As a side note for anyone that is thinking of building a studio I budgeted $2500-3000 max to do my small room. I am now up to exactly $6532.12 and I still have about another $1000 to go on carpet, acoustic treatment and soldering and plugs. I have recorded every single penny spent.
This does not include the 300 + hours of my own time doing this.
Lot of money and time goes into these things but considering I also have $30000 of audio gear to go into the studio when done the construction is pretty cheap. I kinda freak out when I think I have a $50k hobby but you only live once and most of the gear I own holds it value except for the computer related stuff.
JohnG
Dan F's One-Room Garage Studio
Originally posted at johnlsayers.com, topic 3876.
awesome, to-the-penny even ... great info John.
Although I probably should, I don't dare do that -- hate looking at big money things.... don't want it to scare me off...... I have recorded every single penny spent. JohnG
Especially if one spends the typically enormous time on planning (as it seems), I don't think anyone could ever account for labor.... K....This does not include the 300 + hours of my own time doing this... JohnG
Hey Dan! It's been about six weeks since we've seen any photos of progress. You wouldn't beeeeeeeeeeeee slaaaaaaaaacking off now, would you? ;-)
Your thread slipped to page 3! :shock:
In fact, it's been over a month since you've posted here at all! :?
Everything OK with you, buddy?
--Keith :mrgreen:
yeah i've been feeling guilty about that ... but it seems there is not enough time to do everything these days.
a quickie report, sans pictures for the moment. what i have done since last post is pretty small, but significant. I put the lid on my duct, 1 layer of osb and 1 layer of 5/8 gypsum.
i cut the hole in my roof and put in the roof cap, and i cut the matching hole in the duct top, & i'm ready to run the 8" duct between the two holes. but i haven't done that yet.
i say it's significant because the hole in the roof thing makes me nervous, so i was glad to get it over with (at least the first one), it wasn't that hard (i've done it a few times before) .. the only twist was the use of staples rather than nails in the shingles, made it a little harder i guess but overall it didn't take much more than a couple of hours work.
Cool! I'm glad it's just your thread and not you or your project that went dormant. ;-)
Pictures of the roof work would be pretty cool, if and when you get the chance.
--Keith :mrgreen:
yeah as i was doing it, i was thinking, i should take pictures of each step, but i was too busy getting it done to worry about it. but i can take some "after" pix.
Slacker! :P
aaaaaaarrrrgghhhhhhhhhh ....
X100,000,000,000 here. I just started on my build and i am at the point of ripping drywall to the cavity level. Basically you're garage and mine is nearly identical in layout and issues, and i am soooooooooooooooooo glad to have read through this whole thread to figure out how i am to correctly approach this. I may change type of insulation and other small design things but basically i will be replicating most of the techniques (ceiling will be slightly diff). Hows it coming along Dan?aaaaaaarrrrgghhhhhhhhhh ....
it's coming along ... slowly. as of now i have one layer on half the ceiling, also half the ventilation done. focusing now on finishing the ventilation, including wiring the fan.
sorry i haven't had time to detail what i've been doing. i'm feeling good about the progress. i'm almost to the point of having most of the difficult stuff done. once the ventilation is done, i'm going to do the external door, just so i can figure out how to do that. after that, it will be just a matter of adding layers of drywall. physically hard, but technically easy. nothing too difficult, at least that i'm aware of yet.
i have a few days off over the holidays so i hope to get a lot more done then. i will try again to do some photos, i swear.
but feel free to ask questions, i'll be glad to answer.
I have a question.
Where are the pics? You know the rule: "Piccies, or it didn't happen!" ;-)
In all seriousness, I'm glad you're making progress, Dan! 8) I took a month off of my build like a sloth and it was wonderful.
Actually, it sucked... I was disappointed not to be making progress... But it's hard to stay motivated at times, huh? :roll:
--Keith :mrgreen:
So....???
Keith referred me to your thread for info about backer rod and I went on to read the whole thing. Great info, thanks!
But imagine my disappointment when I got to page 26 (the end of the thread) and the room still isn't finished!!!
Can't say it instills a lot of confidence in me sticking to my goal of 4 months for my 3-room setup! :D
Ben
C'mon, Dan -- I have faith in you!!
