Lou's Studio - Construction Phase

No, no!!! It is all wrong!!! You will have to cease construction immediately, and fly yourself and your mates to the States, and finish my studio before continuing! Ha! Great job Lou! You are truly an inspiration!

Speechless! 8) Like the artsy shot too! Late for a meeting... --Keith :mrgreen:

Hi guys – and thanks to you all for the kind words of encouragement. Forgive me for not addressing you individually on this occasion, but it’s 22.13pm U.K. time (or quarter past twelve lunchtime, Hawaiian time) :wink: and, I’m totally ‘shagged’. (English expression for feeling somewhat tired!) So, this is just to bring you all up to date for today. DH – you’re doing a grand job too my friend – Do you hate drywall by any chance? Man – what a day. Introducing ‘Chris’, and at last, not an old schoolmate, but someone I’ve been luckily enough to meet via Ian. This guy is awesome, a structural carpenter, I didn’t even know such a job existed. His speciality is sorting out structural wooden trusses in churches or barns – totally the ‘Man’ with wood. He made all these in 40 minutes! I gladly show you my first ‘TOY’purchase of the build – a high velocity nail gun. (Framing in mind-but still gotta get Ken’s skill saw and guide system in place, not to mention – compound mitre saw and laser level!) I so want this dewalt bench system as well, even though it’s ‘Black and Decker’ but yellow!. Before I had chance to ‘skin a cat’ this was up people! This bloke is something else – really. I swear, we’re barely at lunchtime, and he’s already fixing the ‘Tech-Screws’ into place. I should explain this - there exists a self-tapping, self-drilling screw, specifically designed to fix timber to steel! I’ll take a pick soon to explain exactly how it works. Bloody simple, but equaully bloody clever. :? Then I get to play with my new toy, and I love it! Arty shot of rafters across iso booth now in place. (For you know who :wink: ) Proper view of ‘Tech-screws’ but not as good as tomorrows pic – promise. Time to explain to Graham electrical requirements. At last my friends, you can now see where this is all leading. Mains electric run into rubber sleeved conduit back to control room for desk, computer, and racks. None of this runs parallel with the green audio trunking, well, not until we get out of screed level at least. (Future plans in mind for this little lot.) :wink: :wink: :wink: Water supply fed from new studio wash basin…………… To new studio kitchen…………… Light and power run to my new found store room, and on to studio kitchen. View from Studio 4’s control room – through iso booth and to outside world. Remember this one guys ‘cos in a few months time that’s exactly how it’ll look, but with a bit more plasterboard and glass in place. :wink: That’s it for today, (manic 3 days ahead), at least now you know why I’m tired, and I do mean really tired, there will doubtless be typo after typo in this, but the pictures, all being well, say it all. Warm regards Gentlemen, Lou. 8)

Aloha Lou, Awesome! One word of caution though, while I absolutely love builder's toys, (as a few have noticed) it can't be said enough...always know where your hands and fingers (edit: feet/toes, other workers/people/pets) are! I know of several stories of fingers, thumbs, hands, and other appendages being nailed, nicked, and lost by these fun but deadly amusements. Most recently, a bass player/custom guitar builder friend that discovered what a moving band saw blade can do. Thankfully, he still has his left index finger and can still move it, but it will be several years before he'll be able to feel anything with it (hopefully!) Being that, in addition to your production chops, it would be a shame to leave behind that great guitar playing you do. 'Nuff said! Rest well, great job and be safe, Aloha 8) P.S. It's currently 45 minutes past noon. :wink:

Lou, You know once the studio is up and running you are going to get comments about your mixing and tweaking. They will say wow your fast or man you are good at what you do with my music. Isn't it amazing for us non framer/concrete/finisher/drywallers to watch these guys work. Half the time they dont even use a tape to measure and it fits better than I could do with a square and tape :o Looking good happy for you Tom currently 4pm thursday PS you need to write the translation page soon for materials. add=in america never call yourself a twat :lol: add= if your shagged it doesn't neccesarily mean what Austin Powers said it meant :shock:

Lou: I got one of those massive framing nail guns too, mine is pneumatic however, and requires a stinking air compressor, but man can it drive nails! I also used it to hang the RC on the ceiling, which is the worst angle in the world to drive nails with a hammer. I probably would never have made it through one or two courses of RC without the nail gun. Right after I got it, a friend of mine told me the story of how when he was young and working construction to get through college, he accidentally drove a nail through his shoe! Luckily it went IN BETWEEN his toes, but nailed his shoe solid as a rock to the roof he was working on! He was very lucky, but he said he felt pretty stupid standing there not able to move until he took off his shoe! As mentioned, be careful!

