Midimonkey Misc Construction Pictures

Slanted ceiling going up.

I hate angled ceilings.

The doorway, unframed. Gutted the old frame trying to make it wider, and actually move the door slightly to the left so I can squeeze in a taller door.

side window plywooded, track lighting wiring hanging out, new door laying on its side.

Ceiling to sofa cove done, webcam outlet, 100mb connection, all done and terminated. oooooooooo, webcam, a neat advertising gimmick I thought was kinda cool. One of the switches in the wall zap the power to the camera if I want it on or off, so I don't have to Netscape my way over to it to adjust its function.

Start of plywooding the new slanted, higher ceiling. By making these weird angles I bought myself almost an additional foot of height in the middle of the room.

The steep slant and the minor slant meeting each other at a level point. Ignore the minor gaps between the plywood, I got sick of planing them to fit, which is a real pain in the butt. Anyway, its all chaulked along the joists (two beads) so its sealed. I'll be shooting chaulk into any gaps before I put on the sheetrock.

The new door, moved 4" to the left, though I still couldn't fit anything wider than an 18" door unless I wanted to lower the top of the door. I'd rather turn sideways than bend over, only because I've bumped my head a few times. This is the house entrance to the studio. I have a "normal" stairwell and main entrance on the side of the house, for guests, customers, and friends. You can see the vibrating shower stall's back facing my room.

Progress on the wall. Overhead outlet installed, wired, chaulked, insulation in the channels holding the shower stall. Not idea, but acceptable. I'd have redone that wall but it requires me to destroy the bathroom - wife didn't give permission so I have to live with it for now. Once we redo the bathroom, I can remodel that wall from the other side :-D

The "entertainment center" for work motivation. Loud, streamed, "hair metal" :-D I had to find the grilles (which I thought were long gone) to keep sawdust off the drivers, but I vacuum them every so often trying to keep the grilles clean. Same for the laptop.

The weird "cove" as I call it, where I have two slants. its coming out good (I think) considering the weird angles and all the weird studs/joists/whatever that came with the place. I don't have a picture of it finished, but right now its closed up entirely, and well insulated.

Builders insist insulation batts of any type should never EVER rest against the inner roof whether its level or slanted because the batts will trap moisture and quickly rot out the roof sheathing and you're looking at an expensive repair down the road. Since I wanted to use massively thick batts of insulation for both thermal and acoustical properties, here is the trick. Joists - 18" on the centers. Metal chicken wire - 20" on the centers. Bow the chicken wire across its 20" width, and put in the edges first. Staple it down about 1/2" from the sheathing, THEN pack in your insulation. Viola, airspace to allow things to dry out after humid or rainy days. This gives about 1/2" at edges of the joists, and about 2.5" in the center or so. Combine with soffit vents and stuff, and you can keep the area cool, dry, and effective.

Cool pix, Frederic, have you modeled that "interesting" room in Cara yet? :twisted: :twisted: :wink: That's what I thought... I've used/recommended chicken wire for similar uses in traps, but that's a good use too, cool... Might wanna gently blow the sawdust out of your laptop's cooling fan eventually, unless you're looking for excuses to get a new one :? I could never work in your studio, Frederic - pizza withdrawal isn't a pretty sight, even with somebody better looking than I am; hafta keep a chain saw available to get through those "thin man" doors... Say, what kind of caulk have you been using and where do you get it? (Inquiring minds want to know) Thanks for the update, it's always interesting... Steve

Cool pix, Frederic, have you modeled that "interesting" room in Cara yet? :twisted: :twisted: :wink: That's what I thought...

heh-heh

Might wanna gently blow the sawdust out of your laptop's cooling fan eventually, unless you're looking for excuses to get a new one :?

I do on occasion, and out of the keyboard. Its an older laptop, all I have on it is AOL and "total recorder" for snagging streams into mp3's. Was free anyway.

I could never work in your studio, Frederic - pizza withdrawal isn't a pretty sight, even with somebody better looking than I am; hafta keep a chain saw available to get through those "thin man" doors...

As I mentioned earlier the stairwell under the flip-floor vocal booth is a normal stairwell, as is the outside door. The "anti-pizza" door just keeps you out of the bathroom :-D

Say, what kind of caulk have you been using and where do you get it? (Inquiring minds want to know)

Its some kind of generic chaulk, silicone based. Its in unlabeled tubes, its clear, and very thick. I'll find out from my buddy what it is, he gave me several cases for this project as a present.

