Pondering new studio build in basement

Hi all- I posted several months back as I started shopping for homes in the Portland, OR area and have no purchased and moved into a new place. Accordingly, I've had some time to think over what I'd like to do with my basement to make it a good place to write, record and mix records. I'm currently setting up my studio in the unfinished space at the moment just so that I've got someplace to work until I start the proper build-out in early '06. This exercise has shown me I don't have a ton of space to work with really... I've also decided that I would like to space to add to the overall squarefootage of the house so that the investment and work put into the studio doesn't turn the home into a place with a highly specialized and unsellable basement. I'd like to find a happy medium between well tuned/functional room and livable space. While I know this will entail compromises of some sort, I'm hopeful that there's a way this can be accomplished. From reading the site over the last few months I've gathered that the recommended approach to almost ever basement studio build out is to create 2 sonically isolated spaces, one for mixing and one for tracking and also perhaps an iso-booth if space permits. My goal for my space would be to have one larger space that is used for both mixing and tracking with an additional medium/large sized iso-booth that could be used for better isolation. Regarding my space, the basement is submerged about 5-6 feet below the ground and has a total of 3 windows in the open space that currently do open outside. From what I've read on the site, I'll need to do a mass-air-mass design to better isolate the space from the outside world. Luckily, I'm a corner lot, so I don't have any neighbors within 15-20 feet of the basement. The ceilings are between 7'-7'2", so a floating floor is not really practical. I'd hoped to somehow get some wood (or some other reflective surface)onto the tracking side of the rooms floor somehow though, so perhaps you guys could toss out some thoughts. I've created a detailed Smartdraw sketch of the room as it stands right now. The only constrution left to do in the room besides the studio is to create a utility space to box in the water heater, the gas heater and a small sink. I very much appreciate any feedback or suggestion you could make on the space and my ideas. Many thanks- Lee Shots of basement before anything had been done to it: http://www.pbase.com/infiniteposse/basement Current shots of basement: http://www.pbase.com/infiniteposse/july05update

One detail you forgot Lee is which way the stairs go up into the upper house. An arrow pointing in the direction will be much help, this will be important for anyone to help you Doni

Thanks Doni. That little detail didn't even occur to me. Thanks much:) Lee

your welcome

here's a starting point :) cheers john

Wow John, great start! I hadn't thought of this kind of config... So you're thinking ISO booth to the right of the control space and then live space directly behind the monitoring station? I'm not so concerned with couches and the like as this isn't going to be a commerical facility so much, more a space for myself and friends to record music. Also, did you have a thought for the space at the left of the stairs? That's where I'd origionally tought of having an ISO booth as it's naturally boxed in a little, but it didn't allow for a direct line of sight to the performer which would be a problem. Thanks so much for the feedback! It's very much appreciated.

I wasn't sure of the access to that area as I assume there's a staircase and landing for the outer door. I'd just extend the control area into it and increase the performance space. cheers john

OK. I went downstairs and looked things over and noticed a major oversight on my part. I didn't include some plumbing that has to be worked around in the drawing I provided. On the right side of the room there's a large sewer line that's not going to be able to moved or re-config'd to be more accomodating (so said my contractor and inspector) so it'll have to be worked around. There's also a length of pipe that runs low of the righthand wall that's about 1 foot off of the wall, about 1.5 feet up that'll need to be worked around as well. The sewer line will require an access point whereas the length of pipe will not... I've redone the drawing with this included now. Pic of pipe that juts out: http://www.pbase.com/infiniteposse/image/40915906 http://www.pbase.com/infiniteposse/image/40915907 http://www.pbase.com/infiniteposse/image/45962062 My apologies for the ommision. Thanks again for all of the help... Lee

cool pics they'll help lots for sure. John theres more pics. some of the stairs to help with your confusion from your earlier post Lee whats the dimension from the wall with the 2 windows to the support post?

