Studio glass - what's it cost?

[BradG]

What can one expect to pay for a set of large, (say, 7x8') sheets of studio glass for the control room? At this size, I would imagine that it's got to be at least 1/2"?

Would glass this size automatically be laminated? How important is (and what's the price impact on) mixing thickness, like having the second piece be 3/4"?

[Aquaman]

No need for 1/2" - that's way overkill. Just get sheets of 1/4" laminated glass (the kind they use for storefronts). It's virtually indestructible, you can swing chairs at it, and the lamination kills most resonant effects. Nice and cheap, too, should be ~$100 per pane of that size.

[Corey Y]

1/4" laminated is enough, it has a pretty good stc rating, especially when sealed, even better if you're doing an insulated unit with two pieces. You could get some for around $5/sq ft from the right vendor, up to $10 depending on what kind of deal you're getting. I get everything wholesale for building or as a dealer/distributor. Two pieces of 1/4" laminated with a 2" air gap between, sealed in a frame you could probably get an STC rating over 40.

One piece of 1/4", you could probably get about 30-35 STC.

You can get glass thicker than 1/4" monolithic, but I wouldn't go that thick and I would go with laminated regardless. If for no other reason than safety. A frame, two pieces of glass, some 2" pieces of mdf, rigid foam or insulation or whatever you like to go between, some acoustic caulking and some stop, you're set. You could certainly get it done for under $1000. How much under would depend where you got your materials from and how much of it you could do yourself. You could probably have something custom made to spec for a decent price from the right person.

[alexdingley]

Hey all,

I'm scarcely a qualified acoustician, but I do remember some details of when we built our studio outside Philly. It was designed by John Storyk, and there were a few things that I remember thinking "wow! I wouldn't have thought of that, but it makes sense...". One was the studio glass; he set up two panes, both set at slightly different angles, and they were different thicknesses. One was 5/8" and one was 1/2".

After a brief discussion that i think I understood, I came away with the impression that glass resonates ia similar way to any material, and having different thicknesses would avoid the two panes resonating together... ie avoid using two panes of identical or multiple thickness... Think octaves.. Also the laminate on the glass, as mentioned above, was a huge help.

We ended up getting over 50db of attenuation... So that was a bonus!

[llmonty]

this is great info. need to look into this. I just completed a studio build that has 11 windows in it. 8 of the 11 are sealed/fixed, 3 operational. all are up high. they are triple pane glass with airgap and laminate jeld wens. total thickness of 1 inch, including air gap. I can't recall the STCs but I think they are in the low 30s.

I am looking to perhaps add another pane on the interior. while they are good, they do seem to be the weak point. I have added window plugs made of mlv and ridig insulation. it helps, but would be great to have something that is permanent on the fixed windows and the ability to add the window plugs only for louder sessions with drums. But haven't been able to gauge what the right thickness should be, and the costs.

Ideally I would want to get to a similar stc as the walls, but that might not be possible.

[Corey Y]

Before you go adding more glass you should check all the seals. Around the frame of the windows and doors, electrical outlets, vents, floor and ceiling joints, etc. because a well insulated window with a good STC rating is only effective if everything around it is sealed as well. Sound proofing is like water proofing. If you seal everything but one tiny crack, it all just goes through that little crack.

I'm an amateur recording engineer, but a professional window manufacturer and dealer. So I can finally weigh in on something with confident expertise

[llmonty]

thanks corey! I hear you. In the walls both the exterior and interior were completely caulked, mostly by me. the electrical is conduit and surface mounted, the AC is a minisplit - and all those holes were caulked and putty padded. floor is a concrete slab with isolated filled concrete block foundation. Most of windows are fixed and the cavities were sealed, insulated and covered with greenglued layers of drwyall and wood.

The door is the worst culprit, but i recently tighted up and added hinged panels of mvl on 1" of rigid insulation. In the future I might build a second set of doors in. Need to find the right thickness of glass for the windows and design how to mount them. and for the 3 operational windows, need to figure out a removable alternative so i can open the windows. during many days this is an office for me, so need fresh air, especially with the minisplit which doesn't exchange air. I am not enthusiastic about spending more $$ on it, but since I have been in the space for a few months now I can see how it is performing and would like to improve the sound isolation.