Garage Studio Project | Photo Diary

[jetpackstudios]

Here's the detached garage. This, and the house, was built back in the 40s. Even though I completely love the house, the garage was the biggest selling point for me. After years of recording in crappy rehearsal rooms and cramped apartments, I couldn't wait to convert this to a nice recording space.

[jetpackstudios]

Little shot of the entrance of the garage and the trusses

[jetpackstudios]

Here's a shot of the house and the detached garage. First step in the construction was to remove some the brick from the original entrance. Note the chiseled out sections...

[jetpackstudios]

After chiseling out some of the old block, the entrance was sealed. The brick dimensions from the 40s didn't match any existing block, so I found something that matched the length and width. The height was about 4 inches too tall so I cut each block with a masonry blade mounted on a cheap table saw. Not exactly fun but WAY cheaper than the $1.50 (x 225) a cut the brick yard wanted to charge.

[jetpackstudios]

Another shot of the original interior

[severe]

Sounds like a lot of fun Adam. There doesn't seem to be a ton of room, but still looking forward to seeing some results.

Good luck.

thumbsup

[jetpackstudios]

The floor of the garage was uneven & really rough. It looked like it was finished by a wino armed with a rake. Anyway, I mixed up few wheel barrows of self-leveling concrete and fixed all the low spots.

The original side door and frame for the garage was falling apart. My son is ripping that down with his trusty hammer. More on the new door install later...

[jetpackstudios]

With the outside sealed up, I started furring out the walls and adding some supports to the trusses. The cavity in the A frame part of the roof will allow room for duct work.

I also sealed all the 2x6s that ran on top of the block walls with an acoustical sealant.

[bcgood]

Cool stuff! I look forward to seeing your progress in photos!

bcgood

[jetpackstudios]

Another shot of the the furring strips going up. The whole north wall of the garage had settled over the years. The top of the wall is leaning out by about 2 inches. Enclosing the front part of the garage should keep the wall from leaning out anymore.

Note the wooden spacer blocks along the wall to get the furring strips vertical. Ahhh.. old houses.

[jetpackstudios]

Despite the garage's small size I decided to split the room in half. One side will be a control room and the other for tracking. 95% of what I actually track is guitars and vocals so size isn't that much of an issue. The tracking room is still big enough to bring in a drummer/drum kit if I decide to subject myself to that pain. Both rooms are now roughly 11 x 10.

The dividing wall is split wall construction. I framed out for a control room window and a doorway that will eventually house two solid core doors for sound control.

[jetpackstudios]

Here's the finished dividing wall.

[jetpackstudios]

A shot from the tracking room into the control room. After I scored some Auralex U-Boats for dirt cheap on Ebay, I decided to float the floor. I forgot to photogragh the construction process but I basically built a raised floor from 2x4s, suspended it with the Auralex U-Boats, filled the cavities with insulation, laided down sheets of roofing material between 1/2" and 5/8" plywood and secured it to the frame.

As luck would have it, I spotted some oak hardwood flooring on craigslist a week after finishing the floating floor. At only $3 a sq ft (normally $14-16 a sq ft!), I couldn't pass it up. Pics of the finished flooring later...

[emeline-rec]

looks interesting, thanks for posting keep it up

[jetpackstudios]

Hello - I am a little tight on space but it feels like a mansion compared to most of the spaces I've recorded and mixed in! Chicago apartments anyone? Adam

Originally Posted by severe

Sounds like a lot of fun Adam. There doesn't seem to be a ton of room, but still looking forward to seeing some results.

Good luck.

thumbsup

[Glenn Kuras]

Originally Posted by jetpackstudios

The floor of the garage was uneven really rough. It looked like it was finished by a wino armed with a rake. Anyway, I mixed up few wheel barrows of self-leveling concrete and fixed all the low spots.

The original side door and frame for the garage was falling apart. My son is ripping that down with his trusty hammer. More on the new door install later...

Looks like a future Gearslutz to me.

Glenn

[Scott R. Foster]

Nice...

[pan60]

very cool!!!!!
nice work!!!!!
keep those photos coming!!!!

[jetpackstudios]

The old door and frame were ripped out and replaced with this industrial unit. Another Ebay score! The original 1940s door wasn't standard so I had to do a lot of block trimming with my trusty circular saw fitted with a masonry blade. The door frame was grouted at the same time the blockwork above the threshold was done. The door is really solid and sounds like a bank vault when closing.

I'll sort out the soundproofing issues with this later (gaskets, threshold, etc)

[jetpackstudios]

Another shot of of industrial door installed. A little extra block work above the threshold had to be done since the original blocks were loose.

[jetpackstudios]

no question...

his fate has been sealed already!

Originally Posted by myfipie

Looks like a future Gearslutz to me.

Glenn

[jetpackstudios]

Next up was framing and insulating the gable. While I was framing, I installed an electrical box to mount a security light. Also, sealed up any cracks/openings with insulating caulk and secured foam panels with Gorilla Tape (Glorified duct tape).

[jetpackstudios]

Finished off the gable with tongue and groove and mounted the security light. Also added some trim to the south wall. The previous owner had left some house paint so I threw a few coats on the new block work. Note: Old paint that has been sitting for a few years smells like a Porta-John

[jetpackstudios]

Back to the inside! Installed the oak floors I scored off of Craigslist. I plan on adding an oak lip along the edges...

[jetpackstudios]

Another shot of the floating floor. Started mounting electrical boxes around the room. More on this when I tackle the electrical chores...

[jetpackstudios]

I'll post some pictures of the AC/Heat installation once I hit that point in my timeline...

I'm not sure what kind of humidity control I need. Arizona is pretty dry but I'd love to hear some advice on the topic.

Originally Posted by moracspace

Have you any ideas for heating and cooling,humidity control?

[jetpackstudios]

The main electrical panel on the home had been there since the 1940s and barely had enough power to house (much less the garage and ALL MY GEAR!) This was upgraded with a 200AMP unit.

[jetpackstudios]

Dug a trench, ran conduit and pulled wires to power up the detached studio. The studio will have its own separate subpanel. There is a small office attached to the rear of the studio. You can barely see the door for it in the picture. I will house the air handler in there.

[beruang]

fantastic stuff! You'll love this spot when done, no doubt! Keep the pics coming, I love seeing these things and how slutz tackle the build.