Basement studio/drum room advice needed
Posted: Tue Nov 24, 2020 3:28 pm
Hello! seeking some advice on a build in progress ... short timeline, but want to do it somewhat "right". So I seek advice from the pros, and the experienced (ie, all the great folks on this forum!)
I am a rock drummer, and producer/mixer/recoding engineer (in my own band, lol). In other words, I like to play loud, and play with a DAW to record our noise making. Not a professional in either job, but it sure is a fun hobby. I also build and race cars ... totally different, but the footwork is sometimes similar
Anyway, I am about to start my basement drum/jam room and sometimes recording studio. I have read a crapload of articles, and watched a tonne of vids. I think I have a good base (and I'm a pretty good study), but need some help to wade through the bullshit and the MANY options. I'm also pretty good with sketchup, so I plan to mock up everything before construction.
Attached photo of the virgin space as it sits right now (just finished gutting it, we've since got the XPS foam up). It's ~quarter of the basement. Here are the specs:
1. Concrete block on 2 walls, 2x6 and 2x4 stud wall on other 2 walls, concrete floor (on grade)
2. 21' x 13', 90" floor to ceiling joists
3. 1 36" door opening, 1 36" window which will be removed and filled
4. 5" HVAC pipes to upstairs floor run in the joists (3x)
5. Some HVAC piping in the space (see image). This can't easily be moved, so will be boxed in.
6. Floor above is 5/8" diagonal pine planks, 5/8" OSB, and 3/4" engineered hardwood.
Now the primary goals, in order:
1. Drum/jam room first and foremost
2. Reasonable Sound isolation for rest of house. It's a very open house, and I want to stay married
3. Sound treatment for volume control. We are a rock band, but lately been using IEM for jamming ... so the loudest thing is the drums, though occasionally we'd like to let loose
4. Recording room, maybe mixing. I mix in headphones now, and have gotten quite used to it, so a "mixing room" is low priority
5. Sound isolation escaping to outside the house is low on priority (I've been playing in there for 10 years already with no sound proofing!)
Expectations:
1. I don't need it to be silent outside the room, but above the space is the living room, would like to easily be able to watch TV at reasonable volume with drums going full blast
2. Have some money to spend, but not cubic dollars ... let's say $10k max for complete job of that single room start to finish.
My current approach and thinking:
1. Since this is Canada, the whole basement will be insulated for comfort. The plan is 1.5" rigid foam against the exterior walls, sealed for vapour/moisture. In the studio that means the 2 exterior walls. Against the 1.5" rigid foam, 1 sheet of 5/8" TypeX or quiterock or similar soundproofing drywall.
2. For the interior walls, existing stud walls will be filled with pink batt insulation, 5/8" drywall on outside (rest of basement side)
3. Second 2x4 24" OC stud wall spaced 1" from existing wall, again filled with pink batt. 2 sheet of 5/8 TypeX or quietrock
4. ceiling: Fill joists (7.25") with insulation, iso clips and hat channel, with 2 layer of 5/8" TypeX or quietrock.
5. isolation and caulking in all corners.
6. double door system with good seals.
7. Surface mount electrical and lighting to minimize holes. One main conduit coming in (3x 15A circuits)
Here is the proposed space (partial build to show some details):
And the cross section showing the wall details:
Using this link as a rough guide (any comment on this source?) : https://www.tsib.org/files/STC_IIC_Ratings.pdf
Outside block walls (which I found out is actually 10" think) we have:
10" block, 1.5" foam panel, 5/8" drywall
STC 45-55 (ref 1.4.2.3.1.1). I realize this is 1 leaf. Not sure what the gypsum adds to this, but it's required for fire code obviously.
Inside walls (center of basement) we have:
5/8" gyp, 2x6(or 4) framing, 1" air gap, 2x4 framing, 5/8" gyp, 5/8" gyp
STC 61 (ref 1.2.4.5.5.4)
Ceiling we have:
3/4" engineered hardwood plank, 5/8" OSB, 5/8" plank, 2x8 joists, iso clip+hat channel, 5/8" gyp, 5/8" gyp
STC ~45-55 (2.1.2.2.1.5 is close, but additional 5/8 gyp, iso clips, and 3/4" hardwood should increase this)
Assuming HVAC and piping is properly taken care of, does this seem reasonable starting point? Based on the above, if I can achieve say 50 db of reduction, I would be pretty happy I think.
Now on to my immediate questions:
1. I'm not sure about HVAC. If I use the house HVAC without mufflers, just use some flex duct will it defeat the entire system and other work being done? There are already 2 5" supply ducts into the room, and 1 6" return. Are these workable at all? I can probably build some silencers into soffits ... but room is at a premium.
2. Replace 5/8 type X gyp with 5/8 quietrock silentFX or similar, or Green Glue between the layer? I'm trying to maximize space as well
3. Would using metal studs 25g on interior walls inner leaf be of any use, or just pointless?
4. Is there enough space in the 2x6 and 2x4 double leaf wall to build HVAC silencers? That 10" between drywall panels, which leaves 6" for the air flow (after 1" mdf and 1" duct liner). No go?
5. Should I do anything about the 3 duct running though the joists suppling the upstairs? Just insulation around them, or wrap in something? Or replace with flex?
6. Is it OK to mix 2 leaf and 1 leaf system? I assume that it would perform at the lowest level of all the assemblies, so probably the ceiling in this case.
