New Garage Space, New Studio, Help Appreciated...

Hi All, So it's been a few years since i've posted, been reading my way through the site to try to make my recordings better and better by way of making room improvements, then the unforseen happened, i bought a house. It's been about 1.5years since i've had my gear setup and now i have the itch again. I have a fully detached garage that is in use as a garage, but upstairs is completely empty. What i'm looking to accomplish is to make a small studio with a control room and a tracking room, as well as a small iso booth if at all possible. The Garage is 26'x18'x9'11" at the peak internal dimensions. All construction is only framed, 2x4 24" on center. Plywood Floor. I have attached a basic sketchup file for you to see exactly how it's setup. There is a large 42"x6' Window at one end and two skylights in the center of the roof. I'm not at all opposed to changing the framing of the internal walls to add beams and eliminate 2x4's if needed, and was thinking of a design splitting the area in half at an angle down the near center with a glass slider on the wall. I'd like to accomplish the build for Approx. $5000, i already have quite a bit of Roxul in 2'x4'x4" panels from my old place, as well as a bunch of wood flooring and some other materials. Realistically, the neighbors arent too close, and the area is well wooded, i'm not too concerned about how loud it will be outside, but a little dampening would be nice. I think this is all the info you may need without me getting too long winded. My major dilemma as of now and first question, Given the sketch and dimensions, and taking into account for the window, skylights and stairs, What orientation/design should i be using for the two rooms? I have drawn out a basic idea of what i was thinking. The second question is weather or not i should install flat ceiliings or maintain the open ceilings and just cover the insulation once installed? Any help y'all can be would be greatly appreciated, i miss recording greatly and would like to get back into a space soon. Thanks Much! Andy

I would like to say first, that this is a barn or a shed and not a garage, since it would be one little bitty vehicle that could exist on a plywood floor :)

The plywood floor is only upstairs, downstairs in the actual garage is concrete, Sorry for the confusion....Studio will be on the second floor.

Are the side walls already up, or do you have the full 18' 7" to work with?

The side walls are framed, 2x4x7' high 24" on center, it's a gambrel style roof, so realistically to have a decent roof height i have 11'8" x26' of actual space, of course i could leave the other space open for acoustics if it would help, or keep the walls where they are. Not too sure what would be better. i'll try to post some pictures of the space in addition to the sketchup file.

How much space do the stairs take up. With the way they are in the drawing it would be almost impossible to get up the stairs. Remember, when you are drawing the control room, you need to be symmetric with it. I would also have the stairs go into the live room instead of the control room, that way you don't have to bring instruments through the control room when you have visiting musicians. The window will let in/out a lot of sound, but you said that shouldn't be too much of a problem. I think that the space would be great places for bass traps. The bigger you can make each room the easier the acoustics should be.

OK, so you start the thread with garage, and that assumes a ground level concrete substrate....but you are wanting to build in the upper wooden, how many times has it been said to not do this, the flanking paths are too difficult to overcome, the mass/spring/mass has not been established with any support, level of this environment? I'll get the required documents ready in a day or two :)

Nothing was assumed,

I have a fully detached garage that is in use as a garage, but upstairs is completely empty.

I stated that the space i need to use is in the upstairs, it's also drawn in the sketchup file. It's the only space that i have, i simply asked for help splitting the area up into two sections. I feel like the original post hasn't been read through, nor has the drawing been looked at after reading some of these replies. i guess i'll figure it out on my own.

That is what everyone says..."xSpace you need to read the thread" :) I read...I know...and I help those that help me to understand :) What I try to do is clarify what it is >exactly< we are discussing. A garage build assumes a lower level area is part of the build. When we, or I see garage, that is what I do. Now, we are talking about an upper level wooden environment. Got it. :) I'd use the search function...

lastxhero wrote:

I have a fully detached garage that is in use as a garage, but upstairs is completely empty.

Just for future reference...the above line does not tell me anything as to your plans on where you are going to install this build :) My upstairs is completely empty as well, but I would build it downstairs :0 You even went on to say "The Garage is 26'x18'x9'11" at the peak internal dimensions." See the confusion?

Hi Andy, and Welcome! It seems like there's a communications problem here, so let's start all over again: The confusion seems to be where you say first that you are going to use the area above the garage (second floor) for your studio, but then you give the dimensions saying that they are for the garage , not the second floor: "The Garage is 26'x18'x9'11" at the peak internal dimensions." Maybe if you would have said "the dimensions of the area above the garage are...". It seems that this is what is throwing everyone off the trail here... Anyway, now that it is clear that you want to build on the second floor, the following points are clear: - You have a plywood floor - The dimensions of the actual inner area where you could build a studio are: 26' x 11'8" x 7' - There is a large window measuring 42"x6' at one end - There are two skylights in the center of the roof, which are not marked on your SketchUp

I'm not at all opposed to changing the framing of the internal walls to add beams and eliminate 2x4's if needed, and was thinking of a design splitting the area in half at an angle down the near center with a glass slider on the wall.

That may nor may not be possible, and nobody here can tell you for sure. That is something you will need to check with a structural engineer. He will need to examine the structure, and see how much extra weight it can handle safely, beyond what it is already supporting. This is your limiting factor, not the size or shape of the room.

i'm not too concerned about how loud it will be outside, but a little dampening would be nice.

Unfortunately, sound going out isn't the entire extent of your problem. Sound coming IN is also a major factor: wind, rain, thunder, cars/trucks/tractors close by, aircraft flying overhead, people, radio, TV, phones, etc. If you plan to actually record in there, then you need to isolate those. In order to figure out HOW to do that, you need to get a sound level meter and measure how loud those things are inside the current room and out in the open. Then you need to figure out how quite you need those to be, in order to record successfully. Subtract "B" from "A" and you get your "number": how much isolation you need, in terms of transmission loss. Based on that number you can look at the various types of construction that will get you that amount of transmission loss on your budget. (And as Brien said, getting good isolation from a second floor room on a wooden floor, is not easy due to the flanking paths.) But anyway, based on that construction, your structural engineer can tell you what you need to do (if anything) to beef up the existing structure to the point where it can support the extra weight (you will be putting tons of materials up there, and I mean literal tons). Then when all of that is in place, you need to get the building permits in order to do that. That's the procedure you should be following. The sizes, shapes and treatment for the rooms is something that comes way down the road, after you already have the basic plan figured out, and the building permits in place. You seem to be running ahead of yourself by trying to figure out where to divide the space and put the bass traps before you even know if you can build anything up there at all! So it seems that your number one priority should be to get a structural engineer to examine your building, and tell you what can and cannot be done there. In any event, the ceiling you have in there is very low, at only 7 feet, and that is without even considering the space that will, necessarily, be taken up with the isolation, and the space that will, necessarily, be taken up with the treatment. In all honesty, your best bet is to think about how you could use part of the garage itself for your studio, rather than the attic space above. The garage has a concrete floor, which is excellent, acoustically, and has a 10' ceiling, which is also excellent. Even if the room has to be smaller, to still leave some space for parking cars in the garage, that would still be better than trying to do what you are planning right now. - Stuart -

"throwing everyone off the trail here..." I am not everyone..:)