Key posts: JWL's studio construction

Substantial posts by jwl, who started the thread, and by the forum’s most active contributors. 22 of 34 posts are listed.

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jwl, 15 April 2007So 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…
sharward, 15 April 2007Do 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…
jwl, 15 April 2007Hi 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…
TomVan, 15 April 2007JWL, Congrats on the home purchase. Very exciting If I can throw my two cents in Cheaper to run it from the house. The electric company is going to charge you to install…
sharward, 15 April 2007Yeah, 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'…
jwl, 18 April 2007We 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…
sharward, 18 April 2007Hey 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…
jwl, 29 April 2007OK, 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…
jwl, 29 April 2007hey 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…
sharward, 29 April 2007Ah 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…
jwl, 30 April 2007two 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…
jwl, 30 April 2007OK, 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…
camistan, 30 April 2007Keith, 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…
jwl, 30 April 2007For 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…
jwl, 2 May 2007See, 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…
jwl, 19 May 2007OK, 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…

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jwl, 25 May 2007Still feverishly packing. Did a couple things recently, though. First I changed the locks on the garage.... and I have a set of locks to put on the front door of the…
rod gervais, 29 May 2007jwl, if you were to face the back of the door with a protective membrane - perhaps a 6 or 8 mil poly - which could be temporarily attached with a spray adhesive - and…
jwl, 30 May 2007Thanks for the replies, all. We're still in a holding pattern, getting our stuff where we want it. Right now the garage is full of stuff we don't want in the house yet.…
jwl, 1 July 2007OK, time for an update. I still haven't checked out the crack in detail. But I think the back of the garage (ie, the wall furthest away from the garage door) is about a…
sharward, 1 July 2007Yes. Ditch Witch is the famous ditch-digging gas-powered tool. It can be operated by one person and it makes digging utility/plumbing trenches a breeze. I've never…
sharward, 3 July 2007Yeah, I syppose I was a bit careless with my "cracked concrete" remark. ;-) What I should have said was this: our home builder uses that criteria to determine the…