Multi-purpose Music/Home Theater/Recording Studio

[goodwater]

Yes, « the bolt and washer attached to the top plate also the bolt that runs through the pad and into the slats » but before inserting the bolt we inserted a piece of rubber hose up to the top of the slat, so the bolt and the washer do not touch the wood (the washer crushes the piece of hose that protrudes on the slat and on the bottom of the top plate) as we did to fix the walls on the exterior wall.

Does this change your recommendation?

Stef

[gullfo]

in looking closer - you have a bolt with a washer contacting the lower plate, the bolt threads are wrapped with hose, a pad between the plate and ceiling slats, a hose through the opening in the slat, then a washer and nut on the bolt. the members are still coupled because the bolt transfers from the plate to the slat at the washer connecting point - what you want is a decoupling of the washer as well. see Kinetics Noise KSR 25 assembly for the concept.

on sealing the wall-ceiling gap - typically your sheathing on the walls and ceiling are staggered to around 1/4" separation on each layer and those are sealed. the depth of (typcially) 1/2" plywood/osb + 2x 5/8" type-x drywall would give you 1-3/4" thick "edges".

[goodwater]

Hi,

The work is progressing well. The gym is almost finished, and we're about to begin work on the studio. Here's what's been done since my last update in this (construction) thread.

• Plastering and paint
• Installation of PVC door and window moldings
• Necessary improvement of the radiant heating system (unforeseen cost of $1500)
• Installation of the sliding (retractable) toilet door

• closing the top of the wall with a layer of 5/8 OSB and 3 layers of 5/8 gypsum so that the last layer touches the ceiling (well sealed after each layer)

• installation of the ERV and preheat coil above the toilet
• installation of soffit exhaust vent to exaust stale aire and soffit intake vent for the supply of fresh air from outdoors (done by my HVAC contractor).

• installation of ventilation ducts (gym only)
• holes in the drywall to run the conduit into the studio and another for a 3-inch pipe to run the electrical wires through. Conduits and pipe are sealed from each side.
  
  1. preheat coil
  2. fresh air to the studio (flexible acoustical duct before enter the wall)
  3. fresh air to the gym
  4. stale air from the studio and gym (the hole is on the other side of the gym)

• I sealed the wall corners and the top as best I could. Fiberglass in the top and fiberglass/backer rods (red arrows)/gwb 5/8/sealant in the corners.

• We built the frame to hide the HVAC and electrical installations. We can close it when we're done running wires to the studio.

• I applied 2 coats of sealer to the floor (to protect and facilitate cleaning)

• Construction, painting and installation of baseboards, moldings and speaker shelves.
• Installation of suspended ceiling (by a contractor)
• Installation of the fresh air and exhaust air diffusers (before each diffuser, the duct terminates in 3 feet of 6-inch flexible acoustic duct)
• Installation of the 2 light fixtures, TV and Stereo wall mounts (I used surface PVC electrical outlets and sealed the hole in the outlet and on the other side of the wall)

• I bought a router and a friend of mine came to make the connectors in the house and the gym. Wifi up and running!
• Cleaning the studio and moving things from the studio to the gym. Studio (and more interesting) part ready to start ! (but first I will continue soon on the Design Forum)

There you go. I know it's not perfect, but we're doing our best.
Feel free to comment, whether positive or negative. Thank you.

[goodwater]

Here's the work we've done since my last update. We've made a lot of progress and I'll probably need more than one post.

I sealed the bottom of the first wall and we put the fiberglass wool in this wall.

We nailed the slats every 24 inches on the walls studs and every 16 inches on the ceiling trusses. We put an extra slat 16 inches from the ceiling in preparation for building the soffits.

We laid the first layer of drywall. We actually had to alternate between the ceiling and the walls because there were a lot of things to move as we went along.

