New (imperfect) Garden Studio Build

[Blott]

Hi,
Earlier in the year I posted on this forum requesting asking advice for air vents in a new garden studio build - my thanks to those who responded.
Well I'm pleased to say the build in now under way!
I'll be uploading images to show its progress to those who might be interested.
I'm hoping that it'll be helpful to those (like me), who's space is limited and who's budget isn't tens of thousands of pounds and therefore cannot have the perfect 'room within a room' design.
It will also have a secondary function as a home office.
So I've have had to concede acoustically to accommodate my surroundings and more importantly...to meet the wife's aesthetics demands.
So this will be an imperfect & flawed studio build, with lots of compromises and things that could have perhaps been done better.
It wont be totally sound proof but I'm confident that it'll still be good enough to be creative in without disturbing neighbours and certainly a much better environment than the spare room I currently occupy.
It's not the biggest studio, with approx internals of 15.6ft x 9ft, but this kind of build is probably a more realistic option for many of us than the really impressive studios that are often documented online (and of which I'm extremely envious).
Basic make up of this build will be foundations consisting of 100mm of stone, 100 mm of celotex and 100 mm of concrete.
Footings will be 600 x 600mm with an outside skin of solid concrete blocks pointed to a finish to a total height of 2.5m.
There will be a 4x2 internal wall with a 3 inch celotex cavity, 4 inch of rock wool between timbers, plywood and acoustic plasterboard, followed by a skim to a finish.
This is mirrored in the ceiling area too.
There will be a second internal fire door to help minimise sound leakage.
So that's the basics...images to follow soon.

[zenguitar]

Good luck and lets hope all goes smoothly

Andy

[Blott]

Thanks Zenguitar!

Okay as promised here are the images for the build so far, starting with the old greenhouse that was there before and which was dangerously dilapidated...

https://photos.app.goo.gl/aFBtdoCJAe11HzSk8

So that's where we are at the moment, we should be finished (hopefully) in the next 4 weeks and I'll document the rest of the build including the internals when we have made further significant progress.

[Folderol]

Best of luck with this.
(still far better than anything I've got)

[Drew Stephenson]

As someone else who also took the 'something good is better than nothing perfect' route, I reckon you'll be very happy with it.

[Blott]

Best of luck with this.
(still far better than anything I've got)

Thanks

[Blott]

As someone else who also took the 'something good is better than nothing perfect' route, I reckon you'll be very happy with it.

Thanks, I'm sure I will.
I've just watched the video and your studio setup and it looks great!

[Blott]

Hi,

Well the build has progressed quite a bit now, though not without some snags...

There was a delay on some of the materials for the roof and so construction hasn't happened in the order you'd expect - that is to say we started on parts of the interior before we even had a roof!

Fortunately we had dry weather at the time so it hasn't been an issue, just didn't want you to think that we planned it that way...we did not!

Secondly the steel security door we ordered arrived with defects and the replacement (which also has defects) has only just arrived. So (again) we'd planned to have the external door fitted by now but it's probably going to be one of the last things done now. .

All things considered though, the build is going okay.

Weak points from a soundproofing point of view are definitely the two windows - even though they are made from triple glazed, toughened glass.

This was a just a necessary compromise for the 'office' end of the studio.

Most of my studio hours for music will be in the evenings, so I've two 'plug in' (excuse the pun) sound absorbing frames of 100MM Rockwool that will slot into the window bays to help reduce noise leakage in the evenings - these will simply pull out again to allow a little natural light when I'm doing work/office stuff during the day.

Anyway, for anyone interested extra photos showing the build have now been uploaded and can be viewed by clicking the link below...

https://photos.app.goo.gl/aFBtdoCJAe11HzSk8

[Drew Stephenson]

Shaping up very nicely. I recognise a tube of AC50 there as well.

[mellowsouls]

Oh, man - this is basically what I’m doing, only I’ve been plagued by setbacks! My foundation has been in for over 12 months. Hopefully starting on the walls soon...

What is your roof construction? Any extra layers of mass loaded vinyl? Do the blocks of the wall go up around the joists? That’s a weak point I’m still pondering.

[Blott]

Shaping up very nicely. I recognise a tube of AC50 there as well.

