Lou's Studio - Construction Phase

[Lou]

Hi Guys! Hope you’re all well. Tonight we have two updates for the price of one, but first:

Keith – Thanks, Buddy! Believe me, you really would have loved to have been around on that one!

Joey – No worries, Dude.

Tom - Thanks Mate just caught your post, before I posted this! Yeah concrete pouring is magic fun! (Not - thinking about neon signs now)

Ok guys, here comes the update:

Sunday/Monday

25mm armoured cable, fed back from the isolating switch in my current studio environment (“room with gear in”), through the cavity plus 16mm twin and earth.



Then fed back along studio floor at screed level and into house



And finally into existing kitchen (soon to be ripped out)



Hooked into new mains board – brown, blue, green/yellow spiral = 25mm armoured. Grey = temporary power.



New gas pipe fed to sit in screed but not to be underneath sole plates for front of control room



Mains for studio fed back from kitchen board and ready to go



Mains gas fed back out of studio and copper sleeved through brickwork and sand laid



New regulator/live gas already fed to the valve on the left



Once the gas was hooked back up, we could then get on with removing the old piping and (thank God) the wiring circuits were being swapped one by one from this heap of junk



Gas now complete – grey lagged pipe at floor level. Sarah can now cook again – Yippee!





Time to take out the old pipework but keep and eye on the vertical hanging plasterwork to my right (in the second pic)





..cos that lot’s just gotta come out!



Introducing Sam – a good mate, excellent chef….but also has worked as a roofer with the guy who will eventually be doing the new roof.







Then the felt



We then, in our wisdom, decide to take this whole timber structure (very large and bloody heavy) out in one piece





Job done – but it WAS scary. Luckily, Sarah had hold of the heavy bit.



We’ve stockpiled all the tiles, just in case we need them (or want to sell them) and, since they’re old, they have ‘aged’, which means they can command a silly price as they will match existing.



Time for me to bed in the electric box



All old gas supply is now gone – only the old electric supply to go and then to rip out that ceiling





Tuesday Morning

Sam and Trev crack on. Regrettably, this tiny little bit is asbestos.



New record set for “Number of Blokes on Site” – 8



Phil gets on with the front brickwork whilst trying not to get in the way of the apprentice from the electric company



The other guy, however, with a great sense of humour, gets on with cutting our mains electric supply (whilst its still live, of course!)



Then I discover this – and I cant believe how much extra space I potentially have





It’s tricky to explain this at this stage guys, until I get up there, but the room above the garage is basically supported by 3 steel ‘I’ beams which, of course, leave a massive void internally up to the apex of the roof. Storeroom? Aircon ducting? Ensuite bathroom!! Either way, I have to be able to turn this into a real scoop.

This pic is from above the rear studio door (looking up)



This is looking to the front of the house. The Thermolite wall to the left (above the steel) is the back wall of bedroom 4. Wow – fresh air!



Ok. Gauze over the electric connection for safety reasons



Then heat-shrink to make waterproof and safe





A nice tidy job – well done chaps! Graham can now get on with making us Go Live again



Phil’s son and his mate pop round to see how dad is doing and decide to lend a hand.



Nearly there with the ceiling



Finally a better look at what Im dealing with. Bedroom 4 above is supported by the two ‘I’ beams parallel to the joists and, of course, the other 'I' beam running top left/bottom middle in the pic (loads of support for beef-up?)



Bedroom 4 floor (nothing much to mess around with here)



Loads of room!



Just one last shot of the ceiling for now until I can get up there properly



Phil and Dave set out the 2.5m studio front window opening



Studio 4’s new front entrance taking shape!



Tomorrow’s first job – tidy up!



‘Endo’ brick course ready to go underneath the new window



Well, that’s it for now guys. It’s late now in the UK but you’re all now bang up-to-date with where I am.

Stay tuned

Regards

Lou

P.S. Tom - Don't forget to tell your good lady that I think your sign is realy cool!

And, I'm so sorry for using 'now' 3 times in the last sentence, but "It was tired and I was very late!"

[sharward]

Jumpin' Jehosephats!! All this in one day??!!

Man, you're really starting to make me look bad now!

The progress you're making must be intoxicating, right Lou?! That is, when you're not exhausted!

Bravo, my friend!

Although that asbestos removal would have given this guy great pause!! I hope you guys were careful! (Although I suspect from the lack of respiratory protection your gents were sporting, I'm guessing not! )

--Keith

[Lou]

Morning Chaps – Keith - I know, you're right, but it was only a very small amount.

Well, it’s really rather manic here at the moment, we have 3 guys on site today – Phil, Dave and good old Trev. Strictly speaking I should be out there giving them a hand, so I’ll make this as short as possible without leaving anything out!

Wednesday.

