Suspended Floor-Question on if this is a good idea
Posted: Sat Sep 21, 2019 4:35 am
Hi, this is my first post here, so hope I get it right =)
I am in the research, design, trying to figure out a decent way to move forward phase. I am wanting to build a home studio for just my personal use. I am started at the ground level & working my up. I will be doing the majority of work myself. I have a budget of about $30,000.00, but I am starting to wonder if even that will be enough to make the build happen. As I have already hit a snag, the floor. I have about 600 square feet of space in my basement to use for the studio. But before I even get to any layout design ideas. I think I need to deal with the floor to see if the space is even a good idea to use in the first place.
The floor is a suspended floor above dirt & vaper barrier. There is a mound of dirt under the floor that varies about 3 feet to about 20 inches away from the 5/8” OSB floor. The 5/8” OSB floor is framed out over 8 inch tall steel studs & “I” beams. From what I have been researching on my own so far, I am thinking this is one of the worst floor designs you can have for a studio. Needless to say, my heart is a little sunk.
I will say I am pretty good with construction, but out of my league when it comes to “correct” building procedures, when it comes to what a recording studio would need. So, my idea is to have a small 2 room studio for my own personal use. There would be a ‘live’ tracking room & a mix/control room. Mainly for recording metal music. The ‘live’ room will probably hit decibel levels of about 110 to 115 or more. The control room, when mixing would be about 45 to 70. Up to about 100 when need. But I am not too concerned with the sound going outside of the studio. The house is far away from neighbors that noise complaints will not be an issue. And the surroundings are quiet enough that outside noise coming into the studio would be at a minimum. Sound proofing will be needed, but not on the super important list of needs, if that makes sense. Really, my only main objective is to have a mixing room that is frequency correct enough to actually mix well in. And I am thinking with the floor the way it is though; the whole project is already out the door. The current floor to ceiling height is 8-6” & I will need to build out the ceiling some. When that is said & done, it will probably be about 8’. So, I do not want to build the floor up any more than it is. The room size is about 17’ x 35’.
So, here is my idea for the floor. And if it is, let’s say, the dumbest idea ever haha. At least it will be good to know before I ruin my house. I am wanting to remove the 5/8” OSB sub-floor to expose the 8” steel Studs & “I” Beams. Then in between the 8” steel studs (they are about 18” apart from one to the next) build in something like a layered system. Everything would be custom cut to fit, tight, between the studs. The layered system would go like this…
Layer #1: 5/8” OSB
Layer #2: 4” Thick 60 PSI Insulation
Layer #3: 5/8” OSB
Layer #4: 5/8” OSB (Sub-Floor)
Layer #5: 3/8” Wood Flooring - Finished
With Green Glue between each layer & closing up all seams. This would all go up flush with the top of the 8” steel studs & then put the 5/8” OSB sub-floor back down. So, the top layer would be 2 layers of the 5/8” OSB, if that makes sense. (Hopefully the drawing attaches correctly to show this system & some pics of the studs). Then I would put a 3/8” thick wood flooring to finish it off.
I have no idea what this will do to the resonate frequency of the floor. Do something positive or make it worse.
I guess what I am asking is if this is a smart way to go or if even attempting to do anything to the floor is a waste of time & money.
Thank you for your time looking at this crack pot of an idea I have. Any questions or criticism let me know.
Nick
I am in the research, design, trying to figure out a decent way to move forward phase. I am wanting to build a home studio for just my personal use. I am started at the ground level & working my up. I will be doing the majority of work myself. I have a budget of about $30,000.00, but I am starting to wonder if even that will be enough to make the build happen. As I have already hit a snag, the floor. I have about 600 square feet of space in my basement to use for the studio. But before I even get to any layout design ideas. I think I need to deal with the floor to see if the space is even a good idea to use in the first place.
The floor is a suspended floor above dirt & vaper barrier. There is a mound of dirt under the floor that varies about 3 feet to about 20 inches away from the 5/8” OSB floor. The 5/8” OSB floor is framed out over 8 inch tall steel studs & “I” beams. From what I have been researching on my own so far, I am thinking this is one of the worst floor designs you can have for a studio. Needless to say, my heart is a little sunk.
I will say I am pretty good with construction, but out of my league when it comes to “correct” building procedures, when it comes to what a recording studio would need. So, my idea is to have a small 2 room studio for my own personal use. There would be a ‘live’ tracking room & a mix/control room. Mainly for recording metal music. The ‘live’ room will probably hit decibel levels of about 110 to 115 or more. The control room, when mixing would be about 45 to 70. Up to about 100 when need. But I am not too concerned with the sound going outside of the studio. The house is far away from neighbors that noise complaints will not be an issue. And the surroundings are quiet enough that outside noise coming into the studio would be at a minimum. Sound proofing will be needed, but not on the super important list of needs, if that makes sense. Really, my only main objective is to have a mixing room that is frequency correct enough to actually mix well in. And I am thinking with the floor the way it is though; the whole project is already out the door. The current floor to ceiling height is 8-6” & I will need to build out the ceiling some. When that is said & done, it will probably be about 8’. So, I do not want to build the floor up any more than it is. The room size is about 17’ x 35’.
So, here is my idea for the floor. And if it is, let’s say, the dumbest idea ever haha. At least it will be good to know before I ruin my house. I am wanting to remove the 5/8” OSB sub-floor to expose the 8” steel Studs & “I” Beams. Then in between the 8” steel studs (they are about 18” apart from one to the next) build in something like a layered system. Everything would be custom cut to fit, tight, between the studs. The layered system would go like this…
Layer #1: 5/8” OSB
Layer #2: 4” Thick 60 PSI Insulation
Layer #3: 5/8” OSB
Layer #4: 5/8” OSB (Sub-Floor)
Layer #5: 3/8” Wood Flooring - Finished
With Green Glue between each layer & closing up all seams. This would all go up flush with the top of the 8” steel studs & then put the 5/8” OSB sub-floor back down. So, the top layer would be 2 layers of the 5/8” OSB, if that makes sense. (Hopefully the drawing attaches correctly to show this system & some pics of the studs). Then I would put a 3/8” thick wood flooring to finish it off.
I have no idea what this will do to the resonate frequency of the floor. Do something positive or make it worse.
I guess what I am asking is if this is a smart way to go or if even attempting to do anything to the floor is a waste of time & money.
Thank you for your time looking at this crack pot of an idea I have. Any questions or criticism let me know.
Nick