A beautiful place out in the country

[Soundman2020]

It also keeps you from using too much caulk. I would need about 2x the amount of caulk if I didn't use rod. So I'd have a bit more mass but more risk of cracking due to the frame expanding and contracting.

Right. There's no harm in using too much caulk, as long as you use the type that does not shrink at all, and does not crack. The issue, as you say, is cost. Caulk is about twice the density of drywall, so as long as your caulk is at least half the thickness of the drywall, you still have the same surface density across the entire leaf.

- Stuart -

[ZSXI]

Stuart - check your PM, email, etc. You went dark again...

[Soundman2020]

I did e-mail you: did you get that?

- Stuart -

[ZSXI]

Yes I did, thanks.

I owe this thread some updates. Hopefully soon. Oh wait, it's tax season. OK maybe in a couple weeks...

[Soundman2020]

I owe this thread some updates.

Yes please!


- Stuart -

[ZSXI]

Time for another update, or, how I spent my Spring...

Not very dramatic but this is a pic after finally cutting the lighting circuit in the room. I ran extension cords to all the lights in the room and wired up a temporary box in the corner on another circuit. Later this year I'll be removing those receptacles, patching the holes and adding another layer of drywall to this ceiling (which is the outer leaf).


For the most part, it's been about the beefing up -- a very slow process. This one of the removed windows, after being framed in with new siding and caulking underway. The window and doors take so much longer due to the extra pieces of drywall needing to go in smaller spaces.


Here's an example of an area above one of the removed windows. This is after removing the drywall & insulation, then cleaning up the space and caulking the framing. Here you can see the new piece of siding butting up to the old one. I also recently discovered it helps to write the dimensions in each space so I don't have to keep re-measuring. I just measure exactly & then remove 1/4" from each edge.


Now with the drywall and some backer rod.


Caulked in place with the cleats. There is still a spacer on the bottom. I typically come back the next day to fill those in.


Here's an entire wall in various states of progress. I added strapping to hold up the insulation. Not sure if I mentioned this but all the paper has been removed since I will have a proper vapor barrier on the inner leaf.


At this point I'm about 60% done with the wall beefup...

More to come...

[Gregwor]

Good work! The beef up and boxing in outer leaf crap is a nightmare. It feels like I'm never going to finish. You're right about all of the little pieces you need to add to ensure your surface density is consistent everywhere. Thanks for sharing the pictures!

Greg

[ZSXI]

You're right, it does seem to take forever. The inner leaf build seems like it will never happen, but maybe it doesn't take as long.

Here are a few more updates.

One other detail on the beefup -- When I got to the back wall, I noticed some moisture damage and/or mold. I think it is due to a couple factors. One is from old paint on the exterior. The other from loose nails in the siding and general gaps, mainly at the bottom. The building has since been painted and of course I will be caulking everything from the inside. So hopefully this won't be coming back. The wood itself feels solid & the drywall was fine. I put some Kilz primer over the discoloration -- it's supposed to help kill any leftover mold or mildew. This pic shows that, along with a corner that proved to be difficult. I think it's what framers call a California Corner -- which uses less wood. It's kind of hard to see but if you look at the top plate where the studs meet you can see there is about a 2" void running down the entire wall. There was no way I was going to get caulk inside that gap.


The solution was to just fill the gap with insulation & cover it with a 2x4, then caulk it. So there's a tiny 3rd leaf situation in this corner, don't tell anyone...

[ZSXI]

Some other things happened beyond the beefup...

Here is a window plug made from one layer of 3/4" MDF and one layer of OSB I had laying around. It weighs significantly more than the existing beefed up wall. I used green glue between the layers after priming for better adhesion. Mainly I just didn't want the GG to soak into the OSB & possibly de-laminate it.


Here's one of the windows. I stripped it down to the frame, got everything caulked so I knew it was sealed, then built up the surface so I'd have something to press against. I don't expect I'll ever take this out unless the window gets broken.

Then I used some marine grade weather stripping to make the seal. This is EPDM rubber which I think makes a really good seal. But... I didn't realize until later that it's really hard to glue together. So I had to buy some special super glue to seal the corners together and make it airtight. I put an extra square in each corner for reinforcement. The plug is attached with a series of screws around the perimeter (between the seals). I plan on doing the other window the same way.