Never mind family and livelihood -- they're so overrated! ;-)
--Keith :mrgreen:
all right dudes, keep the faith, my project is still underway!!!!
unfortunately, i have come to the conclusion that i can't be bothered to keep updating this thread. I have very limited time to work on the garage project, and I'm afraid that documenting it with photos and then spending a lot of time posting details, etc. is a burden i can't keep up with. sorry!
i am i guess about 1 year 8 months into the project. but i see the light at the end of the tunnel. maybe before the end of the year i'll be done? or, hopefully by end of summer????
the latest: saturday i cut the second ventilation hole in my roof, for the exhaust duct. so now i have the intake and exhaust openings done. i also started figuring out how to run the wiring to the fan.
i was thinking about running the fan off a 15 amp circuit that is conveniently located, but then i found a 20amp one that is pretty convenient too and is on the other side of the breaker box from where my audio circuit will be.
i believe that it's good practice to have the "clean" circuit on the opposite side of the box from the "dirty" circuit (also my garage fridge runs on the opposite side). i think the one side of the box runs off the black wire and the other side runs off the red wire, and they both use the white wire for the return.
so, about a couple more hours until i have the fan mounted, and the ductwork from the silencer to the roof opening complete. then i will be able to drywall the outer leaf ceiling completely. also i busted a hole where i can access the fan and ductwork thru the opening in my header truss later. because the fan needs to be accessible.
that's about it. i think it will be not too much longer before i have the outer leaf complete. then i'll be on to framing the inner leaf.
sorry again about not updating with picutres. that's a job unto itself, and i just don't have the bandwidth.
Hey, I do have a question, for anyone who can answer. I didn't buy the speed controller for the fan yet, because the one the fan vendor sold seemed too expensive at aroudn $35, and i figured i could get something locally. i figured i could use a speed controller that was designed for a ceiling fan. i know you can't use a dimmer switch, duh. the fan vendor sold one rated at 5 amps ... the fan actually draws one amp.
Dan
Aw, Dan... You can't update your thread anymore?
But you're one of the best at doing that. :-(
Your famous backer rod is an example of a gem that I point people to all the time.
Keeping up on maintaining my own thread is a blessing and a curse. Yes, it does take precious time... But it also keeps me guided, since I know lots of people are watching and aren't afraid to speak up if I'm doing something wrong. Just one catch could save me lots of time. Don't underestimate the selfish benefits of maintaining your thread, Dan. :)
I would recommend sticking with the manufacturer's fan control. You'd probably be OK with substituting something else, but if not, it may damage the fan or, worse, cause something really bad to happen.
--Keith :mrgreen:
Ok, ok, the guilt is getting to me. This forum has been great to me so I should give back as much as I can, heh.
i was just looking at Rod's book and noticed that i was wrong about how the red and black wires relate to the different breakers in the box. it says that each wire connects to every other breaker, so black might be odd while red might be even. or vice versa. anyway, it's not left vs. right.
how does this work out for my plan ... let me check ... ok, it looks good because the clean line is on breaker number 5 and the dirty one is on 10. i'm assuming that the ones that are split with 2 thin breakers instead of one fat one are counted still as one.
i'm just going to do it and if there's a hum then i'll deal with it then. i mean it's not like i've made sure there's no motors or other noisy stuff on all the odd numbered circuits. i will just set it up so that i can change the circuit that my clean stuff is on later if need be.
anyway.
it's been so long since i did a real update on this thread that i couldn't remember what i had posted pix of, and what i hadn't, it's pretty pathetic.
i'm going to post a pic of the knife with the quick change blade, and then a couple pix of the fabric that i'm using to cover the rockwool. that i got at home depot.
the knife carries a bunch of blades in the handle, which are easy to get out, and then the blade can be changed without unscrewing the thing apart. it takes about 10 seconds with no tools. ok this is boring but bear with me, it's been a while since i posted, and i have to get warmed up.
the fabric is cool, it is hard or impossible to tear with your hands as i recall, you can staple it with a staplegun, and it will hold, but also you can blow air through it easily. it's polyester or something, and it was fairly cheap... i might just use it as the finished surface of my absorbers inside the studio. but then i'm going for a pretty utilitarian look :)
here is a view of the inside of a silencer, with some rockwool in. the silencer was built taking advantage of the space between the joists, so the joists are the "walls" of the thing. then i put down osb on the bottom and filled the thing with rockwool until i had 3 inches of clear space left. i figured out how much space to leave to be equivalent to the 8 inch round ductwork i'm using (and fan). then i coverd it with the polyester.
