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My New Studio Build (perhaps overly detailed)

#861
I admire you thoroughness regarding isolation. I'm a contractor and would think a package unit would be better for sound - keeping the AHU outside the building.

I did my own electrical so it may not be oranges to oranges - 1100 sf cost about $1200 for materials. I pulled my own wire & terminated outlets, lights, etc. Paid licensed elec about $300 to mount the breaker panel & connect.
 
#864
pnchad said:
Then find a smaller electrician that will work with you. Work up a list with him and buy the materials direct from electrical suppy house. Pay him for the labor/time including planning.
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I have an electrician picked out. He's done other work at my house and is really good at his craft. His company consists of him and his son so getting his time is a little tough, but the work is top notch. Since this isn't typical electrical work I want someone I can trust more than one that will save me a little cash.
 
#867
...and yet another design development has popped up with the help of the folks over at John L Sayers studio building forum. I might be doing away with the whole Whisper Clips and hat channel approach entirely. There's a way to do an inside-out ceiling in a vaulted arrangement (like my structure) that I hadn't anticipated. More research will be required, but just like the inside-out walls it'll be a case of better isolation values for less money, and with a built-in space for acoustic treatments. Things are looking up! <- that was an intentional ceiling pun :D
 
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#868
silky smoove said:
...and yet another design development has popped up with the help of the folks over at John L Sayers studio building forum. I might be doing away with the whole Whisper Clips and hat channel approach entirely. There's a way to do an inside-out ceiling in a vaulted arrangement (like my structure) that I hadn't anticipated. More research will be required, but just like the inside-out walls it'll be a case of better isolation values for less money, and with a built-in space for acoustic treatments. Things are looking up! <- that was an intentional ceiling pun :D
Click to expand...

better and cheaper, so the sacrifice is what? take forever to build?
 
#874
Right now I'm like David Bowie on the opening track to his album "Hunky Dory." ...ahem... CH-CH-CHANGES!

The way the city required me to ventilate the "attic" space above the vaulted ceiling means that the roof structure (sheathing, felt paper, shingles) cannot function as the outer leaf of the isolation perimeter at the ceiling. Sound will simply escape through the vents prior to interfacing with the roof structure, and thus... no isolation. This requires me to do one of two things:
  1. Build a pseudo three leaf system by first attaching 1-2 layers of drywall to the underside of the building trusses, and then constructing my inside-out ceiling below that. Total space lost will be the thickness of two layers of drywall. not a huge deal. The bigger deal is that three leaf systems don't typically perform as well as two leaf systems despite the fact that there's more mass involved. I can either live with that unfortunate reality, or consider option number 2.
  2. Finish up the insulation. Get the city's inspector on-site to give me final inspection on the two remaining items. Once approved, tear down all of the insulation I've already installed in the ceiling, completely block and air seal all existing eave and ridge vents, install closed cell spray foam to the entire "attic" structure, reinstall the insulation that was removed after permit approval, and then proceed like normal.
Obviously option 2 is considerably more expensive (closed cell spray foam is not cheap), and labor intensive (sealing and air blocking all of the vents will be a major pain in the butt). The only question I have is; How much extra isolation will the increased cost, labor and time afford me. If the differences are small enough I'll just live with the three leaf ceiling and the loss of 1.25" of overall ceiling space, which really isn't that big of a deal considering this is a vaulted ceiling and the top plates of the walls are already at 8'. I've posed that question to a couple of studio building professionals and am awaiting an answer.

In addition to that potentially large change, I'm going to do away with the loft framing and subsequent loft bass trap as well. The inside-out ceiling will save me a lot of money and give me considerably higher STC/TL values than using Whisper Clips and hat channel, but it also makes the loft infeasible. I'll be tearing out the loft framing to be used elsewhere on the project and recycling the joist hangers (no big loss since the lot cost me something like $17). From there I'll be constructing the triangular vaulted section of the partition wall, which should be relatively easy given that the rest of the wall is already in-place and secured to the structure.
 
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#877
It's all written to follow the IBC, but the inspectors seem to have free reign to make determinations based on their feelings rather than the letter of the code. If it doesn't meet code verbatim I could easily go and overturn a decision, but that requires taking time off work to go down to DPD and it's generally a hassle. Maybe I should have said that I can "easily" overturn a decision :P
 

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