great pics Lou - BTW - what voltage are you running all those power tools on?? 240 or 110? cheers john

Indeed - do be careful with the new toys. Sometimes I tell myself how much of a shame it would be to injure myself so badly building my drum room that I'd not be able to play drums anymore... :roll: ...It's definitely a sobering thought! "You know who" appreciates the arty shot, as always! And all the other shots too -- man, you've spoiled us with the imagery. Thanks for taking so many pictures as they really tell the story. Well, the pics and your thoughtful captions! ;-) Very nice concept of the bulge-out area roof extending to where the front door is! Seeing it framed out like that really drives the point. I'm jealous of you, as usual. Keep up the great work! :D --Keith :mrgreen:

Good afternoon Gentlemen – I hope all is well in the world for you. We’ve had a bit of an onslaught over the last couple of days, but a well earned day off today, with an hour or so river stroll to a cool riverside pub for lunch – very nice! 8) Thanks as always chaps for the responses – very much appreciated, before the update then: Ken – thank you for the safety concerns my friend. To be fair to everyone, that nail gun pic in my last post does look a little scary, but I can assure you all, that my left hand was nowhere near the end of the gun. My Dad, aside from being a semi-pro drummer for most of his life, was also a tradesman by day. He taught me about power tool safety when I was as young as six, and I tell you. It’s something I’ve never forgotten. :wink: Joey – Thanks Dude, hope your build’s coming along too mate. DH – very funny Man! You had me going at first! Nice job by the way. Keith – As always my friend thank you. PS The silencer woodwork looks awesome, fancy popping over for a couple of months to give me a hand with all the tricky stuff? :P Tom – ‘Cracked up’ Buddy – which in the U.K. doesn’t necessarily mean that I have a drug abuse problem, but more usually, that I laughed my bloody head off! P.S. have you given your partner a ride recently? (Don’t you just love English?) :lol: :lol: (Partner in U.K. terms, to mean Wife of course, and not business associate.) :wink: John – Haven’t heard from you in a while, but I know you’ve been stacked out! I really appreciate the post, and I’m hoping you’ve had a chance to catch up on the thread, after all you helped design this baby, many thanks again :D :D . For your info, all power tools are of course site regd 110v. (proof to follow). Here it comes. As promised a proper shot of a tech screw. The drill bit part is on my little finger, and the lugs by my third finger break off as it winds in. (Pilot hole is a good idea if you’re going into hardened steel, as we were, and no, that’s not a splinter!) :shock: I get on with securing the ‘Wallplate straps’. These are required aluminium straps that hold the woodwork on top of the brickwork to the wall itself, and basically stop the roof from blowing off! Then it’s time for Chris to rip out more of the vertical hanging tiles to make room for the flat roof section. Graham kindly organises some temporary power in the studio from the ringmain feed of the main house. The first flat roof joist gets fitted. Chris steals my nailgun! :shock: :shock: We’ve nearly got all of these in. Voila – flat roof ready for boarding! (like its going anywhere!) :lol: :lol: “Trev! You seen my nailgun anywhere, mate?” :roll: Really coming on. Trev gets on with removing batten and felt work on the existing porch. Boarding done. Then, on to the old porch ‘build up’. If you think about it, what Chris has done here is actually rather clever. First the rafters for the span on top of the wooden beam, use that line to take the rafters across the studio and follow all of that back across the new porch. Simple but clever – Im sure you’d agree. All timberwork (for this stage at least) complete, including the funny up-turned triangles on the ends of all the rafters. Yes folks, there is a reason for these, which will become apparent later! Meanwhile, Graham cracks on with the chill-out area light and power runs (five double sockets, four wall light points, 1 x 5 amp spur just in case and 2 x outside lights) 8) I promised you the proof, John. All power tools are 110V. :wink: Trev and I can now make a start on reinstating the joists we removed last week. This is a shot of one of the new perimeter wall plates. She’s in, bolted with 3” rawl bolts (into the 'single skin' brickwork) and supported at either end by those monstrous steels already in the studio. This next shot shows our 16” OC joists, Graham’s neat light and power runs to the studio kitchen, and the yellow dots are so that we know where the joists are when the boarding gets fixed The first board goes in….and hands well out of the way of the gun! Not an ‘arty shot’ by any means, Keith, but it does capture the mood of the moment – very very hot and extremely cramped. :evil: Finally, a decent view of how we’ve engineered our new joists – a whole lot stronger, as they’re supposed to be. That’s it for this one chaps. Tommorow Trev and I are cracking on with joist reinstatement, and, boarding out the store room area above. Tuesday sees Phil and Dave back to 'brick-up' the side gabels on the studio front, then Ian arrives to felt, batten and tile the roof, and hopefully next week, we might even get the new/replacement doors and windows fitted by the same guys who did the chil-out area glass! Then the 'shell' of Studio 4 will be finished and the real fun can begin! :D :D :D Take care, stay tuned. Regards as always Lou. 8)