i though i had a picture of it covered but can't find it. another thing i was too lazy to photograph. anyway what i did was carefully lay down the polyester that was cut to fit with generous amount left to staple to the sides. then i cut with my table saw some very thin wood that i nailed on top of the fabric to make it really nice and sealed (on top of the staples). maybe unnecessary but i liked the way the fabric tightened up when i pressed the wood down. you could bounce a quarter on it.
so here are some pictures of the silencers. one shows the rockwool in the silencer. also shown is the intake silencer, which has no fan between itself and the roof, and the outtake silencer, which has the fan. the top of the silencer has 1/2 inch osb and then a layer of 5/8 drywall.
of course my pictures are out of order because i'm too lame to remember how to do it right.
but check out that fan, all wired in and everything. that is the thing that really inspired me to get on here and show off my work. the fan install is cool :)
also here's a view of the inside of a silencer
oh and here shows the openings at the opposite end of the silencers ... check out this completed first layer of outer leaf ceiling too!
the ductwork still to be done will make the silencer openings enter the room in the two far corners of the room. so right now they look close together, but there will be a turn here at a right angle on each of them, in opposite directions (again using the existing joists as part of the ducts). the ducts will each have two major right angle turns in addition to the silencers.
ok, here's something that might really be worth something to someone. if you are "beefing up" between your ceiling joists and you need something to help you hold up one or both ends of the drywall until you screw it in, you can use a couple of these things available at your local hardware store.
this is a ceiling fan or heavy light fixture anchor you use in your already finished ceiling. i've taken off the junction box. the idea is that you can cut a small hole in your ceiling, put in this expanding rod that will solidly anchor between your joists, and hold up your fan or heavy fixture.
so, it works well for holding up one or both ends of a piece of sheet rock being used for beef up. when my dad and i did the ceiling, we used these even though there were two of us. i think using these i can do some beef by myself too, although i haven't gotten there yet.
that's about it for now. here are a few more pix to end with.
notice how i spray painted marks to make it easy for me to see where the joists are. good idea, much easier than trying to use a sharpie and then trying to find the sharpie mark.
Dan that progress pics look great! The weedblock fabric is something i ran across too as i was poking around HD for other things (i always make a mental sticky of things for later use) but wasn't sure how it would hold up. One way i put up the sheetrock in my ceiling one man job...was to put temporary cleats against the joists and then get one end of the sheetrock into the cleat while simultaneously using a long length of 2x4 with another cleat like thing wedging up under the sheetrock until it pressed firm by friction between the ceiling and floor. Larger pieces up to 4x8' can be done this way but it takes 2 guys.
Anyways i really would like to see your plans for the duct/silencer schematic or a even a quick drawing of how you set yours up??? I am almost at the point of doing some HVAC and still pondering different plans. I may just extend my current ducting over into my garage using a silencer at the vent to provide the heat/air. But an extraction system like what you've done would be neat.
Im getting tired of working on my conversion but im making alot of headway now...started framing the walls and finished my laundry room block off. pics to follow soon
great work building your silencers right into the joist space, great idea.
on your fan install the tape you used to seal looks suspiciously like duct tape.
if it is duct tape you should probably switch it to foil tape, as duct tape breaks down after time
I agree with John about the foil tape observation.
And I agree with n8nod9it's "looking great" comments! 8)
Great idea using the heavy light fixture telescoping bar as a temporary support for vertical beef-up. :D
It's nice to see you back in action on here, Dan. :twisted: You've been missed!!! Now, be honest -- didn't it feel good to post that? ;-)
--Keith :mrgreen:
aw man! what IS duct tape "supposed" to be used for anyway??? if not ductwork. aargh.
i'm supposed to inspect/clean the fan every year or so, so i guess i can put on the proper tape at that time.
yes it does feel good to be back, Keith!
thanks for the feedback everybody.
n8nod9it, the silencer is just basically a box, i used a standard coupler type thing from HD that connects round duct to flat boxes. i haven't quite figured out how to get from the outer leaf to the inner, i'll probably use a short length of flex duct.
pretty soon i should be building the next bend of the ducts, if i can remember to take pictures it should make sense when you see it.
oh yeah i forgot to mention, the primary benefit of using the heavy light fixture bar is that it is pretty quick to take on and off, when you twist it it gets longer/shorter as desired. to it takes but a moment or two to put it in place or take out.