John Sayers' Recording Studio Design Forum Archive

Hi there,

my Drum Room in Room is making good progress and it's time to figure out what doors to get (typical 1 door on Leave 1 and 1 door on Leave 2 scenario).
Since it's a small room I would really like to install 2 Exterior Doors with Glass, either 1/2 Lite or Full Lite so that it won't feel claustrophobic. I am looking at existing Prehung doors first that I can beef up later which of course raises the glass issue. Is it even worth while to try or will the glass defeat my goal since there is probably little I can do to beef that up? Or will this be doable?
There are lots of door posts on here but I have not seen anything on which door to buy when going the pre-built doors route...other than the 1000's of dollar options.

thanks!

Nothing??? No one has used a door with glass who is willing to give some pointers?

Hi here is a thread...

http://johnlsayers.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=17469

It is really no different than glass in a wall construction. 2 panes of laminated glass with air gap. Maybe 3/8 and 1/2 inch or 1/2 and 3/4 inch thick. And just keep the amount of glass minimal enough for functional use.

Rod Gervais’s book goes into it indepthly.


Best,

David

Here's a sequence of photos taken by one of my customers in Australia, when he built the doors I design for his studio:


Door blank marked for window cut: Window hole cut: All layers of door glued and clamped together: Frames in place, ready to recieve doors: Inner-leaf door hung, but no seals in yet. Both doors hung, with seals in. Completed outer-leaf door, viewed from outside: View from outside with both doors open: View inside the completed studio:
The owner teaches drums, so it's LOUD in there, but the neighbor, just a few meters away, hears nothing at all.

Of course, it's not just what you see in the photos that matters! It's the complete studio design, including the door design. It all works together.


- Stuart -

thanks for reply.

I take it from that my original question on beefing up an existing door containing glass is a no no unless the glass is being replaced?

I've been going back and forth if I want to build a window or have a door with glass. If I have to build my own I feel more comfortable with building a window since that doesn't have to move on a daily basis and stick with a solid beefed up door

I take it from that my original question on beefing up an existing door containing glass is a no no unless the glass is being replaced?

The glass may well be just fine, but we'd need more details to be able to say. For example, how thick is the glass, and what type of glass is it? How much isolation do you need, in decibels?

I've been going back and forth if I want to build a window or have a door with glass.

Either option will work. Glass is not a problem in a door, as you can see from he series of photos I gave you in the example above. Since the window was designed along with the door, there were no issues: that door performs just as well as it would have if it had no glass. The glass could have been bigger, if the owner would have wanted that, as long as the design took that into account. The entire door could have been glass, except for a small metal frame around the edge, once again provided that the design took that into account.

In other words, it is possible to design a pair of doors either with or without glass, in any size glass pane, and using pre-hung doors or not as the basis. The issue is not so much the original basic door, but rather the overall design of what is done to that door in the design stage. If the math is correct, and the design is correct, then you can the results you want with pretty much any basic door slab. As long as it's not a hollow core door, that is! Hollow core doors are out. But if you start with a pre-hung solid wood door, with or without a window, that's a good start. You might need to replace the glass with something better, but that's not a bog deal.

If I have to build my own I feel more comfortable with building a window since that doesn't have to move on a daily basis and stick with a solid beefed up door

Putting a window in a door does not change any of that: you need to door anyway, and the door has to open and close, so it's irrelevant if the door has glass in it too. The glass is just a "bunch of mass" that is fixed permanently in place in the door. As long as the design is correct, that piece of glass will provide the exact same isolation as if it were wood, not glass. No difference.

In other words, if you want glass in your door, you can have glass in your door! It doesn't make any overall difference to the isolation, assuming that the design is done correctly.

- Stuart -

In other words, if you want glass in your door, you can have glass in your door! It doesn't make any overall difference to the isolation, assuming that the design is done correctly.

- Stuart -[/quote]

Thanks Stuart!

What I meant was I feel more comfortable structurally building a window into a wall not acoustically because of the constant movement of the door.
This is my first time building such thing, I have to be conservative

Anyway, I ordered 2 laminated pieces of glass last night for a small window in the two leafs (1 at 3/8" thickness and 1 at 1/2" thickness ) hope that will work out as planned.

Back on the door subject once more... didn't want to open up a new thread...

As mentioned I ordered laminated glass for a small separate window and now I am back on the doors without glass... Can I get a Steel door or does it have to be wood/mdf?
something like this?
https://www.homedepot.com/p/Steves-Sons ... /205365824

I read that steel might be a problem? Is that true?

One door for the inner wall one for the outer.... just to clarify

thanks

Hi,
How did you get on with your doors?
I have also been building/built a modest drum room and wanted glass doors, but have procrastinated due to the cost and risk of getting it wrong.
I made some temporary, knocked up wooden doors, which have been adequate to use the room but are not great (not getting the isolation I need) and I really need to address this.
Any insight greatly appreciated.
Thanks