Gearslutz.com - View Single Post - Building new home, mostly studio, what type of building is best?

FOURTHTUNZ · 29th March 2006

Hi, I'm Daniel Lewis in Bangor Maine, I've been recording for 2o years or so, the last 15 as a small studio business and I need to relocate
I have been in the research stage the last 2 months or so, and wow!
My eyes are blurry from reading , so I'll get right to it.

I am looking to build a home with a small loft, the studio being the important thing, in fact the whole downstairs can be studio. I already have the land, I think I'll be 150 feet from my nearest neighbor. I do not have alot to spend.$90K- $125k to start,but if I do it right from the start can I not finish rooms as money allows? I can do grunt work but do not have construction(willing to learn!) or design skills I will leave that to others. I would like a separate control room,drum/performance area a guitar closet,and bathroom, all downstairs. I think this is the minimum I would want to open with. I've been looking at 28*40 post and beam style with a 12*28 loft, with a cathedral ceiling over the rest of the space.
I'll go with whichever demensions work best. I have looked at cape style log homes made from cedar or post and beam, with hemlock 4*4's and 4*6's the style of home is not important to me, so before I start can you give me opinions about:

Is cedar better or worse than other materials?
Is a log home a bad idea? How about the loft for the bedroom and the cathedral ceiling for the drum room?
I was going to put this on a slab, better than a cellar?
Which demensions should I start with?

Thanks for any help!

daniel

29th March 2006	#1
FOURTHTUNZ Lives for gear Joined: Jul 2002 Location: MAINE Posts: 785 Thread Starter	Building new home, mostly studio, what type of building is best? Hi, I'm Daniel Lewis in Bangor Maine, I've been recording for 2o years or so, the last 15 as a small studio business and I need to relocate I have been in the research stage the last 2 months or so, and wow! My eyes are blurry from reading , so I'll get right to it. I am looking to build a home with a small loft, the studio being the important thing, in fact the whole downstairs can be studio. I already have the land, I think I'll be 150 feet from my nearest neighbor. I do not have alot to spend.$90K- $125k to start,but if I do it right from the start can I not finish rooms as money allows? I can do grunt work but do not have construction(willing to learn!) or design skills I will leave that to others. I would like a separate control room,drum/performance area a guitar closet,and bathroom, all downstairs. I think this is the minimum I would want to open with. I've been looking at 2840 post and beam style with a 1228 loft, with a cathedral ceiling over the rest of the space. I'll go with whichever demensions work best. I have looked at cape style log homes made from cedar or post and beam, with hemlock 44's and 46's the style of home is not important to me, so before I start can you give me opinions about: Is cedar better or worse than other materials? Is a log home a bad idea? How about the loft for the bedroom and the cathedral ceiling for the drum room? I was going to put this on a slab, better than a cellar? Which demensions should I start with? Thanks for any help! daniel