Me vs. DIY Studio... pix and progress

[MidasHatesGold]

Hello fellow Slutz,

My name is Chris and I am building a small studio in Wismar/ Germany.
I work mainly as FOH engineer and backline tech at the moment. I used to run a studio for the backline
company I worked for, for about 5 years or so and I am missing it. That´s why I wanna take the chance to get back to what I love.

music and producing

(on the other hand I need a room for the drum lessons I provide)


The DIY spirit:

I would like to use maily recycled materials such as used wood leftovers from lumber mills....
used rockwool from building demolitions
whatever I can find

This decision is not based on a lack of money (though I haven´t a lot) it´s more like a challenge for me.

I am doing all on my own...except some hard labor who will be done together with buddies of mine.

the ROOM

the space is an old workshop in a brick (red clay bricks) building



the dimensions are

7m x 6,5m (23 ft x 21,32 ft)

with a seperate room inside dimensions 2,6m x 2,9m (8,53 ft x 9,51 ft)
can´t get rid of the room due to structural problems

seeling hight is 2,3 m (7,54 ft)
and will be 2,6m (8, 53 ft) after getting a new slab done


Have fun

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room inside which will be my iso booth (big enough for dry drum recordings)




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shot of the room heading to the window front



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room shot from entrance door

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the floor is allready ripped out...I will post the rest in a couple of hours
I am currently in construction day 7 and not done yet with the preparations for the concrete slab....

more details soooooon...




any help appreciated

kindest regards

[MidasHatesGold]

rented a jackhammer and startet with the concrete between the bricks...had to use my hands and a bucket to transport the junk (I do not recomment that )
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got rid of the firs stones
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here they are
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see attachment for more details

[soulfield]

Looks to be a great space. I noticed the ceiling that a radius chanel above the beams.

That being concurve could be problematic as it will focus reflections to one place on the floor below. Do you plan to install a new ceiling?

Good luck and keep us posted!

[MidasHatesGold]

first array of bricks removed...underneeth is a 20 cm concrete layer

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moved all the stones from outside in the small room to dry them
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[MidasHatesGold]

Originally Posted by 1176n

Looks to be a great space. I noticed the ceiling that a radius chanel above the beams.

That being concurve could be problematic as it will focus reflections to one place on the floor below. Do you plan to install a new ceiling?

Good luck and keep us posted!

yes....new ceiling for the control and iso room and clouds for the live room.

football/ soccer game start in a few minutes....

I´ll post day 3 to 7 after the game...keep fingers crossed for germany!!!

edit: we lost!! very good spanish team....well done!!!

regards

[MidasHatesGold]

two friends helped me to get the concrete out to avoid more rental costs for the hammer...note that the ear protection is laying on the floor...



concrete done...



this is only the old concrete, carried only with four buckets...with all the soil who needs to come out there will be twice that much...

[MidasHatesGold]

all the bricks we saved




starting to get another 30 cm (1 ft) of soil ou to gain a higher ceiling




It´s a PITA to do it with this short shovel and 4 buckets...stupid...need a wheelbarrow and a spade

[MidasHatesGold]

look what I ´ve got





also got a radio

[MidasHatesGold]

I found another 3 layers of bricks on top of 8 inches of concrete on the left wall..
and I only have a hammer

[MidasHatesGold]

It took me ages to smash the brick-concret mixup out of that floor...
My little building inspecteur is checking the progress....

[Lee Cardan]

holy crap!!

this will be interesting

[Syncamorea]

You are showing excellent motivation! Wax on, wax off...

[spindlebox]

Wow!! You are twice the man I'll ever be!!!!!

[fabricaudio]

Originally Posted by MidasHatesGold

It took me ages to smash the brick-concret mixup out of that floor...
My little building inspecteur is checking the progress....

I see that your column foundation is laying on bricks. You better check with a building engineer in case you need to create a support around it. Your concrete floor used to join all the beams together. He may advice you to use some support beams while you work there, it looks risky to me at the moment

Nikolas

[MidasHatesGold]

Originally Posted by fabricaudio

I see that your column foundation is laying on bricks. You better check with a building engineer in case you need to create a support around it. Your concrete floor used to join all the beams together. He may advice you to use some support beams while you work there, it looks risky to me at the moment

Nikolas

100% agree

thanx for the input...safety first!!!!!!


