Stand alone "room in a room" studio build in Orange NSW Australia

[gearjunk1e]

Very, very long time, no post.

I’ve been waiting for something exciting to happen to prompt an update but it’s mostly just been “same, same” – the grind of gyprocking (drywalling), insulation and sealant (caulking) in my LIVE ROOM. However, I decided it’s good for motivation to stop, document things and celebrate progress - and hopefully there is something useful in here for someone else. (This post will need to be done in instalments so as to not exceed limits on image uploads.)

So, in between the grind:

I have completed and mounted my 2 LIVE ROOM inner silencer boxes and the 4 plenums. The inlet fan (and associated ducting/filter) is installed and I’m part way through completing the outlet side duct work. This will also have a fan pulling air out – in an earlier post I noted that the passive pull in the CONTROL ROOM wasn’t clearing the Co2 at an acceptable rate, so I’ve gone with one fan pushing air in and another pulling out. Once the LIVE ROOM is done, I’ll loop back and install the outlet fan on the CONTROL ROOM as well as the CONTROL ROOM outer door.

LIVE ROOM Wall completion
Nothing ground breaking here but I have observed that every “wrinkle” you have – in my case, column boxing and the ceiling rake adds soooo much time relative to straightforward drywall (gyprock) wall hanging and sealing.

LIVE ROOM Ventilation
With the fans now running on "Low" I'm getting a max of 137 ft/min at the exit from the plenum.

Mounting of outside silencer boxes
Various shots of the mounting of the outer inflow silencer for the LIVE ROOM

Building the frame

temporary lifting structure

Lifting into place using drywall lift

I left the last panel off to keep the weight down

All done

...and one of the outlet outer silencer

Various shots of the mounting of the inner silencer for the LIVE ROOM;
The drywall lift and acrow props got the job done (with a few straps for safety)

A nightmare getting my hands in and seeing what I was doing - this was pre tape and clamps

support from

A shot of the LR ventilation structure

Inlet, filter and fan section

...more to come - I've run out of picture capacity in this post

[gearjunk1e]

Before I discuss the plenums themselves, I’ll touch on their impact on ceiling construction.

I had a conversation mid 2024 with my engineer about the introducing plenums to slow air speed further. This conversation was prompted by the increase in the load on the ceiling joists. The outcome was that I required some extra strengthening on the joists bearing part of that load. (The frame for the silencers/plenums runs from the wall to the first joist)

This is an example where design changes on the run can/could have a sting in the tail.
I needed to bolt a C section steel purlin to the first timber joists at both ends of the room to increase the load bearing capacity. However, the steel purlin needed to be supported directly by the wall frame and I had progressed the frame and sheeting too far at this point to get the steel purlins to land on the existing wall frame. His solution was to add a vertical supporting stud inside the room under the steel purlin at either end and bolt that stud through the wall sheeting to the frame.

It’s not a disaster but could have been; disaster avoided because, after some discussion, the support for the C section is able to run along the line of the rake under the joists – bolted through to the wall frame. I really didn’t want vertical studs inside the room and continuing the horizontal framing under the joists the whole way around helps me with fixing the fabric cover under the joists/insulation anyway.

While this issue has been solved, I’ve burned a lot of time solving it and executing those plans, whereas had I designed it that way, I’d have run the C section through to the wall frame before sheeting and avoided the work-arounds on the wall behind the silencer to fit the plenums. Solved – but I reckon it cost me 2 months in extra work time.

Here how the support looks

Now to the plenums themselves. I wish I’d settled on this design waay earlier – retro fitting was painful. Only the final plenum was straightforward as I had;
1. Experience; and
2. Enough of a runway adjacent to its final location to be able to lift it up then slide it back to apply sealant before sliding it back into place

Here's some shots of the construction and installation
At the front (inlet)

RHS inlet

Front (inlet) done

At the back (outlet)

The collar into which the plenum entry slides

organically developed lift!

centimeter perfect!

nearly there!

looks like the silencer/plenum is touching the back wall - just the angle

...still more to come

[gearjunk1e]

In the last post I forgot the photos from the last plenum

I did a dry fit - check that the plenum and silencer vents were butting up together

I had to cut out a layer of wall to fit the plenum up into the space once I'd added the little collar that butts up against the big one

MAJOR CELEBRATION!

Completion of the walls
Slightly out of time sequence but some shots below of the completion of my LIVE ROOM walls. Amazing how you go much faster with experience!

Corner boxing

Column layer 1

Column frame

Column layer 2

One wall to go!

last wall layer 1

Makeshift lifting platform

template for cutting rakes

walls done

Some light entertainment

I'm pretty sure I pushed the ute to the max

...in the corner ...a special guest. Better than a snake! but it still scared the XXX out of me when I heard the rustling behind the corflute sheet

Still more to come..