Key posts: Basement studio-room project in Boston area

Substantial posts by Luftweg, who started the thread, and by the forum’s most active contributors. 110 of 161 posts are listed.

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Luftweg, 11 April 2006Hi to all: Been lurking for a few days on this forum, reading past posts (and the ‘stickies’ and reference sections). Just registered last nite, and am now posting about…
Luftweg, 12 April 2006Below is a drawing of the cross-section of what the walls along the concrete might look like. It shows a few things that are causing me questions: 1.) Third leaf? There…
kendale, 12 April 2006Aloha and welcome to the forum, Kenni :D Congrats on your studio build! Great intro and info provided. Please don't be discouraged if there hasn't been any responses…
Luftweg, 13 April 2006thanx Kendale..... At least I will not have to contend with a volcano or any earthquakes (or hurricanes, for the most part). I realize that I have to supply more detail…
Luftweg, 13 April 2006Hi Kendale: Hmmm, interesting.... although there are a couple of things that I don't want or can't do. I don't plan on floating any floor at all; just keeping the plain…
Luftweg, 13 April 2006I hope the following picture explains what I plan to do in order to double-leaf the ceiling. Again, since the above floor and floor joist don't touch the proposed outer…
guitardad72, 13 April 2006Luftweg, Welcome to the forum, I had read your comments on another thread and meant to post here sooner but... I saw the length of your 1st post... and good job man. It…
sharward, 13 April 2006I just want to echo Marc's sentiments on the great job documenting the details in your introductory post, Luftweg. Awesome. I'm afraid that's all I have time to do on it…
sharward, 13 April 2006I have to disagree with the "too much detail" concept. There are so many threads on this forum where Steve and others have had to drag details out one post at a time.…
Luftweg, 13 April 2006Hi Guit-Dad: thanx for the reply... Actually, although I definitely see that it could be considered a 'third leaf' because of where it lies, I'm not at all convinced…
sharward, 14 April 2006Check with your local building department. Note that they'll probably consider what you're doing to be converting your basement into living space (i.e., "habitable…
Luftweg, 14 April 2006Hi Well I've pretty much resolved that the concrete wall WILL be the outer leaf. It's AT LEAST 12 inches thick of poured concrete (might even be 13 or 14 inches), with…
sharward, 14 April 2006In my project, my roof is considered a third leaf -- even though the attic is vented and there is a lot of air in it and the distance between my "middle leaf" and the…
Luftweg, 14 April 2006Thanx Sharward: I'm so glad that I feel understood now! You've defined my ideas pretty much on the nail head. Certainly we all must realize that, unless there is NOTHING…
guitardad72, 14 April 2006Regarding 3 leaf issues, I think Steve (Knightfly) has suggested the best method of testing by ear 3 leaf effects, he wrote this on my thread: Note :!: Steve referenced…
Luftweg, 14 April 2006Hey thanx! I was just looking for that.... Yeah, it seems the min height is 7 feet for a basement. Although, I haven't found anything that deals with older construction…
guitardad72, 14 April 2006YES a lot of houses are in violation either becuase they were built or work was done before a new code OR because new work was done without a permit. I want to rip my…
sharward, 14 April 2006Bingo. When codes evolve, existing structures built to older codes do not become noncompliant -- they become, in effect, grandfathered. Typically code evolation applies…
rod gervais, 23 April 2006Luftweg, The drawing that you posted - where you have the 3 leaf system (and yes it is a 3 leaf system - even if it has the ability to breathe into other areas of the…
Luftweg, 24 April 2006I had seen in Sharward's studio thread (he is referring to a Canadian source): "These findings indicate that, from an acoustics perspective, the best way of satisfying…
rod gervais, 24 April 2006Luftweg, I keep repeating to people the same mantra - but suppose I have to sit them down and make them breathe properly in order for them to get it. I haven't gone…

