JWL's studio construction

So I have a design thread going, I thought it appropriate to begin a construction thread. We are under contract to buy a home that has a 12x20, slab-on-grade, single car garage that I will be converting into a studio. My plan is to ponder the floor plan (one room, or control room/live room/vocal booth?) while I get the building shell ready. Getting the shell ready will include the following: 1. Get electricity to the building. As of now there is no electricity installed in the building. The breaker box in the house is at the opposite end of the house from where the studio is. However there is a telephone pole in our front yard that IIRC has a transformer installed on it, feeding only our home. I plan to install a separate breaker box for the studio. How should I feed that breaker box? From the breaker box in the house, or should I have the power company run a separate line entirely from the pole? My intuition tells me to go this route because I don't want noise in my studio when the refrigerator in the house kicks in or something. 2. Remove the garage door. The garage door will have to go. I've never installed or uninstalled a garage door, and I have to decide what to replace the door with. Part of this will depend on the design I choose, one design I'm considering would replace the garage door with another set of doors, opening up into a very narrow storage space (like a pegboard where I could keep yard implements (shovels, etc). 3. Beef up the outer shell This will be done by standard methods, ie, putting mass (2-3 layers of sheetrock and maybe a layer of OSB if needed) between the wall joists, and possibly on the inside of the roof. I don't yet have regular access to my future property, but I will provide detailed photos etc as soon as I am able. Right now my biggest concern is electricity, since that will likely be the first thing I do in the garage.

Do you have access to all four sides of the standalone garage? If so, you may be able to add mass to the outside... Much easier than beefing up between studs on the inside, more effective, and plus it may look better on the outside, depending on what you do to and/or use as your outer skin. My gut tells me to run a separate line, but then you'll have a separate meter, too. Are there any municipal restrictions that would prrohibit the garage conversion to habitable space? I vote on single room... Your space is not large to begin with. As far as replacing the garage door goes, a steel roll-up door (not a conventional sectional door, but one that literally rolls up on a spindle) may work to allow you to have a shallow storage area. --Keith :mrgreen:

Hi Sharward, yes I have access to all 4 sides of the outer walls of the garage. However, there is siding on the outer walls already, which I'd have to remove before any beefup, and then I'd have to re-do the outer finish. I think this will be cost prohibitive for me. It will be cheaper to just beef up between studs. Additionally, I think it will be easier to achieve airtightness this way, as I can more readily caulk. And, it will preserve the "stealth" appearance of the garage. I don't want people driving by going "look at the studio!" I have not yet checked the municipal regulations. I doubt that there is much there, this is in a pretty rural area. But I will definitely be checking that out, and doing the whole permit song-and-dance. You can put down your permit bullwhip, Sharward.... :twisted: Regarding the door.... if I go with the storage area design I'll probably just build a large, hinged double door that swings outwards. I think wood will rattle less than a metal door, and I'll be able to adequately beef the door so my isolation doesn't get ruined. I'm leaning toward a single-room design, though I'm not sure yet. Lots of time to decide this one. Thanks for the help.... I haven't even moved in yet (and won't for another 6 weeks.... LOL can you tell I'm eager and excited?).

JWL, Congrats on the home purchase. Very exciting If I can throw my two cents in

Get electricity to the building.

Cheaper to run it from the house. The electric company is going to charge you to install another line/meter. Most people here have run a sub panel from the house with out problems. Just make sure you have enough room to for a 100 or 50 amp breaker. My electrician was considering a sub panel in the house and studio because there wasn't enough room in my home panel oriiginally but he ended up making room

2. Remove the garage door.

If the door is a spring loaded door It is very dangerous to try and remove the spring. In my last studio I built a soffit that the door rolled up into and left a space about four feet from the door to the wall. Great load in and saved the door for resale. Also was able to store needed items. It created a third leaf but didn't even know what a leaf was then. :)

. Beef up the outer shell

I agree with Keith on this one since I cut many pieces of sheet rock and fit between the joists. Its a pain and very lengthy process. If I had to do it all over I would have put up a second layer of OSB before my siding. However I understand where you are at and realize pulling off your siding or going over it would be time consuming also. Something to think about. Congrats again on the purchase Tom

jwl wrote:

I have not yet checked the municipal regulations. I doubt that there is much there, this is in a pretty rural area. But I will definitely be checking that out, and doing the whole permit song-and-dance.