Ok ... all for now. Please feel free to critique my approach, or shout if I'm totally off my rocker, and I genuinely am super grateful to have this resource available! In the meantime, I'll keep reading and educating myself (and goggling some seriously cool studio builds!)
I am a rock drummer, and producer/mixer/recoding engineer (in my own band, lol). In other words, I like to play loud, and play with a DAW to record our noise making. Not a professional in either job, but it sure is a fun hobby. I also build and race cars ... totally different, but the footwork is sometimes similar
Anyway, I am about to start my basement drum/jam room and sometimes recording studio. I have read a crapload of articles, and watched a tonne of vids. I think I have a good base (and I'm a pretty good study), but need some help to wade through the bullshit and the MANY options. I'm also pretty good with sketchup, so I plan to mock up everything before construction.
Attached photo of the virgin space as it sits right now (just finished gutting it, we've since got the XPS foam up). It's ~quarter of the basement. Here are the specs:
1. Concrete block on 2 walls, 2x6 and 2x4 stud wall on other 2 walls, concrete floor (on grade)
2. 21' x 13', 90" floor to ceiling joists
3. 1 36" door opening, 1 36" window which will be removed and filled
4. 5" HVAC pipes to upstairs floor run in the joists (3x)
5. Some HVAC piping in the space (see image). This can't easily be moved, so will be boxed in.
6. Floor above is 5/8" diagonal pine planks, 5/8" OSB, and 3/4" engineered hardwood.
Now the primary goals, in order:
1. Drum/jam room first and foremost
2. Reasonable Sound isolation for rest of house. It's a very open house, and I want to stay married
3. Sound treatment for volume control. We are a rock band, but lately been using IEM for jamming ... so the loudest thing is the drums, though occasionally we'd like to let loose
4. Recording room, maybe mixing. I mix in headphones now, and have gotten quite used to it, so a "mixing room" is low priority
5. Sound isolation escaping to outside the house is low on priority (I've been playing in there for 10 years already with no sound proofing!)
Expectations:
1. I don't need it to be silent outside the room, but above the space is the living room, would like to easily be able to watch TV at reasonable volume with drums going full blast
2. Have some money to spend, but not cubic dollars ... let's say $10k max for complete job of that single room start to finish.
My current approach and thinking:
1. Since this is Canada, the whole basement will be insulated for comfort. The plan is 1.5" rigid foam against the exterior walls, sealed for vapour/moisture. In the studio that means the 2 exterior walls. Against the 1.5" rigid foam, 1 sheet of 5/8" TypeX or quiterock or similar soundproofing drywall.
2. For the interior walls, existing stud walls will be filled with pink batt insulation, 5/8" drywall on outside (rest of basement side)
3. Second 2x4 24" OC stud wall spaced 1" from existing wall, again filled with pink batt. 2 sheet of 5/8 TypeX or quietrock
4. ceiling: Fill joists (7.25") with insulation, iso clips and hat channel, with 2 layer of 5/8" TypeX or quietrock.
5. isolation and caulking in all corners.
6. double door system with good seals.
7. Surface mount electrical and lighting to minimize holes. One main conduit coming in (3x 15A circuits)
Here is the proposed space (partial build to show some details):
And the cross section showing the wall details:
Using this link as a rough guide (any comment on this source?) : https://www.tsib.org/files/STC_IIC_Ratings.pdf
Outside block walls (which I found out is actually 10" think) we have:
10" block, 1.5" foam panel, 5/8" drywall
STC 45-55 (ref 1.4.2.3.1.1). I realize this is 1 leaf. Not sure what the gypsum adds to this, but it's required for fire code obviously.
Inside walls (center of basement) we have:
5/8" gyp, 2x6(or 4) framing, 1" air gap, 2x4 framing, 5/8" gyp, 5/8" gyp
STC 61 (ref 1.2.4.5.5.4)
Ceiling we have:
3/4" engineered hardwood plank, 5/8" OSB, 5/8" plank, 2x8 joists, iso clip+hat channel, 5/8" gyp, 5/8" gyp
STC ~45-55 (2.1.2.2.1.5 is close, but additional 5/8 gyp, iso clips, and 3/4" hardwood should increase this)
Assuming HVAC and piping is properly taken care of, does this seem reasonable starting point? Based on the above, if I can achieve say 50 db of reduction, I would be pretty happy I think.
Now on to my immediate questions:
1. I'm not sure about HVAC. If I use the house HVAC without mufflers, just use some flex duct will it defeat the entire system and other work being done? There are already 2 5" supply ducts into the room, and 1 6" return. Are these workable at all? I can probably build some silencers into soffits ... but room is at a premium.
2. Replace 5/8 type X gyp with 5/8 quietrock silentFX or similar, or Green Glue between the layer? I'm trying to maximize space as well
3. Would using metal studs 25g on interior walls inner leaf be of any use, or just pointless?
4. Is there enough space in the 2x6 and 2x4 double leaf wall to build HVAC silencers? That 10" between drywall panels, which leaves 6" for the air flow (after 1" mdf and 1" duct liner). No go?
5. Should I do anything about the 3 duct running though the joists suppling the upstairs? Just insulation around them, or wrap in something? Or replace with flex?
6. Is it OK to mix 2 leaf and 1 leaf system? I assume that it would perform at the lowest level of all the assemblies, so probably the ceiling in this case.
Ok ... all for now. Please feel free to critique my approach, or shout if I'm totally off my rocker, and I genuinely am super grateful to have this resource available! In the meantime, I'll keep reading and educating myself (and goggling some seriously cool studio builds!)