New Home Studio build in Japan

[Starlight]

I think the saying goes that building a studio will take 2 to 3 times the time and budget you planned for. My build is on target to end up in that range.

[SoWhat]

Greetings Keith,

And anchor and screw that you speak of are like the ones in the picture below?

Yes.

I think the saying goes that building a studio will take 2 to 3 times the time and budget you planned for. My build is on target to end up in that range.

With the added cost of a property survey (damn rules...), I will easily achieve this, without even considering the unexpected extras.

All the best,

Paul

[kwow]

Source of the post I think the saying goes that building a studio will take 2 to 3 times the time and budget you planned for. My build is on target to end up in that range.

Between the house and the studio, it's already reached about 1.5 times more than initially planned. It's more than likely going to go up even before the actual construction begins. Not to mention the acoustic treatment that needs to be done later ....

Source of the post With the added cost of a property survey (damn rules...), I will easily achieve this, without even considering the unexpected extras.

I read your thread about your pool and all. What a bummer I was going to do something similar when I lived outside of L.A. but an architect friend came and told me about how much it'll cost for the survey alone, I was like ... "um, I don't have that much ...". Oh, thanks for confirming the anchor + screw thing, and best of luck with your place!

Keith

[Soundman2020]

Source of the post ・Checking the Bonello chart using https://amcoustics.com/tools/amroc?l=72 ... 36&r60=0.6 modes per third comes up to be 1, 1, 1, 2, 6, 8, 13, 25. Is this ok, or is this funky in some way? My only understanding is that the numbers should go up, or stay the same as you go from left to right.

Your dimensions seem pretty good to me. What's more important then trying to weak modes, is to maximize air volume in the room. You already do have plenty of air volume, and our ration looks OK, so I'd go with what you have.

Please look at the images below to see if the nailers are OK like this.

Looks fine to me!

Are the drywalls staggered correctly for the inner and outer leaf?

And are the backer rods in the right place?

And is it OK that the 9mm structural plywood for the outer leaf are butted together in the corner as shown?

I would suggest using something thicker than 9mm: at least 15mm, and preferably 19mm. You might even be able to leave out one layer of drywall, if you go with 19mm plywood, or OSB which is probably less expensive.

Or should there be a backer rod in between these also?

You could if you wanted to, but it's not totally necessary.

- Stuart -

[Soundman2020]

Source of the post I realized that the backer rod/staggered drywall image that I posted is all wrong. I staggered the drywall like Stuart suggested, but the drywalls are touching each other which completely negates the use of backer rod and caulk.

Not really. The purpose of the backer rod and caulk is to get a series of really good air-tight seals in the corners. It's not to decouple the panels from each other. All of those panels are in the same "leaf", and they are all connected to the same frame, so there's no need to decouple them. But there is a need to get a good hermetic seal, which can be hard to do in corners. Thus, one piece of backer rod plus one bead of caulk on each layer is the way to achieve that. You could do it by building up several beads of caulk, but that would be far more expensive, and personally I prefer having two different materials in there, as the flex differently, so the overall seal should be better if one of them fails.


- Stuart -

[Soundman2020]

Source of the post As far as dirt instead of sand- I would be concerned with dirt as it may hold moisture which will be encapsulated within your foundation thus creating a situation whereas the moisture content of the dirt changes and causes cracks in your slab. (It will change if it has moisture as the lower slab will suck it out)

Right! There's also the issue that dirt usually has a high content of organic "stuff", perhaps including seeds, mold spores, pollen, and other nasty things that you don't want trapped inside your floor, along with possible moisture....

- Stuart -

[Soundman2020]

Source of the post 1st design is to have the ceiling joists of the inner shell attached “above” the wall framing instead of within it. I saw a guy on youtube do something like this where ceiling space was limited. As you can see in the images below (this one might be a little hard to see/understand) just the ceiling joists are sticking out above, these joists will fit in between the ceiling joists of the outer shell without touching them. Since the ceiling joists of the inner and outer shell would be kind of next to each other, the height of the building can be lower maybe by 40-50cm.

Staggering your joists like that is one way to go, but if you really want to maximize your acosutic ceiling height and also get some additional benefits, then consider doing an "inside out" ceiling: What is an "inside-out ceiling"? Do you need one? How do you build it?

Multiple benefits!

- Stuart -

[Soundman2020]

Source of the post I’m planning on building the treatment directly on the walls and not hanging a bunch of panels. The reasons are it’s probably easier to build that way, it’ll look nicer, and I’m afraid of things falling down with earthquakes, etc.

The do the entire studio inside out! Both ceiling AND walls! Even more benefits. With an inside-out design, the stud bays face the room and can be used for treatment, which can then be "invisible", hidden behind fabric. The same studio show in the "inside-out ceiling" thread, also has inside out walls.

- Stuart -

[Soundman2020]

Source of the post [electrical].... I’m thinking of doing something like this (except it'll be on drywall).

