2-story Detached Garage PRE-design thread.

Hi, the wife and I are about to close on a new house and I am planning on a new studio space as well. The plan is to build a detached 2 car 2-story garage to be converted to a studio space with the ability to be converted back to a garage if any future home owners decide to, though we are planning on living here for at least 10 years. I wanted to go ahead and post before we started construction on the garage to make sure I'm not shooting myself in the foot somewhere down the road. All of my interior designs are extremely rough and young here, please bare with me. I'm a very visual person and want to have the garage in front of me before I really lay everything out and get my plan finalized. The plan: The plan is for a 32'x28' detached garage to be completely utilized as a studio space. The garage will be 3/4 wall brick facade. This design is pretty close to what I am planning only mirrored, one large garage door, and without the dormers. On the first floor (~9' ceiling height) will be an entrance area with stairs, a half-bath tucked under the stairs, a small kitchen area, and some storage. Then there will be a larger tracking space taking up most of the floor plan. At the far end will be two smaller booths. I'm planning on building room within a room with a separate ceiling free of any existing walls/joists. I read in another thread about making the garage door and a close framed wall into a single leaf....I'll probably end up doing this. Here is a rough "MS Paint" plan of the first floor: Once I have a better idea of what I'm doing I will do a sketchup design. The 2nd floor will be built with attic trusses and have rough dimensions inside the room of 15'x32'x8'. This floor will be exclusively used as the control room setup against the far wall facing away from the stairs. Acoustic requirements/other I'll be tracking full bands...meaning drums in the main room. (~100dB) The booth side of the garage will be about 20ft from the property line and city noise ordinance is 65db @ 75hz and steadily moves to 40dB above 4800hz at the property line. The closest two houses are ~60ft away. I'm not expecting total isolation between the lower level and control room. My budget is roughly $15k (in addition to garage cost). My father is an electrical contractor and my step-father is a general contractor...both out of state but I plan on doing the interior myself with their guidance and their assistance when they can come in to town. Preliminary questions Is there anything in my basic garage plans that may cause an issue with the studio build? Obviously my interior plans are just a basic idea...but anything major that should be changed? Are there any acoustic issues with having the front and side walls brick but the rear wall vinyl siding? I can't find much info on a two-story build like this, but what about insulating and drywalling the 2nd floor further against the trusses on the sides rather than at the room studs, and using a slat/fabric construction at the actual wall studs in the "garage plans" image so that I can fill the cavities with absorption? Thanks!

Hi "T.Bird", and welcome! :)

On the first floor ... there will be a larger tracking space taking up most of the floor plan The 2nd floor will be ... exclusively used as the tracking room setup against the far wall facing away from the stairs

So where will the control room be? It seems very strange to have two tracking rooms (one downstairs, one upstairs), a couple of iso booths, but no control room. Maybe you can explain a bit more about how this is going to work. I mean, there's nothing wrong with having two tracking rooms and no control room, but it just seems rather strange: What will you be recording to?

Is there anything in my basic garage plans that may cause an issue with the studio build?

The basic concept looks OK, but it would be good to have more info about the garage construction itself.

Obviously my interior plans are just a basic idea...but anything major that should be changed?

For the ground floor tracking room, you need a wall that goes across on the left side of the page, between the main tracking area and the kitchen area, to complete the outer leaf.

Are there any acoustic issues with having the front and side walls brick but the rear wall vinyl siding?

For isolation, yes, there's a big difference. Brick is way more massive and dense than siding, so you will need to "beef up" the outer leaf on that side, adding considerable mass. If you search the forum for "beef up", you should find many references on how to do this correctly.

I can't find much info on a two-story build like this,

That's mostly because isolating a studio on an upper floor is really hard to do. Studios are normally built on a concrete slab that rests directly on the ground, since that's the easiest and cheapest way to do it. They can be built on upper floors, but it makes it much harder to achieve high levels of isolation. You mentioned that you need to isolate drums, and that is do-able for the tracking room on the ground floor, but won't be nearly so easy for the other tracking room, on the second floor.

but what about insulating and drywalling the 2nd floor further against the trusses on the sides rather than at the room studs,

Well, you do need to do that anyway! For a proper MSM wall, you need considerable malls on BOTH leaves (not just one of them), and you do need as much insulation as possible in the cavity between them. That's a must.

and using a slat/fabric construction at the actual wall studs in the "garage plans" image so that I can fill the cavities with absorption?