That's interesting Lou - I'd heard that in the UK it is regulation to use 110V power tools even though your source power is 240V, now you've confirmed it for me :D We still operate 240V power tools here in Oz. Looking good - good carpentry too ;) cheers john

I'm not an electric guy. But what's the advantage of 110 V? I remember 110 Volt here when I was a child. Then they changed it to 220-240 V and all Belgian households got free replacement equipment (was less back then, and I can't remember if everything was totally free, I was too young to be interested in this stuff). When I worked in Indonesia long ago I collected lots of this old 110 V equipment (from elder people) to use it there and left it behind. In the industry it's 220-240 or 380 V Lou your studio, work and organization is amazing. :twisted: There is only one drawback: you cause anyone to get frustrated, feeling inferior and jealous.

Eric_Desart wrote:

Lou your studio, work and organization is amazing. :twisted: There is only one drawback: you cause anyone to get frustrated, feeling inferior and jealous.

Let's see... Frustrated -- check! Feeling inferior -- check! Feeling jealous -- check! It's a trifecta! Sure, Lou -- I'll come over and give you guys a hand -- but then you and your crew of "great blokes" have to come and finish my build! And, hey, since you guys seem to know so much about sunrooms, you can build me a couple of those as well, eh? ;-) --Keith :mrgreen:

John Sayers wrote:

That's interesting Lou - I'd heard that in the UK it is regulation to use 110V power tools even though your source power is 240V, now you've confirmed it for me :D We still operate 240V power tools here in Oz. Looking good - good carpentry too ;) cheers john

The vast majority of power tools in the UK run on 240v mains. Tools running at 110v tend to be used mainly by professional tradesmen.

Spot on correct Phil - I was coming to that one! :wink: John, sorry if my last post on this point was ambiguous, but, 240V is the norm for domestic/DIY here in the UK, however, as Phil, rightly points out, 110V is the Regs requirements voltage on commercial site builds. From a contractors point of view, those professional tradesman that have been here, have effectively, 'been on site'. Hope this clarifies any confusion to others - gotta go - more work to do. :twisted: As for you other kind fellows that have responded to this one, I'll get back to the forum as soon as I can - all a bit 'full-on' at the mo!:shock: Regards, Lou. 8)

Thanks guys - no I wasn't confused as I know the UK runs at 240V - I just wanted to confirm that it's regulation that building sites operate at 110V. We don't have that regulation in OZ. cheers john

I'm kinda confused as to why it's a requirement though.

PhilR wrote:

I'm kinda confused as to why it's a requirement though.

Which was my question as well (since it isn't in other regions, and I haven't related background).

Gentlemen - I can assure you I'm researching this as well. Please don't get me wrong, I'm pretty sure I know the answer, but to be fair to the likes of Rod, John, and Keith etc, I don't intend to post until I'm certain I'm correct! :wink: Back soon good people, Regards, Lou. 8)

Lou wrote:

.......but to be fair to the likes of Rod, John, and Keith etc, I don't intend to post until I'm certain I'm correct! :wink:

:twisted: .... what about fair to the simple ones asking the question ???? Teasing. I know you mean very well .....

Eric_Desart wrote:

:twisted: .... what about fair to the simple ones asking the question ???? Teasing. I know you mean very well .....

Since when are you a "simple one," Eric? ;-) --Keith :mrgreen:

sharward wrote:

Eric_Desart wrote:

:twisted: .... what about fair to the simple ones asking the question ???? Teasing. I know you mean very well .....

Since when are you a "simple one," Eric? ;-) --Keith :mrgreen:

:mrgreen: always been Keith, always been ............

110v for pro equipment? That surprises me since more voltage means more power. P(ower)=U(voltage) x I(current) For example: A battery-powered tool. like a screwdriver for example, running on 14v can produce more power than a unit running on 9v.

From what I've read, it's purely a case of using a reduced voltage in higher-risk areas for health & safety reasons.