Yeah, you'll want to check on this right away, just to be sure. Some communities (mine as an example) prohibit full garage conversions. Mine requires a minimum of 10' wide by 20' deep by 7' tall area free of obstructions and an operable garage door at least 7' tall and 8' wide. If you had a restriction like that, your project would be over before it started. There may also be setback restrictions, depending on how close the garage is to the property lines. The town may prohibit habitable space around the edges of the property, while allowing storage/garage there. Habitable vs. non-habitable is a big distinction in terms of city/county planning restrictions. Find out now what restrictions, if any, would apply to your situation before you get too far along. A half-hour visit to the permit counter can settle this. :-) Would it be completely out of the question to build a new standalone building out back, spacewise and/or moneywise? In retrospect, I really wish we had bought prooperty with a larger lot and a smaller garage -- I'd rather have started building from scratch, big time.

jwl wrote:

You can put down your permit bullwhip, Sharward.... :twisted:

Sorry, can't... It's a biological extension of my arm. ;-) --Keith :mrgreen:

We had the home inspection today. I'm pleased to say that everything seems to have passed with flying colors, though we're still waiting for the results of the well water test. I also got into the garage for the first time. I couldn't see everything because it was piled, literally floor-to-ceiling in about 2/3 of the garage, with SEC (someone else's crap). But what I was able to see I was quite pleased with! I understood all the construction, I should have no problem beefing up between the joists, and best of all, the garage door looks like it will be simple to move. It doesn't have one of those high powered springs to worry about. Here are the ceiling joists in the garage: And the runner for the garage door: The framing around the window (I'm pulling back a piece of lumber just laying in there, in storage up against the wall): And of more immediate importance, here is a pic of how the electricty comes in to the property. First, the meter: Then the line runs up to the top of the pole: Across the yard to this pole at the edge of the road: And then across the street to the transformer on the pole: Also, while the inspector was there, I discovered that the home has 100 amp service installed, and when he had the breaker box apart I snapped a photo: So regarding electrical, there are a few thoughts. It would appear that there is room in the house box to feed the garage studio. I'd have to dig a trench and run the cable out there, possibly culminating in a separate breaker box for the garage. The home inspector also suggested that if I run a separate line out with a a separate meter, I can write off the electricity used by the studio (assuming I set up the studio as a business). I hadn't thought of that.

Hey jwl, I'm definitely inclined to recommend the separate run and, thus, separate meter. 100 amps? Sheesh... I know that's pretty typical of most older homes, but I can't imagine getting by with that few total amps. Even if you have room in the existing panel for more circuits, I wouldn't even try. The point about tax deductibility is a good one. Home-based businesses often get flagged for audits, so having bulletproof documentation covers your butt for that. Congrats on the good report and best of luck to you on the report you're waiting for. --Keith :mrgreen:

OK, time for an update. The wellwater report came through, and there were high levels of radon in the wellwater. This is quite common in this part of Maine; apparently radon is a byproduct of the natural radioactive decay of trace amounts of uranium in the soil. It's quite common in wells which are drilled into granite, which is the case with our artesian well. So it's no surprise. Sadly, as of now there is no law in the state of Maine mandating that would make ignoring radon problems illegal. Currently, Maine "recommends" corrective action when your levels are 4,000 pCi/L (picocuries per liter); ours was at 20,990. That's moderate, our inspectors have all seen many cases in the hundreds of thousands, and even a few over a million. Radon in the water is not so much harmful when you drink it, the problems come when it goes airborne (say, when the water coming out of the faucet in a shower or while doing dishes), and we breathe it. At the end of the day, radon is a lung cancer risk. But I'm pleased to say that we've reached an agreement with the seller to install a radon mitigation unit, which works by aerating the water, releasing the gas outside. So the biggest obstacle to us closing on this property has been overcome. This is very good news. We should arrive at a closing date in the next few weeks, and it looks like we'll be in by the end of May. Also, this radon mitigation unit will take up more space on my 100amp breaker, this to me reinforces the notion that I should run a separate power line for the studio. I'm having dinner with a friend of mine who is an electrician in Maine on Monday; I hope to pick his brain some.

I think I need to spend some more time studying the beefup process. This, along with getting electricity to the building, will be the first two steps of the process. I'm off to read pages 20-40 or so of Sharward's thread, among many others....

JWL The place looks great! It also looks pretty isolated. I am wondering how much need you actually have for beefing up the exterior, or whether simply putting a healthy dose of sheetrock to your inner walls will suffice? Your place looks a lot like mine. I did not put as much outer beef as I should have, but I live in a residential area. I have trace elements of low frequency rumble I can hear when next door neighbors are running their lawn tractors. You can't hear it in the iso booths. Anyway, my point being, unless you have close neighbors running heavy or loud outdoor equipment, maybe you can just add the mass to the inside. Tom

hey t-mix.... Yeah, isolation is not to bother neighbors, who are at least 50' away if not more. I want isolation mostly for two reasons: 1. my wife is a light sleeper and goes to bed early, and I want to be able to do music late at night without bothering anyone; and 2. the garage is about 30' from the road, which is a major state route that gets lots of truck traffic. I don't want to hear logging trucks barrelling down the road in the middle of my recordings. So yeah, I probably don't need to get too crazy, I don't see more than 2 layers of sheetrock between the joists, but I definitely want to work to make things as soundproof as possible given my small budget.

