Derrimut Street Studio Ongoing Construction.

Hi to all I am pleased to say that finally my local council has given me the permission to finally lay the slab for Derrimut street studios. The beam nearest the fence is over 1metre (over 3 feet deep) and then a 6" (150mm) thick slab on top You may ask why 6" the engineer who designed the slab did so accomadate the wall and the type of clay and soil in and around western Melbourne. I hope to most more picks as I begin the frame. Although I had previously settled on a design (ratty_7 in the design forum) I am seriously thinking about changing it and having a bigger control room and tracking instead of vocal booth as I understand vocals could be done in the CR while the instruments are playing. any comments would be greatly appreciated......!!! Mike "ratty_7"

Aloha, Congrats on your pad pour! :D

Although I had previously settled on a design (ratty_7 in the design forum) I am seriously thinking about changing it and having a bigger control room and tracking instead of vocal booth as I understand vocals could be done in the CR while the instruments are playing.

:D :D :D It's funny how that happens sometimes, eh? :D :D :D Well, it's better to think about it now, rather than in the middle of your wall construction. So, how much bigger are you thinking? Aloha 8)

Congratulations! It brings back memories of the day my slab was poured... A big milestone indeed! "There's no turning back now!" :-) Perhaps you can edit your post and change the subject line to something that resembles your project in general, rather than just the slab being poured. It will be great to see another active construction diary all organized into a single thread. :-D --Keith :mrgreen:

Thanks Kendale and Sharward, I'ts been a long haul already, but now I ready for the real stuff. Although this is a design point, I am thinking of making the tracking area bigger and taking out the vocal booth. I like the idea of a vocal booth, however, in terms of space, construction and the fact I will be having a large glass door in the CR is it really necessary. Any comments....!!! In the mean time I will be constructing the outer wall. thanks again guys Mike

you could build up the walls so you can add a door easily later. you might find you want it just for an "airlock"...

Hi there everyone, My outer frame is nearing completion. However, I was just wondering I need to buy a couple of sliding doors and I have come across a company that makes double glazed doors. The door thickness is 20m/m about 3/4 of an inch. this is made up of 5m/m safety glass 10 m/m air gap and 5m/m safety glass which is I guess is a two leaf door. So if I have two of these doors will I have a four leaf door system or does it in this case not matter as it is still only two doors. Meaning two doors being a two leaf system or is it infact a four leaf system because of the two layers of glass in each door plus thew two air gaps? I hope this is not confusing I am told by the manufactures that these doors are excellent for sound proofing. Mike "Ratty" Hirsh

i think its more important that they have a good air tight seal. do you have a link online for them?

Hi Glenn, Thanks for getting back to me. I am going down today to check on the doors, to see just how good the seals are. The sales person said they were a tight fit and had good rubber seals as they are external doors with wooden reveals. The store also has a sound booth to show people just how good the sound isolation is. Pretty neat me thinks, so I think it's worth going down to check them out. At the price their asking, it could be a good buy and they have a few sizes in stock. If there that good and being double glazed, I may only need one between the CR and Tracking and one small one for the vocal and drum booths. What do you think? http://stores.ebay.com.au/justdoubleglazed :D

looks like nice doors. if they have a place you can check them out that would be good. do they have actual specifications online or otherwise available? here's the company site http://www.ecoclassic.com.au/index.htm but no detailed specs oher than size... what i would do is build as if i were putting in both sets of doors and then just put in the one door. if that doesn't provide enough isolation, you could easily put in the second one.

Hi Glenn, I agree I was thinking the same. Build the two walls from CR into tracking then add one door and as you say add another double glazed door if needed needed. Thanks mate looks as as though we're both on the same tram....!!! all the best Mike

Hi everybody, I just thought I'd better check with someone as to the construction of my studio roof to try and stop the rain noise. In between the battens sitting on top of the smart joists I have put down 19m/m chipboard and then sealed it. See Smart Joist pic On top of that I have put building blanket insulation, then on top of that the corrugated Iron, thats one leaf. (See Colourbond pic.) For the inside leaf, I am fitting resilient mounted 16m/m soundcheck plasterboard on the underside of the smart joists plus a layer of 12m/m lining pine which will then be varnished. Do you think this be enough in terms of inside leaf? Thanks Mike

I dunno about the audio side of it but it looks like it is gonna be hot as hell in there in the summer! You have any plans to insulate the ceiling/attic area? Can I ask if there is any ventilation inbetween the roof metal and the framing? I would only bring it up because an enclosed roofing system can generate a lot of heat. And I see a minimum of distance between the sun and the top of the room:) It ain't necessarily a bad thing, it's like a mobile home, you guys in Australia have something similiar, maybe a modular building, I dunno what it would be called. Remember, heat, is a four letter word!