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Luftweg, 28 April 2006Received Rod's read yesterday -- learned several things in just a couple minutes flipping pages.... (i.e., it's already paid for itself in my opinion). I will continue…
Luftweg, 30 April 2006That's too funny! Anyway, I tore out all the old studs and insulation (will try to re-use what I might be able to).... The book is great, and I see the issues with the…
sharward, 30 April 2006When I met with the senior inspector at my building department, I asked about this, and he said I should be OK if I completely fill the gap between my walls with…
Luftweg, 1 May 2006Here are some pics showing my issue with 'semi-hidden' ducts and their termination points, and the thickness of the concrete wall .... The ducts are resting over the top…
Luftweg, 2 May 2006Attached below is pic of a possible construction scenario for along the north-side concrete wall. I have used Rod's book (Home Recording Studio; Build it like the Pros…
Luftweg, 5 May 2006Quick update.... In the process of sistering the 2x8 joists; bought the new ones today which are 14' spruce-pine-fir #2... They will be glued/screwed to the old ones.…
Luftweg, 6 May 2006Oh geez, I must have read a few of those such threads... In fact, I found them because I had read an earlier post by you, linking to them... thanx Sharward..... In other…
sharward, 6 May 2006Did somebody mention chinchillas? External image, not preserved — original: http://www.sharward.com/photos/albums/userpics/10001/normal_threemuskateers.jpg Meet Gonzo,…
Luftweg, 6 May 2006There must be something about studios and chinchillas?..... Cute family of chinchillas there! .... Black velvets are definitely my favorites..... Anyway, I have 2: Lola…
guitardad72, 6 May 2006Hmmm, Previously I've owned 2 chinchillas. Almost got another one last year but decided my son was to young for that type of pet, so we got a cat. Well now that we are…
sharward, 6 May 2006Oh, what a horrible story! :( That had to have been awful. Our chins don't run loose in our house. We have large cage (30" x 30" x 24") for them, and one of similar size…
Luftweg, 12 May 2006Update: Joist sistering almost done, and looks very good. Will be soon blocking mid-spans between joists (possibly at thirds). I did slightly 'load' the sister joists by…
Luftweg, 12 May 2006Although, a direct connection would not apply to where the layers of sheet rock meet at the corner intersections, right? So, I connect a top plate directly to the above…
sharward, 12 May 2006It depends on which top plate and which joist overhead. If it's an outer leaf top plate and an outer leaf ceiling joist, then yes. Simply put, think of a box. Now think…
knightfly, 16 May 2006What you want is this; because your outer leaf can touch other parts of your outerleaf, and needs a continuous mass so there aren't weak spots. 2x lumber only equates to…
Luftweg, 16 May 2006Actually, now that I see it, it seems absolutely right to extend the sheetrock to the floor.... One reason that there might be sheetrock on the joist space outside of…
knightfly, 17 May 2006One other concern of mine is: if the stud wall is rigidly mounted to the above floor joists, won't there be a deflection issue? that is, shouldn't the joists be allowed…
Luftweg, 20 May 2006Some pics of the 'sister act'..... (the lines are the marks for where to put the screws) I will have to say that the quality of the old joists seems above that of the…
Luftweg, 21 May 2006For documentary purposes, here is a bridge that was washed-over. It is about 1/2 mile from my house. The street I live on also had about 2 feet of water across at the…
sharward, 21 May 2006Wow... :shock: That's downright frightening. I worry about this a lot here in Sacramento, particularly in our part of town. From our local newspaper in a recent…
Luftweg, 22 May 2006Okay, so I'm getting more near to the point where I will be blocking access to parts of the concrete floor and walls... To reiterate, the house is 1959-60 construction.…

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Luftweg, 23 May 2006I don't really know personally people who were hard hit, but there have been many casual reports of several feet in peoples' basments that I have heard... I do have to…
