What will $5000 get me??

Hi first post hear got some questions. I would like to build a rehersal/recording "studio" I am able to rent a 3 bedroom house from my grandmother which sits on over 9+ acres her house is roughly 100+ feet from where i plan to build. I plan on building in the back yard not attached to my house. Now i plan to record "hard rock" and "metal" so another words loud music. Anyway i was thinking of in lieu of laying down a concrete slab to build on i was thinking of building on a cinder block base would this be not a very good idea? I'm not sure how much $5000 grand will get me but i was thinking maybe 30x25x10? I was thinking of one "live" room and one "control" room but now im thinking maybe having a vocal booth and maybe a small iso room? Thinking i could lay it on the cinder block base frame it all out 703oc in the wall and sheetrock the walls and ceiling?? I would like to only spend around $5000 but would consider maybe going up as far as $10000 lol i know thats double from the first quote but :wink: Any ideas on layout ideas or construction tips?? Any questions just ask thanks in advance JASON :D

Welcome to the forum, Jason! If you haven't already (or even if you have) please review the "Before You Post" announcement. The "Average Pricing" thread indicates a $150-200 per square foot cost, which I believe includes materials and labor. For your 750 square foot building, that's between $112,500 and $150,000. Perhaps you meant "for materials only" and that you planned to do the work yourself. I'd be willing to bet that your HVAC system alone would be close to $5K. I can't see such an ambitious project happening for $10K, even if you did every bit of labor yourself. Construction materials are going up in price due to all the rebuilding efforts down south where hurricanes Katrina and Rita ravaged the area. I've probably spent a couple thousand dollars already in my partial garage conversion project, and so far all I have are a permit, some beefed up outer leaf walls, and a big hole in the ground. Perhaps a (sorry...) bigger budget, and a (sorry...) smaller no-frills building, maybe around 12x16 outer dimensions, with (sorry...) everything in a single room, diligent attention to details, and extremely patient and frugal materials shopping, you might be able to get something going. If you're able to make it happen, since you're starting from scratch, consider an isolated slab as opposed to floating a floor. I'm thinking of a foundation to support your outer shell and an isolated slab on grade (if that's even doable in Massachusetts? :roll:) within that rectangle to support the inner shell... In short, basically what I am doing -- only instead of having the challenging retrofit issues I'm having, you'd be building everything from the start. Good luck! --Keith :mrgreen: