that sketch are 11' height in the CR, and 14' in the other 2 rooms (per your suggestion a few posts back). The outer (existing) walls are about 24'.

The owner agreed to repair the floor. It sounds like they're going to fill/level the floor with some new concrete. So I'm signing tomorrow and will be getting in there as soon as the electric is in/on. Once I have better lighting, I'll post some photos.

very cool!

Signed, sealed, delivered! :D The owner seems like a no B-S kind of guy and as we stood looking at the floor together today he seemed to realize (out loud) that pouring new floors for my unit (and the neighboring one which is in just as bad of shape) might be the smartest way to go. I hope this is the path he decides. Should hopefully be sorted by the 1st of May and then I can get in there and get to work.