Basment Studio - First Crack...

As we're not actually *in* this house yet, the measurements are close (within an inch or two) but not exact. Placement of the furnace and water heater are eye-balled, but i think are pretty close. Sump pump is in the lower left corner, but not in the drawing. The cold air return is 32" below the main beam that runs left to right in the center of the basement. Basement height is 7'1", 6'4" to the bottom of the beam. Here's the basement: Here's the design. Note that the software i used is junk, so the angles on the splayed walls, etc are off a little: Things i like: Lot's of floor space: I can finally get a machine room and a good size tracking room with some interesting angles on the walls. Things i don't like: Height, but not much i can do. The beam running through the tracking room: i'll have to drop the ceiling a bit at that point Placement of the machine room: I'll have to go through three sets of doors to get from the control room to the machine room. I might replace the window with a door. Now that i think of it, that makes more sense... :-) Anyway, all comments are welcomed. I won't be in the house for a couple of months, so i have plenty of time to get the design right... Tanx for listening.

Ooops. I guess more info is in order: I record music mostly, light rock to hard rock, some jazz, and occasional voice overs. Accomodating a full band is a requirement. Isolation from the upstairs is important - i would like to get 60STC, but i think 40 is more realistic on my budget. All mixing and most mastering is done in house, so a good sounding control room is a must. If i did my math right, i think i'm right around 1500 cubic foot. Anything bigger than that really messes up the ceiling to width to length ratios since the ceiling is so low, so i think that's all i can get. The seating position is at about 45% of the depth of the room, which is close to the 9th order node, but i think i'm safe. Someone with more experience in this please help. :-) Tanx again!

That looks pretty cool to me - I'd probably swap the iso room with the machine room so the singer can see the rest of the band (i.e. door instead of window as you suggested.) cheers John

John Sayers wrote:

That looks pretty cool to me - I'd probably swap the iso room with the machine room so the singer can see the rest of the band (i.e. door instead of window as you suggested.)

That was actually my first design, but that would be a 11x5 iso room, which i thought was a little overkill. Swapping them saved a few square feet of floor space. That support pole that's between the tracking room and the machine room really mucked things up. That being said, now that i'm considering the logistics (singer should see the band, as you siad) and the HVAC portion, i think the machine room and iso booth will be swapped: It will be a whole lot easier cooling the machine room with it not being surrounded by other rooms. :-) John, do you think the beam in the tracking room will be an issue? Is there anything additional i should put around the pole? Tanx much, and i can't say enough how cool it is to have this site available. I wish i had this type of resource when i built my current room (which sounds like ... well, not very good... :-)

I think you'll find that moving the iso to the other side you won't have to soundproof from the HVAC unit, which will not be a problem for the machine room. ;) I'd just box around the pole in the booth and have it free standing in the room - then you can have glass between the iso and the main studio for visability. The low beam in the studio will need to be built around - what is your ceiling situation? what height are we dealing with. cheers john

John Sayers wrote:

I think you'll find that moving the iso to the other side you won't have to soundproof from the HVAC unit, which will not be a problem for the machine room. ;)

Agree. The more i'm thinking about this, the more advantages there are to having the iso on top.

John Sayers wrote:

I'd just box around the pole in the booth and have it free standing in the room - then you can have glass between the iso and the main studio for visability.

I was back in the house yesterday, and i need to make some changes. The water heater is farther to the right than i have in the drawing, putting it in the control room. I'm going to rotate the CR to the right to make room for the bigger utility room, making the iso booth a 11'5 x 4'9 rectangle. :-( At least it makes the pole a moot point... The other issue was the breaker box is in the upper left, in the corner of the tracking room. I'll need to shave about 3' off of the left of the tracking room to allow access. I tried to redesign this so that the machine room was up there, but i'm not having luck. I'll update the drawing tonight and get it posted. I'm sure it's hard to "see" this without a drawing...

John Sayers wrote:

The low beam in the studio will need to be built around - what is your ceiling situation? what height are we dealing with.

Height is low: 7'1" to the bootom of the floor joists, and 6'4" to the bottom of the I-beam. I fully expect to have to duck going from one half of the tracking room to the other. :-( Tanx again!

Updated design. I cropped the picture to the relavent area. The rooms keep getting smaller.... :-( Some of the numbers are getting hard to read, so: Tracking Room: 10'2x25'7 (+ odd) Iso Booth: 10'2x4' Control Room: 13'3x16'8 I will likely make the window between the CR and iso booth a door... As usual, any and all comments are welcome!

here's a shot in the dark

veatch - a plumber and an electrician could move that HW system in a couple of hours. ;) cheers john

Veatch, If your a true DIY'er, for the cost of one or two hours labor to pay a plumber, you can get the parts and tools and move it yourself. Just be sure to turn the water off before cutting the pipe... :lol: :D Aaron

I'm 95% certain that the water heater will move at this point. I can't be sure exactly where until we get into the house, though. I think i'm as close on the design as i can get until i ensure the measurements are all right (they should be within an inch or two...) In the mean time, i'm brushing up on construction (mostly ceilings, that's where i'm the weakest.. not that i'm all that strong anywhere else... :-) Material costs have me pretty spooked at this point... Man, i should have moved 2 years ago.....

Veatch, Another thing you can do (and this may depend on your ceiling height), but you can do what I did, which was remove a post and installed a steel beam under the existing beam if needed, to widen your space. You will want to consult w/ a structural engineer though. Fortunately, my step father does this type of work, so he made all the calcs and told me exactly what I needed. I was surprised, only a 4" steel beam for a 18' 10" span. And the cost was only about $200 + beer & Ribs for all the help. :D Aaron

Aaronw wrote:

Another thing you can do (and this may depend on your ceiling height), but you can do what I did, which was remove a post and installed a steel beam under the existing beam if needed, to widen your space. You will want to consult w/ a structural engineer though. Fortunately, my step father does this type of work, so he made all the calcs and told me exactly what I needed. I was surprised, only a 4" steel beam for a 18' 10" span. And the cost was only about $200 + beer & Ribs for all the help.

That's a great idea. Unfortunately, my ceiliing's already low enough... :-( I think i can work around the poles pretty well. There's really only 1 that's a nuisance, and it isn't too much of an issue at this point.... Tanx Aaron.