Building a shed to be a full fledged editing & viewing studio--looking for advice

C

coonasty

Member
wasnt sure where to put this but since im building it...i figured the DIY section was as good as any



decided to build a new shed in the back yard and need some help on some decisions and will gladly accept any other advice on everything involved.

building will be 20' x 16' cant decide if i want to go 8' or 10' ceilings? thats question number 1 if there's some sort of a sound or viewing advantage of one or the other (or is it basically do i want the extra wall space?)

obviously i will be moving all my editing equipment into it. will have a big tv on wall for clients to view projects (im sure ill be in there watching movies/games when the wife has her friends with kids over). nice surround sound system with sub connected to it as well.

there will be only one oversize metal door to get in/out. no windows. one in wall combo air conditioner/heater (like one of the nice mitsubishi ones that will keep air constant temp and low humidity). black cloth over walls. insulation as well as sound dampening in walls, ceiling, floor. alarm system as well as surveillance dvr system with motion detection.

not pouring a slab as that would require a permit to do this project and paying homage to the local red tape gestapo politicians---not doing it

so this thing will be on blocks and anchored to the ground. was thinking 2 x 4 floor joists, with 1" plywood, then some sort of somewhat dampening and durable flooring if anyone has a recommendation here.
basically dont want the echo when walking around or the sub/speakers rattling the floor.

will have a covered area outside the door (which will be on one of the 20' sides). will set it up so if power cuts out i can cut main feed off and flip a breaker to backfeed outside generator and power everything.

anyone ever do something like this and what was biggest decisions/obstacles? TIA
 
8' vs 10' is a matter of feel. That 2 extra feet makes the space feel luxurious vs the 8'. If you are bringing in clients, that extra airy space will feel good vs the more claustrophobic 8'. I can't comment on the sound of 8' vs 10'

2x4 floor joists? Is this over a crawl space? Those are very small joists. You would need very short spans with that size joist. I've never seen a floor made with anything that small. But a flexible floor can be a good thing. It is what is called for by THX for a proper theater experience. A full-fleged THX theater has a wooden floor that vibrates so the audience can feel those low sonic vibrations.

If this is only to mix and not record, then a fixed acoustic treatment is ok. Do you ever intend to record? Then ideally, the wall treatments can be modified from hard to soft depending upon how much reverb you want.
 
look up your local building codes. for one, you want to know if this is going to be bridging any 'official' gaps. second, to see how things are 'supposed' to be done.

unless you plan on putting blocks every 4 feet under ever joist, go for 6" instead of 4"

and 10' ceilings for sure
 
thanks so much for the quick replies. yeah i meant to type 2 x 6 for the floor joists not 2x4.

no crawl space under floor. lucky to be given as many 8x8x16 cinder blocks as i want from a family member with 1000's of them. so i was going to make the entire bed a solid foundation of blocks instead of doing rows of them.

and yeah i want to feel the vibrations from sub and speakers for sure. just trying to not have the hollow raised house sound when walking around in it. not sure what a full bed of cinder block foundation is going to sound like to walk on.

10' ceilings it is!

yeah i will be doing small bits of VO recording in there.

neighbor is a local contractor that knows all our citywide rules, we keep missing each other but im running everything by him as well once i formally decide specs/materials/design path i want to go.
 
coonasty said:
...decided to build a new shed in the back yard and need some help on some decisions and will gladly accept any other advice on everything involved.
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Wonderful! I did the same thing a few years ago and turned my detached two car garage into my office/studio. Cut down on my commute from 20 minutes to 20 feet and I get a tax break as a home office.
Are you going to hire someone to build it, or do it yourself? Do you know how? Do you know how to do it right? I thought I had a lot of experience with this stuff but I definitely still learned a lot doing it. Even if you do all the work yourself it's going to be a big investment just in materials. Learn how to do it right so that you don't waste all that money.

coonasty said:
building will be 20' x 16' cant decide if i want to go 8' or 10' ceilings? thats question number 1 if there's some sort of a sound or viewing advantage of one or the other (or is it basically do i want the extra wall space?)
Click to expand...
First thing you need to do is look up what your local code allows. There's a certain square footage for "non permanent" outbuildings that you can build without needing a building permit. This is mostly for garden sheds and small storage, but can often be used for something like what you want too. You need to also make sure that you don't fall under the "mother in law" apt specs because then you're in for a whole lot of regulations and might not even be allowed to build at all.
For the height, I have 8' walls and a vaulted ceiling that goes up to about 10'. If you're building a simple saltbox style, or even shed roof, you can capture a lot of that roof height as inside space.

coonasty said:
there will be only one oversize metal door to get in/out. no windows. one in wall combo air conditioner/heater (like one of the nice mitsubishi ones that will keep air constant temp and low humidity). black cloth over walls. insulation as well as sound dampening in walls, ceiling, floor. alarm system as well as surveillance dvr system with motion detection.
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Bad idea. Basic fire code says you need to have two possible egress points in every structure. This could be a window (big enough to crawl out of) or another door, but you'll need to have more than one. This is non negotiable.
Insulation is a must, and don't forget to insulate underneath! Black cloth as a wall surface can be a fire hazard. Make sure it's flame retardant. You are going to drywall first, right?

