Home recording studio

[mosk]

Hi. Looking for advice on a two level, 16' x 22' addition to our colonial house in Richmond, Virginia (U.S.), with the 22' dimension projecting straight into the backyard, perpendicular to the house (all above ground). The upper level is going to be a sun room, completely open to the dining room and hence noise from the rest of the house. The lower level, coming directly off our walkout basement, will hopefully serve the following functions:

1) A place to play and record electric piano and vocals without that noise permeating the house or neighborhood (most lots are between 1/4-1/2 acre, and houses are roughly 30-40 feet apart)
2) A green-screen recording studio, for weekly interviews with two people sitting at a desk with a digital background. May also feature green-screen recordings of a standing or walking subject (with option for low budget Cosmos-like effects) - usually just speaking at a normal volume.
3) If noise control is sufficient, would also like to be able to do occasional recordings and green-screen videos of a couple of bands (featuring bass, guitar, banjos, and vocals - ideally would be suitable for drums as well if that doesn't introduce too much extra expense)

I've never had a studio before, and would welcome any advice we should pass on to our builder. Have mentally budgeted $3000 or so to help reduce noise spilling in and out of the studio - somewhat flexible on that, and could use help prioritizing what should be done (since I've gathered there's no point spending a ton on the walls if most of the noise will come through the ceiling/sun room anyway).

Current plans for the 16' wide x 22' long x 9' high studio are to have a smooth finished concrete slab floor, part of which will be painted green for videos where subject is standing or walking. When floor doesn't have to be in the shot, would roll out a carpet to reduce sound bouncing off floor. There will be one heavy door connecting this to the basement and no windows. Heating/cooling/ventilation to be done with a 'Mini Split' which our builder recommended for efficiency and low noise.

From the required reading for the forums, I was planning to have the build a 2 ply wall with 1" space in between, with no sheetrock on the inner/hidden surfaces - so Sheetrock>stud>1" air gap>another stud>more sheetrock - with rockwool between the sheetrock but no paper facing inside since that would ruin air spring damping.
Wasn't sure if it's worth putting MDF outside the sheetrock on one or both sides - I saw that increased mass would help reduce noise flow.

Our builder had also spoken about just a single six inch wall with some heavy material sprayed between to dampen sound - not sure the exact product or if that would be worth considering. Forums here made the 2 ply with air gap look like good idea for new construction.

I believe we're going to have one steel beam running the 22' length of the ceiling. Any recommendations on what to do for ceiling. I can make sure there's no foot traffic in the Florida room when I'm recording, but there will be regular noise from people talking in the house and a television several rooms away. Would a regular sheetrock ceiling, and then a drop-ceiling of tiles be adequate?

We also have a Trane heat pump that will be outside in the backyard probably only a couple feet away from the studio. Do I need to see if they can move that - or would the walls with air gap reduce the outside noise so not an issue (or would a simple wall outside between the unit and studio be enough to deflect most of the noise?

I do not need professional recording studio quality. But I do want to avoid loud, obvious noises that would ruin a news type program. Is the split wall with rockwool enough to block out a neighbor with a lawnmower or chainsaw in the neighborhood?

I'll also need Skype as an ongoing part of the show, and will have a computer in the studio. This will generally be a one person operation - though may have a helper at times. Wasn't planning to set up a separate 'control room' or vocal booth - but if there's something I should do up front in construction that would be much harder to add later, happy to hear any advice.

Images attached below - and thank you for any help. House repairs are already underway, and construction to follow in a couple of weeks (yeah, I wish I'd posted earlier, but ran into registration snafu and just getting back to it)

[mosk]

Hi -posted this a couple of weeks ago. Not sure if I left out anything vital or people just too busy to get to it - but construction on this part is going to start soon and would love any advice from those who've been through this before and have recommendations. Thanks.

[xSpace]

"so Sheetrock>stud>1" air gap>another stud>more sheetrock -"

Exactly what will the bottom part of the structure be constructed with?
If it will be concrete then you simply(knowing nothing else about your project) frame an interior wall assembly and sheath the interior of that newly framed assembly.

Assuming you have an existing structure this will be your exterior shell...the Mass in the mass air mass.

So you do not want to specifically build a double wall assembly system on the interior of a structure that has an existing exterior wall, since this existing wall will be part of the double wall assembly.

Does that make sense?

Your new structure framing for this house would be unsheathed, means has nothing on the interior side of the framing. Then you would erect the interior framing.

Then you would sheath that interior framing.

[mosk]

Hey xSpace -

Thanks for the reply. The addition will be built on a concrete slab and it will be frame construction (with vinyl siding) as opposed to concrete - and this lower portion (which will abut our walkout basement) is all completely above ground since our yard slopes down to the back.

SO does the drywall-stud-air gap of 1" - stud - drywall make sense for this situation?
(the only shared wall with the house will be a thick cinder-block wall along a 16' span (minus a door) coming off the basement).

And in terms of ceiling, any suggestions? There will be a sun room with lots of windows above the studio. I can make sure no one is walking around there when I'm recording, but the sun room will be open to the house so I would hate to do lots of work with double walls downstairs and have those efforts go to waste if all the noise just comes through the ceiling.

Builder was thinking of spraying some type of foam in the ceiling gap which he's done in home theaters to minimize noise transmission - but didn't know if that would be good enough or if there's any cost effective means that's better that I should consider during construction. (ceilings are 9 feet high, room is 22 x 16 feet) (pictures and more info in original post below)

Thanks.