Woah - a good spot, you have eyes like a hawk!

[Blott]

Oh, man - this is basically what I’m doing, only I’ve been plagued by setbacks! My foundation has been in for over 12 months. Hopefully starting on the walls soon...

What is your roof construction? Any extra layers of mass loaded vinyl? Do the blocks of the wall go up around the joists? That’s a weak point I’m still pondering.

Hi,

It's a flat roof consisting of 7x2 C24 timber with a 3 inch to 0 fall on top of which 18 mm OSB is fixed to complete the deck.
A 3 layer torch system felt is then fitted to the OSB which gives a claimed 30 year protection!

The concrete blocks do not go around the joists, rather the joists sit on top of the blocks and the roof on top of that. If we'd have built the blocks higher we'd have been over the 2.5m threshold we had to work in to comply with planning regs.

Inside its the same as everywhere else, i.e a 4x2 internal frame with a 3 inch celotex cavity, 4 inch of rock wool between timbers, 10mm plywood and 15mm acoustic plasterboard, followed by a plastered skim to finish.

This WILL NOT be a soundproof build - it should however be a room that suppresses the sound leakage enough that I don't bother anyone.
It should prevent external noises from being too intrusive too (at least that's what I'm hoping)!

[Blott]

Hi,

Just to add the external steel security door is fitted now.

It's not right, but it was turning into a saga trying to get one which wasn't imperfect and I just don't have the time to fight for a third replacement door now.

All that remains to be done is to fit the second internal door, complete the flooring, skirting boards, external facias and 2nd fitting of electrics - all of which should be done by the 17th Oct.

I'll upload more images when I get a chance, but it'll probably be the end of October before I have time.

I've kept (a poor iPhone filmed) video diary of the build too and I plan to upload this on youtube before Christmas in the hope it proves helpful to anyone else.

I'm hoping it'll show that you can get a useable sound treated studio room for a reasonable cost.

Prior to this build I had approached a couple of companies who specialised in building garden studios (including one located just a few miles away) and their quotes were 80 - 100% more than my spend on this build has been.

At my last home I had a bespoke wooden garden studio built which was great, but I'm hoping this will be a little better, although it has the disadvantage of trying to double as an office which my previous studio build did not, so it's not really fair to directly compare them.

I'll be candid about the results good or bad - so fingers are crossed!

If it doesn't turn out to be as good as I'd hoped I'll tell you that too - hopefully though it should be good.

We'll find out for sure in another week.

[Drew Stephenson]

Fingers crossed.
One thing that I've discovered is the value of just having a dedicated space to create. Acoustically treated/sound-proofed or not.

[mellowsouls]

Fingers crossed.
One thing that I've discovered is the value of just having a dedicated space to create. Acoustically treated/sound-proofed or not.

Oh, absolutely! As soon as we’d decided to do a build, little pieces of domestic normality started creeping in to my hitherto dedicated music room in the house. Now there’s a sofa, tellybox, and my youngest with his face permanently glued to a games console in there! My monitors had to be picked away too, dagnammit.
Can’t wait to get going again with my own build.

Love the way this one’s come together so quickly for you - looks nice.

[Blott]

Fingers crossed.
One thing that I've discovered is the value of just having a dedicated space to create. Acoustically treated/sound-proofed or not.

Oh yes I absolutely agree, just having your own dedicated 'zone' to create & record music is great regardless.

I can't tell 100% yet how effective it's going to be, as I'm still waiting for the 2nd fitting of the electrics which has been delayed (happens tomorrow), then I'll be painting the internals before moving furniture & gear in.

At the moment it's empty and MUCH more reflective than my prior studio build was in the same state (largely because of the laminated flooring and the two windows), both of which bounce sound and were not present in my previous garden studio which had just one very small window and thick underlay & carpet flooring.

However I wanted some 'life' to the sound of the room this time and I've a carpet rug for the floor and a sofa etc to go in which (combined with the window plugs) I'm hoping will tame those reflections enough for it not to matter.

In the worst case scenario I'll remove the laminate flooring and carpet the room as I did in my previous studio build.

Ultimately I just hope it'll be 'good enough' (fingers crossed).

[Blott]

The good news is the build is finished...hoorah!

