Rehearsal/Tracking in 18' x 24' - CONSTRUCTION STARTED!

I am starting this new thread based on John’s original great layout in the Studio Design Forum: http://www.johnlsayers.com/phpBB2/viewt ... highlight=. I think we have now landed on a compromise between the original design and my recent indication of building more or less a pure rehearsal environment (see the original thread for details). Attached is a sketch (1:100 mm hand-drawn I am sorry, but we’re in the middle of demolition and construction – hopefully it is illustrative enough…) of the internal layout we are currently looking at. Outside wall (not shown) is approx 200 mm Leca brick/cement. Angled absorbers/lining walls will be fitted in the approx 6.5 m3 room that is to the left when you enter to achieve symmetry and a best possible listening environment in such a small room, but keep in mind that this is not intended to be a full-fledged control room – it is more just an “operating room” for use during early stage tracking/demos. The approx 4.3 m3 area to the right as you enter the building will be divided in two. Details are not drawn out yet, but there will be a bathroom immediately after the main entrance, and then a second room between the bathroom and the live room for isolation of guitar amps and casual storage. We have started framing walls (I will post some pictures shortly), and are planning to build in the following order: 1) Walls: Vertical 2 x 4” studs spaced by 600 mm, mounted between horizontal 2 x 4” beams along the floor and ceiling. The bottom beams are bolted to the concrete floor while the top beam is fixed to the existing wooden ceiling. The framing is mounted with a gap from the existing inner concrete walls. The frames are filled with 100 mm Rockwool and then plaster board is screwed or nailed to the framing to create the inner wall. Absorbers will be mounted as required thereafter. 2) Floors: Separate floors between inner rooms built by bolting 2 x 4” beams in a framework to the concrete floor, filling the framework with 100 mm Rockwool, and mounting wooden floor plates on top. 3) Ceilings: Building a new ceiling inside the surrounding walls of each room by hanging 1 or 2 layers of plasterboard, with 50 mm Rockwool on top, in “sound clamps” (I don’t know the English word, but they are springing hangers designed for sound dampening between floors – a picture can be seen at: http://guide.rockwool.no/sw15620.asp). The existing ceiling consists of a layer of timber joists, some isolation, and then the second floor layer of timber joist and a conventional linoleum floor cover on top (the second floor is not being used). QUESTIONS: a) The floor appears to be approx 100 mm concrete resting on 100 mm of expanded polyester again resting on a massive 500 – 1000 mm concrete block. A few offices and homes are within 50 -100 m of the building. Is our assumption that we can achieve a fair amount of sound isolation towards the outside, and also between rooms inside even if we don’t float the walls and floors, justifiable? b) The carpenter proposes screwing the plaster boards to the framing, but I have read several places in this forum that nails are preferred. What method is most “correct”, how much does it matter, and actually why? c) Any comments or suggestions to the design and the proposed construction methodology will be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance! Best regards, Olve

Hej Olve! I might not answer all your questions but, have you seen my thread http://www.johnlsayers.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=7182. It might give you ideas on what you can do. We have not worried about the isolation, only acoustics. We will be testing this out with the band comming weekend so I'm soon very happy. :D Try to update with pics, drawings on how you plan to do things. I'm sure you will get support if people can see what you talking about :wink: . Good luck ha det

Nails are used for framing, screws for drywall/plasterboard - for framing, shear strength is important since only 2 or 3 nails are used to fasten one member to another. For drywall, each 1200 x 2400mm panel should have over 50 fasteners so the lesser shear strength of screws (due in part to their threads being smaller diameter than a non-threaded nail) isn't as important. Also, screws have much better "pull-out" resistance because of the threads, and this is especially important for overhead mounting. At one time here in the US, nails were used for all drywall - they were special "ring shank" nails with special heads, used a special curved "waffle head" hammer, and were a royal pain to use. On one commercial remodel I did, we had to use 5/8" 4x12 sheets - we only had part of the "nice to have" gear for drywall, and by the time we finished my right wrist was swollen to about 30% larger than normal size from having to swing this "special" hammer by rotating my wrist instead of a normal swing. Give me screws and a good screw gun any day. I wouldn't worry about floating a floor, but separate inner frames and ceiling will help your isolation a LOT - for construction generalities, check out the many "stickies" in this forum... Steve

Tjena Kaj! Thanks for your reply, and sorry for not responding sooner. I've been out of the country, and pretty much all my spare time have gone into the studio project. Your thread is great and was in fact a great source of inspiration when I finally decided to proceed with this project! Good news now is that we have made a lot of progress, and we are now actually rehearsing there! Still some construction remaining as well as electrical and plumbing, but the isolation to outside is already very good and when we get the second door between the entrance hallway and the live room in, I sure it will be excellent. In terms of sound quality it is also very promising and it already definitely sounds better than the place we use to rehearse (old factory building in Oslo), but I'll be returning to your thread for some tips on absorbers etc once we et there :) Hi Steve, Many thanks to you too! Your comments gave me comfort that we made the right decisions, and the isolation did indeed turn out very good. And I certainly agree - that quality screw gun sure is a vital piece of equipment. I am posting some pictures now from the early construction days and I'll follow up with some more once we get closer to finish!