Dual Control Room - Shared Live Room Plans/Sketchup

I am in the process of getting my building permit together to begin construction on my studio which will be housed in an attached block garage on the rear of an older apartment/storefront building. WHAT I WANT: I want to be able to have two sessions going on at once. The main control room is for my use and the second control room I want to use to record bands and some commercial work at the same time with a second engineer. This second control room would also double as a large booth for bigger recording sessions. It is not optimal in size as designed now but this is for budget oriented recording, not the full monty. The idea is to build business through traffic. I have been doing this too long to be up recording punk bands at 3am for no money but I know many kids who do want to do this but don't have any facilities that sound decent or have access. I will hopefully pick up more produciton and mixing work as a result. Plus, commercial gigs that come in can be handled easily since even if the main room is booked, the second can help make scheduling versatile. WHAT I GOT: Well, I have around 800 sq ft in an odd shape to fit this in. The designs do not show the lounge/lavatory and office which will be in a small basement area accessed from the entry. Otherwise, its straight ahead. WHAT I AM PLANNING ON BUILDING: The floor is the existing concrete slab with a leveling finish coat of conrete that will be stained for the final floor covering. I would have liked to cut the slab between each room and the outer shell but due to the proximity to the Ohio River and potential hydristatic water pressure underneath the slab causing water to come up through the cuts. Also, the footers for the structure are unknown and would most likely extend inward and underneath the inner walls making the cuts pretty much useless. Basically, I do not want to cut the slab, build the rooms and have made a $30,000 mistake when the slab cracks or some huge storm causes a bunch of water to come up through the cuts. Sealing those cuts with something that could prevent this might also negate the benefits of cutting the slab in the first place. I'm torn by this because I want rock drums at 3am to not bother the tenant in the apartment next to the studio. I might try drilling a test hole and see what happens the next big rain. Each wall will be 5/8" gyp - green glue - 5/8" gyp on 2x4 studs 16" on center. Same for the ceilings. All inner framing will be isolated from the structure minus the floor. That is where I'm hoping to get the most TL from. As this is an unfinished space, heating and electrical are basically from scratch so I have the chance to optimize these. I plan to make two plenums <sp?>, one for return and one for supply that isolate the rooms. Each feed will be through flexduct that winds around a bit. I plan on making the hole for each vent in the ceiling and framing a silencer from there to the floor a la Paul Woodclock design. So, whaddya think? Here come the piccies: -bassman

Detail where the door/wall of the entry meets the live room - that "tee" junction to the CR wall doesn't look like it'll maintain 2-leaf construction all around, you may need to change that part a bit. Also, 16" centers for sound construction are a waste of time and money, you actually get better iso using 24" centers. Only exception to that would be for a ceiling, where you don't have enough headroom for the next size UP in joists, and can't span the space using 24" centers... Steve

Hi Knightfly, You are right in this render about the entry to live room and CR. That'll have to be a separate frame. I'll get that detail area worked up and pop in a piccie. Regarding the 16"OC, I'm not sure if code will let me get away with that in commercial construction. Also, wherever the ceiling joists are (16"OC), I'll also need stud support directly to the floor. So maybe half of the walls could be 16"OC where the ceiling joists rest and the others could be 24"OC. Make sense? Any thoughts on how the TL will fair using a solid slab for the whole place, no cuts? -ashley

Here's a detail of the entry space. I have updated it with the second partition. The furnace will be above the entry ceiling and hopefully mounted on the brick wall of the original building to as not to touch any of the internal framing. -ashley

bassman wrote:

Regarding the 16"OC, I'm not sure if code will let me get away with that in commercial construction. Also, wherever the ceiling joists are (16"OC), I'll also need stud support directly to the floor. So maybe half of the walls could be 16"OC where the ceiling joists rest and the others could be 24"OC.

Ashley, why not space the ceiling joist to match the studs? Anything can be 24" oc - commercial or otherwise - as long as they can carry the proscribed loads.......

Any thoughts on how the TL will fair using a solid slab for the whole place, no cuts?

Physically impossible to tell without having seen it prior to the pour - and without knowing anything about the subsoil conditions - might be fine - might be your largest nightmare. The best thing you could do would be to hire an acoustician and have him do some tapping tests to verify exactly what is going to transmit through the slab. Sincerely, Rod -ashley[/quote]

thanks for chiming in Rod. I am planning on using GG inbetween the two 5/8" gyp layers! Shall be inquiring about that with you. The only issue with going 24" OC for the ceiling is that these will be interlaced with the existing roof joist which are 16"OC. In other words, they will go up inbetween those roof joists at the lower part of the ceiling in order to maximize height. Maybe since there multiples of 6, I can stagger them such that this will work. What kind of timber would I need to support two 5/8" gyp across almost 11'6"? I've spec'ed 2x10s for the 16"OC. As far as the slab is concerned, that's the big question mark in all this. Its getting out of the budget to really do anything about is in a major way. It has been a garage since the 1950's and we have assumed that it is at least a 6" slab. What's underneath? Anyone's guess at this point. Ground penetrating radar is about $750 to survey the site. A bit outta the budget at the moment. I am more concerned about TL to the existing building through the foundation that the slab is poured against. -ashley