advice needed on new build...

G'day all, :) I have been spending hours upon hours studying this forum trying to gather as much info I can, so I dont waste my time and money on my build. SO MUCH to fit into my brain!!!(so little space....) :shock: OK, this is my situation, I have about 10-15k on this project, all work will be done by myself my father and my partner on this project. none of us have ever done any studio construction before, I come from a metalwork background (welder) my father the same, and my partner in crime is a builder by trade, so between us I think we should get buy. I hope... This will be a ground up project, not a very big studio, (about 32'x16'x10) just a controlroom and live room. most of the recording will be rock bands, Isolation from the outside world is not a huge issue, it will be built in a rural area, but Isolation between controlroom and live a must. Ive included a plan of what i think it should be like, just ruff, want some advise so i can finalse the plan and start construction with'n a month or 2 will most probably go with fibro or blueboard and rendor it >2layers of gyprock> Staggered studs, insulation>2layers of gyprock Any advice will be most kindly taken aboard!! cheers fella's...Nick

so what is it Nick - 32 x 16 or 32 x 14 as you've drawn. Where do the doors lead to? cheers john

Yea sorry its meant to be 32x14, but nothing defenent yet, this will be a free standing structure, the doors lead to the outside world, I didnt put a door directly from control room to liveroom as i thought i could achieve better isolation between the two rooms this way, I little bit of a inconvenience i no but wont worry me to much. by the way thanks for your time john, it is muchly appreciated!! :)

I am planning on just floating the control room. This is the wall/ floor detail I come up with, can anyone see anything wrong with this? :?:

Have you considered isolated concrete slabs rather than a true floating floor? That might be a lot easier and cheaper, and you wouldn't have to worry as much about resonance frequencies of the rather thin floating floor.

Have you considered isolated concrete slabs rather than a true floating floor? That might be a lot easier and cheaper, and you wouldn't have to worry as much about resonance frequencies of the rather thin floating floor.

just finished reading up on this method, sounds like the way to go.. thanx for the tip :) alot less time money and frustration! a floating floor might have been a bit of over kill compared to the rest of my construction. but I am now going to use double walls instead of staggered studs. is this how you would achieve the isolated concrete slabs using a double wall construction with two rooms?? :?

sorry for being all over the place here, but this is gunna be a free standing structure about 40m from my house will I even need to have an isolated slab? I just need isolation between the two rooms, will a solid 6" slab with footings be sufficient? maybe I'm just getting carried away with my requirements! :?

It very well might suffice. The main benefit that floated or isolated floors gives you is elimination or reduction of structure-borne noise (flanking). For what it's worth, I debated whether or not to float my floor for ages. Ultimately I received the best permission slip I could get from a local acoustical engineer who said that since the noise I'll be generating is airborne, and since I don't have anyone living underneath me, floating a floor in my case would most likely be overkill. There is also a tendency for people to float an insufficient floor, making matters worse than if they hadn't floated at all! :shock: So, while I'm not against floating floors, I think they're overrated and often insufficiently planned/calculated. My personal decision to replace my existing slab with a new, isolated one is mostly for structural reasons -- my existing concrete floor inside my garage is thinner and weaker than a typical household slab. Figuring that my inner leaf walls will weigh several tons, I didn't want to risk breaking the slab and ending up with a ruined project. In your case, being a standalone structure, my gut tells me you can probably get away with a single slab. With a liberally wide gap between your rooms, your iso should be awesome. You could design a gap so wide that you could walk inside of it and maybe even make it a storage closet. That way you're not really losing the square footage. 8) --Keith :mrgreen:

Thanx kieth, Its just hard Knowing how intense you should make something when you have no idea how well something works that you have never built before!! if you know what I'm trying to say? :shock: :? Alot of these methods used on this forum are mainly all used for heavily populated area's or 'inhouse' studio's were complete (almost), isolation is required. I am lucky in the fact that I dont have any of these factors to deal with. Ive only got one shot at this and dont want a pile of crap at the end that does not do what i want it to! So I guess I get carried away with what my requirements really are. :roll: I will post a detailed plan shortly if anyone has any opinions feel free to comment. (of to Melbourne for two weeks holiday on monday :D :D :D )

You've expressed sentiments to that many of us can relate, that's for sure! Think of your plan like something you're trying to sand smooth. You start with something rough and you use course sandpaper at first, then finer grained sandpaper, on down the line until you're using the smoothest paper you can find. In the end you have a smooth, highly polished plan. Right now you're just trying to figure out what plank of wood to start with! :lol: Sometimes I get a little apprehensive about recommending a particular plank, because what works for me may not work for someone else -- and given the fact that my construction work is just now getting underway, it's theoretically possible that what works for me may not actually work for me! :shock: :lol: Hang in there... You'll soon get "filled up" with data. I hope your brain has some empty spots because you're going to need it! :) Enjoy your holiday -- or as we Americans like to say -- your "vacation." 8) --Keith :mrgreen:

Alot of these methods used on this forum are mainly all used for heavily populated area's or 'inhouse' studio's were complete (almost), isolation is required.

There are so many generalizations and falshoods in the above quote that all I can say is IGNORE IT COMPLETLEY! Andre

There are so many generalizations and falshoods in the above quote that all I can say is IGNORE IT COMPLETLEY!

please elaborate.. :?

Schmackdaddy: Thanks for your query. I don't know how closely you follow the posts on this forum, I read all of them. There is no major style or location of the studios. Apartments, garages, barns, purpose built buildings, shed conversions, are just some the tyoes. They are in: apartment buildings, homes, suburbs, inner city, and country. There is no majoruty of builing space or location. There no such such thing as complete isolation. Most people ignore the step of determing their ISOLAION requirements in an objective manner. The islaotion needs vary from inside the house to sleeping areas, to outside noise isolation, to keeping neighbors happy. Again no generalization can approach to cover the breadth of needs. I hope this helps understand my previous post. Andre

point taken mate, 8) I do try and read all the threads I have not been on this forum long and most of the threads i have read followed the suit i mentioned above earlier, prob due to my short time on the forum i did not find the vast diversty of studio's and needs that there is. I do agree with what your saying. I will think a bit before i make statements next time! :oops: hope you take a interest in my project and follow it as I learn and discover this very diverse art of studio building. I'll need all the help I can get :lol: :lol: cheers mate, Nick

Your welcome Nick: We, not just I, try and help as best as we can. The clearer questions are, the better we can help, and learn ourselves. Remember, as I wrote a couple of days ago: good studios are 90% planning and 10% construction! :D Andre

ok i'll be gone for 2weeks and once I return I should have my plans layed out and will post for all to see and scrutinise, cheers folks, :P :P 8)