John Sayers' Recording Studio Design Forum Archive

Hi Everyone!

I've read and learned a lot on this forum but haven't posted much.
I do own and do most of my reading from Rod's Book/ Philip Newell and acoustic manual plus all the wonderful information you can find online.

I've started building my new studio about 6 months ago and we are now getting into some crucial details that are driving me and my contractor crazy. One of these things is the door frame for the "super door" as described in Rod's book.

I won't go into the reason why i had to hire a contractor i will just say that the politics of the building forced me to do so...we pretty much split the work 50/50 but he gets paid and i get back pain!

Now... the guy wants to use a pre made frame from home depot so that we can have the recessed hinges, to which i say: there is no need, plus a pre made frame will let air, therefore sound in and become the weakest link in the wall/door assembly.

1 My question is: do i just get a 1inch and a quarter piece of stock lumber and attach the hinges on that ( without being recessed? )
in my mind that should work since the double seal and double door stops will seal the door properly, still i am curious to know your opinions.

2 Another question is about windows. the control room wall is a double wall on separate plates and on separate floors, built with 18 gauge steel studs/roxul in every wall and 3 layers of sheetrock with green glue in between every layer.
I know the theory that my window should at least match the mass of the wall but i am seriously deficient in math and i would love to get some help on that if possible.
I do have 2 3/4 of an inch think glass panels that would be the control room window ( got them for super cheap from a closing studio )
I do have the option to buy other glass for the door and the small booth window.

I think that is all for now, i hope it was clear enough for everyone.


Thank you!





Here i am adding a panoramic of the whole studio plus details on the door frame and door size in question.

Hey Guys,

I think the window question wasn't clear.
I would like to gather information of how thick ( i know ideally they should be of 2 different thickness size)
the 2 glass window need to be in order to match the double wall plus 3 layers of drywall assembly.

Thank you!

I know everyone is super busy or enjoying their sunday and i really appreciate what this forum provides for DIYers.
I would be really great if anyone could give me some pointers today if possible.. tomorrow i have the truck rented to go get material and i am still torn on what to do, haven't stopped researching but didn't find anything.

Thank you all!


Ale

I think i have sorted out the window problem,
Here we go with the monologue:

Still don't know what to do with the door frame Hinge side.
Should i buy a standard one and use longer screws to get to the studs in the wall?

Should i use the 5/4 lumber? if I do so, how do it attach/inset the hinges to it?
do i need to inset the hinges, if i do how do i go about that?
I know this seems like an obvious question to most of you but it isn't for me!
Thanks

Ale

Polite Bump.

Hi there Ale, and Welcome!

Now... the guy wants to use a pre made frame from home depot so that we can have the recessed hinges,

Whooaaa! Your contractor does not know hoe to mortice hinges into frame that is not pre-hung? Sorry, but you need another contractor!

Any carpenter, even a mediocre one, knows how to do that: You can do it either manually with a chisel, or used a router. Both ways work. The router is faster and cleaner, but chisels have been used for this very thing for centuries before routers were invented!

1 My question is: do i just get a 1inch and a quarter piece of stock lumber and attach the hinges on that ( without being recessed? )

Why don't you want to recess them? It's easy. See above.

Do not buy a standard pre-hung door or frame: do not use standard hinges. Rod's door is HEAVY! Very VERY heavy. You cannot hang it on three normal hinges in a normal frame. You need at least four extra.heavy duty hinges, and I often use five, or more.

Take a look at these photos, to see how studio doors are normally done. This is not a Superdoor: it is two typical back-to-back doors that I designed for a customer in Australia:
Not the hinges: a total of six. Three near the top, two near the bottom, and one in the middle. Not the framing: Three full studs on each side of the door, plus extra bracing in the adjacent bays. Here are some more photos:
You can see both of the doors there, back-to-back, with some of the hinges and he triple seals.

Here's a view from outside: The doors are massively heavy, and need substantial support.

I do have 2 3/4 of an inch think glass panels that would be the control room window

For the windows, that would be fine. Is that laminated glass? If so, even better.

- Stuart -