John Sayers' Recording Studio Design Forum Archive

that's my preferred approach - building boxes around the outlets and switches versus simply using putty pads.

Thanks Glenn! Yeah I built a bunch of little boxes for AC and low voltage wiring.
But putty pads have their uses too...

I bought three 8 channel mini snakes and built some airtight MDF housings to flush mount the stage boxes.

Also built hatches for the water meter and main shutoff, and the shut off for the outdoor spigot.

Pre-wiring for the Mini Split:
$5000.00 later... Mini Splits installed

The other ends of the snakes in the control room.
Live room ready for drywall...

might be late - did you split the audio conduit and recouple with rubber joint? to decouple between frames (if so attached).

Thanks Glenn!

The PVC conduit is just there to make the opening for the snake pigtails look good. It's only about 4 inches of pipe and does not connect through to the other side.

The light boxes look great!
One of the lights looks like it is in the blue electrical box surrounded by 2x4 and then some have the bigger MDF boxes. What is the difference ?
And for the electrical boxes, is the 2x4 box around those just built to tightly fit the electrical box ? No safety concerns with that ? I like the idea and want to do it!

Hi Christopher,

Thanks for reaching out! I made the bigger MDF boxes for the LED recessed "can" lights. They don't have cans, just a little LED module and a driver module that houses the junction box.

The ceiling drywall (first layer) butts up against the MDF boxes, and the 2nd layer goes right over them. Then we cut another 4" hold in the 2nd layer drywall to install the lights.

The other smaller boxes were made out of scrap 2x4s, backed with scrap MDF and sealed with caulk. They just fit around the boxes for the outlets and other wiring. The ones in the ceiling are for a surface mount light and 2 smoke detectors.

No safety concerns because all the electrical is to code - all junctions are in accessible boxes no hidden splices etc. The electrician did mention it may shorten the lifespan of the LED ceiling lights a little bit due to heat build up, but if that happens they can easily be replaced.

Will post some more pictures when I get a chance.

Steve

if the lights are in the box enclosures, then leaving the light open to the room will help dissipate the heat (which is processed as part of the overall cooling strategy.

Gigalittle wrote:Hi Christopher,

Thanks for reaching out! I made the bigger MDF boxes for the LED recessed "can" lights. They don't have cans, just a little LED module and a driver module that houses the junction box.

The ceiling drywall (first layer) butts up against the MDF boxes, and the 2nd layer goes right over them. Then we cut another 4" hold in the 2nd layer drywall to install the lights.

The other smaller boxes were made out of scrap 2x4s, backed with scrap MDF and sealed with caulk. They just fit around the boxes for the outlets and other wiring. The ones in the ceiling are for a surface mount light and 2 smoke detectors.

No safety concerns because all the electrical is to code - all junctions are in accessible boxes no hidden splices etc. The electrician did mention it may shorten the lifespan of the LED ceiling lights a little bit due to heat build up, but if that happens they can easily be replaced.

Will post some more pictures when I get a chance.

Steve

Thanks alot Steve! Great thread !! Awesome looking build, I appreciate the follow up as well. Hope all is well!

Here are some more details of the boxes as the drywall was being installed. I took care to re-caulk and make sure they were airtight as the first layer went on.

More Pics...

Recessed Lights Installed: