Basement studio in West Virginia: build diary

[britune]

John and Butch put the silencers in the ceiling and connected the ductwork. In the drum room, I cut shims to use between the joist and silencer, so the silencers could be screwed to the lower ceiling joist, but never touch the floor joist above or the floor above. I attached small pieces of wood to the silencers, to go through the two sheets of 5/8" drywall and attach the registers to. In the control room, those small wood pieces had to be longer, to go past the hat channel and the drywall.

They also put the ceiling insulation in the drum room.

They made an isolator for the conduit going to the electrcial panel, and did some beef up where the air returns only have some thin cardboard between the basement and the air return register on the first floor.

In general, I did not do any "beef up" of the floor above the studio though. I may replace the flooring up there over the next few years. If I do, I'll add green glue and a layer of OSB to the floor above, before I put down the new floor.

[John Sayers]

did you line the silencer box with insulation?? - doesn't look like you did.

[britune]

John- Check out the pictures on page 3. They are lined with 1" OC 703. Thanks.

I ran out to Radio Shack last night and bought some headphone extension cables to run to the three other rooms in the basement that I ran mic cables to. I forgot that if I want to record in those rooms, I'm gonna need headphones!

[bassman]

Before you insulate, go over the wires with a fine tooth comb to make sure you've got everything. I have Cat5, BNC and multi-core stuff going everywhere and it comes in handy when you least expect it. Remember that you can always run line level through your mic snake and put a headphone amp in the live room. I use Cat5 for the Hearback system.

Two layers with GG is just enough barely for drums. Go three layers if you can afford it and the frame can hold it. I made MDF boxes around all outlets and switches. They work just fine.

-ashley

[John Sayers]

John- Check out the pictures on page 3. They are lined with 1" OC 703. Thanks.

cool - just checking

[britune]

The Drywall arrives!

Butch and John started hanging it. They already put up the 1/2" drywall in the hall outside the recording area. Today the 5/8" drywall was delivered. They hung the drum room ceiling.

One question: In the corner of two walls, how exactly does the drywall get placed with the backer rod and caulk? Please see picture below... Is it picture #1, #2, or something different?

[Soundman2020]

I'd go with #1, I think, but I'm wondering why you use only 1/2" drywall on part of the build: that's pretty thin, and not so great for isolation! Why not just use 5/8 everywhere? More mass, better resonance characteristics, etc. Or is the 1/2" stuff going on walls that have nothing at all to do with isolation (not part of any MSM system)?

- Stuart -

[britune]

The 1/2" drywall went in the other (non-studio) parts of the basement.

My MAM is:
M(basement studio 5/8" drywall-green glue-5/8" drywall)
A(air gap between the studio walls/ceilings and the upstairs)
M(upstairs floor)

I never tried to isolate the studio from the rest of the basement. Although I may have inadvertantly done that somewhat.

[britune]

The first layer of drywall is still going up...

[britune]

John and Butch started putting up the 2nd layer of drywall, after applying 2 tubes of Green Glue per sheet. They have hung the ceiling drywall in the control room and drum room.

[britune]

I ordered glass window setting blocks and glazing tape from a website I found... http://www.technologylk.com/

I'll post later how that works out. They seem to have the products you need for a DIY window at a decent price...
1/4" x 3/8" Black Double Sided Glazing Tape Roll $18.05
1/8" x 1/2" x 4" Neoprene Setting Blocks - 100 Pack $21.71

I'll try and buy butyl caulking from Lowes.

I found a local glass dustributor who said they could get me 9/16" and 7/16" laminated glass.

I may get 9/16" for the drum room and 7/16" for the control room. They were about $250-$280 per piece (3' x 2.5')

[britune]

The second layer of drywall is hung. All of the backer rod and acoustic caulk is in place. They will start finishing the drywall now.

[britune]

The drywall is done.

The rooms are painted. We decided to pain an accent wall in each room. The control room is blue with a silver accent wall. The drum room is red with a silver accent wall. The accent wall in each room is the wall with the window to the other recording room.

We bought Valspar paint at Lowes and found a process called Brushed Pearl. You put down a base coat. After that dries, you put down a second coat with the Brushed Pearl tinted paint. Before that dries, you trowel it in circles.

I realize that the OC703 bass traps that I will make later will cover much of this up.

[John Sayers]

Great work and nicely documented for others to follow.

[britune]

The electrical wiring is done in the control room and drum room. The HVAC registers are in place. I still have electrical work to be done in the hallway.

I had some fancy lights that were pictured in an earlier post, but they got very hot and could be reached while standing. Someone could have gotten their hand burned. So I put in different light fixtures.