John Sayers' Recording Studio Design Forum Archive

Hey guys!! Great forums here. I have been running a studio out of my basement for about 7 years. We have grown out of the basement now and I am constructing a brand new studio in a 21' x 22' garage.

The garage has a nice level concrete floor and 3 walls of 5/8" drywall w/insulation. I have removed all windows, sealed the garage door and framed it. It is now covered with a 6.6" layer of packed fiberglas and 5/8" drywall. I have divided the room in half and one of the halves roughly in half. The biggest room will be for full band recording, drums, etc. The other side that is divided in half will be for the control room and an iso booth for guitars/vox.

I have been to many forums and got some great information on all sorts of acoustical treatments. So using all of this accquired knowledge I came up with my own idea and I was wondering if anyone else has used this method.

The finished walls are as I said insulated and faced with 5/8" drywall/gypsum. I am contemplating furring the wall, covering the strips with 30lb felt, furring again, then topping that with another layer of 5/8" rock. Essentially this will give me, 6.5 fiberglass, 5/8" rock, AIR, 30lb Felt, AIR and then 5/8" rock. What do you think? Thanks for your input in advance.

Welcome to the forum. First of all, be sure to read and follow all the guidelines in the "Before You Post" announcement.

WiseMindsRecordingStudios wrote:The finished walls are as I said insulated and faced with 5/8" drywall/gypsum. I am contemplating furring the wall, covering the strips with 30lb felt, furring again, then topping that with another layer of 5/8" rock. Essentially this will give me, 6.5 fiberglass, 5/8" rock, AIR, 30lb Felt, AIR and then 5/8" rock. What do you think? Thanks for your input in advance.

I'm assuming you've left out the outermost surface, as surely the fiberglass is not exposed to the outside world. We need to know what that surface is.

Assuming that's the case, you are proposing, going outside to inside:

• Outermost surface (Mass)
• Studs (how thick? are they wooden?) with 6.5" (really?) fiberglass between studs (Air)
• 5/8" gypsum wallboard (Mass)
• Furring strips (Air)
• 30lb felt (Mass)
• More Furring Strips (Air)
• 5/8" gypsum wallboard (Mass)

According to my math, that's a four leaf system and will perform very poorly in terms of transmission loss (i.e. soundproofing), especially at low frequencies.

Follow that linked announcement, including and especially the critically important "Refrence Area" announcement linked within it. You need to master the concept of "Mass-Air-Mass."

If you're getting the hint that you're probably going to have to rip off all the drywall in that garage, you'd be reading me right... And that's just the beginning. We haven't begun to talk ceilings yet.

Looking forward to seeing your reply once you've completed your first reading assignment.

--Keith

Assuming that's the case, you are proposing, going outside to inside:
Outermost surface (Mass)
Studs (how thick? are they wooden?) with 6.5" (really?) fiberglass between studs (Air)
5/8" gypsum wallboard (Mass)
Furring strips (Air)
30lb felt (Mass)
More Furring Strips (Air)
5/8" gypsum wallboard (Mass)

Whoops, outermost surface(s) are wood clapboard siding on top of 1/2" exterior plywood wrapping in tyvek.

Clapboard siding (Mass)
Tyvek wrap (Mass)
1/2" Exterior Plywood (Mass)
Wooden Studs (2x4 )R13 fiberglass between studs (Air)
5/8" gypsum wallboard (Mass)
Furring strips (Air)
30lb felt (Mass)
More Furring Strips (Air)
5/8" gypsum wallboard (Mass)

I think I was confusing you with the 6.5" layer of fiberglass between the garage door and the new wall I built.

Thanks for the reply Keith, I will definitely be doing some reading (and learning) tonight!!

Wow, I was all excited to learn and when I followed the links on that post...most of them are broken. I will read your post again in case I am missing something.

(EDIT) Found the wall article...