John Sayers' Recording Studio Design Forum Archive

OK, I want doors with windows in them, and I don't want to pay three million dollars for one, so I think I'm going to build the doors myself. My preliminary plan is to build a frame out of 2x4's, then build a frame within the frame for my window. Next I'll fasten something (suggestions? solid plywood, mdf...) to the frame leaving a hole for the window. I'll let the outer shell hang over enough to seal the window to it with closed cell foam and then basically build a window. I've built one window now and it came out beautifully. I'll have two panes of glass, probably 24" by 48" and different thicknesses. Probably 1/4" and 1/8" . I'll have to find out what the glass will cost. Maybe 1/4" and 1/2". Other than the door being obscenely heavy it should work right? I was planning on fastening the outer shell to the 2x4 frame with screws, which may be a problem.

So, my questions are.

Is this idea feasible?
What material should I use for the shell that both looks nice and functions for isolation?
Should I use screws to fasten the mdf/plywood/whatever to the frame or would that kill the isolation through flanking?
Would I be better off gluing the shell to the frame with gorilla glue and then clamping?


I already have door seals and am prepared to build a big fat frame to hold this monster so I guess that's it for now. Thanks guys. Oh yeah and I'm going to stuff the cavities full of insulation

Tim Wheat

Hey my dad made some doors out of 2x6 and some out of 2x4
one thing I know a 2x4 is not wide enough for the door lock area unless
you don't plan on using a door lock. also the wood has to be near perfect .

Hmmm.... I'm not planning on a door lock. Just a push and pull to open and close as well as an arm to hold it closed. 2x6 might not be a bad idea though. Thanks

Tim

The seals are probably the most important part of a door in a studio as far as isolation goes.

Yeah, I know. I have most of my studio built and when I put up the hollow core door with no holes and mdf reinforcement along with my door seal kit, it was pretty quiet outside the room. The problem was that my walls were effectively shielding out VERY loud drums and guitars, however, my door seemed to be leaking sound right through the middle of it. I've got double layer 5/8" walls with rc on both sides so my walls are around stc 60 with a tl of 36 @ 125 hz. I get a little kick drum through them, but the door had a lot of kick drum and chunky guitar coming through it. That pissed me off and made me realize that its low end tl must suck and in my quest to do this right I decided that I'd build a huge beast of a door that could keep up with my stc 49 door seals. I'm not sure about the tl on the seals b/c acoustical solutions hasn't emailed me all of their specs yet. So, that's why I'm building this door. I'd like to build two doors with an airlock, but its not feasible in the space I'm in so, I guess I'm back to building one big bad door. Thanks guys

Tim

Tim, got pix or a sketch of your existing frame and wall where the door goes? Makes things a lot easier to discuss... Steve

I don't have any pictures right now, but the doorway is your standard 36 x 84" and its about 2 feet off the corner of a 90 degree turn in the wall separating the live room from the outside world. The wall its actually in is about 15 feet long and is double layer drywall on resilient channel mounted to a single stud wall. I was planning on a 1x8 jam with 2x4 door frame with mdf or birch plywood or something as the skin of the door. Anyway, maybe I'll be able to get a picture or two in a couple of days. I've finally got a day off coming Sunday so I'll probably get in the room a bit then. Thanks

Tim

Why not go with a good quality flat 1¾" solid core (oak?) prehung door, then add the seals to it? You could even add a layer of MDF to it if you wanted to beef it up some more. I'll bet you can find a custom door manufacturer that would do it without any holes for knob and lock too.

Well, I want to put a window in it and I mess up sometimes and if I spent $200 on a good door and then screwed it up trying to install the window I would be very mad with myself. I like the prospect of fixing one piece of mdf rather than replacing a whole solid core door. The acoustical properties on the door I'm proposing would be quite superior to a solid core too, right? I would also like to make a couple more of these doors with windows in them if the first one is successful. So that's why I think I've decided to build the kind of door I'm proposing here. Sounds definitive right? Thanks guys.

Tim

Tim, there's no affordable SINGLE door that will likely keep up with your walls - what's your total wall thickness? I'm wondering if an adaptation of my sketch here

http://www.johnlsayers.com/phpBB2/viewt ... 9212#29212

might work... Steve

That's good stuff and I'll probably use it elsewhere in the studio. BUT, and this is a big one. The wall we built butts up against the center beam of the house. So it has to be one door swinging one way. That's my only major screwup so far. I'm actually building one of these big doors like I proposed as we speak. Hopefully I can get it installed today, but the main project of the day is another window. SO MUCH TO DO. Thanks again.

Tim

So it has to be one door swinging one way

Coujld you post a drawing showing us exactly what you are referring to?

Andre

Ok, bought a digital camera so I can post pictures to help on here. The first three pics are from the outside looking in, then two from the inside, then one more from the outside. Hopefully you can see what I'm talking about now. When we built the wall this door is on we had planned on one door swinging into the studio so we built it with just enough room for rc and two layers of rock. We had to get a little creative on sealing up there, but we got it done and the wall works perfectly. We're stuck with the one door here though b/c of that center beam. We know we messed up, but we're stuck with it now. Thanks for your time guys.