Room in room walls, ceiling and isolation??

maarten · Post by **maarten** » Thu Jul 01, 2004 5:31 pm

Hello everyone,

I am going to build a studio next month, and I already got a design (below) (new suggestions welcome). I am going to make room in room constructions. There is only one area attached to my studio, and that is on top of it. I really have to make shure there is no sound going up there because these guys make sample-cd's and it is not really nice to hear a bass-kick. The ceiling is pretty thick.
My questions are: How much space do I have to have between the walls?, How thick should my room in room walls and ceiling be? What kind of material should I use for walls and ceiling? And what is the best way/design to make the room in room walls (layers, material etc.)? I hope you all could help me out...
(I was a bit enthousiast with the stuff I could out in the drawing, so maybe it is a bit over the top, but you can understand the design)

Greetings Maarten (Holland)

Post by **Aaronw** » Fri Jul 02, 2004 3:50 am

What is the construction made of above? What is your ceiling height?

maarten · Post by **maarten** » Fri Jul 02, 2004 9:15 am

ok, sorry,

The ceiling is a brick ceiling, I think it is 30 (maybe 35) cm thick (drawing).
My upper neighbors (my only neighbors) have a wooden floor on top of my ceiling with a bit of isolation between it.
I haven't got a clue about the size of my walls, ceiling. And how I should built them. same for the windows and doors. I am going to get my material pretty cheap, like thick windows and doors, but I really have to know how to put it togheter, and to get the best isolation.
I attached a drawing of my studio from the right side, I hope you can give me some nice advice on the room in room construction and walls, doors etc.

Greetings Maarten

AndrewMc · Post by **AndrewMc** » Sat Jul 03, 2004 8:00 am

You could use Johns inside out wall design for the walls (check this for some photo's of inside out walls http://johnlsayers.com/Studio/Mainpage/ ... ctions.htm). The walls can be heavy though. Althernatively - you could build the frames and then drywall them.

Your walls should be 2x4 stud walls - with a few inches gap between each wall. With 2 layers of 5/8" drywall on the walls you will have some great isolation between rooms.

knightfly · Post by **knightfly** » Tue Jul 06, 2004 6:37 am

Maarten, there is a lot of such info in the "stickies" at the top of this forum; if you can read through them, they will answer several possible questions and show quite a few drawings.

Once you've done that, you'll likely still have questions but they will probably be DIFFERENT questions... Steve

I've deleted your other post, it works better for all if you don't double post. We can keep your questions all in the same thread for now - the image was the same, here's your other question -

Could somebody give me some nice designs for walls and ceilings, and how I have to put the doors in a wall! I put down a picture of my studio design.

Thank you very much,

Maarten

maarten · Post by **maarten** » Tue Jul 06, 2004 8:12 am

ok, I am sorry

. But I went through all the stickies and did not really found a design for a wall. Ofcourse I did found wall designs but not specific enough, but I did found a door drawing though (and I will look through the stickies again). What I am wondering about are the layers and material. For now I was thinking about a layer of MDF (on the outside of the construction), a layer of isolation material (I don't understand anything about the isolation explenations in this forum, probably because I am dutch

) and a layer of (?) plaster (board) on the inside. I want to put wood or carpet on top of that. But is this good enough? I don't want to build a studio and complaining neigbors after a few months!! There are going to be bands every evening so I really would love to have a perfect isolation (though I don't ow a gold mine). I draw a picture of my idea of isolating my studio, maybe you can give me a advice on that?
Well hope to get some nice ideas from you all, and sorry again.

Greetings Maarten

knightfly · Post by **knightfly** » Tue Jul 06, 2004 12:06 pm

No apologies necessary - we get quite a few inquiries from people who haven't taken the time to look at what's already here, I just wanted to make sure you had checked around, so I didn't have to repeat myself.

A few more questions - is that thick glass in your ceiling a skylight, and do you need to NOT cover it up?

Do you still have access to your brick walls, and can you plaster the inside surface with about 12mm of mortar?

Are you willing to build a complete "room in a room" design, and if so, what types of building materials are available (and affordable) locally ? Specifically, wood framing lumber or metal? Gypsum wallboard is usually the cheapest and best material for inner walls, is that available in 12mm and 15mm?

For an independent ceiling, you would need to use at least 35mm x 140mm ceiling framing for your longer spans (live room, possibly control room) if using wood framing; you'd need to check on availability of that material, along with a good supply of wallboard and materials for application. If you'll be using other materials, we need to discuss this as well. Other names for gypsum wallboard - gyp-rock, plasterboard, sheet rock, gyp-board, probably a few more I've forgotten. They are all the same material.

Can you add to your drawing to show where the hallway is located (mentioned in the elevation, but not in the floor plan)

These projects always take more time (and money) than estimated, so please bring a good supply of patience and understanding (as well as tools and materials) - by the time you're done, you'll be a pro at this

Steve

maarten · Post by **maarten** » Wed Jul 07, 2004 9:11 pm

well, I do have to cover up the thick glass area. It is not a skylight anymore, they builded another floor ion top of me!

Well, material, ehm as you can see in my last pisture. I want to use wood on the outside of the frame (18mm). (we are also thinking about putting a layer of air wool (the pink stuff)between the brick wall and the frame) It is going to be a wooden frame. (The brick wall is plastered already). Then the isolation material (glasswool, 800mm). And gypsum on the inside of the construstion. I want to finisch it with a nice carpet or wooden layer on the inside of the studio.
There is a thick wooden floor already (I think isolated as well), thats 15 cm thick. We are going to build the frame on this floor.
I made a new drawing of the elevation, with a piece of the hallway.

Greetings Maarten

(can you explain me how to attache a downloadable picture made in Smart Draw, bacause I made a new floorplan with all the exact measures of the studio incl room in room construction. But this picture is too big to add as a picture. And if I am going to make it smaller, the sizes are unreadable, Thanks...)(well i did tried something a second ago, so maybe I attached it now

)

maarten · Post by **maarten** » Thu Jul 08, 2004 12:52 am

PS: What do you think about a wooden floor through all of the studio (I don't know how it's called, but the internet says Laminaat!), because I am not shure if this is a good idea when I think of acoustics. I want to put carpet against the walls, with some wood here and there.

Greetings Maarten

Post by **Aaronw** » Thu Jul 08, 2004 1:14 am

The nice thing about if you put hard woods or laminate hardwoods down, is that you can always throw down an area rug if you need absorption, or you leave the wood for reflection/live sounds.

Aaron

maarten · Post by **maarten** » Thu Jul 08, 2004 1:20 am

Yeah great, that was my idea as well!!

Thanks