We screwed the first layer of drywall to the ceiling (thank goodness I had the good idea to buy a drywall lift...). As I installed it, I placed the neoprene squares every 12 inches (unless otherwise specified) for each screw. I bought rolls of self-adhesive neoprene on Amazon and cut them into 2-inch strips. I cut the squares as I installed them. However, for the joints I made 2x4 inch rectangles. A few joints weren't perfect so I filled them with sealant.

In order to screw the neoprene squares properly, I made lines and then dots with a black marker. Same thing for the walls.

I put wool between the top plate and the ceiling (1). Then we installed slats (to form a 90-degree angle) to have a hard base so we could screw the drywall into this corner (2). I also put wool in the corner of the second wall (3). Then I put the drywall the corner.

We had to cut the drywall to fit into the slats. I'll have to seal it well and the second layer of drywall will go over the slats.

After that I sealed the corners before putting the drywall on the walls.

We screwed the first layer of drywall onto the walls except the dividing wall because there are still wires to run. Then backer rods and seal.

Before putting the wool in the first wall, I put Putty Pads (which I bought to put around the air duct holes) over the sealant of the wires that go into the gym. I also ran an 8 pair snake to the gym.

...more to come

[goodwater]

continuation of my previous post...

As I wrote in my design thread, I decided to install an air conditioner. Before the contractor came, we ran an electrical wire from the panel to the outside by drilling a hole between the two walls. Then my friend installed a circuit breaker box (required by the contractor). I dug a 16x32 inch hole 6 inches deep, filled with compacted stone dust, and placed 2 concrete tiles.

The contractor then came to install the piping and the outdoor unit. He will return to install the indoor unit when the wall above the sliding doors is done.

We installed the two sliding doors. Beforehand, we decoupled the two walls by cutting the 2x4s. We glued a ¼ plywood to the floor and then laid a layer of neoprene (an old mat that I bought to put under an elliptical).

Before putting up the second door, we put 2 layers of 5/8 drywall on the walls and ceiling in the space between the doors. The doors are not yet sealed (more details later).

After that, we put the second layer of drywall on ceiling and walls by overlapping the joints (I would have preferred to stagger the sheets a little more but it's probably better than not overlapping at all). Then backer rod and caulk after each.

According to my design, I was supposed to screw the second layer only into the first (without touching the slats) but after experimenting with several types of screws it wasn't strong enough. So I decided to use 2-inch screws to screw down to the slats. I might lose a few db but at least I won't be afraid of the ceiling falling on my head.

We're almost done, but we have to wait until we close the second wall before we can finish the drywall. The final sealing is not yet done.

As I always say, if you see any mistakes or things I could have done better, please let me know. I may not be able to make the corrections but it may be useful to other forum readers!

Stef

[goodwater]

I have 2 questions:

1. In my design, I screw the second layer every 12 inches, but since I'm now screwing all the way to the slats (with 2-inch screws), I thought it would be enough to screw it every 16 inches, or 28 screws for a 4x8 sheet. Is that enough to properly tighten the second layer to the first?
   
   
2. Yesterday, while searching the forum for an answer to my question 1, I read that it would have been better if I had sealed all the joints in the first layer (plaster or sealant covered with duck tape). Is this a serious mistake and will there be a significant impact on the soundproofing of low frequencies? (About 90% of the joints in the sheets I installed are tight. I put sealant in the less tight ones.)

Thanks!

[gullfo]

it would have been best to run a quick coat of dywall mud on the joins - so maybe do that for the walls.

in generally, if you stagger the screws on 16" then you get approx a screw per 8" so that should be enough. so first layer - 1 1" screw per 16", second layer 1-3/4" (or 2") every 16" stagger with first layer.

a good thing to do is to sheath your framing with 1/2" (or 7/16") plywood / osb and then screw into that (more important if using things like isolation clips and hat channel) so you're not beholden to the joist (or other framing) positions. given the ply or osb is structural material, your framing assembly is more rigid and stronger (for example if you were using metal framing, this would be a huge improvement in strength).