Yes Definitely. As close to the road as you are you will want more beef. I am looking forward to seeing the progress.

Ah yes, my beef-up phase! Boy, am I glad that's behind me! You'll probably come to the conclusion that I committed overkill. You'll probably want to do two layers of 5/8". I did a layer of 17/32" OSB, three layers of ½" drywall, and one layer of 5/8" drywall, with Green Glue behind the last layer. Your worst enemy may be the rubmle of trucks. Next time a truck rolls by, get on "all fours" and feel the slab to see if you feel the rumble. If you do, you've got a potentionally pesky and expensive problem on your hands (literally). Depending on the outcome of that, you may actually be a candidate for a well-engineered floating slab. --Keith :mrgreen:

two layers of.... something .... is definitely been what I've been considering. I'm not sure whether it should be 2 layers of drywall, or a layer of OSB first and then drywall. Thinking down the road, I'm just wondering what happens if I spring a bit of a leak in the roof or something. What are the main differences between a layer of OSB and then a layer of sheetrock, or just 2 layers of sheetrock? Why would you put OSB in first? I'll definitely spend some time in the garage listening and feeling vibration... once we move in. :roll: There is a line of trees between the garage and the road, I'm hoping they will help absorb some vibration.

In my case I used a layer of OSB to start with because then I'd have something to attach drywall to. If you have plywood sheathing over the entire building, you don't have to use OSB. OSB is more expensive and less dense than drywall. So, if you use drywall, it's cheaper and better for isolation. OSB does tolerate some occasional moisture, as long as it's able to dry out, whereas ordinary drywall is basically ruined by moisture. --Keith :mrgreen:

OK, cool. Then the preliminary plan for beefup is to add 2 layers of 5/8 sheetrock between the studs, screwed directly to the plywood walls (using the right length screws so that they don't come out the other end). When you did your beefup, Sharward, did you caulk each layer? Or do you only need to caulk the innermost layer? Or, for that matter, the outermost layer?

Rather than answer your question directly, I'll point you to page 28 of Dan Fitzpatrick's thread. 8) --Keith :mrgreen:

Keith, that's interesting because one of my concerns was the layer before the drywall on a beef up. In most cases of a beef up the drywall would probably go next to the OSB, but in looking at some of the "gaps" and light I can see between the OSB and the studs in the 2x6 frame the OSB is attatched to, I was concerned about moisture coming in. I'll be sealing up those gaps with caulk but since I'll be adding the foam next to the OSB that will be a little extra "security" to help with any moisture that may seep through. The foam is Owens Corning Foamular which is moisture resistant.

I think rather than screwing directly into the plywood, I'd probably follow Rod's advice in his book of using finishing nails driven into the studs to temporarily hold them in place, then use cleats over the top. I didn't have the benefit of that illustration/idea when I did my beef-up... :roll: --Keith :mrgreen:

For reference, I believe you are referring to pp 64-69 in Rod's book. That will probably be my methodology, but I'm curious as to why Rod recommends this over simply screwing it to the plywood. It's probably in your thread, Sharward.... I could be wrong. Luckily I still have some time to think/investigate all this stuff.... I really appreciate everyone chiming in on this thread.... especially when I haven't even moved in to this property yet. :shock:

I think it does a better job of allowing the individual layers to resonate on their own (less audibly) than fusing the layers together to resonate as one (more audibly). --Keith :mrgreen:

See, that's the thing. It seems counterintuitive to me that this would be desirable. I need to study up on my basic resonance physics more. It seems to me that they would be looser, and therefore more prone to rattling or what not. Furthermore, if you connect them all together, they resonate as one, with more mass, which pushes the resonance frequency lower, which (I think?) increases the amount of energy needed to excite them. I remember Rod talked about this in his book. Clearly I need to study more.

OK, time for a brief update. Looks like we will be closing on the home next week. Yay! Also, in an earlier post I described the garage as being "about 30' from the road." Well, I have the surveyor's report now; it's actually about 47' from the road. Even better! I'm also thinking of ways that I can leave the garage door in place, at least cosmetically (I don't expect to be able to open the garage door), for stealth reasons. A little background: back in the day I used to be a car audio installer. We would often go for "stealth" installations, which are designed to look as stock as possible. These were always my favorite. I'd like to do that for the garage, to preserve it's appearance as such. I'll have to remove the tracking mechanism, but perhaps I can leave the door sealed up in place, and put some lumber behind it to get it not to rattle?

I'd remove the tracking and build a frame to hold the door in place and pack it with insulation to keep the parts from rattling (as well as insulating it). we did this for my in-laws place a couple of years ago to convert their basement/garage on their cabin. keeps up the appearance of a garage from the outside and nice neat space on the inside...

We closed on the house today! I am now officially a homeowner.... w00t! :twisted: We'll be moved in by the end of the month. Then the real fun begins....