The Guest Room, errr Garage Studio Design

Hello. I used to be registered here years ago and for the life of me can not remember my old username. I had requested help for a one bedroom project all those years ago. Times have changed. I have received the go ahead from the boss (aka, the wife) to turn our house from a 4 bedroom house to a 2 bedroom house with a recording studio, :lol: I am in the research/planning phase... to see if these is feasible to do. I live in Minneola, FL in a cookie-cutter type of neighborhood. The side of the house the studio will be on is 20 ft to my neighbors house. My yard is much larger than my neighbors, so the front of the neighbors house actually starts at almost the rear of my house. I will take a picture asap, it has been raining two days in a row. I typically play music between 85-100db. Just more concerned about a drummer wailing away in the house. Two of the studio walls are on the exterior of the house. Construction: Cinder block with stucco on the outside. Concrete slab foundation. Wall framing are 2x4 studs spaced 16" OC, 1/2" drywall, R-19 fiberglass insulation. The drywall can can be gutted if necessary. Needs: This space is in my house after all with the living room right on the other side, so being quiet or quieter is a plus. That and being close to the neighbors. I will use this space for tracking and mixing. Ah now my diagrams: Diagram #1 below: Here is the space with the closets removed from the rooms. There is a wall that separates the two rooms. I am willing to remove this if it makes the space easier to configure. Diagram #2 below Here we have the original floor plan of the area I would like to build. Pay no mind to the dimensions on there.. they are wrong! surprise. Bedroom #2 and #4 are the rooms I would like to convert. As you see there are windows in the rooms. One back window faces the east (back) of the yard and one window on south side (toward the neighbors). I would rather keep this windows than block them in. If a room within a room is built we can keep curtains over them to fake people out looking on the outside. Most of the house has 10ft vaulted ceiling except these back bedroom where the ceilings are 8ft. Floors are currently carpeted but will go with wood or wood laminate. I suppose I am looking at a John Sayers garage 2 type of situation. The space is small but not sure what the best utilization of the space is. If someone can help me kick start this thing then we can go from there. Thanks so much for any help. Budget: $10,000 Ken

Hello again. A quick update. I just received Rod's book on building a home studio. I suppose my best course would be to completely remove the current drywall. Not sure how much space I am going to lose as you can see I don't have much to begin with. But first, I need to figure the best configuration for the layout for control room and booth. That's where I am in the thought process for now. Ken

seems to be a big area. You will succeed spam: the link is in the persons sig file....I cannot remove it. [ Spam signature removed by moderator ]

I suppose my best course would be to completely remove the current drywall.

Yup! That will help to avoid the dreaded 3-leaf problem, and will also give you access to the interior of the walls, so you can beef them up from inside.

Not sure how much space I am going to lose as you can see I don't have much to begin with.

That depends on how much isolation you need! You say you are peaking at around 100 dB right now, so you need to determine how quite that needs to be after the isolation is complete. You can figure that empirically with a sound level meter (testing at various levels to see when the wife / neighbors call "acceptable") or legally: Call your local municipality and ask for a copy of the noise ordinance. The difference between the "must be this quite" number and the "I am this loud" number is the amount of isolation you need. That will dictate the type of construction you need, and hence the thickness of the wall that you need. Simple! :)

As you see there are windows in the rooms. ... I would rather keep this windows than block them in.

Ouch! :) You can keep them if you want, but you might need to replace the existing glass and frames with something more substantial, if you need high levels of isolation.

Floors are currently carpeted but will go with wood or wood laminate.

OK, but what is UNDERNEATH the carpet? That's what matters. Concrete slab on grade = good. Plywood / OSB subfloor on joists = not so good...

Construction: Cinder block with stucco on the outside.

Good start! That should be giving you decent isolation for your outer leaf.

The space is small but not sure what the best utilization of the space is. If someone can help me kick start this thing then we can go from there. Thanks so much for any help.

