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My New Studio Build (perhaps overly detailed)
- Thread starter silky smoove
- Start date
Do you need them tracked, or are you just looking for a session player? I can do the former later, but the latter any time, haha.
Project Update: Well, the demolition contractor didn't show up last night as scheduled. I waited until he was an hour late, sent him a text to ask if he was coming by and he basically said no and asked if he could come over in the morning. I'm gone in the mornings which is why we had specifically setup an evening time. Contractors are some of the biggest flakes I've ever seen, and this guy is maintaining the status quo (quoe? ...either way).
Fortunately I've got a guy coming by this afternoon. He comes highly recommended from another contractor that did some work on the house when I first moved in a few weeks ago, so I have high hopes that this one will actually pan out. With a little luck the demolition will happen, which will clear the way (pun intended) for the slab to get installed.
Speaking of the slab: I've decided to go with a radiant heat system for the space rather than relying on baseboards which eat up valuable wall space, or a ductless heat system which would provide a catastrophic weak link in the isolation perimeter of the space. These systems work really well for small spaces such as this, are silent, and don't create areas on walls that are unusable for things like instrument storage (i.e. putting a guitar stand on top of a baseboard heater).
Fortunately I've got a guy coming by this afternoon. He comes highly recommended from another contractor that did some work on the house when I first moved in a few weeks ago, so I have high hopes that this one will actually pan out. With a little luck the demolition will happen, which will clear the way (pun intended) for the slab to get installed.
Speaking of the slab: I've decided to go with a radiant heat system for the space rather than relying on baseboards which eat up valuable wall space, or a ductless heat system which would provide a catastrophic weak link in the isolation perimeter of the space. These systems work really well for small spaces such as this, are silent, and don't create areas on walls that are unusable for things like instrument storage (i.e. putting a guitar stand on top of a baseboard heater).
Sweet deal. Since it's going to be a while before I'm ready to roll, I could suggest a couple of other places that do good work for you to utilize in the meantime.Lol! I have a drummer in mind already, just need the room and engineering. Going to have my great friend and former bandmate lay the tracks.
On the other hand, I built a matched pair of vintage Neumann U87 clones a couple months back specifically to be used as drum overheads, and would love an opportunity to put them into service as soon as possible
Attachments
Project update: So the second demolition contractor pulled a no-show as well. This one was kind enough to apologize and re-schedule (although not until I texted him first... ugh...). He's coming by tomorrow morning to walk the site with me. Hopefully he can do the work quickly and for a reasonable price. This delay is killing me!
Project update: More problems abound. Demo contractor gave me an estimate. It was obvious that he didn't want the job as he did lots of complaining about logistics and then gave me a REALLY high number off the cuff and said that it would have to be cash off the books. Too shady for my liking. I'm going to regroup and parce out the project of removing the block wall and the dirt.
Option 1: hire a concrete cutting contractor, have him demo the concrete and then I'll load it into another concrete container.
Option 2: rent a Bobcat with a bucket-mounted jackhammer, bust everything up and load it into a concrete container like option 1.
I'll be checking into both options tomorrow. Hopefully I'll get this part of things wrapped up soon so I can move forward ASAP.
Option 1: hire a concrete cutting contractor, have him demo the concrete and then I'll load it into another concrete container.
Option 2: rent a Bobcat with a bucket-mounted jackhammer, bust everything up and load it into a concrete container like option 1.
I'll be checking into both options tomorrow. Hopefully I'll get this part of things wrapped up soon so I can move forward ASAP.
Can you not rent a masonry saw and jackhammer? I would think doing it yourself will be much cheaper.
Jackhammer won't work since it's a vertical wall. I need something that can do damage horizontally with enough force to handle 8" thick concrete and a bunch of #4 rebar.
It seems you're paying the price for Seattle's red-hot building market. Anyone who is worth hiring is up to their ears in work right now.
Yes indeed. I'll know more today after I make some phone calls.
