Basement studio-room project in Boston area

How thick should my walls be, should I float my floors (and if so, how), why is two leaf mass-air-mass design important, etc.

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Luftweg
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Location: Boston (North Shore)

Post by Luftweg »

Well, it's been a long time since I last posted anything...

A lot has gone on since, which is largely the cause of my lack of posting.

On November 1st, my father died;
in the months leading up to this, he had become increasing ill.
It has been tough on my mother and the family; we were not expecting him to die, but he had become weakened, and contracted an infection while in the hospital and could not fight it off in that weakened state.
It was fairly sudden.

With all this that had gone on, I had had little desire, or time, to work on any elective projects (I only worked on small things that were necessary, such as minor repairs here and there).

At this point, the studio project is on hold, because I have much more major ideas (not solid plans, just ideas).
Some of the ideas involve possibly moving to a new house even...
In the very least, major renovations on the existing house would be undertaken -- if there is no move; included is a second level, garage, and converting the existing space to an 'open-floor' plan with higher ceilings...

So, before continuing on any studio ideas, I must allow for any structural contigencies required for house-expansion, OR, decide whether it might be better to simply change locations...

I had previously been thinking of NH, VT, or ME... possibly even Western MA, so the whole 'move' thing is nothing all that new....
I'm quite fond of the country, and not so enthralled with the congestion closer to the city.

Anyway, I thought it was time that I had posted again.
guitardad72
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Post by guitardad72 »

K

Man, sorry to hear that about your father. My step father passed away suddenly in the hospital too.

Glad you posted... honestly I've missed your posting and progress on your build. I've referred a few posters lately for the 3 leaf posting on pages 1 and 2 of this thread... I believe you questioned triple leaf effect like no one else. For me one of the most memorable posts on this forum was Rods reply to you concerning 2 vs 3 leaf:
Repeat after me: (while kneeling in the lotus position with your hands raised and the thumb with pointer finger forming an "O" - the remaining finger pointed upwards).

Quote:
Whatever I can make perfect I will make perfect - whatever I have to live with I will Live with
.

And I thank you for your words which brought Rod to say that... I needed that advice. :oops:

Look forward to hearing news of which way you're going to go with your home location and studio.

Marc
As of Jun 2011, have not finished studio. But working as The One Man Band Marc Dobson which hopefully will continue up my career to a point where I can afford to finish my build.
Image
TomVan
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Post by TomVan »

Kenni,
I am so sorry to hear about your loss. There isn't much that can be said, keep your chin up and keep fighting the good fight.
Peace
Tom
sharward
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Post by sharward »

So sorry to learn about your loss, Kenni.

Thanks for the update.

I hope you'll keep us posted with your plans, even those not studio-related.

Hang in there, buddy...

--Keith :mrgreen:
"Converting a garage into living space requires a city permit . . . homeowners insurance won't cover a structure that's been changed without a building permit . . ." --Sacramento Bee, May 27, 2006
joey
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Post by joey »

my condolences.
Luftweg
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Corner sump redux

Post by Luftweg »

Well, as promised (and not by popular demand), here are some pics of the replacement of the corner sump with a much larger liner....

Mostly self-explanatory (whatever that means):
Note the amount of rock that was pulled from below the floor; you will see buckets filled with stone and such, but these were filled several times (i.e, the hole in the pic had far more material in it than what's pictured in the 5 gallon buckets or along the floor and walls);

Also note that I have since excavated further, including enlarging the diameter by about four inches (centered more internally on the floor, or further away from the walls, in order to avoid undermining of walls/footings);

The current 'on' point for the pump is at 12 inches below the floor; this is still above the level of the footing (even the off point appears to be above the bottom of the footing);
Pumping a bit lower beneath the floor should most probably lower the vapor pressure wanting to permeate through it, no?.... Plus it lowers the hydrostatic pressures at points more distant from the sump (higher gradient)...

Finally, the temporary pump 'holder' is a five gallon bucket with a whole bunch of 3/8 inch holes in it; pump is a Zoeller M98 secured to the bucket...
Cram
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Post by Cram »

Luftweg wrote:For documentary purposes, here is a bridge that was washed-over.
It is about 1/2 mile from my house.

The street I live on also had about 2 feet of water across at the worst time of the event (at the lowest point of the street); it had actually become a small pond at that point, connecting yards on both sides of the street (where the water was even deeper in the backyards of those houses).

My house is one house up from that! (note: I don't mean from these pics; alas, I don't have the pics of my street).
But with the dual sump pumps we nary saw some pretty minor seepage around the perimeter of the basement...
This was a good test -- a '100 year flood', as they called it.
Certainly, however, part of my work will be devoted to installing perimeter 'gutters', like Drytrak or SquidGee, that lead to the pumps.
It was a wake up call for sure.
All the talk you hear or read about making sure your basement is dry, before you begin serious finishing work, should be heeded.

K
Luftweg -

So we're approaching the aniversary of the mothersday rains. I am particularly excited this year because we've consulted basement systems of NH and they have installed two sump pumps with back ups and a parameter drain system to address this.

With the frost layer melting (during the days we're not receiving SNOW...) I notice more pump activity. For the first time in my life I am doing the rain dance to hope for a good test of this basement system so when I do construct our studio, I can be confident of the high water mark...

at any rate - your studio is very similar to the one I plan on constructing this spring/summer. Right down to the height from slab to joist...

Thank you for the documentation and history for a resource. This will help me along my way.
sharward
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Post by sharward »

Hey Kenni,

I'm glad Cram posted because it had the effect of bumping your thread, and I had not yet seen those pictures. Very cool!

Although, I must say -- it looks like the slab was/is very thin! :shock: It looks like it's only an inch or two thick in some areas along the edge of the hole! :? Is that an optical illusion?

--Keith :mrgreen:
"Converting a garage into living space requires a city permit . . . homeowners insurance won't cover a structure that's been changed without a building permit . . ." --Sacramento Bee, May 27, 2006
Luftweg
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Location: Boston (North Shore)

Post by Luftweg »

Cram....
Yes, this latest protracted storm provided a great test for my dual sump (2 pump, soon to be 4 pump(?), per sump) system...

Well, we got like 4.5 to 5 inches rain .... I haven't gotten a drop anywhere on the floor or walls (never got any on the walls before though anyway it seems)...
Even the air was dry, despite the sump pit still being open; dehumidifier never went on (okay, okay, I know what mite be said about radon, but it's all still temp... I will cover and vent the sumps to the outdoors eventually)...

Oh, and I don't know if you've caught up with the hiatus due to other things taking priority... (these are ENTIRE house renovations that will push back any studio plans for some time, unfortunately)...

Keith...
The pics showing the edge of the concrete are deceiving; it's not really as thin as it appears in some places...
For one thing the break is tapered from underneath, so, yes you are seeing a sharp, thin edge, but that quickly thickens to about 3 to 4 inches in most places...
Some other places -- at least ones I can see -- are much thicker, IF you count the 'large' stones (4 inch diameter) that are stuck into bottom of the concrete....

I may try to get a pic or two up, showing the concrete thickness.....

Keep dry all y'all,
K
Cram
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Location: NH (USA)

Post by Cram »

Good on you for getting the system installed. I've done the same and have no issues. Mine has two holes with two pumps in each (battery backup for secondary). At the peak of flow, one side of the house was pumping with only a 20 second interval, while the other was somewhere around 90 seconds.
jasonsmith
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Re: Basement studio-room project in Boston area

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