AT's Studio in the Garage

AlexT · Post by **AlexT** » Mon Aug 29, 2005 3:43 pm

sharward wrote:Thanks for the great pix!

Actually, what you're calling a "sub panel" I believe is actually just a junction box. I see that it's just a short reach from the outside, which seems like a winner.

Thanks for the correction Keith, it is a junction box connected to a sub panel.

AlexT · Post by **AlexT** » Mon Aug 29, 2005 4:10 pm

Window opening between the Tracking Room and the Control Room, dimensions are 4’ x 3’-6”
Framing is 2x8 lumber caulked and sealed all around.
You can actually see the solid core door being installed in the first picture.

AlexT · Post by **AlexT** » Mon Aug 29, 2005 5:16 pm

Here are some door pictures.
We bought thick solid core exterior doors from Home Depot.
The frame is custom made with weather-seal foam strips all around.
Instead of using regular door knobs or handles we used these heavy duty spring-rollers or commonly referred to as “Door Ball Catch”:
Heavy duty version of the ones shown here.
I bought mine from Home Depot Pro.
Each door has two of these installed one on the top and the other at the bottom edge.
They seem to work great so far and the door seems fully sealed when closed.
…anything to tighten-up my single wall design.

Post by **sharward** » Tue Aug 30, 2005 1:18 am

Very resourceful door idea!

Dan Fitzpatrick · Post by **Dan Fitzpatrick** » Tue Aug 30, 2005 3:12 am

nice pix, alex!

are those weather seal strips from HD too? or did you get them somewhere else.

i like your way of shutting the door too. that question has been bugging me for EVER.

dan

AlexT · Post by **AlexT** » Tue Aug 30, 2005 4:50 am

Hey Dan,
Yes all the door parts are from HD.
They even have pre-fabric door frames/threshold with weather seal strips already installed …but our walls were too thick for these frames.

I am really happy with the “Door Ball Catch”.
It keeps the door shut tight up against the weather strips being both totally sealed and free of rattles.
Plus since the rollers are hard-plastic/rubber there is no chance of metal rattle either.

One thing to be really careful when installing these is to make sure that the rollers and the catch are perfectly aligned.
You can even install one on the TOP EDGE and the other on the LOWER SIDE if you don't want anything screwed onto your threshold.
…Better yet you can even install 3 of these units

...one on the bottom, top and the side if you’re a real perfectionist (will need a bit more energy to open and close).

Post by **sharward** » Tue Aug 30, 2005 5:02 am

I'll admit it: I have "Door Ball Catch Envy!"

AlexT · Post by **AlexT** » Thu Sep 01, 2005 6:35 am

Here is the construction of splayed ceiling cloud with hangers.

Pictures 1&2:
Outer framing is 2x4s screwed securely to the front wall studs and the ceiling stud… drill and screw holes caulked to the max.
Four 2x2s running from the front wall to the back of the frame are for hanging hangers herringbone style.
2x1s attached to the bottom of the frame were for holding the 4” Rockwool in place… but they didn’t work so I took them out and screwed 4x1 and 3x1 instead.

Pictures 3&4:
Hangers of different sizes made out of varying thickness of MDF, linoleum (glued across the to MDF boards), wrapped with Rockwool and thin batting.
I used electrical wire to hang them.
It is not very clear in picture 4 but…
Neither the hangers nor the bottom (cloud) insulation are in hard contact with each other…
There is a slight soft contact (insulation only) between the hangers…
and they are all swinging freely and happily.

AlexT · Post by **AlexT** » Thu Sep 01, 2005 6:46 am

Pictures 5,6,7:
Hangers and insulation are all in place.
Ceiling cloud is covered with plastic to direct some of the High Frequency towards the back absorber… plus to not deaden the room too much.

JohnGardner · Post by **JohnGardner** » Fri Sep 02, 2005 7:10 am

Hi Alex,

I,m interested in your windows.

A couple of questions:

(1) What thickness glass did you use each side - in mm would be great!!

(2)Could you let me know how you actually attached the glass into the frame - I was going to cut a grove in the frame to sit the glass in but it looks like you have just run small timber strips each side of each peice of glass which would be alot easier.

(3)Is there rubber or cork inbetween the strips for the glass to sit on to stop vibrations?

(4) Did you seal around the glass with some kind of silicone?

Any info would be great - I am getting close to the window part of my project soon and have been trying to decide the cheapest way to go!!

JohnG

Post by **sharward** » Fri Sep 02, 2005 9:23 am

John & Alex -- have you seen this thread?

AlexT · Post by **AlexT** » Sat Sep 03, 2005 5:23 am

Hi John,

(1) What thickness glass did you use each side - in mm would be great!!

Two different thickness 3/8” and 5/16” laminated glass.
The thicker one will go on the CR side.
Sorry no calculator with me at the moment to do metric conversion.

(2)Could you let me know how you actually attached the glass into the frame - I was going to cut a grove in the frame to sit the glass in but it looks like you have just run small timber strips each side of each peice of glass which would be alot easier.

I didn’t attach the glasses yet (want to finish all the other heavy construction first).
We made the window frame out of 2x8 timber about 1/2” larger than the glass to have room for EPDM rubber underneath.
We ran custom cut timber strips to rest the glass on (caulked to the max all around)

(3)Is there rubber or cork inbetween the strips for the glass to sit on to stop vibrations?

We will use 3/8” EPDM rubber underneath the glass and will run a strip of closed cell foam all around the glass where it is in contact with the timber.
San Francisco is an earthquake zone and all these precautions are important.

(4) Did you seal around the glass with some kind of silicone?

I didn’t attach the glass yet; we just put it lying on the frame to see how it fits.
Here is how we will do it:
First we will run closed cell foam (one side self sticking from HD) around the timber on which the glass will be resting up against.
Put the glass on with EPDM rubber on the bottom and top and caulk all around.
Afterwards run another round of closed cell foam this time sticking to the glass and place the outer timber tight up against the glass… finish up with a nice looking molding for aesthetics.

Very similar to this sketch except my glasses are angled:

AlexT · Post by **AlexT** » Sat Sep 03, 2005 5:30 am

Come to think of it I have a question for Steve regarding the above picture.

Hey Steve,
Question: Do I have to use celotex or fibreboard underneath the insulation?
Can I just use a thin layer of rockwool (instead) and cover it with cloth?

The reason I ask is I was planning on doing as illustrated in the following picture

:
Would this cause any problems?

AlexT · Post by **AlexT** » Sun Sep 04, 2005 6:42 am

Seems like a logical idea...
...but still wanted to make sure

knightfly · Post by **knightfly** » Sun Sep 04, 2005 2:27 pm

Sure, it doesn't even have to be a thin layer; main goal here is NO HARD CONTACT between leaves, and BREATHABILITY. This lets the window air volume "breathe" into and out of the wall air cavity to lessen coupling between the two glasses... Steve

3/8" = 9.37mm
5/16" = 7.8mm