John Sayers' Recording Studio Design Forum Archive

Hey Steve thanks for taking time to help out. I'm following you but I need clarification in several areas.


1.How many wall plates do I actually need? I hit the website you posted, called them and spoke with a rep. He told me part 248-126 would be required for 1/4 cables. He said I would need two plates for what I'm doing. He suggested I use one plate on one side of the wall and use another plate on the other. He said I should solder the two cables and my signal would not be compromised. Is he on point, can you confirm?


2. As you know I'm going to use 5/8 and 1/2 drywall as one leaf. The outside of the walls will be the 5/8 sheets. Do I cut the corners of the 1/2 drywall so it's corners don't touch the 5/8 corners? I was going to get every single sheet cut to EXACT size.


3. I'll go back and get the 2x4 and another package of Thermafiber. Do I build the top and bottom the exact way I'm building the walls? Two sheets of drywall on both sides of the studs with insulation between the cavities?

4. I'm going to get a solid core door but I will need to cut an area for glass or plexiglass (glass would be better). Should I cut first or wait until the door is istalled?


5. Lol@20 minutes! For some reason an image of myself gasping for air popped in my mind. How would I go about stopping this? Would some type of ac unit work? I don't want anyone to collapse in my home because of my iso booth.


6. The doors leading into the room are kind of thin. They arent solid core doors but solid crap doors. If I replace those doors would that help minimize the sound from the iso booth getting out?


7. What do you suggest I treat the inside of the booth with? sonex, aurelex or something else?

I want the door to open in the direction of the wall or it will swing open in the direction of the futon. I'm going to take the rest of this week this week buying materials. I have ten corner beads but you suggested I do the outside and inside. Thats no problem. Btw I can't stress how valuable your time and info has been. I know this site is geared towards large recording facilities and the construction of those facilities, but you've taken the time to help the "little guy". Thanks a million.



puppet

Actually, the site is geared toward all of us (me included) that have "champagne tastes and beer budgets", hence all the DIY stuff - if we were all that big, we'd just call up Russ Berger Design Group or Walters-Storyk Design Group, etc, and say "let me know when I can move in"...

Speaking of which, this "beer budget guy" needs to use the remaining daylight for outside work, so I'll have to get to your questions later this evening - I'm wondering if you've read the USG manual on cutting drywall yet, from your comments - if not, check the download link in the "sticky's" section - it's fairly big, but lots of information and free... Steve

1 - He's correct - didn't I explain the offset electrical box idea, and caulked wire entry/exit, etc, on another thread?

2 - No, the sheets on the same side of the frame are all part of the same leaf, so touching is no big deal - however, having sheet rock precut isn't usually a good idea. It's better to fit the stuff as you go - it's easy to cut, all you need is a razor blade type utility knife and a straight edge, and a wood rasp to smooth out the rough parts of the cut. For those corners, you would bring one sheet out to the edge of the frame, trim it flush, then bring the other wall's first layer out flush with the OUTER edge of the first sheet, then put the second sheet on the first side and trim it flush, etc - that way, the joint has all these interlocking edges, each of which you seal with acoustic caulk. Finally, the outside corner moulding goes on and you mud and tape, let dry, sand and paint. (or glue wood paneling on, or wall paper, or whatever you've chosen for the last layer.)

Check out the drywall link (and others) here, I just found this today and thought it would come in handy for the less experienced members -

http://www.hometime.com/Howto/projectlist.htm

3 - Right - same idea, same plan.

4 - If you're going to put a "light" in the door (window) it should be done BEFORE the door gets hung, otherwise you're likely to mess up the hinges/seals, etc.

5 - Depends - are there any existing AC vents near the booth location? You might be able to "borrow" some of the air flow from them, and build a labyrinth vent into and out of the booth - I'm working on a vent plan like this, but haven't had time to get far just yet - hopefully soon...

6 - Solid core doors, when you ONLY consider the panel itself, improve STC over hollow core interior doors by about 10 dB - however, that doesn't take into consideration the seals around the door, or leaks through any hardware. Those can all worsen performance if not as tightly sealed as possible. Also, the frame AROUND the door is usually adjusted by driving small wedges between the studs and the door frame, then molding is put over the crack - this isn't good for sound control, you need to remove that molding and stuff the crack with insulation, then caulk the crack on both sides of the wall and reinstall the molding.

Solid core doors are normally 1-3/4" thick instead of the 1-3/8" thickness of interior, hollow-core doors - if you change them out and don't want to change the frame as well, you will at least need to get the correct outside door hinges or they won't fit.

7 - Foam will work in your booth if you can't find or don't want to deal with rigid fiberglass, but if you use foam you should use the 4" thick stuff, and only do the top half of the booth, possibly only two adjacent walls to start. You can always add more if it's not dead enough.

remember, inside corner beads are NOT the same as outside ones - be sure and get the right ones when you shop.

Check out that link, it has a lot of valuable information (and the price is right :=)

Let me know if you need anything else... Steve