"The "anti-pizza" door just keeps you out of the bathroom " - Still no good - as age creeps up (OK, runs at me with sharpened chainsaw) the bathroom is BARELY second in priority to pizza (sigh)

knightfly wrote:

Still no good - as age creeps up (OK, runs at me with sharpened chainsaw) the bathroom is BARELY second in priority to pizza (sigh)

heh-heh. Its not that bad actually, my buddy Bob, who is 6'4" and about 275 fits, ducking and turning a little sideways, no problem. I'm happy there is provision for a door there even though its a tad small, having imediate access to a full bath from the studio is nice. I just have to replace the door on the other side of the bathroom, with a lock facing out so guests can arrive through the side entrance/stairwell, use the bathroom, but not get into the house. The original studio door is the same size as the door i want to replace, except it has no holes drilled for locks and such. The current door has a oddly sized mortise lock which i can't get the lock out to replace it (never got the key when we moved here), and since all the rounded screws are stripped i'm never getting the mechanism out either. So, the whole door goes. At least the old studio door is a solid door, unlike the door I'm going to replace, which is obviously a hollow p.o.s. Just have to drill out "normal" locks and catches, and hinge it. The original studio door had a fence catch and fence hinges on the inside. Talk about lazy. I love my $49.95 home depot router :-D

BTW, the floor joists of my studio are 16", which is nice construction. Can support a lot of weight, and my floor doesn't creak as nothing flexes. The garage ceiling is the standard 40's plaster over wire, so my desire to tear it out to insulation it was severely hampered by disliking plaster work. Anyway, a friend of a friend of a friend, blasted in insulation into my floor from the studio side, by boring 3" holes in the crawl space floor, then pumping this foam stuff on it. I was assured that the "stuff" would "easily" reach the far side of the studio by the stairwell, based on the equipment he was using. And sure enough, there was a small crack in the concrete of the side of the stairwell near the top, and the stuff oozed through and through the tongue and groove paneling in the stairwell through a few of the termite holes (yes, the cedar panelling is everywhere). Not sure what the stuff was, but its obviously very effective in order to be able to blast it all the way across a floor to the back wall from the front wall. I'm expecting my studio to be nice and cozy this winter, and cool in the summer. I ran some new plumbing through the walls, down through the garage, and across the basement ceiling to the boiler, to ensure my studio is warm. There have been multiple problems - the heaters in my studio (hot water radiators) were fed by 1/2" copper tubing, there were 900 sharp 90 degree bends, so hot water flow was limited. Also, the studio is at the opposite end of the house so by the time the hot water got here, it wasn't all that warm, AND the heat would shut off because the thermostat is in the dining room, a room that is apparently well insulated. So now I have 3/4" feeds right off the furnace, and I've insulated the pipes all the way up here, though its still part of the same zone as the rest of the house. So the walls and ceilings have been insulated, the floor has been insulated, and the plumbing redone with larger diameter pipe and less bends. I managed to do this with eight bends end to end. Last winter I'd sit in my studio, and actually experience "wind" from several directions. :roll: Very soon I'll be having a soldering party. Anyone want to come hang, solder, enjoy my wife's cooking? :-D I have 1000' of 24-ch TRS cable ready to go. Just have to figure out how to hump up the heavy spool. Rolling it up steep stairs didn't work. Got my leg trapped last time :( I'm thinking *winch* LOL

My buddy's going to find out the brand, but its an aircraft chaulk - used inside the hull for repairs. It remains slightly flexible from -25C to about 150C he said. Normally its used to chaulk non-structural parts of aircraft that need to be airtight, that have been torqued loose. He stated its more of a glue than chaulk, as its always tacky even after sitting for ages. Its like liquid rubber, actually, in consistancy. Difficult to spread, makes nice beads, and holds well. He believes its a GE product, and about $45 a tube :)

Looking good, Frederic. I wish I had had the foresight to install plywood underneath my drywall in my control room, but oh well..... I'd love to come up and help you with your soldering, but I don't think I'll be able to get away from work at this time (unless, of course, you want to shell out $1000 a day for an assistant :D :D ). As for hauling that cable up the stairs goes, I would seriously consider leavig it at the bottom and putting the spool on a good solid pipe, then just pulling it up as needed (unless you have to go through a closed door, I guess). Anyway, have fun. You're 20% of the way to completion!!! Darryl.....

Looking good, Frederic. I wish I had had the foresight to install plywood underneath my drywall in my control room, but oh well.....

Thanks, its coming along slowly. Sheetrock time! Get the rig back wed afternoon, so I'll pick up the sheetrock wed early eve, and start putting it into place thur morning. Hopefully, I can most of it done before monday, when I actually have to start going to the office again :(

shell out $1000 a day for an assistant :D :D ). As for hauling

You mean pizza, beer, and the opportunity to pet Martha-Cat isn't enough? Geeeeeeeez.

that cable up the stairs goes, I would seriously consider leavig it at the bottom and putting the spool on a good solid pipe, then just pulling it up as needed (unless you have to go through a closed door, I guess).

There is a door at the bottom of the stairs, and the landing is just big enough for the spool. From my elec contractor days I have a reel feeder which I can put the spool on, the problem is I have to slide the reel pole from one end to the other, and there just isn't room to do so unless I put the whole thing on its side, and put the pole down. Then flipping it and rotating it is impossible. What I might have to do is set it up outside, feed through the door, then just leave the cable outside under a tarp when taking a break.