Morning guys – loads to tell you and show you this week, but first some response to the electrical questions! :wink: Eric – I have to concur with Keith – I have never regarded you as simple, Sir. Phil – nice one mate, safety is indeed the reason for 110 V (Still researching why it's safer to make sure I’m correct.) Ro – I’ve read many of your posts as I consider you to be a fine contributor to the forum, always helpful, supportive, and with a sense of humour. OK folks, well the jury is still out on this one, but I would like to stick my neck out and clarify a couple of points if I may. I was pretty useless at maths and physics at school, but one thing I’ve always remembered is ‘Ohm’s Law’, this outlines the fundamental principles of just about everything to do with electricity. It simply states: V=IR where V is voltage, I is amperage, and R is resistance. This could be played with to establish that I=V/R (voltage divided by resistance) and alternatively, R=V/I Now for the definitions folks: Voltage is best considered as electrical pressure and is of course measured in volts, Amperage is current flow (amps) and resistance, (measured in ohms), hopefully speaks for itself. Whichever way you look at it, voltage is not power. (Sorry Ro – not trying to be pedantic honest!) :oops: Power is in fact wattage measured in, believe it or not Watts, – If you take all this and put it into maths terms you would get the following: Wattage (power) is Voltage x Amps. Spot on Ro, nice one again Dude. Current drawn (amperage) is Wattage divided by Voltage, and Voltage is naturally wattage divided by amperage. So then, if you take an 1800w power tool – it will perform just as efficiently on either 240v or 110v, however running on 110v it will draw more than double the current! If I’m waffling on, sorry - just trying to help. If you take this 1800 watt tool and run it on a 240v supply it will draw 7.5 amps of current. If, on the other hand, you ran the same tool on a 110V supply it would draw 16.4 amps! EG, 1800 divided by 240 = 7.5, whereas 1800 divided by 110 = 16.4 Sticking with the 240v supply and the 1800 watt tool the following figures match up: 1800(w) = 240(v) x 7.5(a), 7.5(a) = 1800(w) divided by 240(v) and finally 240(v) = 1800(w) divided by 7.5(a) All of the above concerns AC mains. Still researching this bit Ro, but when you relate all this to a battery powered unit rather than mains, you have to remember that, in this scenario, you’re now talking about a DC supply rather than AC. In other words, as you quite correctly point out, an increase in ‘electrical pressure’ (in a DC device) would indeed cause a proportional increase in current flow, whereas with AC, as explained it’s a completely different ball game. I’m pretty sure that you need to consider that many battery tools have a range of power ratings, so, if you ran a 500w only tool with a 14v battery instead of a 9v battery it wouldn’t necessarily make the drill go faster, but it would definitely make it spin for longer. Furthermore this helps explain why a cordless drill runs progressively slower as the charge from the battery weakens over use. Bear in mind also, that the resistance (how much the tool doesn’t want to play) here is constant. :wink: More on transformer design in the next issue, but for now, Phil - once again 110v is safer ,of course, as the user (on the secondary side) is totally isolated from the 240 supply on the primary side, plus the secondary side has a ‘tapped earth’ which I need to find out more about, and also, any damage to the equipment would only cause the user to be exposed to 55v. I’m not sure why since this is where my maths and physics let me down! Anyway – I hope some of this helps as, like you guys, it’s only intended as ‘knowledge shared is knowledge earned’. In any event, I’m sure the wing commanders will, understandably, ground the rookie pilot if he’s wrong. :oops: :oops: So then, good friends – the update. A good week all in all apart from being told that my roof tiles wouldn’t arrive until Thursday, and that my windows and door fit were booked for October 12th! Great! Still loads to do inside, but I really wanted the studio secure to save having to cart tools back and forth at the end of the day. Tuesday Morning – Phil and Dave get on with finishing the gable ends of the studio roof. Inside right gable. And the outside! Left gable – this is naturally very cramped for Phil to work in but of course needs to be done before Ian starts the felt and batten stage. While he was here I asked Phil to finally brick up the remaining gaps in the old utilities wall. Trev and I get on with the left hand rear wall plate. And then the right hand one which will house the new loft hatch (and Keith’s gadget) to the new store room above. Two more ‘toy’ acquisitions. Now for UK builders at least, you might find this next bit helpful. I went to ‘Elliots tool warehouse’ on Tuesday. They sell Makita, Dewalt, Bosch, and my personal favourite Festool. What a place – tool heaven. However all the tools have a price tag to match, and to be perfectly honest, I simply couldn’t justify that level of expense for the amount of use these tools will ultimately get. (The festool compound