Phil shows off his skill in the ‘toothing dept’



Trev and I have a good tidy up from the day before.



Front of studio window aperture.



Proper glimpse at the ceiling, but the joists in the top of the first pic, and to the left in the second pic are badly engineered so will be coming out.





I’m sure Rod would be the first to point out that due to the design they’ve employed, the builders have in fact, rendered these 6” x 2” joists to 1 ½” x 2”!





Former utilities wall is now completely clear, only the boiler to go!



Phil organises this platform tower for me to get a real close look at what we’ve got.





This is the void at the back of the studio over the rear door. It’s nearly 18’ high.



View from studio kitchen to main house.



Thursday

Proper evidence that these joists aren’t doing anything, mind you they were only really intended to hold 1 sheet of plasterboard not 3!



I definitely feel this is a storeroom waiting to happen, with a sort of loft hatch and drop down ladder over the rear soundlok. What do you think guys?

Ken – Glenn if you spot this post any further ideas?



These steel ‘I’ beams are monstrous, but boy, what a structural gift, held together by 11 1/16” railway bolts. You could park a truck on this lot.





The walls of bedroom 4 (supported by the ‘H’ type arrangement of steels) are 6” thermolite blocks.



It’s hard to explain but I hope the pics show clearly enough how this all fits together. Bedroom 4 is sat in the roof on the three giant steels.





Blockwork begins.



Studio front window lintel gets the treatment.





I get on with removing the existing porch fashia so that we get a clear idea of the timbers behind.



It’s not coming off easily, but at least you now now what our house is called!



Rear of studio stood above rear door – joists removed.



Side of studio – joists removed.



This is how we ended up last night, more mess on the drive, but a sense of achievement. Unfortunately the colour match of the bricks is not as good but will naturally improve over time – yes they are exactly the same bricks!



That’s it for this one guys, my head’s spinning with ideas of what’s next, but with those steels, I figure that my best bet is to reinstate those side joists properly, so that we have a complete load bearing area throughout.

Rod – John if you could both pop round for a six hour chat at the weekend that would be great, you’d both be made very welcome!

Seriously folks, any thoughts, ideas, cautions gratefully accepted. Now I really do need to go and help get the scafold up! More soon.

Regards,

Lou.

[kendale]

Aloha Lou,

Mmm, interesting place you've got there...discover any secret chambers?

Seriously though, that's an amazing amount of work you've been accomplishing.

One thought that comes to mind regarding those "above ceiling" areas would be to hang a bunch of bass hangers as John has shown in the pics below.

If any more ideas come to mind, I'll be sure to post them.

Be safe and keep up the good work,

Aloha

[gullfo]

if you cannot use the space for something else, then I second Kendale's idea of bass trapping.

[Lou]

Hey Chaps – great to hear from you both, and so quickly. Now I know you’re watching this one which is so reassuring.

Ken/Glenn: You are aware by now of how much help you’ve been, but I have to confess, I’m either totally confused by your suggestions, totally ignorant of what’s required or, much more likely, we’re all talking at cross purposes for the moment due to my rather ‘rushed’ post this morning.

The bricklayers are gone now and I have some less manic time to explain what I’ve got. Basically, (with apologies for earlier ambiguity), the rafters you see in my pics, (2 and 3 photos from the end in my last post) are supporting the roof, ie, wood trusses – felt - roof tile - outside world.

I know, therefore, that you’re not suggesting I hang bass hangers in such a position/scenario.

The bottom line is, I have loads of extra space that I would like to utilise. The steels are 10’ above ground level. If I replace the inadequate joists I’ve removed with more substantial versions, I’m thinking that I can create my outer ‘beef-up’ (as far as the main ceiling is concerned) throughout the entire ceiling area, all at the same level, in exactly the same way as Rod’s design on page 68 of his book. Including backer rod and caulk at the joist edges!

Then, when I build the studio inside, the three separate iso booth, control room, live room ceilings would be not only supported on the various new room walls, but also be totally de-coupled from my ‘beefed up’ ceiling. Furthermore, by effectively creating a new ‘floor’/beefed-up ceiling around the blockwork of bedroom 4 (and underneath bedroom 4) at steel height, I would hope that I am not potentially thus creating a three-leaf system, since the roof and its rafters will not only be a significant distance from my ‘floor’ but also, of course, at quite a steep angle.

It seems too good an opportunity to miss that, having two large spaces above my intended build space (albeit it ‘cheese wedge’ shaped spaces!) I don’t at least consider using them either for storage areas or as a space to run aircon ducting, mains electric etc. What do you think?