Luftweg, 1 June 2006Update: I'm at the point of cutting the REALLY hard oak flooring nails that poke through the bottom of the subfloor (of the above room), so I can place the sheetrock in…
Luftweg, 3 June 2006Hi: I have been pondering what, if anything, I should use on the inside surfaces of the poured concrete of the basement walls and floor... Alas, on the internet there…
Luftweg, 4 June 2006Will try to take some representative pics soon of surrounding ground of concrete walls, etc.; we've been getting loads of rain lately again... (do I understand correctly…
Luftweg, 6 June 2006I'm getting close to the time where the ducts above the studio will be replaced with the Johns Manville Superducting. These ducts will supply the above room only and NOT…
Luftweg, 8 June 2006Steve, is this what you had meant? Again, I just want to verify that this will prevent as much sound as possible (or at least making it a more controllable sound)…
Luftweg, 8 June 2006Keith, I promise I WON'T start anything with the ducts until I have this matter resolved :shock: Steve was unaware that the duct would NOT be supplying the room, and in…
Luftweg, 8 June 2006I think I will use the lead sheet for that purpose... it's denser, as limp as, and possibly better to use than MLV... plus, I already have a roll of it, and my bro can…
TomVan, 8 June 2006Kenni, I have been waiting for something to come along in my field of expertise. Hopefully this will help Sorry I just realized what was going on. If the house was built…
Luftweg, 9 June 2006I just wanted to put a few clarifications in about the concrete walls and floors: -- I'm not planning on any attached floor surfaces, such as tile, rug, wood, etc. -- I…
TomVan, 9 June 2006-Kenni - ... An epoxy floor would be the same as tile or glued flooring. Epoxy is a non breathable material and if you do have Vapor coming through your floor slab it…
Luftweg, 9 June 2006I would imagine that an epoxy cement would be better then? It's poured concrete all around.... 12-14 inches thick in the walls. I agree that the black coating has to…
TomVan, 9 June 2006Kenni, Hoefully I have'nt totally confused you yet but I will try and explain as best as I can. You have two areas that potentially need two different types of repair.…
Luftweg, 10 June 2006Ah, too late for that! I have to confess, I am a bit confused.... The floor and the walls? I think I can kinda see how these should be approached differently.... Well,…
TomVan, 10 June 2006From what you are telling me your problem is extremely minimal. Lets start back where I would approach your job. Go buy 2 Calcium Chloride test kits from a local…
Luftweg, 11 June 2006Tom.... If you are listening in, I just pulled off a big piece of the 'black coating' on the inside of the walls.... As I had mentioned, pieces of this near the wall…

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Luftweg, 11 June 2006Here is a slightly enhanced version showing a possible rough design cross-section of the duct area... (I also posted this under the other thread, but I kinda wanna keep…
TomVan, 12 June 2006Kenni, funny i just came inside to get a break from the humidity we are having. Nothing like Boston but we are not used to it here. Sounds like good news on the black…
Luftweg, 14 June 2006Another stickling point I have (I'm sure there will be many more during the course of the project) is what to do about the spaces between the subfloor planking (of the…
Luftweg, 14 June 2006Hi Dan: Steve had recommended the joist compound in a post to someone about a year ago or so (I myself would not have thought of using that -- but of course, I don't…
knightfly, 14 June 2006IF your floor squeaks, it's because things are moving and rubbing together. This needs to be fixed first - if you have access to the underside, one way that works is to…
Luftweg, 15 June 2006There are no real 'squeaks' in the floor per se, that is, there's not much at all that sounds metallic -- like a nail rubbing... just these kinda tiny 'cricks', that are…
Luftweg, 17 June 2006Updates on tests for filling between the plank spaces: Tried both the PL 400 and the PL Premium Polyurethane construction adhesives. Both are VERY difficult to get a…
sharward, 18 June 2006First of all, K, I'm really impressed with the work you've done on these tests and your effort in documenting everything!! 8) You just earned 500 points! (Of course, the…