My gut says no, but it's definitely a possibility.
If I had to guess what's going to happen, I would say that I'm going to pay a concrete cutter to come out and break the thing down in a couple of hours and then I'll deal with the wreckage.
The plot thickens... ugh...
After some hand excavating with my trusty mattock, it looks like there is a small spread footing underneath the blocks that I'll have to bust out as well. I can't tell, but there might be rebar pinning the blocks to the footing. If that's the case, there is likely to be more rebar running up through the blocks than I anticipated. I spoke with my stepfather last night who builds houses for a living, and his thought was that a Bobcat with a hydraulic breaker will do wonders for knocking down concrete, but if there's a lot of bar holding it together it won't do much good. His preference was leaning towards getting a concrete saw capable of cutting through rebar as well as concrete. There were a few varieties of these that he's used with good results. I'm headed to a rental shop tonight after work to check out a couple of them. With a little luck they'll have something that will work, and over the weekend I'll be able to slice this blocky bum to pieces!
After some hand excavating with my trusty mattock, it looks like there is a small spread footing underneath the blocks that I'll have to bust out as well. I can't tell, but there might be rebar pinning the blocks to the footing. If that's the case, there is likely to be more rebar running up through the blocks than I anticipated. I spoke with my stepfather last night who builds houses for a living, and his thought was that a Bobcat with a hydraulic breaker will do wonders for knocking down concrete, but if there's a lot of bar holding it together it won't do much good. His preference was leaning towards getting a concrete saw capable of cutting through rebar as well as concrete. There were a few varieties of these that he's used with good results. I'm headed to a rental shop tonight after work to check out a couple of them. With a little luck they'll have something that will work, and over the weekend I'll be able to slice this blocky bum to pieces!
I went to the equipment rental shop last night and got some interesting new intel. First, after looking at the Bobcat and the space available between the existing block wall, the steep slope to the northeast, a rockery to the east, and the posts coming down from my awning to the south, I just don't think it will be feasible to do the work that way. There simply isn't enough operating space for that to be a reality. We looked at a number of options, and ended up considering a Hilti T1000.
What distinguishes this from other jackhammers is that it can be fired diagonally as opposed to just straight down. Additionally, it uses a proprietary bit that is considerably pointier than a standard jackhammer bit. My plan is to excavate a trench one block row high behind the wall with a mattock and shovel. Once that's done I'll pin the T1000 bit against a grout joint between blocks, and hopefully the diagonal angle and sharper bit point will cause the joint to crack and the block to move out from the wall into the open air where it can drop to the ground. There won't be any big triumphant moment where the walls come crashing down, but I should (famous last words right, haha) be able to systematically dismantle the wall into a tidy pile of blocks that can be hand-loaded into a concrete recycling container.
It definitely looks like another back-breaking weekend is on the horizon, but at least it means I'm one step closer to finishing the demolition phase of this project.
What distinguishes this from other jackhammers is that it can be fired diagonally as opposed to just straight down. Additionally, it uses a proprietary bit that is considerably pointier than a standard jackhammer bit. My plan is to excavate a trench one block row high behind the wall with a mattock and shovel. Once that's done I'll pin the T1000 bit against a grout joint between blocks, and hopefully the diagonal angle and sharper bit point will cause the joint to crack and the block to move out from the wall into the open air where it can drop to the ground. There won't be any big triumphant moment where the walls come crashing down, but I should (famous last words right, haha) be able to systematically dismantle the wall into a tidy pile of blocks that can be hand-loaded into a concrete recycling container.
It definitely looks like another back-breaking weekend is on the horizon, but at least it means I'm one step closer to finishing the demolition phase of this project.
- Jun 29, 2006
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- President, CEO, CFO, CIO, Chief Engineer, Technician, Janitor - Reiner Amplification
This thread is awesome! 14x24" is a nice space - I just got a shed that size, half of which will serve as a wood shop. Will this be the new home of your Studio 1200?
