New Garage>Studio Conversion. Rip out existing walls?

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cprescott1972
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New Garage>Studio Conversion. Rip out existing walls?

Post by cprescott1972 »

Hello! I am about to embark on a new studio building project. Soundproofing is important but not super critical. It's a noisy street. I probably need to soundproof it more to keep the motorcycles from the street out of my recordings. Rather than annoying neighbors. I'll be drumming it up but also recording quiet acoustic instruments. Full spectrum of music styles.

I am going to use the back half of the large separate 2 car garage. Planning on building the wall at an angle to avoid reflective flutter etc. My initial question is whether it's worth tearing out the interior drywall to replace the R-13 standard pink insulation with something heavier like rock wool, or it it better to save the effort and expense for other treatments and build over what's already there? Pretty sure it's currently standard 1/2" sheet rock over the insulation and exterior stucco. Looking into the first steps in the new construction.

Also, there is an exterior door that faces a neighbor's yard. (South wall) The door opens inward so doing a double door wouldn't work without some obvious and strange exterior second door framing. Anyone else dealt with this issue?
Thanks very much for suggestions!

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cprescott1972
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Re: New Garage>Studio Conversion. Rip out existing walls?

Post by cprescott1972 »

Any thoughts on this? Thanks.
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Soundman2020
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Re: New Garage>Studio Conversion. Rip out existing walls?

Post by Soundman2020 »

Hi there "cprescott1972", and Welcome! :)
Soundproofing is important but not super critical.
OK, but how much do you need? There are equations and tables and charts for figuring out how to build your walls, but they are all based on the number of decibels of isolation that you need. So you should first measure that.
Planning on building the wall at an angle to avoid reflective flutter etc.
That's not necessary. Flutter echo can be dealt with in several ways, with the treatment that you will need anyway, plus angling the wall wastes space. You only need angled walls if you are doing something like an RFZ design concept.
My initial question is whether it's worth tearing out the interior drywall to replace the R-13 standard pink insulation with something heavier like rock wool,
Why do you think you'll need heavier insulation? It's not the weight or the density as such that matters, but rather the density according to the type of insulation, and the type of application. Mineral wool insulation needs one density, and fiberglass needs another. Ceiling clouds need one density, and bass traps need another. Etc. It depends on what you want to do, and also on your budget, the available space, your building skills, etc.
Pretty sure it's currently standard 1/2" sheet rock over the insulation and exterior stucco. Looking into the first steps in the new construction.
Depending on how much isolation you need, you will very likely need to remove that drywall, regardless of what you decide to do with the insulation. 1/2" drywall on the same studs as the outer leaf is not going to give you any useful isolation. So you'll probably need to take that off, and build new framing all around the room, an inch or so away from the existing walls, as your inner leaf, then put a couple of layers of 5/8" drywall on only one side of that new framing.
The door opens inward so doing a double door wouldn't work without some obvious and strange exterior second door framing. Anyone else dealt with this issue?
Exactly as you say, and as I mentioned above: you will need to build another frame inside the existing shell, and that frame will carry your second door. The easiest solution to the inward-opening problem of the existing door, is simply to reverse the sense of that door so it opnes outwards.

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cprescott1972
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Re: New Garage>Studio Conversion. Rip out existing walls?

Post by cprescott1972 »

Wow! Thanks for the great and very detailed response. I really appreciate it. Seems like you have some great ideas.
There's one thing that is snagging me though. I'd like to go all the way to the ceiling but there are rafters in the 8' zone. Then the roof begins and slants upwards to 12.5 feet. I'd love to be able to use this space above the rafters. My last garage studio conversion was a room within a room concept that was built beneath the rafters. It was tricky getting a good drum sound with the very low ceilings.

I'm wondering if there's a way to build the walls with the separate framing you described but then use a separate method on the ceiling with an attempt to decouple the rafters from the new interior studio wall. I know I'll lose sound through the roof but it seems like it might be a decent trade off for getting the extra height in the room. Is this possible to build a moderately soundproof room with this sort of hybrid building technique?

I'm sure someone has dealt with this with some success. I just can't get my mind around how to build the roof into the sound proofing plans.
Thanks for any suggestions.
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Soundman2020
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Re: New Garage>Studio Conversion. Rip out existing walls?

Post by Soundman2020 »

I'm wondering if there's a way to build the walls with the separate framing you described but then use a separate method on the ceiling with an attempt to decouple the rafters from the new interior studio wall.
There are several ways of doing that. One is to build the ceiling "inside out", with the drywall on top and the joists below, then use the gap between the joists for your treatment. Another way is to use RSIC clips and hat channel on the existing joists, then hang drywall below that.
is this possible to build a moderately soundproof room with this sort of hybrid building technique?
Yes! :)

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cprescott1972
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Re: New Garage>Studio Conversion. Rip out existing walls?

Post by cprescott1972 »

Hybrid-wall-construction-idea.jpg
Here are a couple ideas I came up with regarding the wall concept. One is a room-within a room design, giving me 8.5' ceilings but allowing for ceiling ventilation and creates a little storage above the studio. The other is an isolated wall design but still utilizes the existing ceiling, giving me 12' + to use for tracking drums etc. This design has insulated the existing ceiling and I'm a little a worried abut creating a mold situation since the air tight gap between the roof and the new drywall will not be vented to the outside. Maybe a potential problem?
Take a look. Thanks!
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cprescott1972
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Re: New Garage>Studio Conversion. Rip out existing walls?

Post by cprescott1972 »

OK. So I've been rethinking the design a bit. Here's where I'm at now. Using larger lumber for ceiling joists. Room within a room design. Any thoughts on this? Any suggestions are welcomed. Thanks!
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Soundman2020
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Re: New Garage>Studio Conversion. Rip out existing walls?

Post by Soundman2020 »

That will work. It's a 3-leaf, but sometimes you have no choice, and your situation is one of those cases.

Did you check that 2x8 joists are the right size for spanning your room with that load? It's important that you get the correct dimensions there...

Instead of chicken wire, you could also use strips of plastic mesh to hold the insulation in. Staple that just a short distance up the side of each joist, and stretch it reasonably taught, so that the weight of the insulation does not cause it to bulge down far enough to touch the fabric.

- Stuart -
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