Luftweg, 19 June 2006LoL. 500 points is better than 250 points! Well, actually, I think that I should be able to achieve the airtight aspect. It's more the fact that there WILL be 'pockets'…
sharward, 19 June 2006Cool. 8) Always glad to be of assistance. Maybe Steve can chime in on the "how big of a problem is this really? " question at some point. And I agree with you that most…
Luftweg, 20 June 2006God, that would be great.... Steve would probably offer the best opinion on this... But as I'm tending to think now, there is probably no 'evidence' based on trials as…
Luftweg, 21 June 2006It could be a bit less dense, but the real reason to use it is not so much for the density, but for creating a flat(ter) and smooth(er) surface for putting the sheetrock…
Luftweg, 23 June 2006Here are a couple pics showing the 'grading' issues around the outside of the concrete walls... There are several places where the ground actually slopes toward the…
Luftweg, 25 June 2006Thanx Steve.... Well, the only real big one at the moment (until I draw up the design for the above floor's main duct soffit/chase) has to do with the spaces between the…
knightfly, 25 June 2006If everything you've tried cracks, it's probably because you filled the entire crack in one application; a lot of materials warn against filling deep cracks with a…
Luftweg, 26 June 2006Yes, you caught me. I did fill the gaps in one application, and I'm sure this has something to do with the failure. But, there are problems with only filling the gaps…
knightfly, 26 June 2006Now I'm getting confused; is this subfloor actually T&G, or is it just straight boards with cracks that go all the way to your finish flooring? (If it's T&G, you…
Luftweg, 26 June 2006Sorry for any confusion... It's a plank subfloor with spaces... the oak floor is, of course, tongue and groove. I have attached a pic showing the planks and the joist…
Luftweg, 28 June 2006I think I know what I'm going to plan for the plank spaces... I will fill the spaces with the appropriate size backer rod so that the backer rod bulges out a tiny bit…
Luftweg, 2 July 2006I just wanted to 'announce' that I'll be on a relative hiatus from any work on my project.... It's July now, and I have to immerse myself totally in preparations for my…

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Luftweg, 5 July 2006Well, the RPh (registered pharmacist) is the 'legal' part... You need a PharmD, AND to pass the boards, to get the RPh license in any State.... You CAN 'reciprocate' to…
Luftweg, 8 July 2006No work to report, but.... I've been looking very strongly now at the use of water 'compatible' materials... Since this IS a basement, and despite the fact that I'll be…
Luftweg, 9 July 2006Lol.... Perhaps, keep a boat in the backyard, so that if/when the water gushes down, it might push the boat all the way to Oregon (or, as they say there, 'Organ' :lol:…
Luftweg, 10 July 2006At the bottom here is a rough diagram (block diagram) of part of a 'fail- safe' sump pump system that I drew up. Both pumps run in tandem (one may run at a lower grade…
Luftweg, 12 July 2006Same diagram as above, except it includes the generator and second failure switch.... Still tweaking it.... The generator may have a line voltage detector that simply…
Luftweg, 12 July 2006Keith: VERY interestingly enough, the day after I had posted the original diagram without the generator (yesterday, Tuesday) we had a massive wave of thunderstorms, AND…
Luftweg, 13 July 2006Ooops.... In guess-timating how long a battery backup might last, I failed to take into account the pump cycling... I jumped to the conclusion that powering the 2 pumps…
Luftweg, 14 July 2006Of course, Hadyn's early house had only a tiny crawlspace since he was too Baroque for anything better... :? (ouch!) Btw, the water-powered backup pumps have a few…
Luftweg, 16 July 2006Here is the latest sump pump system diagram.... There are now FOUR pumps, two ac and two dc... The dc pumps are always online, but their float levels are higher and so…
sharward, 16 July 2006That looks like an awesome plan. 8) I'm of course no expert at this -- living in this part of the country, as I can count on one hand the number of residential basements…