One other thing which I found out today, to make the acoustics isolation aspect of this a little more interesting, is that UK Building Regs require all voids to be accessible, and that roof timbers must be ventilated for airflow, and therefore cannot be boxed in (with insulation and plasterboard etc) – sound familiar? In other words my friends, whatever I do to 'beef-up' - (seal my main studio ceiling), some idiot may potentially need to examine it! Great.

Sorry if any of this sounds confusing but I'm just trying to help you guys help me. Aloha!

Thanks for your response, chaps, as I said. Much appreciated.

Regards

Lou

[kendale]

Aloha,

Yes, by all means, if you can use it for storage, AC ducts, electrical, bathroom, etc. then it would be wise to do so. And then, if that's all thats in that area, yes, bass traps/hangers in the rafters will help to absorb whatever gets up there from disturbing 1) control room/studio below 2) bedroom 4 3) rest of your household and 4) friendly neighbors next door.

A few more ideas might include:

- guitar cab iso booth/s
- machine room
- addition for bedroom 4 if structure can support it

Aloha

[Lou]

Hey..............Dude!

I think then, that I'm basically on the right lines.

If my sketchup skills were better, I'd try and show you and Glenn where I'm going. For now, and this weekend, I have a couple of days to see if anyone else has the time to pick this up just to make sure.

Ken - There will be clouds and traps a plenty by the time I'm done - trust me I'm a doctor!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And I just gotta' compete with your awesome center room cloud! Quite brilliant Mate - really I mean that.

We're rockin, many thanks my friend, love to you and yours - and the Roses

Warmest regards as always,

Lou.

[kendale]

Aloha,

Chat session going here -

Check out this link and here for the inspiration I used.

Aloha

[Lou]

Wow! Point taken. Still think yours is awesome, too!

regards

Lou

[sharward]

For that void you'd like to make into some kind of storage space...

I bought this unique telescoping attic ladder kit and I absolutely love it! Maybe you can get one over there...?

The great thing about it is that it requires an opening as small as 22" x 22" and it does not require "fold-out" room like other attic ladders.

--Keith

[Lou]

Hi Guys – hope you’re all enjoying your respective weekends.

Keith - what a great gadget, that's exactly the sort of thing I mean. Thanks Mate.

There’s not really much to report on the construction front here since, to be honest, there hasn’t been much going on this weekend on the construction front!

However a few things have happened which I will happily share, and furthermore, a slightly more relaxed couple of days hasn’t done anyone any harm.

I, in turn, have had the time to reflect where we are, plan ahead (without hopefully going too far ahead) and think carefully about the manic onslaught that will doubtless dominate most of next week – ie, finish the shell -roof an' all! :shock

So chaps, for what it’s worth, here's the brief (but relevant) update.

Friday Morning:,

and, after much confusion, my structural engineers finally email me with the ‘meaningless scribble on squared paper’ (sorry - structural calculations ) for the specifications of the steel which will carry the load of the flat roof in the garage span, and the pitch down to match existing. (More on this in a mo’.)


Friday Late Morning:

The Scaffold Fairy arrives and, like the ducting fairy a few posts ago, this little lot just got dropped on my drive free of charge – thank you very much.



Phil gets on with putting it together whilst I write my last post to you kind fellows!



Back to steels for a moment – introducing Darren, a top guy who said ages ago “Let me know when you get the spec for the steel, and I’ll sort it” Yes, he is a steel erector by trade, and was only slightly alarmed that I gave him such short notice! This shot was taken Saturday lunchtime! (Man, that’s efficient.)



Now all we have to do is get it off his van and onto our driveway – easy! (NOT!)



Yes folks – it was as heavy as it looks, but barely a third of the size of the steels that are supporting bedroom 4!



“Daz – do you know the steel’s on my shoulder?”

“Yeah – it’s in Bb, you play it Lou, I’ll sing it!”



This tiny piece of metalwork will be placed on ‘pad-stones’ between the vertical right hand wall, and the opposite vertical pier.



It’s a 178 x 102 x 4800 UB 19 (but then of course you all knew that) as shown in the Architect’s Regulations Drawings.





Beam A (dotted lines Left hand side) is the steel in question, Beam B however, (dotted lines – bottom center) will be constructed from 2 x 9” x 2” wooden timbers set back to back.



Yes, it’s spot-on accurate – but you all know me by now, so, I just have to check. Being a ‘geeky nerd’ is often time-consuming, but that’s how I am!



Studio front door brickwork matches perfectly to existing front door of house brickwork, not just the course configuration, but even the double muck above and below d.p.c., and pretty much the colour differences as well. Bloody hell, Phil – you don’t miss a trick Dude.





Just in case you missed it in the last post, our home is called………………………….



Introducing another great mate – Ian. A true Gentleman, and a man who could hang a tile on a cloud. You will hopefully be seeing more of him next week. He just stopped by to make sure the scaffold was safe to load for Phil and Dave in the morning.







