Garage Studio Build

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A.David.MacKinnon
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Re: Garage Studio Build

Post by A.David.MacKinnon » Thu Sep 20, 2018 2:29 pm

Spray foam!

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It’s amazing how echo-y it got as soon as the foam went in. Crazy.

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Re: Garage Studio Build

Post by drumsound » Thu Sep 20, 2018 7:10 pm

More echo-y? Does the stuff get so solid that it reflects?

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A.David.MacKinnon
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Re: Garage Studio Build

Post by A.David.MacKinnon » Fri Sep 21, 2018 5:07 am

It ends up with the same rigidity as styrofoam. It's got some give if you push it but it fairly hard and the surface is sort of glossy.
Not a biggie either way once the drywall and treatments go in.

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Re: Garage Studio Build

Post by drumsound » Fri Sep 21, 2018 8:27 am

A.David.MacKinnon wrote:
Fri Sep 21, 2018 5:07 am
It ends up with the same rigidity as styrofoam. It's got some give if you push it but it fairly hard and the surface is sort of glossy.
Not a biggie either way once the drywall and treatments go in.
I was always curious about that. I've seen the stuff from a can, that also does the glossy thing, but wasn't sure if the industrial stuff was the same.

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Re: Garage Studio Build

Post by markjazzbassist » Fri Sep 21, 2018 9:36 am

do you need contractors for any of the work or are you able to go from here out and finish all the work yourself?

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A.David.MacKinnon
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Re: Garage Studio Build

Post by A.David.MacKinnon » Fri Sep 21, 2018 11:02 am

I brought in outside help for the electrical and the spray foam (obviously). I did the majority of the framing myself and hired an old bandmate (who’s also a carpenter/contractor) to help me install the window/wall replacing the garage door and check/fix my framing work. The two of us will do the drywall together and I’ll likely do the finishing myself. I’d have to look at the numbers but I’m probably at about 10k in materials and labour so far. The electrical was about half of that. We had to upgrade the service to the house and install a new panel before we could run a sub panel for the studio.
The next expenses are drywall, flooring, baseboard heaters and sound treatment.

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Re: Garage Studio Build

Post by vvv » Fri Sep 21, 2018 11:52 am

No wet bar? :evil:
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Re: Garage Studio Build

Post by markjazzbassist » Fri Sep 21, 2018 1:02 pm

A.David.MacKinnon wrote:
Fri Sep 21, 2018 11:02 am
I brought in outside help for the electrical and the spray foam (obviously). I did the majority of the framing myself and hired an old bandmate (who’s also a carpenter/contractor) to help me install the window/wall replacing the garage door and check/fix my framing work. The two of us will do the drywall together and I’ll likely do the finishing myself. I’d have to look at the numbers but I’m probably at about 10k in materials and labour so far. The electrical was about half of that. We had to upgrade the service to the house and install a new panel before we could run a sub panel for the studio.
The next expenses are drywall, flooring, baseboard heaters and sound treatment.
nice!

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Re: Garage Studio Build

Post by Nick Sevilla » Mon Sep 24, 2018 11:28 am

I don't know what your budget is, but when I did my walls, I put in mass loaded vinyl, 1lb per square foot.

You can find it at competitive prices.

In my case, being less than 1/2 mile from Van Nuys regional airport, it was a necessity. It really cut down on the noise from above and the sides. We did all walls and the ceiling as well.

The channel material for the mounting of the interior drywall was from Auralex. This helped decouple the inside walls from the outside. In the end, we ended up getting about 45 dB + of isolation. Which is about as good as we could get with that budget. After that it would have at least doubled in cost, and only for another 10 dB of further isolation.
Howling at the neighbors. Hoping they have more mic cables.

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A.David.MacKinnon
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Re: Garage Studio Build

Post by A.David.MacKinnon » Mon Sep 24, 2018 8:03 pm

I haven’t heard of the mass loaded vinyl option but I considered lots of others. Double wall, staggered studs, resilient channel double layer drywall, on and on.

If I were building any other kind of space I would explore every sound proofing option but for this one it’s just not much of a consideration. I’m in the heart of a big, busy, noisy city but miraculously tucked into a quiet section of a quiet neighbourhood. I’m in the middle of a row of detached houses separated by driveways on each side (a rare impossibly in downtown Toronto) and the garage is in the backyard. Traffic noise isn’t an issue. Flight paths aren’t an issue. Noise bleeding out is a minor issue but I have no intention of tracking bands here and the majority of my work happens between 9-5 on weekdays when the rest of the neighbourhood is at work. All the work that will be happening in the garage has already been happening in my house without noise complaints.

The biggest noise issue is the central air unit located in my back yard about 8’ away from the garage window. With the doors and windows closed in the garage I can hear it a bit but not enough to distract. For the last few years my studio space has been in the basement separated from the furnace by a louvred, bifold door. I would have to turn the heat or ac off when I was tracking or mixing. Pain in the ass. The AC noise in the garage is minimal by comparison.

This is going to be a place for finishing records, mixing and writing. All the messy and noisy stuff happens at someone else’s place. That’s one of the few joys of being a freelance engineer. Only a select few clients end up at my place. Everything else happens in a commercial room of some kind and someone else gets to clean the bathroom and take back the empties when the band leaves.

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A.David.MacKinnon
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Re: Garage Studio Build

Post by A.David.MacKinnon » Tue Sep 25, 2018 1:43 pm

Drywall!!

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Re: Garage Studio Build

Post by digitaldrummer » Fri Sep 28, 2018 12:04 pm

I did 2 layers of 5/8" sheetrock in mine -- and the seams were staggered with caulk sealing the seams in each layer - that is also a way to add mass and its fairly budget-friendly compared to specialty products.
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Re: Garage Studio Build

Post by vernier » Mon Oct 01, 2018 4:11 pm

You could record anything/everything in that space. Nice place.

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A.David.MacKinnon
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Re: Garage Studio Build

Post by A.David.MacKinnon » Thu Oct 11, 2018 10:04 am

Drywall is up, plastered, sanded and primed. Ceiling got finished around noon today. Trim gets finished tomorrow and Friday and then it’s paint and flooring next week. It looks more like a room every day.

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Re: Garage Studio Build

Post by MoreSpaceEcho » Thu Oct 11, 2018 11:39 am

lookin' good!

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