952 Studios Construction!

[eightamrock]

Source of the post from the perspective of the frame seal - the rubber should do it. from the perspective of potential gaps once the drywall is going up - i'd use the backer rod and caulk on each layer on the floor (as well as as corners -- walls and ceiling-wall joins) to ensure there is no bypassing into the frame (which constitutes your air boundary).

Source of the post I'll second Glenn's advice on the backer rod and caulk, and stress that's for EACH layer, just like Glenn said. As each layer goes up, put the backer rod and caulk. Put a shim under the drywall sheet to raise it off the floor by the right amount, then pull the shim once you have the drywall attached. Use backer rod that fills the gap depth about half way, with a good fit, and fill the rest with caulk. Colored caulk is a little more dense than transparent, so go with the colored stuff. Actual color doesn't matter: Use Hot Pink or Lime Green if you want! (And if you can find such stuff... ). White is also a color here.

- Stuart -

Check and check! Thanks for the tips.

[eightamrock]

What can I do with this space? Its 13' deep by 17 wide'. Originally, I was going to just make this attic space, but now that the room is built and I am staring at it, I feel like its usable space. Maybe put guitar cases, drums, etc up there but leave it open to the room below. Could even run XLR and put 2 mics up there for room mics! Im just unsure how to isolate it if I build it out. Original plan was inner leaf would box it in gable style....

[gullfo]

is that daylight? but yeah - i'd leave it open as storage, put some carpet pad and carpet on it to keep things from buzzing on the surface.

[eightamrock]

Source of the post is that daylight? but yeah - i'd leave it open as storage, put some carpet pad and carpet on it to keep things from buzzing on the surface.

Thanks Glenn! Yes that is daylight coming in through the soffits. I havent blocked out the ends yet.

So in my design thread I said I'd hoped for a $50k budget and Stuart said it would be more. Well reckoning time is here... I present my current run rate for a 2 room 576 sqft studio..... Im definitely going to hit $100k before all is said and done. This budget didnt even account for treatment, furniture, audio panels, etc....

[Soundman2020]

So in my design thread I said I'd hoped for a $50k budget and Stuart said it would be more. ..... Im definitely going to hit $100k before all is said and done.

Sounds about right! Sadly... I wish I would have been wrong about that, but Murphy always gets you!
The best equation I've found so far for determining in advance the cost of building a studio, is this:

CSf = ( ( ( Ibg * R29 ) + Yd5R ) / 0.5 ) +1

Where:

CSf = Final Cost of your studio
Ibg = your Initial Best Guess (roughly: how much you'd like to spend, absolute max)
Ri29 = A Randomly select Integer in the range 2 to 9
Yd5R = any 5 digits taken out of Yesterday's Date and strung together, at Random

... and "+1" on the end, because no matter how hard you try, it always costs one dollar more

That seems to get a pretty accurate result!

I call that "Stuart's Studio Cost Law".

- Stuart -

[gullfo]

like they say "if you want to make a million dollars from a recording studio, start with two million"

[eightamrock]

Wall cavity stuffing is tiring work. I think I’d like to recommend that any time you are doing time and cost estimates that you also start with time = t^2 as the starting point. I thought this would take a day. I’m on day 3 and haven’t even caulked anything yet. Lol.

[gullfo]

yes, the mass enhancement to walls and ceilings is time consuming and labor intensive. remember, caulk is your friend. you will learn to hate caulk, but caulk is your friend

[eightamrock]

yes, the mass enhancement to walls and ceilings is time consuming and labor intensive. remember, caulk is your friend. you will learn to hate caulk, but caulk is your friend

Yep! Anecdotally, I was reading about which caulk to buy and found a thread where Stuart had said any basic kitchen and bath caulk will be fine, but even here caveats that it should be colored because of the density difference. Well I accidentally grabbed a clear tube while I was purchasing and it’s definitely not a subtle difference. You can feel that the white color caulk is easily twice as dense and heavy. These are the details that matter!

[Soundman2020]

These are the details that matter!

So true! With studio design and construction, as the saying goes: "the devil is very much in the details!".

Speaking of which, if you haven't already done so then buy or rent a pneumatic caulking gun and compressor. You'll be sooooo glad you did! Squeezing a hand caulking gun thousands of times per day will wreck your hand... pneumatic guns make it a lot easier. Very much worth the investment, considering just how much caulking you'll be doing before your place is finished.

- Stuart -

[eightamrock]

Source of the post

These are the details that matter!

So true! With studio design and construction, as the saying goes: "the devil is very much in the details!".

Speaking of which, if you haven't already done so then buy or rent a pneumatic caulking gun and compressor. You'll be sooooo glad you did! Squeezing a hand caulking gun thousands of times per day will wreck your hand... pneumatic guns make it a lot easier. Very much worth the investment, considering just how much caulking you'll be doing before your place is finished.

- Stuart -

This is very good advice. I had not even considered it. Ill look to see if I can rent one locally.

[eightamrock]

Pneumatic caulking gun acquired. Also, pneumatic caulking gun explosion. Pressure was a tad too high. Lol

[Soundman2020]

Pneumatic caulking gun acquired. Also, pneumatic caulking gun explosion. Pressure was a tad too high

Ooops! Yup, you don't need a lot of pressure. The pressure might need adjusting, depending on the size of the hole you cut in the nozzle, and maybe the type of caulk too, but if the tube exploded I'd hazard a guess and say that, yeah, it was a tad too high!
Good to see you put a gauge and adjustment knob on the gun itself! When I first did this, many years ago, I just used the gauge and knob on the compressor at first... until I got sick of walking back and forth to make adjustments all the time! Then I did what you did. Smart move!

- Stuart -

[eightamrock]

I’d like to be done with this particular brand of torture soon. I’m about 1:3 of the way through. Sigh.

[Soundman2020]

It's "fun" isn't it? (Not!)
At least you have the pneumatic gun.... imagine if you were trying to do all that by hand-squeezing a manual caulking gun.

But it is looking pretty good!


- Stuart -