All done, bar 2 diagonals which of course will somehow miraculously materialise over night I’m sure!

What a bunch of really great blokes, each and every one.

The roof timbers arrive in the morning, and also, all the timbers to reinstate the rafters around bedroom 4. A big week ahead with many questions I’m sure, but for now my friends, that’s it.

Stay tuned,

Regards,

Lou.

[Lou]

Hi guys – hope you’re all having a good week so far. It’s Wednesday 22.47pm here in the U.K. and I thought I’d try and get this one out to you tonight, as rather like school homework, if you don’t stay on top of it, it inevitably catches up with you.

I notice that I haven’t had a response to Sunday’s post which is absolutely fine, since of course we all have lives, and there are many others up here like me in search of help and guidance. I will however, say that I really wouldn’t want to be caught in the ‘no news is good news’ trap at this stage! Assumption, is after all, 'The Mother of All F**k-Ups!

Here then my fellow designers/builders/friends is the update of what’s been happening since Monday morning.

Studio 4 front of house height really coming up.






‘Soldier’ course of brickwork above iso booth front window.



Looking good Phil.



Now we have to bridge the span between the new build and the existing porch.



Everything is lining up nicely.





Meanwhile, I can get on with chiselling out under the new gas supply, for the hot and cold water supply from studio toilet to studio kitchen.



And also insulated/sleeved mains electric for the control room.



Finally, at last, and after, would you believe just 6 weeks of construction, some timber shows up, and I can get on with making up the 9” x 4” beam that will act as the support for the new roof between new and existing brickwork.



For those of you who weren’t sure what ‘back to back’ meant, this should explain. The timbers are placed with opposing grains facing so that any tendency for 1 or the other to buckle, will be constrained by…………yup the other!



Final bit of toothing, which I did, (since there was clearly no room for a disk cutter), by ‘stitch drilling’



Then we start to remove some of the existing porch roof tiles to get a clear idea of lines between the two structures.



‘Matrix’ shot from Phil.



‘Muck out’ recess for 9” x 4” beam.



Offer into place.



Render to secure.



And She’s in there baby – clean to go and bang on level.



Next comes the padstones.





Recess for our 4.8m steel.



Front ‘wallplate’ in position, and level.



The left hand side of the steel will end up sat in this little lot!



But first, Phil has to cut out the other recess – so here comes the mandatory ‘arty’ shot again folks. (Especially for Keith)



Beam over front storm porch looking good.



Padstone in place on the right.



And of course, on the left.



Time to tackle the ‘heavy shit’ and yes, I really should have been helping instead of taking pictures to show you kind fellows, but ah well……….









And………………….She’s there as well Dudes – couldn’t resist the level though! (Damm clever when you think about it – not a laser anywhere! Nice one again Phil.)



Getting how all this is goes together yet?



No, the steel’s not too low, it’ll make more sense once the woodwork for the rafters goes in.



Time to rip off the rest of the porch roof.



‘Bed in’ the steel.



Seal off the old utilities wall.



Finally, for today at least, mark out all pipe and ducting that will sit in the screed for future reference.







All tidy for Chris (my ‘structural’ carpenter) to make a start in the morning.

Well chaps, that’s it for this one, and just so you know, all I meant in my opening paragraph of this post, is that If any of the pros up here see a problem, then please guys, tell me. If, on the other hand, you approve, then I’d really love to know, I’m not looking for an ‘ego boost’ (I’ve already had some very kind and thoughtful feedback), but after all that’s gone on in the last 6 weeks, I can assure you all, on both sides of the world, that I’m well aware that I’m still only scratching the surface here. In other words good people in high places, a simple “Stop what you’re doing now – you moronic muppet” or “looks ok to me so far Lou” will do just fine!

Many thanks guys – as always,

Stay tuned,

Warmest regards to you and yours,

Lou.

Edit straight after posting this, and seeing the head of my last post- no response because I told you there was nothing much to report! What a twat!

[kendale]

Aloha,

hope you’re all having a good week so far

Hope this finds you and yours well, as well. Things are pretty quiet out here. Been tending the garden a bit.

It’s Wednesday 22.47pm here in the U.K.

What time is that in "Hawaiian time?"

I notice that I haven’t had a response to Sunday’s post

Actually, I have been waiting to see what you've been up to this week, and it looks like quite a bit.

I'm afraid I don't have much to offer at this point in the game, other than it's really amazing/inspiring to see the amount of work you & and your crew can accomplish in just a few days time. I don't know about anywhere else, but out here in Hawaii, things move alot slower.

Keep up the good work, pics, and be safe.

Aloha

[joey]

looks the part mate. levels on the money. cant see any problems. like what you did with the timbers to stop them twisting.