John Sayers' Recording Studio Design Forum Archive

I'm 1/2 of a noisy band that's building a small (20 ft x 20 ft x 13 ft) studio/practice space in our backyard.

Although I've read a lot (and learned a lot) on this forum, I haven't posted. The other day, as I was sanding the third coat of drywall, I thought "I should really put up something to solicit some feedback from other folks who think about building studios."

I'd love to get any thoughts, disagreements, suggestions, questions or the like from people who are interested in these kind of projects.

Studio Construction

If you've got a few moments to browse through what we're doing, please let us know what you think.

Thanks,

= Justin

Hi, I just saw your website and in the overview you mentioned the building had a ground level concrete slab, so I thought I'd better check to see if you mean grade level (Which I had which also floods out in my area with really wet rainy seasons, el ninuo(?)) so you may want to make sure that isn't going to happen at this point of your construction.
Good luck on your project.
Brian

bld -

Good point about the ground level.

Actually, the slab is exactly at ground level. To deal with this, I have put in a temporary concrete fill across the bottom of the door frame that comes up about 4 inches and should stop most rain (and, more troublesome, melting snow) frrm coming in. In addition, I will build out a small ramp leading up to the top of this 4 inch height, so as to be able to wheel amplifiers in and out of the space easier. The angle on the small ramp will meet a rubber gasket on the outside door, making the bottom a soundproof (and waterproof) seal.

I'll let you know how it goes.

= Justin

Hi feedback, Yes I raised the door threshold with cement too, I also had to seal around where the slab met the concrete foundation wall perimeter as our water table gets so high when the back of the property floods out like a pond as water would come up between the 2 sections inside my shop (when it was one, now to be a studio) I went thru a couple of winters during the el ninuo(?) period with getting 2-3 inches of water because the shop was built at grade level by the previous owners of the property.
So good luck with the project.
Brian