That window in this photo doesn't look like it's placed or sized correctly in your updated drawing.

wow - it's maze of ducts etc. Maybe something like this - it means shifting the stairs but they are flimsey anyway and easy to move. cheers john

Thanks for the updated plan John. Unfortunately, the stairs can't be moved as they go into the first floor of the house. There's a series of 2 doors: back door which then either go up into the house proper and another door or back door and down to the basement. Here's a series of photos that illustrate going from upstairs to the basement: http://www.pbase.com/infiniteposse/imag ... 927/medium http://www.pbase.com/infiniteposse/image/40915928 http://www.pbase.com/infiniteposse/image/40915929 http://www.pbase.com/infiniteposse/image/40915930 Even minus the alteration of the stairs the last plan in an interesting idea. Thanks again for all of the assistance.

i don't see any problem shifting the lower section of the stairs. You come from upstairs to the first landing - then turn left and go down the stairs. - I'm suggesting you turn right from the landing to go down the stairs with only the top few corner steps to alter. cheers john

Hi John- To the immediate right of the stairs is the kitchen nook's wall, so there's nowhere to put the stairs on that side. I'd have to destroy the kitchen's nook entirely and redesign the kitchen accordingly... http://www.pbase.com/infiniteposse/image/40736040 - This is the nook with the stairs directly to the left of them. The left-hand wall of the nook runs down to the backdoor landing, but isn't nearly high enough to do any sort of reversal of the stairs with... Thanks for the ideas John. They're very much appreciated. Lee

Sorry mate - I must be seeing the pics differently :) nice kitchen, is that a Cast Iron sink?? Nice :) cheers john

You know John, I'm not sure if it's cast iron or not... I just moved in and the place was already upgraded for the most part. I did just have the counters ripped out and put in nice granite tops on which really makes a huge difference:) Re: the basement and the note about the stairs, in light of the fact that they can't be moved, any final ideas on design? Also, is the JPEG I put up useful or would the actual design file from Smartdraw be more maleable on your end? What steps should I take after this in the design phase of things? I hope to begin construction in early 2006, so there's a while yet to go before the ball really get's rolling, but that's not a bad thing at all. I think it'll take quite a while to get all of the details ready so that execution is smooth and precise. Thanks again for all of the assistance. Greatly appreciated. Lee

well I'd say your options are getting less and less. Using wthe workable space you've got I'd go in this direction. cheers john

Looks good John. I think I might also be able to squeeze another smaller isobooth in front of the monitors as that's all free space. Perhaps I'll add a window in front of the monitors for visibility... A couple of questions. How much distance off the wall does a MAM design ultimately take up? I'm guessing at least 1-1.5 feet? I'd like to sort of build out a scale design so I can see what this is going to look like... Thanks so much for the ideas. They're greatly appreciated.

How much distance off the wall does a MAM design ultimately take up?

I'm not sure what you mean. cheers john

Sorry John...that was obtusely worded... I'm refering to mass-air-mass construction. How far off the existing walls will that kind of build end up being. By this I mean, if I had a 10x10 room and then built out the walls to conform to mass-air-mass construction, what would the dimensions of the room be afterwards? I'm not sure if there's a way to answer this or not. I'd imagine though that there'd be a ballpark number perhaps... I'm just curious about what the dimensions of my space will be after construction roughly. Thanks for the quick reply. Best- Lee

the same size a normal 10 x 10 room would be including the studs plus an airgap from 2 - 4 " cheers john

Thanks John. Here's an updated sketch with the dimensions of everything laid out. I like the flow of the space and all of the rooms will work well with one another I think. Question. What does the geometric relationship of the walls in the control room need to be? I assume the rear and forward walls should be parallel and then the two side walls should be at a particular angle to one another? Thanks so much for all of the help with this. It's very exciting to see a mock up this clean and clear. I can't wait to get the space into shape... Be well- Lee

yeah - but I'm totally confused :shock: - if you can use that space bottom left for an iso booth why can the right hand staircase be moved to that position??? BTW - could you not post 1000px wide pictures: smartdraw gives you size option when you export - please use it. cheers john

John- If I was to move the stairs it would require the demolition of my kitchen nook. Take a look @ http://www.pbase.com/infiniteposse/image/40915913 The right side of this is the floor in my kitchen. Re: the posting of images @ 1000 pixels, when I'm exporting from SmartDraw as a JPEG it's saying width is, as default, 1002 px. Are my images too small or too large? I'm happy to post however is best, I'm just not sure what I'm not doing right exactly... Thanks for the assistance- Lee

ah _ I see now - regards the pics - we have stated in the announcement in this forum "Posting Pictures" to limit your pics to 700px. This is so those on screen res less than 1400 can see the whole page without having to scroll across. i.e. almost everyone. cheers john