Everyone Please Chime In

Hey everybody. Thank you for such a wonderful forum. I have learned so much here and I am thankful. Well, the time has come where I need ya'lls help and insight into my building. I have just completed the concrete slab for a 1360 Square Foot dream studio. The walls are being built now and the shell building will be completed by the end of this next week. :D My plans are to build room-within-room construction. The completed internal dimensions of the shell will be 41 1/2' by 31 1/2'. The internal ceiling height will be 14 feet. The outside walls of the shell will have 7/16" OSB with heavy/dense concrete-wood composite siding. Inside will have no obstacles except where I had the pluming for the bathroom and HVAC already installed. My goal is to make it so I can record a cranked Mesa Boogie at 3:00 am if I need to. So far I will be floating all of the floors. The floor construction will be 2X4 on end, 7/16" OSB, 5/8" sheetrock, 3/4" OSB and then the carpet and hardwood flooring. I think it will be a pretty stout floor. Please advise if you feel diferently. The walls and ceilings will be 2x4, 5/8" sheet rock, 3/4 MDF, then another layer of 5/8" sheet rock. All will be insulated with the best insulation I can get from my cousin who is in the wholesale construction materials business. It all depends on what he's got on hand at the time I need it. Please let me know your thoughts. The ceiling supports will be laminate floor joists. I went over my ceiling spans with a structural engineer and he advised to go with the laminate deal. With that weight spanning over 20+ feet, it will sag only 3/8" over 30 years! 8) My doors are basically 1 3/4" solid core doors with a 3/4 Sheet of MDF on each side. They are heavy as all get out and should work. That's the short and skinny of things so far. I've attached a .gif of my floor plan. It is pretty much to scale, at least as much as photoshop will allow. Again my goal is to be able to record loud drums, guitars and anything in between when I need to...regardless of time of day. I realize this is a tall order and maybe not even possible but I need to get as close to it as possible. My nearest neighbor is about 150 feet away from the building if that helps. Thank you to all of you who give your knowledge freely. YOU ROCK! M

Nah no tall order, just build according to what you have obviously learend from your time here and you will be fine. The only thing you will need to watch is the sealing of your doors, depending on which way you choose to go. To keep the iso rooms isolated from the main room. Other than that you are off to a great start. Bryan Giles

Just a couple - For that kind of isolation, be sure to keep at least 8" air/insulation gap between outer leaf (the osb and siding) and inner leaf - if you float your inner walls on the individual floors, watch having enough support around the perimeter of each floor to support the extra wall weight - look for EPDM instead of neoprene, longevity is 2-3 times as good. Insulation - be careful here - heat insulation isn't always sound insulation, stay away from ANY foam based stuff. Best density is around 2 to 2.5 PCF for in-wall insulation for lower frequencies - higher density lessens LF performance, lower density lessens HF performance. YOu want a snug fill if possible, or at least have the batts contacting the inside of the wallboard in each stud bay - this damps the panel, which improves TL. I'm hoping one of those "windows" into the CR is really a door, otherwise entrance/exit could get tricky without a chainsaw... Other than that, looks like you're off to a great start - not seeing any "triple leaf" problems other than the lounge, pretty minor... Steve

Thanks for your insight Bryan and Steve. As far as entry into the control room, it will be through the lobby. I forgot to add that in the drawing. The photoshop layer must not have been active! :oops: I have looked at the EPDM Rubber stuff and I'll tell you the truth, I have no idea which style/model to get. Any ideas? The walls will be placed on the edges of the floated floors. I plan to reinforce those areas with an extra 2x4 so the weight is displaced evenly on the sides. The insulation...I plan on getting something like R-19 or greater insulation for the walls/floors/ceilings. Kraft faced. Will that be sufficient? I know many people use rockwool or similar. Is there that much performance difference? I'm getting it from my cousin and he can get all the way up to R-30. Also, should I encase the exposed insulation with some thin plastic? Even though it's on the other side of the wall, I don't want that stuff floating around if there is any air flow between the walls. I know this has been discussed before, but I need to ask again...Should I sheetrock the shell's walls and ceiling? Thanks everyone for your help. It is very appreciated! M

EPDM rubber.. :) 1/2" thick is what you should be looking for. There are a ton of names for the same stuff. Ask about the Duro and you should get 60 durometer. 90% of what you will find out there in that class is 60-70 Duro. Bryan Giles

I know this has been discussed before, but I need to ask again...Should I sheetrock the shell's walls and ceiling?

No. That will create a triple leaf system.

I know this has been discussed before, but I need to ask again...Should I sheetrock the shell's walls and ceiling?

Well, that depends. AVare is right about a triple leaf system being a thing to avoid. BUT Your roof deck, for example, will PROBABLY NOT COUNT AS A LEAF. If your roof is going to be flat, and made of precast concrete or something, then ignore what I'm saying. But if it's going to be wood trusses, with plywood sheathing over the top of it, and roofing paper and shingles atop that, then it will most likely be VENTED and will leak sound if you use it as an acoustic 'leaf'. The soffits of these roofs are vented, and the insulation is placed at the bottom of the trusses so that the attic space is not heated. The reason for this is very good (deals with water leakage in the winter) but it's also a long explanation so I won't bore you with it if you're not interested. My point is that at least on the roof, you will not want to use the roof deck as a 'leaf' and will therefore most likely want to drywall the ceiling. Talk to your builder (if you're not doing this yourself) about this and see what he thinks. He (or you) may have a totally different idea on how to build the roof that will render my argument invalid. If you'll be building up the outer shell walls very solidly (MDF and a layer or 2 of exterior drywall) then drywalling the inside of the shell walls will not be necessary, but in this case you should watch the builders like a HAWK to make sure they don't punch any holes in it. BTW if you're looking for that kind of isolation, I'm suprised your outer shell won't be concrete block or something along those lines... do you still have time to change gears for that type of construction? Just thinking out loud...

Thanks guys. At this point I'm really unsure whether or not to rock the ceiling. Kase - You made a good point. At this time, the walls for the outer shell are up. I'll be putting trusses and sheeting on tuesday! Moving along. So i guess it's kinda late to change to concrete block. My outer shell will be 7/16" OSB on the sides and 1/2" oSB on the roof. Then for siding...1/4" concrete/wood composite. Of course it will be insulated too. I will talk to my builder on tuesday to see what he thinks. I have a feeling I'll be rocking it! 8) Kase - Man you are right down the road from me. I'm up in Wausau, WI. Small world, huh? I've done a ton o' gigs in madtown! Bryan - Thankyou for the EPDM tip. I will start reserching it. Theres a few joints here in town that maybe I can get some from. Wish me luck. I can't say "thankyou" enough! M