Hi X space, Thanks for your reply. Firstly I'm hoping it won't be too hot in summer as I have foil backed insulation and the foil takes a lot of heat out. Also there will be air comming in through the ends of the batterns, and circulating under the tin. There is a 240m/m air space between the top leaf and the second leaf which is the studio ceiling and the ceiling will have insulation on that so fingers crossed. Just in case it does get a bit warm in summer I have purchased a 9kw reverse cycle ducted cooling and heating system which also allows 10% of fresh air with either heating or cooling. And if all that fails I'll install a fridge with plenty of Carlton draught or my chilled home brew and you can pop in and have a beer with me. Mike

Yes sir! That is what I like to hear, smart planning. And that air gap is a good idea too;)

Hi Xspace and a Happy new year..!!! Since I spoke to you last October here in Melbourne we have had torrential rains plus 40 degree celcius heat and man that's hot. I am pleased to announce however, that my roof design has held up well, with the air space and also the inclusion of the white magnezium oxide board @ 6m/m thick the heat factor and rain noise are no more. Here on page two are some more pics of my ongoing construction

If one looks at my pics there doesn't seem to be a great deal of work been done, however, the outside frame of the studio has.... 1 layer of building paper (blue) 1 layer of 19m/m yellow tongue Another layer of Blue building paper then finally the weather boards will be fitted to blend in with existing house....!!! Here are some recent pics If anybody has any comments please feel free Mike "Ratty" Hirsh :D

Hey Mike. Gotta work when the weather is good don't ya. We are expecting rain tomorrow(Thursday) here and I just got rafters up today on a residential burn-out job. About the time the rain goes away it will try to get cold again...and we still have to deck and weather proof the roof. Keep on plugging away right?

Hi Guys, I'm just about to install two double glazed doors into my control room. The doors are pretty well contruction and have a 1" gap between each pane. The first door will run parallel along the studio wall and the second at 12 degrees. From what I have read does this mean I am about to make a terrible 4 leaf mistake, in terms of using two double glazed doors between the control room and my tracking room? Or could I use one of the doors, sell the other and get a single laminated door Mike PS these two doors cost me $1200.00 bucks ouch......!!!

you could install them, and if later you find its an actual issue replace it. but if they're good quality doors you should be OK. its not perfect or ideal but sometimes you need to make a trade off in terms of visibility versus some isolation loss. ideally if you could get single laminate doors you'd be better off but it depends on your budget and time to sell...

Hi Glen, Thanks for replying. I remember contacting you when I first bought these doors some months ago and yes we thought then, that there may be an isolation issue. My main concern is isolation and vibration. However, the doors themselves are well constructed (better than others I've seen) and the fact that they are not running parallel but at 10 -12 degrees together is probably a good thing. I will fit them well and seal them as best I can. all the best Mike

Hi Everybody, It's been a long time since my last visit and many bruises, aches and pains have long healed however, I'm sure there will be more too come.....hehehe Here's is some pics that are well overdue.....!!! cheers Mike :shot:

The next pic is where I had built the stud frame 70x35 on the floor then added the first layer of 16 m/m fire check plasterboard. Before the second sheet was added you can see a layer of acoustic caulk. In this case it is "Fullers" Acoustic caulk, which also has a four hour fire rating. The whole assembly consisting of frame and 32m/m of "firecheck" plasterboard was then lifted up by four hefty Aussie musos and then rolled on 12m/m plastic pipe to move the assembly into position. Man it was very heavy work...!!! This process had to be repeated in sections and all moved precisely into position. Note. That all the wall assemblies had a 20m/m x 70wide hard rubber foam called "Armaflex" glued to the underside of the bottom plates with contact adhesive. The "Armaflex" was much cheaper than "Neroprene" and did a great job in compressing the heavy frame to the slab, to help with isolation.

The Completed Assembly ready to be lifted into position on the back wall of the Drum Booth

In the next picture one can see the frame which separates the vocal and drum booth, there will be a window between the two, probably 10m/m and if I can find it 16m/m glass. You can see also that I have a ready put in the AC power which comes from the top of the frame, while the audio snake runs along the floor which will be between the outer and inner frames....!!!

In the next few pics one can see all the F17 hardwood inner joists. these have been designed by a structural engineer to hold up a weight of 25 kilo per sq metre. This weight will be the furring channel and 32m/m "fire check" plaster board. Some more pics showing the F17 hardwood beams. You can also see at the top right hand corner a huge 240 h X 60 w m/m beam which runs the full length (11 metres) of the studio. This beam was suggested by John Sayers, for a number of reasons. 1. To add to the design in terms of carrying the load of the F17 and entire inner studio "fire check" plaster roof which sits inside between the Smart Joists of the main outer building frame. 2. To make provisions for the duct for the heating and cooling to go through the building to ensure isolation from the studios. 3. To alleviate and comb filtering and flutter and any other acoustic ceiling problems that may ensue. I'm not an expert, only just a beginner, however, I just hope after many many months of planning and some infrequent phone conversations with Mr Fix it (J.S) that the construction which is my responsibility will finally pay off....fingers crossed Mike :D