Luftweg, 17 July 2006Ahh, but here is a version, with 4 AC motor pumps.... There are advantages to ac motors over dc motors (one reason that I didn't at first consider the dc pumps).... Of…
Luftweg, 18 July 2006Halo: Can someone try to explain what is going on with this scenario: If you have seen my earlier posts on the 'studio-room in boston area' thread, you noticed that I…

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Luftweg, 21 July 2006The delivery truck came today to bring the structural steel.... The order was WRONG! I'm lucky I just happened to be home when they called to say they were coming; I…
Luftweg, 29 July 2006Well, I took a little break from studying to dig the second sump pit under the basement entrance steps... At first I thought I would be able to break through the floor…
Luftweg, 31 July 2006LoL .... I am going away for 3 days.... If I can't get up any pics tomorrow, it will likely be thursday or friday before the pics are up... for all the disbelievers...…
sharward, 31 July 2006Seriously -- regardless of whether you use a rotohammer or a stand-up electric jackhammer, or for that matter any electric tools or appliances in any area where there is…
Luftweg, 31 July 2006Thanx Keith.... You ARE RIGHT.... Must use ground fault protected circuits... Although interestingly enough, even they might not completely protect you in all instances,…
Luftweg, 4 August 2006Here are some pics of the stones and boulders that were pulled from beneath the floor where the 2nd sump pit is going to be. A single 1/2 hp pump is temporarily mounted…
Luftweg, 4 August 2006Keith: Not only did I not have stairs to use to get the rocks out (I had to pull the stairs up to the 'draw-bridge' position), but there was not the most room in order…
Luftweg, 6 August 2006Just as a notation (to myself?), I had spoken to a guy at Dietrich Steel in Lunenburg, MA, for the purpose of ensuring that they get the order right the SECOND time...…
Luftweg, 6 August 2006Tru dat. I guess there is specific grades of corrosion resistant hardware to use in specific locations and conditions with PT... I'm thinking the conditions depend alot…
Luftweg, 13 August 2006[the following was copied from posts on Sharward's thread; didn't want to continue hijacking] Steve: Thanx for the insight. I had previously done similar calculations…
Luftweg, 24 August 2006Structural steel was delivered today.... All was -- this time -- correct, EXCEPT that the 2 by 8 joists for the header/lintel were punched-out (so I sent them back ....…
Luftweg, 29 August 2006Tech support from Dietrich Steel called me back today.... According to what they said: It seems that the header span tables ARE based upon punched members, BUT that they…
Luftweg, 30 August 2006This came by UPS today; had got it for a really good price on eBay Here is the 'real deal' sump pump... A new Zoeller M98... Eventually, 2 of these will go into EACH of…
Luftweg, 4 September 2006So, here it is: One of the lurking issues that I've been hashing around has been moving the center staircase in my basement... It bisects the length of one half of the…
Luftweg, 6 September 2006I'm not TomVan (see 'Lost Studios in Portland' thread); he had posted here with respect to my questions on the basement concrete... I may not have any answers for you,…

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Luftweg, 25 February 2007Well, it's been a long time since I last posted anything... A lot has gone on since, which is largely the cause of my lack of posting. On November 1st, my father died;…
guitardad72, 25 February 2007K Man, sorry to hear that about your father. My step father passed away suddenly in the hospital too. Glad you posted... honestly I've missed your posting and progress…
Luftweg, 2 April 2007Well, as promised (and not by popular demand), here are some pics of the replacement of the corner sump with a much larger liner.... Mostly self-explanatory (whatever…
Cram, 5 April 2007Luftweg - So we're approaching the aniversary of the mothersday rains. I am particularly excited this year because we've consulted basement systems of NH and they have…
Luftweg, 19 April 2007Cram.... Yes, this latest protracted storm provided a great test for my dual sump (2 pump, soon to be 4 pump(?), per sump) system... Well, we got like 4.5 to 5 inches…