possible new house with finished basement

My wife and I have been looking into getting a new house and one of the criteria is that we get a basement so that I have a studio down there. My question is this....what happens if we find a home that is exactly what we want but the basement is finished? Should I rip out the original finished walls and start from scratch? should I build rooms within those rooms...and if I do, will they be as soundproof as if I tore the old out? The house most likely will be in a residential area and would need to be pretty well isolated from the neighbors...although it is in a basement so this cant be TOO hard. Lets say...half acre lots for good measure. This is more of a theoretical question so that I can either say it is ok to get a house with a finished basement or at least know that it would be a horrible pain or not. thanks in advance. allen

if you cant find a house with an unfinished basement youll just have to do a lil more work thats all

It would be best to find something with an unfinished basement because you'll have to rip everything out that's there if you want to build your studio right. But I have a wife, I understand that if she wants the place and it has a finished basement, there's not much you can say to change her mind. :) My suggestion there would be to not argue with her and be quiet about the extra work you'll have to do.

SonicClang wrote:

It would be best to find something with an unfinished basement because you'll have to rip everything out that's there if you want to build your studio right. But I have a wife, I understand that if she wants the place and it has a finished basement, there's not much you can say to change her mind. :) My suggestion there would be to not argue with her and be quiet about the extra work you'll have to do.

hmm...somehow i think you have been in these types of situations before... what type of extra work are you talking about? is it completely necessary to rip out all the drywall? could i just build rooms within those already built rooms? first off, i dont wanna spend the extra money and second...i am pretty darn lazy.

Third leaf effects are real. Yes, you'll most likely need to tear out any existing wall and ceiling surfaces and build new ones to achieve good isolation.

My 2 cents: I/we just bought house 2 ½ years ago. I had some concern about studio area and thought “what ever” I’ll deal with that when it comes. Now that I am familiar with sound isolation techniques: 1. I would have tried to buy house with as large of an unfinished area as possible whether it be a 3 car garage or unfinished basement. 2. I would go for solid poured concrete (foundation) walls over hollow concrete block. Hollow CB walls need cavities filled to avoid triple leaf sound isolation loss. 3. I would read through this entire site and others like it to determine my isolation and mixing needs. 4. Make sure electric service panel other appliances and windows doors not in the way of studio. 5. Make sure electric service is 150 to 200 amps and that panel has spare spaces for new breakers. 6. Look into what’s above unfinished (or finished) area with regards to load weight of Truss or rafters. You should have 2 ceilings in the end 7. I am probably missing a few things. 8. Oh yeah Load Bearing Walls…. if there is a wall which looks liek you can knock down, determine 1st if it is load bearing or not… sometimes it’s not an easy answer. 9. In the end I would give into my wife’s opinion on which house to buy anyways. Be careful when choosing a finished basement especially if it was done by previous owner (maybe with out a permit) or if it was finished before 1980… look into asbestos and other dangerous chemicals. I’ve posted in the safety thread in construction forum with info. Andy’s current obstacles: http://www.johnlsayers.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=4782 My obstacles: http://www.johnlsayers.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=5634 Sharward got the newer house with 3 car garage: http://www.johnlsayers.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=2921 And there are more stories. Marc

could you explain on third leaf effects.

1st take a brief look at this thread taking note of diagram with STC values on various wall types & Kendale’s post: [url=http://www.johnlsayers.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?p=39618]Better Soundproofing of existing walls [/url] If you haven’t already please make sure you read through the reference section to understand all the terms used in this forum: http://www.johnlsayers.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=2125 Also: http://www.saecollege.de/reference_material/index.html My simple minded way of explaining three leaf isolation loss, using a window as an example. A single pane window provides X amount of sound isolation, this is just mass OR one leaf. Double pane window provides better isolation; this is mass-air-mass OR leaf, air, leaf. You would think a triple pane window would provide more sound isolation then a double pane window, but it does not. This is mass-air-mass-air-mass.... this is an example of triple leaf, what should be avoided for sound isolation...but with acoustic absorbers and obtsicles in existing conditions it is sometimes created... then you live with the loss. I’ve done a brief search on this site trying to find a better answer for you. I’ve just settled to the understanding this is the way it is… avoid triple leaf and make everything Mass-Air-Mass. AND from Kightfly, a post on my thread:

For a classic example of this (triple leaf) effect, put a loud boombox in another room, separated from you by concrete block (hollow) - Hopefully this room has a door for more isolation from the room YOU are in - pick up a 4x4 foot section of plywood or gypsum, hold it in front of you like you're gonna hang a picture on the intervening wall, and slowly walk toward this wall with the board in front of you - note which frequencies change in loudness as you get closer, right up til you actually TOUCH the block wall with the 4x4 board.

I've not done this test yet but am planning to just for the hell of it so that I can get a real life example of triple leaf. Please let me know if this helps as it's the 1st time I've tried to explain it in my own words on this forum. Marc

aetucker1 wrote:

and second...i am pretty darn lazy.

Building a studio isn't for you then. Pay someone to do it. Or learn to not be lazy.

guitardad72 wrote:

1st take a brief look at this thread taking note of diagram with STC values on various wall types & Kendale’s post: [url=http://www.johnlsayers.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?p=39618]Better Soundproofing of existing walls [/url] If you haven’t already please make sure you read through the reference section to understand all the terms used in this forum: http://www.johnlsayers.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=2125 Also: http://www.saecollege.de/reference_material/index.html My simple minded way of explaining three leaf isolation loss, using a window as an example. A single pane window provides X amount of sound isolation, this is just mass OR one leaf. Double pane window provides better isolation; this is mass-air-mass OR leaf, air, leaf. You would think a triple pane window would provide more sound isolation then a double pane window, but it does not. This is mass-air-mass-air-mass.... this is an example of triple leaf, what should be avoided for sound isolation...but with acoustic absorbers and obtsicles in existing conditions it is sometimes created... then you live with the loss. I’ve done a brief search on this site trying to find a better answer for you. I’ve just settled to the understanding this is the way it is… avoid triple leaf and make everything Mass-Air-Mass. AND from Kightfly, a post on my thread:

For a classic example of this (triple leaf) effect, put a loud boombox in another room, separated from you by concrete block (hollow) - Hopefully this room has a door for more isolation from the room YOU are in - pick up a 4x4 foot section of plywood or gypsum, hold it in front of you like you're gonna hang a picture on the intervening wall, and slowly walk toward this wall with the board in front of you - note which frequencies change in loudness as you get closer, right up til you actually TOUCH the block wall with the 4x4 board.

I've not done this test yet but am planning to just for the hell of it so that I can get a real life example of triple leaf. Please let me know if this helps as it's the 1st time I've tried to explain it in my own words on this forum. Marc

so basically you are just saying that there is an isolation loss and not some weird sound effect that will screw up the studios performance sound wise. I have read about the STC rating things before and understand them, but when you drop that in a basement, there has to be a higher rating as well due to the concrete around the structure as well right?