Just FYI, for the inner leaf, I plan to have two plugs & will open them once in a while to check on moisture between the walls with a meter. I don't expect any but since I have a non-standard exterior (no house wrap or sheathing), I just want to have something in place to check. If I have a slight problem I can run a fan into one window and out the other once in a while. If I have a big problem I may have to consider adding house wrap and another layer of siding, which I really hope is not necessary.

[ZSXI]

The door. I decided to move the door away from the corner for two reasons. One, to make room in the corner for acoustic treatment. The corners are most important and I wanted to maintain symmetry in the room. The other is to make room for the electrical panel I'm trying to move outside the studio. More on that in a bit.

Here's the doorway looking into the studio with framing removed. I had a guy come out with a concrete cutter to remove that piece of stem wall.


One might expect that the concrete between the two sides of the wall was perfectly level, but that person would be wrong. So now I have this situation, where it's pretty much flush on the right, but not on the left:


After some research, what I plan to do is use a chipping hammer to get rid of this concrete, then something like Quikcrete to create a level surface for a door threshold. Kind of a pain but what isn't?

[ZSXI]

Last but not least, the panel. I finally found an electrician who seemed to understand what I want to do and won't charge me an arm and a leg to do it. Just an arm.

So here is the existing panel on the inside of the studio. It's kind of a rat's nest with the drywall removed and my temporary wiring. You can also see the new bit of wall I put up as part of the door move.


The feeder cables come up through the foundation in that conduit. They are only so long and can't be extended. So we're planning to re-route the conduit directly into the other corner. I got a new panel which will be inverted and installed on the other side of the wall. It will be lower to accommodate the feeder. My main concern is how well I'll be able to get some mass into the conduit to maintain isolation. Worst case I might have to build a little MDF box around the conduit once this is done. We'll also be running a new ground from the new panel through the wall. So I'll finally be able to access this corner and seal it all up!

Here is the other side of the wall. I built a fake "stud bay" to make room for the new panel and wiring. I still need to remove the bottom piece of drywall so I can make alterations to this wall. Why? Because I still don't have the exact dimensions necessary for the new door. I'm still working on the design. The door guy I spoke too has proven to be flaky like just about everyone else out here. I may have to build the door frame from scratch.



For this summer I'm hoping to finish the wall beefup and door, at least. I'd also like to get a basic HVAC system (baffles and fresh air to be retrofitted later) because it gets hot in here! That's all for now...

[Gregwor]

Good work! Are you windows maintaining the surface density of your leaves?

Sealing up your conduit: you could build boxes like you said, but stuffing insulation down the conduit and using a crap load of caulk in them should do the trick (as long as the caulk is below the concrete).

Greg

[ZSXI]

Good work! Are you windows maintaining the surface density of your leaves?

Yes, each plug is more dense than the surrounding wall will be. I feel pretty good about the seals except for possibly the bottom edge. I may need to wedge something in there to hold it tight.

Sealing up your conduit: you could build boxes like you said, but stuffing insulation down the conduit and using a crap load of caulk in them should do the trick (as long as the caulk is below the concrete).

I'm not too worried about the foundation side. It disappears into the concrete and then goes underground. So there's no chance of sound getting in from that side. I'm more concerned about the other side, the one going through the wall. I'll send a pic of what I did in the next post.

[ZSXI]

Great news, I finally got the panel moved! This was a bigger deal than it should have been. But I'm stoked that I can finally beef up this corner of the room and don't have to make special arrangements for an extra door, not to mention the difficulty in placing bass traps here.

This is the wall, all cleaned up. The conduit should not interfere with the inner leaf wall once it goes up. Other than beefing up, I just need to fill the holes in the top plate used to pass wiring through. I will keep a few in order to wire up the studio and there is one circuit (visible) running to the outside of the building. But those holes can be caulked easily.



Here is the new panel on the other side of the wall. I'll do another post on how I sealed up the conduit. I'm not 100% sure it was enough but we'll see. I also got a new & modern ground out of the deal. Two bonded rods instead of one!

[Gregwor]

That is a big job taken care of!

Since that conduit is part of your outer leaf, you will have to box it in... right?

Greg