Update on my construction and asking for a little help

Hey gang... I wanted to give you an update on what's happening with the studio build at my place and also take a chance to use some photos to ask some questions. First off, the deal is that this is being built in a basement with 8 foot ceilings, so yes there are some height issues in areas. You will see from the photos that the framers had to build some soffits that drop to just over 7 feet in height. This is only in certain areas (as you will see) and the city has already approved this ceiling height even with two layers of 5/8 drywall and resilient channel being planned. This first picture is looking into the studio from the rest of the basement. This is the ONLY opening to the studio area (the other walls are all solid concrete). This is good from some aspects, but makes it an issue for getting HVAC etc back into the area. I'll explain more in a bit. The second picture is standing in the doorway to the studio looking into the control room (you can see the two small live iso booths at the back). This doorway is actually an airlock between the studio and the home theater area.

The first picture here is a picture of the control room from standing inside of the doorway looking toward the front wall where the speaker soffits will be. The flex hanging down is the HVAC feed for the room. The electrical hanging down is for lights to be put in a cloud above the mix position ala Kendale's studio. The second picture is from the front of the control room looking toward the back. You'll notice the soffits that had to be covered that carry the HVAC and such for this end of the house. One big problem is that because of the space in the doorway, I COULD NOT make runs all the way back to the HVAC units for each room. The three rooms on this end (and the bedroom above it) take feeds from the trunk inside the soffit at different locations and then snake wherever I could to try and get angles to increase isolation. That being said, I am putting automated dampers on each duct that seals the duct off via a switch in the control room. This will ONLY shut down the air coming into the room, but they are sound proof dampers made for hospitals (you will see the controller shortly).

Here is a picture of the breaker panel for the studio (and the rest of the basement). This panel is a sub panel feed of the mains of the main panel in the house. The electrician and I went through the main panel and moved everything that could moved (that was noisy) to the opposite phase as the studio. All of the studio outlets are on one phase of the sub panel, with everything else in the basement on the other phase. All grounds are brought back from each individual outlet to the panel. The other picture is of a Trane HVAC controller. This was being THROWN OUT by a hospital and so a friend of mine who works in industrial/commercial HVAC grabbed it for me. It will allow me to shut off the dampers to the studio and home theater if needed (not the air returns, just the feeds) and will also adjust the damper settings based on temperature probes in the air returns of each room. Since I don't have a separate HVAC system for the house, this will allow me a little more control.

Ok... this next picture is of the vocal booth.. VERY low ceiling here unfortunately because of the soffit stuff. You can see the air return and one of the feeds hanging down waiting to be put somewhere. This room is entered into from the drum room which is what the next two pictures are. (one looking into it from the control room and the other looking into it from the vocal booth)

My ceiling is going to be two layers of 5/8 drywall hung on top of RC-1 (spaced according to manufacturers specs). I know many people have beefed up the bottom of the floor above them by adding drywall between the joists. My ceiling is manufactured I-beams and carries TWO floors above it (though the majority of the weigh of the second floor rests on the outside walls and not directly on the floor). Basically what it consists of is a master bedroom suite and bath above it, with a 3/4 story loft above that (my office). ALL of the outside walls of the studio area (where the I-beams spam) are concrete and are foundation walls for the house. I'll post in here some pictures of some areas that make adding mass to the bottom of the floor difficult (very tight fits) and also a picture of the load info from the side of the I-beam. Some of the picture show the drain/motor area of the whirlpool and shower above this area. I've already worked out with the inspector what can and can't be covered with drywall (and I can cover all of it), but you can see from the pipes and openings that its hard to beef up the floor itself). You will also see a picture of where the HVAC air intake and exhaust penetrate the side of the house. P1010012 shows where an I-beam is SO close the the outside wall, that I wouldn't be able to get anything up there. I can barely fit my fist in the opening.

As I mentioned in the first post, I couldn't make home runs of the HVAC for each room because the soffit is just too tight. I don't have the option of lowering the soffit more, because it is also a doorway. I DID manage to get an air return from the three rooms all the way back to the HVAC, but they connect together in the ceiling of the studio. Most of what you see in this picture actually feeds the portion of the house above the studio, but you can see the romex wiring that was added to carry all the home runs of the studio electrical.

Here are a couple more pictures of the ceiling above and why I don't think adding drywall to the floor above me is possible... these areas would be difficult if not impossible to add to.

Last photo post... The I-beams are sitting on top of the foundation. They are sheathed on the outside like a normal house, but since these are ALL outside walls, I figure they play into the sound equation. The ceiling will break just below this area (hanging off the I-beams on RC1, but this looks like a weak area to me for sound isolation (since its actually between the two leafs). What would you do about an area like this? Keep in mind that some areas (like the place I can barely fit my hand into) are also part of this I-beam on foundation combination).

So here is where I am at: 1) What could be done about the floor above the studio ceiling given all the openings and hard to reach areas? 2) Am I going to be absolutely hosed because of the HVAC situation? The HVAC contractor initially wasn't even going to put returns in the rooms until I insisted that I needed them... and yes, he is a licensed HVAC person AND promised me it would pass inspection. 3) How about the area where the outside sheathing of the house meets the sill and the I-beams? 4) I have use for all of this yellow fiberglass (in the walls) elsewhere in the basement (the whole basement is being finished). Would it do me any good to replace it all with rockwool in the studio area? Would stuffing rockwool in all the cavities (like where I can barely fit my hand or above the soffits) help? Its called a less than perfect spot, but I want it to be useable and its all I have to work with. Let me know what you think or if you need additional pictures of anything for clarification. Thanks! Jim Velvet Elvis

Oh yeah... and just because I know people will ask... here is John's design for the space (so you can see how it all fits together). Also included are the architects plans from which the framers worked (based on John's drawing) and a picture of the outside of the house.... the studio is located behind the "cement" part shown at the bottom). Thanks!

Hey guys, If anyone could give me some ideas on the insulation part, that would be great. I've got a truck right now that needs to be returned within the next week to haul the insulation and would like to figure out what I'm doing. Also.. anyone know of a good source (price wise) for HVAC silencers? I'm looking for an effective way to isolate the air returns in each room. Thanks! Jim Velvet Elvis

WOW...and this was JUST posted and answered today... http://www.johnlsayers.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=8410 As far as price, the best thing to do is to select the manufacturer and model you want then do a Google search and look for distributors/prices.

Knightfly? John? Rod? Any thoughts on my insulation and such? I need to return the truck this Wednesday (which leaves me two days) to get my supplies. I have to take a trip to Nash-Vegas at the end of the week and would like to get the insulation stuff all worked out and get the room ready for drywall. I appreciate you guys a TON for the help that you give novices like me. I can tell you without a doubt that I'd be entirely lost without your expertise!! Thanks and thanks again for any help you can give me. Jim Coates Velvet Elvis

I wouldn't bother replacing the yellow fiberglass with rockwool....I don't think there would be a significant difference in performance there, provided you can stuff the the yellow insulation to a density that is comparable with rockwool. If you can stuff insulation between the sill and joist I think It'd be a good idea...though you might want/need a vaopur barier there. That will be a significant flanking path, so you'll want to do your best to beef that area up. Maybe you can get some blown in through holes cut in the joist. Cheers Kris