If you do inside-out walls, then it's very simple to do all your wiring through the framing, without needing multiple penetrations for switches, outlets, light fixtures, etc. Another option (for conventional walls) is using SURFACE MOUNT ELECTRICAL raceways, such as these:

http://www.calcentron.com/Pages/fram-tr ... aceway.htm
http://www.export.legrand.com/EN/dlp-wa ... ng_95.html
https://www.electriduct.com/Cable-Raceways.html
https://www.legrand.us/wire-cable-manag ... eways.aspx


- Stuart -

[Soundman2020]

Source of the post Ventilation: I’m going to have 2 intake and 2 exhaust on the ceiling. I assume I would just work around these with the treatment since they need to be sealed right at the ceiling? They look like the picture below.

You might find this thread interesting: why your studio needs proper HVAC, and how to do it

- Stuart -

[kwow]

Stuart

Thank you so much for you replies (a lot of them)!
It's good to know lots of my plan seems OK to you

I've been busy making various decision for the studio as well as the house (lots of details) so I'm not at all done reading up on the links you posted, but I'll get to them soon. For now, I'm hoping to get some input on my wall plan since I had changed it, and I also recently found out something I didn't know.

I had changed my plan from:

“Plan A” (from inside to out)
・3 Layers of 15mm fire-rated gypsum (Each layer staggered. Tape and mud on seams).
・Vapor barrier
・33cm/13” Air Gap filled with Fluffy
・9mm Structural Plywood (This cannot be changed including the thickness)
・3 Layers of 15mm Sheathing (Each layer staggered. Tape and mud on seams).
・Exterior Siding

to:

“Plan B”
・2 Layers of 15mm fire-rated gypsum with Green Glue (Each layer staggered. Tape and mud on seams).
・Vapor barrier
・33cm/13” Air Gap filled with Fluffy
・9mm Structural Plywood (Again, cannot be changed.)
・2 Layers of 15mm Sheathing with Green Glue (Each layer staggered. Tape and mud on seams).
・Exterior Siding

BUT I just found out in the last few days that Green Glue can’t/shouldn’t be used for the outer leaf!
Because GG isn’t effective in temperature between 65°F to 85°F. And the outer leaf would likely be exposed to temperature outside of the given range. I confirmed this with the company.
I did not know this.

In a way, this is good because GG is so expensive so just using it for the inner leaf will bring down the cost a bit.

Now, let’s say “Plan C” is pretty much the same as “Plan B” except that the outer leaf will not have GG because of the reason noted above.

Here's the question of the day.
Is Plan C just as good/better, or almost as good as Plan A? If so great - then I don't have to add back another layer of sheathing for the outer leaf.
To put it another way, how much more isolation will I really have to add back another layer of sheathing to the outer layer considering the cost (about $1500 for parts and labor), and the fact that I have added GG for the inner leaf, plus the foundation for the inner and outer leaf are isolated with expansion joint, and I’m already over budget (haha).


I would appreciate your input.

Thanks!
Keith

[SoWhat]

Greetings Keith,

Rod's method of putting 2 layers of drywall between the studs (caulking around each layer, then both layers held in place with cleats; there is nothing between the two layers) should work for building up the outer leaf.

All the best,

Paul

[Soundman2020]

Thank you so much for you replies (a lot of them)!

That's what this forum is here for!

Is Plan C just as good/better, or almost as good as Plan A?

It's about the same, roughly.

But the big question here, is how much isolation do you need? Have you already decided on a goal, in terms of "I need xx decibels of isolation"? Its important to define that number, so that you can determine if your planned construction method will produce the isolation you are looking for. It would be sad if you built your place then found that it doesn't isolate as well as you need, even though it does isolate to the level predicted by theory. It would also be sad (but less so!) if you ended up with a studio that provides MORE isolation that you need, because that means that you spent extra money on materials that were not really necessary. The ideal situation is to define this number for your studio then design everything to meet that number.

and I’m already over budget

Ahh! Then you must b doing it right! Spending a lot more money than you planned is the first sign that you are designing the studio properly... As Starlight said: a studio ALWAYS ends up costing far more than you expected...

- Stuart -

[kwow]

Hi Paul

Thanks for your response/input
Only part of what your wrote that I wasn't clear on was what you meant by "both layers held in place with cleats".


Hi Stuart

Thanks again for your reply! It's good to know they're about the same.

How much isolation do I really need? As mentioned before, enough so I can play the drums without upsetting the neighbors. As far as decibels, I really don't know since the building is not built yet so there's no way for me to actually measure how loud I am.

Source of the post Spending a lot more money than you planned is the first sign that you are designing the studio properly...

It could also mean that I'm spending on things that I don't need, or I'm just getting ripped off somewhere

Since I need to finish making decisions before they actually start building (which will be in 1-2 months), the thing that I still don't know much about is electrical. As of now, I just know that I'm going to pull just 1 line into the studio and the studio will have its own breaker box.

And I'm thinking, the lights, HVAC, and the gear will each be on its own circuit? If anyone can lead me to some links for me to study (Hopefully, something as clear cut as possible!) I'd appreciate it!

Thanks,
Keith

[SoWhat]

Greetings Keith,

Rod's book has a good section describing electrical installation (lots of emphasis on proper grounding).

Hopefully Starlight will chime in here with notes from his build.

All the best,

Paul