John Sayers' Recording Studio Design Forum Archive

knightfly wrote: Still no good - as age creeps up (OK, runs at me with sharpened chainsaw) the bathroom is BARELY second in priority to pizza (sigh)

heh-heh. Its not that bad actually, my buddy Bob, who is 6'4" and about 275 fits, ducking and turning a little sideways, no problem.

I'm happy there is provision for a door there even though its a tad small, having imediate access to a full bath from the studio is nice. I just have to replace the door on the other side of the bathroom, with a lock facing out so guests can arrive through the side entrance/stairwell, use the bathroom, but not get into the house.

The original studio door is the same size as the door i want to replace, except it has no holes drilled for locks and such. The current door has a oddly sized mortise lock which i can't get the lock out to replace it (never got the key when we moved here), and since all the rounded screws are stripped i'm never getting the mechanism out either. So, the whole door goes. At least the old studio door is a solid door, unlike the door I'm going to replace, which is obviously a hollow p.o.s.

Just have to drill out "normal" locks and catches, and hinge it. The original studio door had a fence catch and fence hinges on the inside. Talk about lazy.

I love my $49.95 home depot router

BTW, the floor joists of my studio are 16", which is nice construction. Can support a lot of weight, and my floor doesn't creak as nothing flexes.

The garage ceiling is the standard 40's plaster over wire, so my desire to tear it out to insulation it was severely hampered by disliking plaster work.

Anyway, a friend of a friend of a friend, blasted in insulation into my floor from the studio side, by boring 3" holes in the crawl space floor, then pumping this foam stuff on it. I was assured that the "stuff" would "easily" reach the far side of the studio by the stairwell, based on the equipment he was using.

And sure enough, there was a small crack in the concrete of the side of the stairwell near the top, and the stuff oozed through and through the tongue and groove paneling in the stairwell through a few of the termite holes (yes, the cedar panelling is everywhere). Not sure what the stuff was, but its obviously very effective in order to be able to blast it all the way across a floor to the back wall from the front wall.

I'm expecting my studio to be nice and cozy this winter, and cool in the summer. I ran some new plumbing through the walls, down through the garage, and across the basement ceiling to the boiler, to ensure my studio is warm. There have been multiple problems - the heaters in my studio (hot water radiators) were fed by 1/2" copper tubing, there were 900 sharp 90 degree bends, so hot water flow was limited. Also, the studio is at the opposite end of the house so by the time the hot water got here, it wasn't all that warm, AND the heat would shut off because the thermostat is in the dining room, a room that is apparently well insulated. So now I have 3/4" feeds right off the furnace, and I've insulated the pipes all the way up here, though its still part of the same zone as the rest of the house.

So the walls and ceilings have been insulated, the floor has been insulated, and the plumbing redone with larger diameter pipe and less bends. I managed to do this with eight bends end to end.

Last winter I'd sit in my studio, and actually experience "wind" from several directions.

Very soon I'll be having a soldering party. Anyone want to come hang, solder, enjoy my wife's cooking?

I have 1000' of 24-ch TRS cable ready to go. Just have to figure out how to hump up the heavy spool. Rolling it up steep stairs didn't work. Got my leg trapped last time

I'm thinking *winch* LOL

My buddy's going to find out the brand, but its an aircraft chaulk - used inside the hull for repairs. It remains slightly flexible from -25C to about 150C he said. Normally its used to chaulk non-structural parts of aircraft that need to be airtight, that have been torqued loose. He stated its more of a glue than chaulk, as its always tacky even after sitting for ages. Its like liquid rubber, actually, in consistancy. Difficult to spread, makes nice beads, and holds well.

He believes its a GE product, and about $45 a tube

Looking good, Frederic. I wish I had had the foresight to install plywood underneath my drywall in my control room, but oh well.....

I'd love to come up and help you with your soldering, but I don't think I'll be able to get away from work at this time (unless, of course, you want to shell out $1000 a day for an assistant ). As for hauling that cable up the stairs goes, I would seriously consider leavig it at the bottom and putting the spool on a good solid pipe, then just pulling it up as needed (unless you have to go through a closed door, I guess).

Anyway, have fun. You're 20% of the way to completion!!!

Darryl.....

Looking good, Frederic. I wish I had had the foresight to install plywood underneath my drywall in my control room, but oh well.....

Thanks, its coming along slowly. Sheetrock time! Get the rig back wed afternoon, so I'll pick up the sheetrock wed early eve, and start putting it into place thur morning. Hopefully, I can most of it done before monday, when I actually have to start going to the office again

shell out $1000 a day for an assistant ). As for hauling

You mean pizza, beer, and the opportunity to pet Martha-Cat isn't enough? Geeeeeeeez.

that cable up the stairs goes, I would seriously consider leavig it at the bottom and putting the spool on a good solid pipe, then just pulling it up as needed (unless you have to go through a closed door, I guess).

There is a door at the bottom of the stairs, and the landing is just big enough for the spool. From my elec contractor days I have a reel feeder which I can put the spool on, the problem is I have to slide the reel pole from one end to the other, and there just isn't room to do so unless I put the whole thing on its side, and put the pole down. Then flipping it and rotating it is impossible. What I might have to do is set it up outside, feed through the door, then just leave the cable outside under a tarp when taking a break.