Small Space is a Challenge

First and foremost...THANK YOU for all of the wonderful information. It is very much appreciated. My challenge is this. I have a small structure that I am converting to a studio. The inside dimensions are 11'2" x 15'4". The ceiling is 8' to the rafters. There is a garage door on the 11'2" south side and a side door entrance on the 15'4" east side. I have attached a sketchup drawing (ver. 6) of the exact dimensions showing the inside of the structure. The floor is concrete and the walls are all finished up to the rafters. My plan is to remove the garage door and finish the wall in its place. That leaves me with the full 11'2" x 15'4" x 8' to work with. I am in a residential neighborhood so it has to be quiet on the outside. I plan on recording many different types of music including country, rock, metal, acoustic, etc. I use a Cubase 4 loaded DAW for recording with a Mackie Onyx 1640 board and KRK Monitors which means that I don't need a large amount of space for a control room. There is not really any analog equipment to deal with on the recording side besides what I have mentioned. I will also be recording myself in the studio so I need to have acces to the DAW while I am playing. I have always had the recording equipment in the same room with the instruments in the past. Question #1. Should I split the small space to have a more controlled mixing and recording environment or should I leave it as one room to allow for more space but sacrifice isolation? Question #2. Should I insulate the ceiling before I construct the actual studio ceiling with soundproofing or will the studio ceiling be sufficient using the guidlines on this site to soundproof it? The Small_Studio.skp file done by John seems to be a good reference for this room but the control room takes most of the space. Any input from you guys would be greatly appreciated. I really want to get this right the first time with hopes of constructing a larger studio in the near future. Thank you!

if you could add an 8' extension on it... :-) otherwise its a tight fit. you could put in an iso booth to help with recording but in such a small space i'd be inclined to do a single room approach and use gobos around drums and equipment. since the walls are finished, you probably want to use a dremel tool to cut it and place the drywall onto the inside of the exterior wall (along with perhaps other layers of drywall to beef it up) this will also avoid a third leaf when you add the interior walls. Rod's book on home studio construction has lots of details on isolation techniques. you'll want to either beef up the roof or add a set of joists to hold the new ceiling. overhead then i'd use that space to add the HVAC equipment and ducts.

I was leaning toward building an extension to the space but the building codes says my fence has to be 3' away which it isn't so I will have to get very creative to add the space. In the meantime I will try the gobos. I have a two story building that I am planning to use for a studio but again, the city is fighting me on the zoning. Again thanks for all the time and input you put into this site. It is very much appreciated.

Seems like you need to build a single control room/music room in that space. cheers john

Aloha, Is it possible for your to add your extension sideways? (current entry door side) If so, in Rod Gervais’ book “Build it Like the Pros,” http://www.johnlsayers.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=5670 he points out both L.W.Sepmeyer’s & M.M. Louden’s formulas most widely used in professional studios worldwide. He also notes that the orders listed are (top to bottom) the first to third best ratios in both cases. L.W. Sepmeyer Height Width Length 1.00 1.14 1.39 1.00 1.28 1.54 1.00 1.60 2.33 M.M. Louden Height Width Length 1.00 1.40 1.90 - 8’ x 11’2” x 15’2” 1.00 1.30 1.90 1.00 1.50 2.10 Eric Desart on Louden’s Ratios http://www.johnlsayers.com/phpBB2/viewt ... ght=#64490 1.00, 1.35, 1.85 Based on Louden's ratios your control room would fit just about perfectly in the existing structure. Using Eric Desart's study info on Louden's ratio would give you a little more room to work with. Adding a 11'2" x 15'2" addition for your live room to the side of it would make a sweet home studio layout. Some food for thought, perhaps? Aloha 8)

The building has a fence on the west side and an inground pool on the east side. The South side has room but that's where I run into the building code problem. The southwest corner of the existing structure is only 19" from the fence. Code says I have to have 3'. The fence is also at about a 20 degree angle because the lot is shaped that way. The added room would have to be offset to allow for the 3'. It would then also have to be turned about 20 degrees towards the east to stay 3' away from the fence for the length of the new room. This would also make the property much less appealing. I think I'm stuck for now with what I have. Thanks so much for the advice. This site is fantastic.

Aloha, Then perhaps your best bet is the "one room studio" as John suggested. You can still use the dimensions for the design submitted - M.M. Louden Height Width Length 1.00 1.40 1.90 - 8’ x 11’2” x 15’2” Aloha 8)

Just thought I would keep a record of my small room remodel for anyone that may have the same situation. I went to the local code inforcement officer before I started and got the okay to do the remodel without a building permit. It's the first time I got a break from those guys. I will however need to get my electric inspected after I install it which is no problem. I decided to jump right in and start demolition. I used a RotoZip saw to remove the old inside wall sheetrock. It was very fast and easy work. I just zipped around each nail and the sheets peeled of like butter. I had thought of using the same sheetrock for the inside of the exterior wall but it is 1/2" and I want something better. It will be easy to hall it to the dump in full sheets. The hardest part was taking down perfectly good walls. I felt like an idiot. I'm sure it won't be the last time that happens. It all turned out in my favor for 2 reasons. 1. I found a very happy colony of termites that found my wood to be delicious. 2. While sweeping up the mess I bumped an outlet that was close to the floor which caused a spark and just about started a fire to do my demolition for me. The outlet box was bent and was practically touching the live terminal. This was all hidden by the faceplate. I'm very lucky to have found both problems before they caused major damage. I decided to stop right there until I could find the secret "hidden" place where the previous owner had hooked up the electric so I could disconnect it and also call the exterminator. The electric comes up through the foundation in a flexible piece of conduit right next to a 5 1/2" inch hole which used to be a well. I traced it to a 20amp breaker that is also running 3 different rooms in the house. What were they thinking? I still haven't found where it's wired in so the search continues. I also need to figure out how to plug the well. None of the local stores had a plug large enough for the hole. Anyway, the exterminator will be here tomorrow to do an inspection.

Sorry guys. I should be putting this in the construction forum. I'll get it right next time.