John Sayers' Recording Studio Design Forum Archive

Hello,
Like the subject says. Is it ok to vent the stale air from my studio into the attic space? My attic is large and well ventilated, I figure the stale air will be cool from the AC and could even help take the attic temp down a bit and force air to ventilate through it. I'm in New Orleans where the attic temp can get into the 100's for most of the year. Seems like a win-win. Is there any reason I can't do this?

On a secondary note, will spray foam (open-cell) seal all cracks and gaps as well as help the sound insulation? Or should I still go around and caulk everything?

Thanks in advance

Scotty

Scotmcg wrote:Hello,
Like the subject says. Is it ok to vent the stale air from my studio into the attic space? My attic is large and well ventilated, I figure the stale air will be cool from the AC and could even help take the attic temp down a bit and force air to ventilate through it. I'm in New Orleans where the attic temp can get into the 100's for most of the year. Seems like a win-win. Is there any reason I can't do this?

On a secondary note, will spray foam (open-cell) seal all cracks and gaps as well as help the sound insulation? Or should I still go around and caulk everything?

Thanks in advance

Scotty

Is the attic a normally lived in place? Usually venting stale air from one room to another is against code and not recommended, however, in your case I really do not see a problem. As you say, the air will be fairly cool coming from the control room and providing your attic space has adequate roof ventilation then it won't cause any problems.

Spray foam will do a pretty good job of sealing up all the cracks, but where exactly are you spraying it? On the ceiling of your control room?

Thanks for the response Paul. The spray foam will be going in the walls and ceiling of the control room. There are no windows and 1 well sealed door.

Scotmcg wrote:Thanks for the response Paul. The spray foam will be going in the walls and ceiling of the control room. There are no windows and 1 well sealed door.

Are you going to have a fully decoupled room within a room with an outer leaf and inner leaf for your walls and ceiling or is the spray foam going in the cavity or standard, residential type stud walls?

I can't do the room within a room due to budget and size constraints. So, it is a standard construction single stud walls of 2x4 and a gable ceiling of 2x6's.

Thanks

you might benefit from hat channel on isolators to improve decoupling if that is an option in your budget. the spray insulation may be too dense for good acoustic isolation (attenuation of LF is typ better with long fiber insulation in most situations) but the spray-in may be more effective at thermal isolation as the attic will get hot as you noted.

Yes that was my reason for asking... I think you would benefit isolation wise from standard cheap attic insulation (the fluffy stuff on a roll) but the foam would be better for thermal.

The price difference (at least in the UK) is rather substantial.

Thanks,

The room itself is very drafty, and it would take me forever to caulk every individual crack and gap. That's why I want to use the spray foam, kill two birds with one stone. I'm not super concerned with isolation, and plan on building large bass traps in the corners as well as absorbers on the reflection points and the ceiling, so the room will be treated acoustically very well. I am concerned about the thermal insulation as I will be keeping my guitars in there, so temperature and humidity control is very important. I am also concerned (maybe unjustifiably so) about fiberglass or mineral wool insulation sagging over time in the walls. Please feel free to point out any mistakes I'm making or incorrect assumptions. And there is no budget for hat channel.

Thanks,
Scotty

ok then