I think I'd start by taking out that dividing wall, where you said "I am willing to remove this if it makes the space easier to configure". Yes it will. However, you don't say if you need both a control room and a live room or iso booth, or if you just want a control room! For just a control room, that's a good-sized space! Adding an iso booth will reduce it slightly, but trying to add a full live room will make things too small (based on the dimensions that you said were wrong and should be ignored... :) ) So if I were you, I would be figuring out the basic plan first: (1 room only, or CR + iso, or CR + LR ), then think about the orientation that makes the most sense, given the positions of the existing doors and windows, and the isolation requirements (taken from the above sound level measurements). Based on that I'd do a rough outline of the inner leaf (leaves) for the room(s), figure a good ratio for the CR, figure the optimum geometry for the CR (speaker location and angles - console location - mix position - RFZ - etc.). Then with that layout in place, you can start figuring the basic treatment, following the usual rules of thumb for small rooms. That would be my approach, FWIW!

seems to be a big area. You will succeed

It isn't all that big, and he will only succeed if he plans it carefully, designs it well, and builds it properly. - Stuart -

Thanks for the reply. I'm getting ready for work so I will read it over again and reply more thoroughly. To answer a few questions, it is concrete slab foundation and I would prefer to have a control room and a separate booth. If it's better to one room I'm ok with that to. The windows, what I meant by not block them in was, physically remove the windows and cinder block them in. I would be willing to build over them but keep the appearance of a window on the outside. This is just for the purposes of if I sell the house the rooms can be converted back with a little work, :lol:

I've been doing a little thinking and talking with the wife. It seems like putting the studio in the garage may a bit more, for lack of a better word... practical. I have included a smart draw file of the garage size. I would like a control room and a booth big enough for a drum kit. Since it is a garage it does have garage doors, :shot: All wall are dry walled except one that was left cinder block. There is the air return, hot water heater and electrical panel to deal with. It would be great to have a little room made to house these and some of my gear that gets hot. Also, I would like a storage area to put boxes, odds and ends and such. Another issue is the attic access is in the garage. I drew a square on the drawing to show placement. Ceilings are 8ft tall. Another issue is A/C. I attached the sdr file but also posted a jpeg for quicker viewing.

I just remembered my old username on this forum.. it was knmy. Only had a handful of posts. By the way... I have been having a time trying to design something in this garage space... just isn't hitting me yet.

I've been doing some designing today, will post it later tonight. Question, how much space should I leave between the existing walls and the ones for the studio? Also, the ceiling is 8' but I do have access to above the garage due to the attic stairs being in the garage. Thanks, Ken

Question, how much space should I leave between the existing walls and the ones for the studio?

That depends on several things, Ken, including how much isolation you need, what type of music you'll be isolating, and how much mass you intend to put in each of the two leaves. A basic rule of thumb is to never have less than 4" (10cm) of air space between the inner leaf and outer leaf, preferably 8", or even more if you have very high isolation needs, or need to isolate very low frequencies.

It seems like putting the studio in the garage may a bit more, for lack of a better word... practical.

Sounds like a smart move! :)

I have included a smart draw file of the garage size.

Try SketchUp! It is so much more powerful, once you get the hang of it. And the price is perfect: Free!

Since it is a garage it does have garage doors

Problem! Can you take them off and build a wall in the space where they are right now?

Also, the ceiling is 8' but I do have access to above the garage due to the attic stairs being in the garage.

Another problem! You probably should be looking for another way to get into the attic, since trying to work that access into a two-leaf MSM isolation system is a major headache... - Stuart -

That depends on several things, Ken, including how much isolation you need, what type of music you'll be isolating, and how much mass you intend to put in each of the two leaves. A basic rule of thumb is to never have less than 4" (10cm) of air space between the inner leaf and outer leaf, preferably 8", or even more if you have very high isolation needs, or need to isolate very low frequencies.

I left 1' of a space around the perimeter in my sketch. I will be recording hip-hop, folk and maybe some rock. I have my meter and need to pump some music in the garage, maybe borrow a friends drum kit. :P

Try SketchUp! It is so much more powerful, once you get the hang of it. And the price is perfect: Free!

I used to be able to use SketchUp, now I am clueless. I got frustrated with it. I'll giver her a shot again, the price is indeed good.

Problem! Can you take them off and build a wall in the space where they are right now?

Ouch, the HOA wouldn't like me to build a wall there.

Another problem! You probably should be looking for another way to get into the attic, since trying to work that access into a two-leaf MSM isolation system is a major headache...

The only thing important in the attic is access to my satellite splitter, that can be moved. Thanks for taking the time to answer my questions.

Hey Stuart. I tried Sketchup again, and it's going to take me a while to get my plan done in it. So I am putting up the one I did is smart draw for now.

Looks like a reasonable basic plan! :) You should try to get the control room a bit more symmetrical. Another alternative might be to consider a "corner" control room, where the rear part is actually one corner of the room and the front wall is diagonal to that corner. - Stuart -