For the next 3 days I am on a production and next week there will be the MELT festival. I need the money...so the slab has to wait. I will try to get some ssupport beams ASAP!!!


kind regards

[fabricaudio]

Make sure to prevent strangers from coming in, especially kids now that school is over because is something bad happens you are going to be in trouble. It is like building sites (my father did many) and it was more crucial not only during work but also after hours because they can blame you for insufficient signs and hazard for the public. Is there any kind of fence around, you can also put some signs on the fence.

Nikolas

[MidasHatesGold]

Originally Posted by fabricaudio

Make sure to prevent strangers from coming in, especially kids now that school is over because is something bad happens you are going to be in trouble. It is like building sites (my father did many) and it was more crucial not only during work but also after hours because they can blame you for insufficient signs and hazard for the public. Is there any kind of fence around, you can also put some signs on the fence.

Nikolas

good idea...

The room has a big padlock and the yard has a door either...

I will ask my mother in law who is a building engineer for static issues...a sign will be installed asap...thanx a lot...btw....great studio!!!

kind regards

[MidasHatesGold]

this is how it could look....but still in the design phase!!!

[MidasHatesGold]

okay...

loads of live work this week, therefore no progress. But I have made a more detailed design during my trainride...any opinions???






regards

[MidasHatesGold]

Hi fellow slutz...

I had loads of live jobs the past weeks, therefore I had to work inbetween the day offs which wasn´t fun.

First the puchases I made:

I got 200 sqm of Homatherm (100mm and 120mm) though I only need 60 sqm (If anyone Is intrested in the leftovers shoot me a pm)






I also got 3 doors from HUGA 60 kg 3 seals an a automatic floor seal....




regards

[MidasHatesGold]

leveling of the floor beginns.......(crappy handy pix)

the live room is 10 cm higher...

regards

[MidasHatesGold]

bringing in a mixture of sand and gravel... the board marks the wall....will be replaced by an thicker foundation later....

[MidasHatesGold]

getting in thick gravel to avoid climbing humidity ....and compressing it with a hand tamper/rammer...good workout

[MidasHatesGold]

building the foundation for the inner brick wall....20 cm wide.....40 cm deep in the middle and 75 cm on the side to be attached to the excisting foundations...

the pipe is for the wires (I pulled a red string thru it to pull the cables.

900 kg of concrete ... bought in the home depot...

that´s it for the week...

kind regards

[Colonel Blues]

Hey ! Good start ! I'll follow your thread !

[pianoflo]

Looks nice Drück euch die Daumen für den Studioumbau !

Any info on the equipment ? E.G console,monitors, outboard

[MidasHatesGold]

Originally Posted by pianoflo

Looks nice Drück euch die Daumen für den Studioumbau !

Any info on the equipment ? E.G console,monitors, outboard

Console will be...Siemens C4 (24 channels) for tracking
Trident T24 for Monitoring ...maybe mix down (and for the look)
Focal Twins 6BE and NS 10 for Monitors
Outboard: Sony dps r7 & d7, v-verb- eventide h3000...on the list are 2x Distressors, 2x 1176 ,some api500 goodies (good for live work too) and some reverbs and delays....
The rest will be ITB for now....Mac Pro Dual quad with UAD running Cubase 5 (Protools will follow because the other Studio I work for runs it)

Coverters will be RME ....and Focusrite LS56 (for live recording)

Mics:(I have)
Shure SM57, SM58, SM7. Beta 52
Audix d6, i5
Sennheiser MD421, MD441, MD211, MD409, MD408
AKG C414 BlxII, C451 EB w Ck1, D112
Beyer M160, M320, M201
Neumann Gefell CMV563 (w M7, M9) UM57, MD30
EV RE20
T.bone RB500
SONY C500

regards... und danke!!!

[MidasHatesGold]

While waiting for my water supply which is what I need to make my foundation...I took a hammer and got rid off the plaster on the walls....

The idea is to have a mixture between brickwork and smooth (green) surface to give it an antique touch.

It took me 5 hours for that size...PITA (pain in the arm)

I had to take breaks and carved a rabbit in the wall...dunno why he´s on a bike?!

the other shot shows the building from the outside and the huge hill of soil and dirt I digged out.

regards

[99zulu]

Now that's dedication! Can't wait to see how this turns out.

[bkbirge]

You are a he-man machine for sure. I'm definitely keeping a watch on this thread, good stuff!