The bad news is the laminate flooring just isn't working for me, it's too reflective even with the rug laying on it and a sofa inside. I know I could try and control this more with room treatments, but I'm not sure I have the time and patience required to do that properly, so I'm leaning towards carpeting the room instead.

Also I don't think my two tone choice of colours is working either, so I'm probably going to have to repaint the interior.

The tried and tested cave like asphalt grey is currently favourite!

For anyone interested in how the (empty) room currently looks I'll be adding further images to the google photo album soon (link below).

https://photos.app.goo.gl/aFBtdoCJAe11HzSk8

[Hugh Robjohns]

The bad news is the laminate flooring just isn't working for me, it's too reflective even with the rug laying on it and a sofa inside.

Do you have acoustic treatment up yet? If not, I wouldn't rush to rip it up!

With effective broadband absorbers on the mirror points, bass traps in the corner, and a cloud overhead a laminated floor isn't normally a problem -- and in most cases it's actually very useful and practical!

I know I could try and control this more with room treatments, but I'm not sure I have the time and patience required to do that properly, so I'm leaning towards carpeting the room instead.

A carpeted floor is no substitute for properly located and effective acoustic treatment. Not even close...

[Blott]

The bad news is the laminate flooring just isn't working for me, it's too reflective even with the rug laying on it and a sofa inside.

Do you have acoustic treatment up yet? If not, I wouldn't rush to rip it up!

With effective broadband absorbers on the mirror points, bass traps in the corner, and a cloud overhead a laminated floor isn't normally a problem -- and in most cases it's actually very useful and practical!

I know I could try and control this more with room treatments, but I'm not sure I have the time and patience required to do that properly, so I'm leaning towards carpeting the room instead.

A carpeted floor is no substitute for properly located and effective acoustic treatment. Not even close...

Thanks Hugh,

The laminate floor is still intact as present!

My problem with the room treatment is the cost...

The build of the studio itself has already gone over budget by around £1000.
Gik Acoustic room kits start from £600 and the cheapest room kit with clouds sets you back nearly £800!!!

Funds are very tight now, in fact to quote Sir Edmund Blackadder "I'm as poor as a church mouse, that's just had an enormous tax bill on the very day his wife ran off with another mouse, taking all the cheese"!

Obviously I'd have the best of everything if money was no object, but sadly the reality is I can't afford to do too much more right now - I've £400, could probably scramble to £500 but that's my lot!

The studio isn't big. It's only 15ft long, 9ft wide with a 7' ceiling and I worry that the amount of treatments necessary to control this level of reflection may just make a small studio space feel even smaller.

Of course I'm not arguing that a carpeted floor is a substitute for a properly treated room (I know it isn't), but it was effective in helping deaden my prior home studio and I'm thinking it may be a better compromise solution - at least in the short term.
I can have the floor carpeted with a decent 12mm underlay and thick pile carpet for £330.

If you're saying I could achieve better results with acoustic treatments for around the same cost then I'd definitely do it.

Thanks

[Sam Spoons]

I built 10 acoustic panels using Cara fabric, 2 x 1 PAR timber and 50mm thick Rockwool RW3 for around £300 to go in my 4 x 4 x 1.9m room.

Build you own using the cheapest timber and weed block fabricant, if you use RW3 you can cover them over the top with something nice like Cara fabric later when funds allow and you won't have compromised the effectiveness of the panels.

PM if you want detail on how I made mine...

[Drew Stephenson]

I was going to ask how your DIY was?

[Sam Spoons]

Judging by the earlier posts I'd say Blott's DIY skills are adequate at worst

[Drew Stephenson]

Oh the build is nice alright! I just wasn't sure who was doing the building...

[James Perrett]

Your budget is just about right for acoustic treatment if you are prepared to DIY. A couple of bales of Rockwool, some wood to make the frames and Cara fabric to cover them will probably come in under budget (or at least they did when I last treated a similar size room a couple of years ago).

[Luke W]

I also built the majority of my panels for around that number, it’s certainly possible. With everything else you’ve done then I think it’s worth it at this stage as well, it’ll be a great overall result.

As already mentioned a reflective floor with your walls and ceiling taking care of the absorption is generally a good thing, so if it’s a choice between the carpet or some DIY panels, I’d be going for the latter every time.