coonasty said:
not pouring a slab as that would require a permit to do this project and paying homage to the local red tape gestapo politicians---not doing it
Click to expand...
You don't need a slab, but you should put down some heavy black plastic and cover it over with gravel to keep moisture and critters from coming up for a visit.
You might be able to build without needing a permit. Notice I said needing a permit and not getting a permit. IF you are required to have a permit you better get one. Don't think for a second that you're building dept won't notice a 16x20 building going up. They check Google Earth these days to track down unpermitted swimming pools and additions. If they catch you, you will pay as much as the original permits, plus fines, and that's assuming that you get to keep the building. More often than not they'll make you take it down or take it back to the studs so they can check your work. Not worth the risk. If you are supposed to have a permit, then get one. It's really not that bad. The inspectors are there to make sure you don't do something stupid and dangerous, like span a 16' floor with a 2x4 ;) They can actually be really helpful sometimes. Anyway, you might not need a permit if you keep to a certain size and don't have things like running water or a kitchen in there.

coonasty said:
so this thing will be on blocks and anchored to the ground. was thinking 2 x 4 floor joists, with 1" plywood, then some sort of somewhat dampening and durable flooring if anyone has a recommendation here.
basically dont want the echo when walking around or the sub/speakers rattling the floor.
Click to expand...
The size of building you're talking about sounds like it might be more than "blocks" will handle. You might need to dig some footers to hold it up.
A 2x4 is enough to span, well, nothing. For a 8 foot span you will need a minimum of 2x8 set 16" on center.
Floors are usually 3/4 ply (or 3/4 OSB) tongue and groove. Glue them to the floor joists then nail with ring shank nails or screw them down. Anything less will wind up with squeaks.

coonasty said:
will have a covered area outside the door (which will be on one of the 20' sides). will set it up so if power cuts out i can cut main feed off and flip a breaker to backfeed outside generator and power everything.
Click to expand...
Consult an electrician. Seriously. Don't F around with the electrical work.

coonasty said:
anyone ever do something like this and what was biggest decisions/obstacles? TIA
Click to expand...
Yeah, I did something like this. Biggest obstacle was time. It takes time to do it right. I have a fair amount of construction experience and a decent set of tools for this kind of thing, but it still took longer than I wanted it to. There were some frustrations, but in the end I'm really glad I did it.
 
coonasty said:
no crawl space under floor. lucky to be given as many 8x8x16 cinder blocks as i want from a family member with 1000's of them. so i was going to make the entire bed a solid foundation of blocks instead of doing rows of them.
Click to expand...
I'd still go with doing points for the load instead of an entire field of blocks. Even though they're free, they're going to be a ton of back breaking labor to set and level all of them.

coonasty said:
neighbor is a local contractor that knows all our citywide rules, we keep missing each other but im running everything by him as well once i formally decide specs/materials/design path i want to go.
Click to expand...
That's a good neighbor to have! Answers a lot of the questions I have in my dissertation above. I'd still pick up some books on how to build something like this and what the standards are. I doubt your neighbor will be around every minute of your build to stop you from making big mistakes.
 
My advice, take it or leave it.... If you are bringing clients in then don't forget the liability insurance.

And as mentioned, build to code, go through the political hoops that you have stated you want to avoid. Get your permits and have signoff inspections performed.

Good luck with your project!
 
Couple things -

I'd be amazed if you can just lay down some blocks and get a foundation that will support a roof and walls and insulation and so on, without everything warping all out of whack. At the minimum you'll likely need to pour some concrete pads for your joist structure. Or a concrete perimeter for you blocks. I live in Dallas, well south of frost heave, and even without the issue of heave I poured 10" round foundation pads for my deck, and they went 12" deep and were reinforced. Where the grill (with a block and stone cooking area is) I poured a 5" thick reinforced slab. I did it all with a $200 mixer.

Your plan seems fairly sound for a tool shed or something, but adding the weight of drywall, insulation, AC, etc - I can't see it all staying plumb on blocks.

For electrical - unless you're out in the sticks, you need to at least talk with a local electrician or the code office. You may need two breakers minimum, etc. - there may be rules about this being more of an "office" than a shed. And how you run the power is important - the cleanest way is underground with plastic conduit.

I'd bite the bullet and make sure you are 100% code - do it that way and you've improved your property. If you have a realtor friend, ask them over about placement and so on - plunk it down in the middle of a nice yard and you may hurt your resale options; make it something that looks nice and future owners could use for office or hobby space and it'll be worth the effort.

And I'd go with 9 or 10' ceilings if that's an option, which makes a nice difference in feel, and if you want to treat the space to any degree for audio mixing it will allow you to deal with corners, put up a ceiling diffuser, etc. Really for audio, the more space the better within reason, and you may as well deaden the space for voiceover recording. Soundproofing is another animal - sound proofing takes mass and vacuum - you'd want to build the whole thing with those blocks.

For a world of audio room treatment info, google Ethan Winer - his forum is priceless.
 
It's quite surprising, but a set of blocks can be stable. I wouldn't do it for a living space, but I built a small building that weighs just as much as any house per sq foot on nothing more than 1'x1' blocks. It hasn't budged in years.
 
Sounds like you have received some good advice. Depending on where you are located a building permit may be a must. Also, take the zoning code into consideration. The local government may not allow a business on the property. I will mention another alternative . Seems many folks are now getting around the local zoning by building on wheels which confuses government into classifying it as a recreation vehicle. Check out https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RI8iO53xBFM

Another consideration if the location is accessible by vehicle is customizing a used recreation trailer. Although the ceiling will be lower. The benefit being that the electrical, plumbing, bathroom, kitchen, HVAC etc is all done to industry standard and its mobile if you need it. http://markeemagazine.com/wp/redefining-mobile/
 
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