mitre saw is a cool £749.00 plus the bench)! Anyway frustrated at my realisation I went to I hate to admit it – B&Q. For overseas readers, it’s generally considered that B&Q is fine for rawl plugs at 3.45 on a Sunday and that’s about it. Well, no actually. Not any more. All their products have been upgraded, especially their tools. Guys, B&Q do a brand line called macallister, and for what it’s worth, I’m totally knocked out with the quality. For info, in case you decide to do the same I bought a COD710LSJK jigsaw which was on offer at £32.00 (vary-speed, 3 point orbital, laser guided, scroll function) awesome, and a COD2000LCS skillsaw (also laser guided) £82.00. Both tools represent superb value for money. I’ve used them, and they are totally accurate, and have saved me a packet load of time and money. Anyway since I don’t have shares in the Kingfisher group (the consortium that owns B&Q) it was time to get on with work. This is Chris’ SDS (110v) drill which he has kindly let me borrow, and I can assure you there is no reduced power due to the voltage! Remember that’s only 4” of brick that I’m desperately trying not to go straight through! :shock: Rawl bolts positioned in the timber first, with the washer behind, to stop the bolt being pulled back through the timber. Socket into place. Left hand rear plate. Another advantage of setting up an account, is that if you’re cheeky like me, when you over-order materials, they’ll simply come and pick them back up and issue you with a credit note, as with this palette of 110 thermolite blocks! Finally, some Drywall, Wallboard, Gypsum, Gyproc, Plasterboard stuff. :wink: I don’t know about the US, but you’d probably all fall over to realise that the suggested retail price of this 6m x 12” roll of ‘code 4’ lead is just under £200.00 Another toy, but this baby is a monster – and, with a 10% discount came out at £135.00. I spent a bit of time checking that everything was aligned, and suffice to say it’s once again awesome value for money. COD305DLSM (A good tip from Chris – when you replace the blades, buy the most expensive you can afford to prolong the tool life. (“It’s the blade that does the cutting, Mate”) I thought roofing felt was a horrible sticky black tarry stuff! Not any more. This costs a fortune, looks like paper until you try and cut it, and is one way breathable, and totally waterproof. The best bit though, is that Ian managed to ‘lose’ this from another job. Next bit of boarding. More meticulous marking. A bit of overkill plasterboard to the rear of bedroom 4, which will eventually house the additional bass traps, as per Ken and Glenn’s advice. Now the battens, and a better look at that felt! This is definitely going to be the trickiest bit. Upper ‘bass trap area’ boarded out – back triangle still to come. The beast in action. And now for a monumental ‘cock-up’ on my part. I measured it 8 times, I followed Rod’s advice to the ‘n’th degree, I checked again and again, and all was well until I suddenly realised that my central cluster of audio ducting was in the wrong bloody place. I can’t believe that anyone could be so darned stupid, but rather than disguise this as a deliberate mistake, I thought I’d cheer you all up by admitting my total BLUNDER. When you measure how far from the existing wall you want your desk to be, don’t forget to take into account the thickness of the 12" wall you’re about to put in front of it. Idiot – Nerd – buffoon – droid – berk! Luckily, I realised this stupid unnecessary mistake before the screed went down, so to salvage the situation I quickly knocked up a sealed box affair that will sit in the screed and allow me to bring my cables forward to where they should come up from the studio floor. My sub-woofer will actually end up right on top of those ducting ends, but naturally everything will be filled in and made solid before the oak flooring goes down, and no one (apart from you guys) will be any wiser! Seal-up prior to screed. (100mm thick) Upstands for water and electric. Protect kitchen waste and water supply. Next bit of boarding in the store area. Graham’s artwork around the rear pillar. Ian ‘lines out’ the tiles. Lead work goes in beautifully. Boy does this chap concentrate. 8 Tonnes of screed gets dropped on my drive. Introducing Andy, and his mate Dave. This is unquestionably the hardest graft of a job in the construction industry. Moving 8 tonnes of muck around a 40 square meter area on your hand and knees all day, and making it look like flat as a snooker table, sounds like hell to me. Horizontal concrete plastering anyone? Cement binder. Ian gets out his disk cutter. This part of the project is now done. Andy’s finished the studio floor (awesome btw, but I can’t walk on it until Tuesday!) and is coming back next Friday to do the chill-out area, (I’m also going to get him to do all the rendering as well). Ian’s got the roof on and it looks the biz but I want to wait until the soffits and fascia’s are on before I show you guys. That’s it for now guys, more pics to follow soon. Enjoy the rest of your respective weekends as we’re having a day off tomorrow. Warm regards, Stay tuned, Lou. 8)

Aloha, Enjoy your well earned day off! :D Aloha 8)