I'm not sure I understand that. Slot walls are not part of the isolation of a room: they are part of the treatment. First you build your studio as a proper fully-decoupled two-leaf MSM system, then when that is finished you add the treatment that is needed to make the room sound the way you want it to. Isolation and treatment are two totally different aspects of acoustics. So for BOTH floors, you need to build a proper 2-leaf system, then within that you add the treatment, which might include slots walls, or fabric-covered insulation, or other types of treatment. But a slot wall is never the actual inner-leaf of a room: it is just treatment. - Stuart -

Soundman2020 wrote:

Hi "T.Bird", and welcome! :)

Thanks! And thank you for the reply.

So where will the control room be? It seems very strange to have two tracking rooms (one downstairs, one upstairs), a couple of iso booths, but no control room. Maybe you can explain a bit more about how this is going to work. I mean, there's nothing wrong with having two tracking rooms and no control room, but it just seems rather strange: What will you be recording to?

Sorry, I mistyped. The 2nd floor will be the control room.

The basic concept looks OK, but it would be good to have more info about the garage construction itself.

What particular details are you looking for? I have yet to find a builder (working on remodeling the house this month)

For the ground floor tracking room, you need a wall that goes across on the left side of the page, between the main tracking area and the kitchen area, to complete the outer leaf.

I wasn't sure about this as I'm not too concerned about isolation into the "hallway" area and was planning a wall/door around the stairs on the 2nd level, I wasn't sure if this would count as my second leaf.

For isolation, yes, there's a big difference. Brick is way more massive and dense than siding, so you will need to "beef up" the outer leaf on that side, adding considerable mass. If you search the forum for "beef up", you should find many references on how to do this correctly.

Will do. I guess I'll also compare the cost of this versus the added cost of doing the back wall with brick facade.

That's mostly because isolating a studio on an upper floor is really hard to do. Studios are normally built on a concrete slab that rests directly on the ground, since that's the easiest and cheapest way to do it. They can be built on upper floors, but it makes it much harder to achieve high levels of isolation. You mentioned that you need to isolate drums, and that is do-able for the tracking room on the ground floor, but won't be nearly so easy for the other tracking room, on the second floor.

Again, I mistyped...sorry. So all instruments (aside from maybe a vocalist now and then) will be on the first floor. I'm not too concerned about isolation for the control room as I do not monitor too loudly...but isolation between the first and second floors is a concern.

I'm not sure I understand that. Slot walls are not part of the isolation of a room: they are part of the treatment. First you build your studio as a proper fully-decoupled two-leaf MSM system, then when that is finished you add the treatment that is needed to make the room sound the way you want it to. Isolation and treatment are two totally different aspects of acoustics. So for BOTH floors, you need to build a proper 2-leaf system, then within that you add the treatment, which might include slots walls, or fabric-covered insulation, or other types of treatment. But a slot wall is never the actual inner-leaf of a room: it is just treatment.

Does this make more sense knowing that it will be the control room on the second floor?

Sorry, I mistyped. The 2nd floor will be the control room.

Ahhh! That makes more sense! :)

What particular details are you looking for?

What materials are used in the walls, how thick is each part, how is it sealed, how is the HVAC handled right now, how is the electrical system done right now, what type of windows and doors are there, how thick, seals, etc. Pretty much everything you can find out about how it all goes together, the sequence of layers if the walls are built up from different materials (eg, is their a vapor barrier? If so, where? Do you even need one?): Etc.

I wasn't sure about this as I'm not too concerned about isolation into the "hallway" area and was planning a wall/door around the stairs on the 2nd level, I wasn't sure if this would count as my second leaf.

Isolation is really an "all or nothing" proposition, meaning that you can't have good isolation on 3 sides of a room, but no isolation on the 4th side. Without that wall to close off the rear space, everything back there would be inside your air-gap, between the inner and outer leaves, which is not a great idea.

I guess I'll also compare the cost of this versus the added cost of doing the back wall with brick facade.

Right! Sound waves don't care how much you pay for the mass that you stop them with: The can't read the price tags! :) They just react to the total mass of the wall, so get the least expensive building materials that provide the amount of mass you need. In many places around the world, that is ordinary fire rated drywall, but in some places wood is cheaper, while in other places brick or even concrete is cheaper. So figure out how much you are paying, in terms of cost per kilogram, for each type of material, and get the one with the lowest cost (also taking into account the labor and other related costs).

I'm not too concerned about isolation for the control room as I do not monitor too loudly...but isolation between the first and second floors is a concern.

OK, so most of your effort (and mass, and money) will go into the ground floor which needs the most isolation.

Does this make more sense knowing that it will be the control room on the second floor?

Not really, since in your original post you seemed to be confusing your slot wall with your inner-leaf wall, and that applies to both the live room and the control room. A slot wall is treatment, not isolation. If you do need a slot wall, then you will build it inside the finished room (either LR or CR), after the inner-leaf is already in place. That's the point I was trying to make, since it seemed to me that you were thinking that your slot wall would also be your inner-leaf. - Stuart -